Medical Exam

The medical exam is what I was most apprehensive about upon arriving in Korea. As H1N1 has been labeled a pandemic (It really isn't), extra precautions are being taken (such as temperature being taken upon departure from the plane and arrival at the university, and a need to take your temperature everyday during orientation). If we failed the medical exam, we would be forced to return to our home countries, bearing the brunt of all costs!
For my class, which was #8 (and the last class to be tested), we were allowed to eat breakfast, but not lunch as we could not consume and liquids or food for 6 hours before the exam. We arrived at the student union building and were handed a questionaire to fill our before heading over to have our height and weight taken. It was taken at the same time by standing on a weight while a bar came down and bopped you on the head. Next was the eye exam, which I believe I failed horribly as I could not read the bottom row for my right eye and the last two rows for my left eye even while wearing glasses. Colourblindness testing went by without a hitch, but I was not told what to do for the hearing test (I had to put on headphones and point out from which ear I could hear the tone), so I sat there while the attendant continued to beep the tone in my right ear until she had to explain. Blood pressure was taken, then the all so dreaded blood test. I was fine when I got out, so after talking to Aaron, I proceeded to the bathroom with my urine cup, not realizing that Aaron was behind me, almost fainting. The bathrooms had only squat toilets, which was a surprise as the dorm rooms has Western style toilets, so I had to remember how to use them after not having seen them for 9 years! Having finished, the last exam was the x-ray. I couldn't find Aaron, but after coming out from the x-ray room, he was seated, waiting for his exam. It was then that he explained that he had almost fainted (probably from having the blood drawn too quickly). Finally, it was the end of our medical exam and we were allowed to leave.
Things went by without a hitch, aside from Aaron's spell, but we have yet to hear back about our results. Hopefully things go well!