Shots are painful, so is language

Well, I started amping up the immune system by getting some vaccines the other day.  I think vaccinations are often overlooked by many when heading off to a pretty safe and modern area.  You think: South Korea, Seoul, Hyundai, safe!  Which is pretty much true, but as a citizen of America you've been prepped to handle common American diseases and not those in South Korea.  Let’s take Japanese Encephalitis for an example: most children in Korea under age 15 get vaccines for this disease, much like kids in America get vaccines for Varicella (Chicken pox) or polio.  So, yes South Korea is pretty safe, but holy crap! get your JE vaccine, and read up on wherever you're going, or you might have to pay the price. 

Concerning how to figure out what’s needed I recommend checking out the CDC website, which has a list of recommendations for travelers for pretty much everywhere.  Here’s the link to South Korea: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/south-korea.htm.  So far I’ve gotten an update on my tetanus, started the first of two vaccines for JE, and the first of three for rabies (yes you can get rabies vaccines! And no they don’t shoot it in your stomach, and no they won’t make you foam at the mouth). The rabies vaccines are more for people who will be staying in another country for a long time, and who might come in contact with animals.  I got mine because I am unsure where exactly I will be living, and let’s face it, better safe than foaming at the mouth.

But speaking about pain and foaming at the mouth, I don’t know about you, but I’m having real trouble figuring out how to say the Korean alphabet correctly.  The wikiproject is good at helping you keep pace and with preliminary memorization, but pronunciation is something you might need a little extra help with.  I’m sure there are more professional (and therefore expensive) ways to get good instruction…but there’s also youtube.  I thought I’d share a link I found helpful on pronunciation:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdiR-6e1h0o.  Professor Oh is a little bit silly.  That's the only way to learn.  :) 

And that’s all I got. I promise things will be more interesting after finals are over >.< But for now, I'll just leave you with a photo:  

Ramen fan!