Why couldn't this kind of thing happen 9 years ago?

I got a call today from a dear friend from church who works at a doctor's office. She asks me to help her with a walk-in patient who doesn't speak English very well, but speaks Korean fluently. I told her that I would do the best I can (even though I am the complete inverse of the patient...doesn't speak Korean very well, but speaks English fluently).

I think that a lot of foreign speaking missionaries dream of finding some way to keep their language ability at a functioning level. I worked at a driver's license exam station right after my mission to Korea and would have loved to have a Korean walk in and I would "save the day" and help everyone involved. But the years keep adding up and the only Korean I keep up with is food. And so my Korean speaking ability is probably close to my almost 3 year old son's grasp of English with random high level Gospel words sprinkled in.

So my friend gives me a list of questions to ask. The first thing I try to say is "It's been almost 10 years since I spoke Korean." But I'm pretty sure it came out as, "Ten years since I speak Korean." Then he asks if I am a Korean. I say, "American." There was a time I answered the phone and carried on a conversation and a friend of the caller asked who it was and was surprised to learn that it was an American. Although I doubt that was his intention when he asked. It was more like, "Really?! Who is this?"

The rest of conversation went something like this:

Me: Head hurt?
Patient: Yes...(and continues to list other problems/symptoms that I catch zero of)
Me: Dizzy?
Patient: Yes...(some more wonderful Korean)
Me: Healthy appetite?
Patient: I am eating well (that part I caught clearly, mostly because it's a common saying about a person's well being)

I'm not going to let myself get too down about this. I figure most of the words he was using were medical terms that I never used. But it's gotten me thinking that I should do something about my failing Korean speak.