Dear audio diary, today at work I saw some girls in the lobby playing a flute, clarinet, and oboe and wanted to shoot myself in the face, greater than sign, hyphen, less than sign, semicolon. Anyway, today's picture is brought to you by Severance Hospital, my current place of employment. Go figure, a BA in Japanese and Religion and an MA in Korean Studies lands me a job at a hospital. This is the largest hospital in Korea, the new building you see here built in 2005. It is also the first Western hospital/ institute in Korea, modern Western medicine brought over by Christian missionaries in the later part of the 19th century. There are 2065 beds and 1004 rooms, and the reason for the odd room count (or rather even) is actually interesting. In Korean, when you say 1004, 천사, it is the same word (different Chinese characters) for angel. It may seem corny, considering that many Korean companies, businesses, etc. do similar things, but this was actually the first time I'd heard about it, back in 2008, and so it stuck with me. Here are some interesting things to know about hospitals in Korea. When you visit someone in a hospital, you don't bring flowers but boxes of little juice drinks or fruit baskets, and they are actually not for the patient but rather for those who would come visit the patient. Also, if you work in Korea you are automatically signed up for the national health insurance, which is a 50/50 system: you pay 50% and the insurance pays 50%. For me, working at the hospital, I get at times double insurance and so hospital visits can potentially be free. Also, if I decide to get plastic surgery, which is not normally covered under the national plan, I would only have to pay 50% because of my job. Best part of this hospital? There is a Burger King, pizza/pasta place, bakery, and Haggen Daz all located on the lobby floor across from admissions. So you can have yourself a Whopper with cheese, a chocolate ice cream cone, and large mocha latte before walking (or crawling) over to hospital admissions, carrot sign, underscore, carrot sign, semicolon.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Day 3: Get the Juice Ready, Mom
Dear audio diary, today at work I saw some girls in the lobby playing a flute, clarinet, and oboe and wanted to shoot myself in the face, greater than sign, hyphen, less than sign, semicolon. Anyway, today's picture is brought to you by Severance Hospital, my current place of employment. Go figure, a BA in Japanese and Religion and an MA in Korean Studies lands me a job at a hospital. This is the largest hospital in Korea, the new building you see here built in 2005. It is also the first Western hospital/ institute in Korea, modern Western medicine brought over by Christian missionaries in the later part of the 19th century. There are 2065 beds and 1004 rooms, and the reason for the odd room count (or rather even) is actually interesting. In Korean, when you say 1004, 천사, it is the same word (different Chinese characters) for angel. It may seem corny, considering that many Korean companies, businesses, etc. do similar things, but this was actually the first time I'd heard about it, back in 2008, and so it stuck with me. Here are some interesting things to know about hospitals in Korea. When you visit someone in a hospital, you don't bring flowers but boxes of little juice drinks or fruit baskets, and they are actually not for the patient but rather for those who would come visit the patient. Also, if you work in Korea you are automatically signed up for the national health insurance, which is a 50/50 system: you pay 50% and the insurance pays 50%. For me, working at the hospital, I get at times double insurance and so hospital visits can potentially be free. Also, if I decide to get plastic surgery, which is not normally covered under the national plan, I would only have to pay 50% because of my job. Best part of this hospital? There is a Burger King, pizza/pasta place, bakery, and Haggen Daz all located on the lobby floor across from admissions. So you can have yourself a Whopper with cheese, a chocolate ice cream cone, and large mocha latte before walking (or crawling) over to hospital admissions, carrot sign, underscore, carrot sign, semicolon.
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Unless you are considered an "independent contractor" like I am - I don't get health insurance :(
ReplyDeleteBut, I make a crap ton of money and get paid a lot of overtime...
I would get health insurance and go to the hospital often if there was a Chick fil A in the lobby...