Before I came to Korea, I only knew 'it's one of those places that's been spilt in two' and 'isn't Mash set in Korea?' My research into the subject was limited to reading the introduction in my guidebook. I arrived fully armed with the knowledge that Korea was a non-glaciated peninsula, so only had two natural lakes. So, I come with no expectations. And, for the most part, I haven't been surprised. On the surface, it seems a lot like I imagine NYC to be, very modern, very fashionable, tall buildings, crowded. Maybe a month after I arrived I was walking to the subway station when I saw this guy. He looked like he was living one of those classic dreams. He was standing outside of a high rise, a dazed expression on his face, dressed in hospital pajamas and slippers. I spent a good long time amusing myself with various scenarios of how he came to find himself outside so under dressed and eventually forgot about it entirely. A couple of months ago my friend moved in to an apartment across the street from a hospital. I was peering out the window, when a cast caught my eye. There was a guy with a broken leg sunning himself on the bench. With his buddy wheelchair guy and that woman with the IV pole. About six or eight patients dressed in hospital finery hanging out in front of the hospital. It turns out that sick people all over Korea leave the confinement of their rooms and head out for a breath of fresh air. Seems like a good addition to the healing process to me, just totally different than America. Personally, I had been rooting for that one guy to have been coming down from way too much morphine only to find himself miles from the nearest hospital with no idea what had happened.