Teacher: Colleen

Chicago was very cold last year. People called it Chi-beria. I barely went out at all at the time. One day, the temperature was about -20 degrees Celsius, and something happened. I misstepped, and fell off the stairs. It was so painful that I couldn't see straight. Luckily, I calmed down, but unluckily, I had a sprained ankle. I needed to go see a doctor, but my medical insurance was expired.

I thought I was OK without insurance in America. That thought was a huge mistake.

I had to find a Korean physician who could discount the medical fee. Finally, I found one who was really nice. He wrapped my leg. I was wearing Ugg boots that day, but when I tried to put on one boot, it was too small. Thankfully, he gave me a medical boot. I thought everything would go well and then I went to sleep.

My wrapped leg swelled up and it woke me up a lot. Eventually, I called my mom in Korea to tell her I was in such pain. I said, please call the doctor, and told her what was happening to me, screaming and crying. She said it was 7pm in Korea; all clinics except the emergency room were closed. I said “All hospitals in the U.S. are also closed, because it's 4am here. I think it's better for you to call a Korean doctor.” 

Unfortunately, my mom told me no, so I just unwrapped my leg and tried to fall asleep. Having my leg unwrapped made me feel so much better. The next day, I called the doctor who wrapped my leg, and told him what happened. He wanted me to come to his office again, so I did. I wore Ugg boots automatically because it was freezing outside.

The nice doctor wrapped my leg again, and my leg was too big for the boot again. I expected him to give me another boot as before but he did not. Instead, he put plastic bags on my leg and wrapped my leg with them twice. Since I didn't wear socks, my foot was only covered by plastic bags. I felt like I got a new model of Ugg boot that was made out of plastic bags. I thought about calling a cab, but it would be a 40 minute wait, so I decided to just walk out of the hospital and get a cab on the street.

It was below freezing. I was outside without one shoe on, and people glanced at me. I almost explained to them, “Because you are not a good person, you can’t see my left shoe.”  Like the Emperor in the Emperor's New Clothes.

I should've called a cab from the hospital, because I was standing out there almost 40 minutes anyway. When I arrived at home, I took a picture of the brand new bag boot and posted it on Facebook. All of my friends loved it.

Discussion Questions

Retell the story as well as you can.

1. How does she hurt herself and where?

2. Why could she not go to any doctor?

3. Why did she go to the doctor twice 

4. Why is the situation similar to "The Emperor's New Clothes"?

5. Have you ever had serious problems when you were abroad?