A Study in Futility

So the other day I got a phone call from Mr. Jeonju, Dave Van Minnen. Dave runs a really popular website called the Jeonju Hub, which is a site dedicated to the weygook culture of Jeonju. He calls me up and tells me that he had been contacted about a medical study going to Chonbuk University Hospital and wanted to know if I might be interested. Basically, the study is on the weight loss effects of a diet of nothing but traditional organic Korean food. The study has included only Koreans, but they decided they might earn a bit more validity if they brought in a few token foreigners.

Dace and I had to show up at the hospital at 7:30am for screening. This is a pretty tough task for foreigners who tend to work late and thus stay up later...but we pulled it off. We were required to fast for 12 hours before the test and then they did some blood tests as well as EKG and various measurements. I also weighed myself and found out I weighed significantly more than I thought I did...so I'm in a pretty foul mood....but at least its motivation to stick to the study.

So here is what we have to do. Starting Monday, we can eat ONLY the food that is given us...which will be traditional Korean organic food. No snacks, no other meals. We are allowed to drink alcohol, but have been told to limit it. The part that sucks....is we have to go to the hospital 3 times a day, 7 days a week, for 8 weeks. Meals are at 7:30, 12:30, and 7:00p. We're getting a small amount of money to do this, but nothing really major ($300). The benefit though is that I won't have to pay for food for the next 2 months and I am basically guaranteed to drop a ton of weight. Who knows, maybe this cleanse will be good for me and I can drop a bunch more weight before I come home.

Doctors...

I went to the Dr today for a screening about what I will talk about in my next post....but you could tell that the doctors were scared of me and Dave Van Minnen. I'm assuming it's because Koreans are really nervous about using English around foreigners...but it's kinda funny when you are talking to a doctor and they are visibly scared.