Epik medical exams

Today we had our medical exams. They were fairly intense, especially with the threat of being sent home immediately (without your entry allowance!) if they deem you unfit to work in Korea. Aside from the basic eye exam and blood pressure test (both of which I passed with flying colors!), we had to give a vile of blood and a dixie cup of pee. The sample of pee was promptly poured into a second vile by a lovely Korean woman with bare hands who dipped in a narcotics test strip, scribbled some numbers on a form, and handed us back the cup. Next we were asked about our health history (no, I have never had angina, no I don't wheeze when I exercise...) and then led to a bus with an x-ray machine inside. Who knew all that mumbo jumbo of strapping on a lead vest, and pushing a button from the next room was unnecessary detail? At any rate, it's clear they take health pretty seriously here. I've seen quite a few Koreans from all age groups sporting surgical masks on the street. A teenager back home wouldn't be caught dead in a surgical mask swine flu or no. Back home people think that those masks are either for paranoid hypochondriacs or people with immune deficiencies. Actually, you're supposed to wear them if you are sick to protect those around you from your germs. How nice Koreans look out for each other that way. People on BART could really take a page out of their book. Then again, these are the same Koreans that share soup from the same bowl and straws from the same glass (or so I'm told). But I'm learning quickly that in Korea, good intentions and efforts to show respect for others always supersede logic.