I have been keeping quiet about it, but
decided to write it personally because what I have experienced these past 2
weeks might somewhat be helpful/beneficial to someone. I avoided posting it
because it took me a while to feel okay telling my experience again and again
on repeat. Whenever I actually talk about it, without realizing I started to
get really anxious. My head starts to hurt even more, and somehow I couldn’t
breathe properly. It was somewhat like PTSD, but I didn’t even realize I was
having one, because I sincerely thought I was okay. I mean come on, it couldn’t
be that bad, or stop being so weak keeps ringing on my head,
Well (almost) everyone who saw my story
might have known one side of the coin about the ‘incident’ I had with the drunk
man. but cut story short if you didn’t get to catch my story, my friend and I
were harassed by a drunk middle aged man that was a stranger, in bright
daylight, and we were in no shady area, we were in a quite family oriented
neighborhood in front of a train station that was closeby an apartment (just in
case someone starts saying, try to avoid walking alone at night or go to
strange places, yada yada). I wanted to say this because, just wanted to reach
out to people that things can happen even in the safest place and time, so just
be careful and I pray none of you will have to face the same situation.
Anyways, coming back to the story, the drunk man threw a plastic bag which I
assume has either a bottle of beer or a beer can that was filled because I hear
a ‘tung’ and it was really heavy and painful. Feeling shocked and scared, I was
just left in the state of ‘mong’ (an expression commonly used in Korean,
meaning emptiness… blank). Fast forward the details etc, because I think I have
repeated myself a thousand times. what I wanted to tell was the process after.
Feeling so lost as foreigners who can’t
speak the language well, I cannot tell you how frustrated my friend and I were.
We hesitated to report to the police, especially since when we tried to explain
the situation to the station guard, it felt like we were dismissed as though it
was something that is ‘of no big deal’. To be honest, I actually started
believing that it was just something light, and wanted to give up and let it
be. However, my friend insisted because instead of me, she felt angrier that I was
attacked on the head. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to give up, the
process was tedious and having to struggle with the language and feel
frustrated every time people could not understand what you were trying to say,
was heartbreaking. But guys, please PLEASE if anything happens like this,
please do not give up. DO NOT. It might have been hard but, it will be worth
the fight, I will tell you why later. Anyways, so the process goes like this.
If anything happens like this in Korea as a 왜국인 (foreigner):
1.
Tell your supervisor and lab
manager (if you have one) that you would have to come late and tell your
situation. Best thing, your supervisor will ask someone from the lab to help
you (in my case the help came in a bit later).
2.
Go to the GP or any hospital and
get yourself checked. Make sure you ask for a statement for the police AND this
is what I forgot to do ask for an extra copy so that you can use the statement
when you want to apply for insurance (cause girrrrl, you better be prepared the
bills are CCCCeeeeRRRRaaaZZZyyyyy). You can say “초진 기록지에 일반적 푹행으로 인한 외ㅏㅇ
내용이 적혀있어야 보험금 지굽이 용이”.
3.
Once you have the statement, go
to the police station WHERE THE SITUATION HAPPENED. Make sure to check its
right police station because although the incident happened at Dongjak Station,
it was not under the Jurisdiction of the Dongjak Police Headquarters. If you go
to another station, most likely your report will take longer due to the
transfer period, or your application will not be accepted. I actually first
went to the Seoul Global Center’s police station because they could speak English,
but that is actually just for legal sevices. However, when I went there they
did advice, that I could get translator services at the police station. But we didn’t
need to, when my friend and I went the police officer was kind to entertain us
(we were definitely blessed to get a nice female inspector), and we could
understand and communicate the basics enough to make a report. Being in the
police station felt not intimidating/frustrating at all as a foreigner. In
fact, they were telling me it was not a case to be taken lightly, and the
investigation would have been faster if we went to the police station straight.
However, in the middle of the investigation, my lab manager and lab senior
called and told me that they were coming. So having them around later on made
the process so much easier with the communication. Lesson 2 that I learned from
here, even if we were not close, try to ask help. I tend to not like to burden
people, especially from someone I am not close to, but Alhamdulillah they were
willing to help.
