2.208

1 (Mon) August 2011

Yangjangpi

3.0

at Hyeongyeong

-Woncheon, Yeongtong, Suwon, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with KHJ, PHY

My mother’s surgery went off without a hitch, thankfully.  Thanks maybe to the lucky fish from yesterday (2.207 Chambok Jjim).  Thanks to Dr K, who performed the surgery.

For no particular reason, my two closest friends at work happen to be physicians in the ENT department, including Dr K.  He did a similar procedure on me a few years back, very successfully, so I was inclined to trust him – although in both cases I made him swear not to booze it up the night before.  Along with Dr P, the three of us tend to booze it up a lot, so I had reason for concern.

But with the surgery smoothly over, nothing was stopping us from boozing it up later in the evening.  As a sign of gratitude, my mother gave me her credit card and ordered me to take them out.  In between 3 bottles of gaoliangju, a Chinese rice liquor in excess of 90 proof, we also managed to squeeze in a few dishes.

All well and good, except that I had been charged to stay with my mother in her hospital room overnight to see to her needs: getting her water, changing her bandages, etc. (Korean hospitals don’t restrict visiting hours and permit caregivers to sleep in the rooms).  The problem is that, when drunk, I’m a notoriously deep sleeper, snorer, and floor-sweeper (meaning that I roll out of bed and onto the floor and flail about).  My being there didn’t do my mother any good.  In fact, it did her bad: she couldn’t sleep on account of the snoring, and her IVs got disconnected while trying to get me off the tiles, which then necessitated calling in the nurse, much to my mother’s utter humiliation, what with her soused son – a professor of medical ethics at this very institution, no less – still wallowing on the floor.  By 3AM, I was kicked out of the room and forced to slink my way across the quad to my office and sleep it off on my desk.

(See also FOODS.)

(See also PLACES.)