So many of you that follow me on twitter and are friends with me on Facebook know that I was really sick about two weeks back. I usually have an immune system of steel, but for some reason I am really prone to getting sick here in Seoul during the Fall and Spring. Why you may ask? Because of my greatest enemy: 황사 aka the Yellow Dust of Death.
Yellow dust is sand and other particulate matter that is blown over from the Mongolian Desert in Northern China. It is usually heavier in Spring, but there are some flare ups in the Fall as well. Usually if you stay indoors and wear a mask (and glasses if you wear contacts) when you are outdoors during a flare up, you should be good. But I was stupid and did not do any of that.
Since it is late Fall, it is really strange to have a flare up of yellow dust in the area, but for some reason the particulate matter pollution was up in the 100s for a few days (usually 0-60 is considered healthy, 65-90 being concerning) and it was a real surprise for most people. Because I was not showing signs of being sick and no one else was wearing masks in my area, I thought I was fine since I am farther out in the city where there is less pollution and the air is a little fresher, but that was not the case. Four days of not wearing a mask in the dust storm lead me to be really sick for about 2 days with a chest cold that lasted about a week.
I ended up developing a fever while in the middle of teaching back to back classes. It got so bad that during my last 3 hour class, I had to sit in a desk and teach from there because I was so dizzy and light headed that I did not think I could walk around the class like I normally do. When I got home I took my temperature (good call on bringing the thermometer mom!) and it turned out I had a fever of 101.7*F. Luckily I had some medicine from home that I took, plus my great-grandmother's hot toddy recipe, so I was fine in a few days (fever thankfully broke that night so I was good to teach my one class the next day).
This was not the first time I had a really bad reaction to yellow dust. Back when I was studying abroad, I had a similar reaction in the Spring of 2014 when I did not wear a mask again and was bed redden with a fever and no appetite for about 2 days. So, I think I might just be very easily affected by the yellow dust because everyone else I have met only gets a slight cough if anything.
You maybe wondering why I did not wear a mask even when I know I have bad reactions to yellow dust. Well for one, it is still kind of weird for me to wear one comfortably in public. In the US, people don't wear face masks/medical masks out in public (only robbers come to mind). You would get strange looks if you did that back where I lived. And to an extent you get stared at here a little bit, but only because you are a foreigner wearing a mask, since most foreigners don't wear masks.
But here in South Korea (and actually most places in North East Asia), it is very common to wear masks when you are sick so you don't pass the germs on to other people. Because of the high population density in major cities, it is very easy to get in contact with someone who maybe sick. So, it is seen as a curtsy towards other people that you wear a mask and not spread your germs.
But I have started to switch back into the "Korean Mindset" as it is and am starting to wear my mask in public more comfortably and actually always make sure that i have one with me at all times, just in case. Plus it helps in the winter because it warms the frozen air, making it easier to breathe during the colder months.
