Yellow Fever Vaccination. 황열

You may remember that I had to get a medical checkup and some vaccinations for my trip. You may also remember that I didn't get everything I needed. I had been told that getting my Yellow Fever vaccine in Seoul would be pretty easy and cheap (around 15 000won which is approximately $13 or $14 in Canadian funds). The catch was that I needed some help getting an appointment (since it needed to be made in Korean) and getting some time off of work (because the hospital's hours were similar to my school's hours). Days turned into weeks and weeks into months and I had yet to get all the necessary work done to get my appointment (the Korean teachers who can do a lot of this are very busy and I don't always have the time to ask them for favours).

Fast forward to late April, when sad events made me decide (well, someone else had to decide for me because I was unable at the time, but that's another story) to return home to Canada for a few days. I decided it would be easier to get the vaccine done in Canada where I don't have to know a foreign language. Unfortunately, after booking an appointment, I was informed that the cost of the appointment plus shot would be $175. Frustrated, I decided not to get it in Canada and within a few days of my return to Korea got my appointment to have it done there.

A few weeks ago I had that appointment. Overall it was an easy experience. I found my way to the National Medical Centre in Seoul on my own and with my combination of broken Korean and their combination of broken English got to where I needed to be in the hospital. The doctor's English was alright and he informed me of a small chance that I could have very bad side effects (a brain disease). The shot was probably the quickest shot I've had in a while (and I've had a lot of needles in me lately) and mostly painless. I had to wait around for about half an hour to make sure I wasn't getting any serious side effects (which I didn't - though I've been a little sick since then).

The good news was that this whole thing only cost me 21 000won (about $17-18) and I didn't really miss any classes at school. I'm told that after 10 days I am now 90% immune and that after a whole month I will be almost 100% immune for the next 10 years.

There are no more required vaccinations, though I may spring for the other one (multi-strain meningococcal) that I couldn't get in Korea.

Now it's on to finishing raising money, buying supplies and booking flights (not to mention figuring out post-project travel, and packing everything up from Korea and moving back to Canada).

Until next time!