4.
Don’t expect too much, which is
true. Nothing happened till my professor asked for the contact number and
contacted them after 2 weeks of no news. 바러 연락이 왔어 ㅎㅎ
Enough of the
police story, going to the other story that I haven’t revealed. So after the GP
visit and how she told me that my bump and nausea is normal, she told me if I
start to get extreme headaches to inform and come again. At first I thought I
was going to be okay, but the headache became worst and worst. I went to the GP
again and I was referred to the Neurologist. Neurologist told me I will be fine
in another 2 weeks and that the pain I am going hrough is normal, and I just
had to brace it through and gave me medications. 1 week passed, no change and
one day at midnight I got an attack when I started to become breathless, I was
shaking and blue. The first attack I was lucky enough to be partially conscious
to call my friend to come over. Ya Allah, at that time… I can only be thankful
to Allah I have someone relatively close by. It made me realize a lot of
things, including not wanting to grow old alone. It made me realize the importance
of companionship in levels I can never express. The second time it happened
when my friend was there. She rushed me to the hospital on the taxi and I
cannot say, how bad it felt when it feels like you have no oxygen and was just
shaking. I thought I was going to die, as morbid as the thought is I just
prayed to Allah and istighfar and say my shahadah. It made me realize also, in
that moment, I wish I would do so much more good, and it was sad at that time
when I wish to pray, I had my period and can only recite my Do’as. When we
arrived and the emergency room, I have to say I was a bit dismayed. They didn’t
check my condition and left me at the normal emergency room while I was
breathless. Emergency room was not an emergency room. Note the only comfort I
had was the fact that my friend is a Neurosurgeon, so whatever that happens she
could help do CPR or something. Even she was shocked and dismayed by how slow
the ER was. They literally asked for my card for payment first and usually that
happens for the guardian to settle while the patient gets checked but nope. I
just waited there till all my transactions, checking of government insurance
(that was not available), etc was cleared. Nonetheless, I could only think well
if anything happens while waiting, they should have amazing Doctors to rescue
me since it is SNU (note: best hospital in Korea). When the attending doctor
saw me I was still shaking and blue, but the episode got better slowly, until
the third short episode happened but I didn’t care because I was already there.
They checked my CT Scan and all the emergency procedures, but funny nothing
happened after and I got better and they couldn’t make any diagnosis because
the CT Scan was normal as well. The attending MO neurologist just checked me
again, and asked me to make an appointment for EEG and I left with a shock of
how much the ER cost (more than a million KRW). Note, after starting the whole
emergency procedure though, it was nice to see how the testing were advanced
and thorough though. Plus, cute attending MO hi. HAHAHAHA (okay, that was just
to make me feel better for the bill I just had to pay.
So the next day, I asked for help from my
labmate to call and make an appointment for the EEG, though I still do not know
the results now because my appointment with the Neuro specialist is not till
tomorrow, I got the shock of my lifetime for the second time. Because the test
was super expensive. Moral of the story, let’s wish and hope one day us D2 visa
holders (ie next year February 2021 – I called and checked if I could apply for
the government insurance and they say we can apply starting next year, yay!
Please do guys). Insurance is important and necessary. So anyways, also because
I have a past eye surgery for my cataract and to fix the position of my eye due
to my congenital Morning Glory Syndrome, I had to take extra precaution (also
deduce) whether the pain from the pressure from the back of my eye may be due
to the incident. The thing is where I am getting to is that, because of all
this……. The fact that I thought it was nothing, and was almost going to give up
reporting, made me so thankful that I reported because as time goes by I became
angrier and angrier, and believe that this person SHOULD be found, caught and
pay my bills.
But whatever it is to be honest, more than
that I am thankful. Thankful because this incident made me learn a lot of
things. Plenty. To be honest. The experience itself made me learn a lot about
the process, and also made me thankful for so many people beside me, and also
made me realize again that our time here is short. Banyakkanlah istighfar,
bertaubat, show your love and gratitude and always always be thankful. I just
have to repeat this again and again I cannot highlight how thankful I am. I
love all of you that I hold dear to me lillahita’ala.
