Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Day 75: Guess who's in China?
I would love to say that my parents decided to surprise me and come to China, but I know the chances of that happening are, well, slim to none. However, I am equally as excited that Amanda's sweet mother is here to visit us this week! She and Amanda showed up at our apartments around 4:00 today, and everyone instantly popped out of their doors at the sound of a new English voice and swarmed them; it reminded me of times when I was little and swarms of children would crowd around the ice cream truck during the hot summer days. She was very tired and jet lagged, so our enthusiasm and perkiness probably didn't help. In speaking to her, I realized just how much I miss my own parents. I have never gone this long without seeing at least one family member, they came to Utah like every week when I lived there! It's like family starvation over here, it's killing me. I can't wait to see them all when I get back home, but that doesn't mean I'm wishing my time here away. I love both of the places and the people that live in each; if only I could have the best of both worlds. Anyways, enough rambling. I am off to bed, so I might be able to shake this sickness and be able to participate in all of the fun things we have planned for the week!
Monday, May 6, 2013
Day 74: Should've bought a face mask
I woke up numerous times throughout the night, having both cold and heat flashes. This isn't the first time this has happened to me while being in China, so I figured I was just experiencing something I had before. I feel as though I have been getting sick at least once a week recently, typically landing on Sundays. Each sickness feels very new and foreign to me, yet each one I've gotten, I felt a new kind of misery.
Today, I woke up with a hoarse cough. imbedded deep into my lungs, aches and pains all over my body, lightheadedness, etc. I would typically think I just caught a bug, but since I had just come back from Beijing and the H7N9 bird flu has been spread all over there, I was in somewhat of a panic. I had most of the flu symptoms, minus nausea, so our coordinator Gloria and my head teacher Amanda took me to the school clinic to get checked out. The nurse there took my vital signs, but advised me to go to the off campus clinic to get looked at more closely.
I went into the clinic and it was a painless and efficient process, nothing like I'm used to back home. I was in and out in a matter of maybe twenty minutes. The nurse diagnosed me with a respiratory infection and gave me four different medications to treat it. Now, I am sort of kicking myself for not wearing one of those horrible looking face masks that I saw everyone wearing in Beijing. I just couldn't get myself to wear one, they were wretched. However, I would now choose wearing a mask over having this painful infection.
After the clinic, I went home to take a quick rest, only to wake up for my next doctors visit. This time, however, the plan was to take me to the hospital to get my ankle checked out. It is still a little disfigured (from rolling it months ago) so Amanda and I thought it would be wise to have someone finally take a closer look at it, rather than just assuming it is, and will be, ok.
The hospital was huge, full of people, and very organized. All I had to do was get an ID card, give my name, birthdate, and gender, and then I saw the doctor within a matter of minutes. He told me, well Marine translated for me, that my bone was not displaced, but the muscle in my ankle was really injured. He showed me a few exercises to do to restrengthen it, and prescribed me a few more medications to help the recovery process along.
I walked away today with three separate doctors visits, six new prescriptions (that I don't know what they are or what they do) and a Chinese medical ID card all for under 20 USD. Three cheers for cheap health care.
Pictures:
1: The screen informing different patients that their prescription is ready. Can you find my name?
2: Drugs on drugs on drugs
Today, I woke up with a hoarse cough. imbedded deep into my lungs, aches and pains all over my body, lightheadedness, etc. I would typically think I just caught a bug, but since I had just come back from Beijing and the H7N9 bird flu has been spread all over there, I was in somewhat of a panic. I had most of the flu symptoms, minus nausea, so our coordinator Gloria and my head teacher Amanda took me to the school clinic to get checked out. The nurse there took my vital signs, but advised me to go to the off campus clinic to get looked at more closely.
I went into the clinic and it was a painless and efficient process, nothing like I'm used to back home. I was in and out in a matter of maybe twenty minutes. The nurse diagnosed me with a respiratory infection and gave me four different medications to treat it. Now, I am sort of kicking myself for not wearing one of those horrible looking face masks that I saw everyone wearing in Beijing. I just couldn't get myself to wear one, they were wretched. However, I would now choose wearing a mask over having this painful infection.
After the clinic, I went home to take a quick rest, only to wake up for my next doctors visit. This time, however, the plan was to take me to the hospital to get my ankle checked out. It is still a little disfigured (from rolling it months ago) so Amanda and I thought it would be wise to have someone finally take a closer look at it, rather than just assuming it is, and will be, ok.
The hospital was huge, full of people, and very organized. All I had to do was get an ID card, give my name, birthdate, and gender, and then I saw the doctor within a matter of minutes. He told me, well Marine translated for me, that my bone was not displaced, but the muscle in my ankle was really injured. He showed me a few exercises to do to restrengthen it, and prescribed me a few more medications to help the recovery process along.
I walked away today with three separate doctors visits, six new prescriptions (that I don't know what they are or what they do) and a Chinese medical ID card all for under 20 USD. Three cheers for cheap health care.
Pictures:
1: The screen informing different patients that their prescription is ready. Can you find my name?
2: Drugs on drugs on drugs
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Day 72 & 73: Highlights
I know I haven't written much this week, but between my exhaustion and non-stop desire to explore the city, I've had a limited amount of time to write anything down! Rather than going back and explaining every detail, as I usually like to do, I will just highlight a few more things I may have forgotten to write down, so in years to come, I will be able to remember this trip vividly.
1. The train ride over here. Sitting on the middle bunk with Carmelo, Lexi, Courtney, and myself (the bunks are not that large) and teaching Carmelo how to play BS. He rather enjoyed using that phrase throughout the trip, especially to the vendors who tried to rip me off. Speaking of getting ripped off, a vendor at the silk market was rather frustrated with me and went behind my back and pretended to hit me in the head with my ukulele. Well, good thing Carmelo understands Chinese and what the lady was mumbling about me, and he came in, took the ukulele, and said he would set her shop on fire if she touched me. He's a good one to have around.
2. Beijing. It is rising. That is all.
3. Cedric at 7-eleven, and myself leaning against the tree just outside that a man informed me, after the fact if course, that someone had just peed on. They're all for using the bathroom in the streets, on trees, in trash cans, etc. here.
4. Corn's and my washcloths that we had to use as towels. We aren't the brightest, and forgot to bring a normal sized towel, most of our hostels had provided them before. However, we weren't fortunate enough this time to have one, so we bought two from the front desk. They were pastel pink and green and had lovely embellishments of birds on them. The best part was that they covered about one fourth, if that, of our bodies.
5. The mysterious bread napper. Jenna had purchased a brand new loaf (loaves here are like 6-8 pieces, usually) and counted the pieces, so she could determine how many sandwiches she could make. Each day, a piece of her loaf went missing, but not because Jenna ate it, they just magically disappeared. Once Jenna's loaf was gone, the napper moved onto Courtney's bread.
Who it was will forever be a mystery to us.
6. Our roommate from New York. She always talked to us during the wee hours of the night, about scattered topics, typically. She was a chatter, and even though I didn't always understand her variegated rambling, she was a fun one to have met.
7. Our sweet friend Jackie, always in the best of moods and so eager to spread his happiness all around. "I just want to know that...", was a common phrase he would begin with, and always end with an excited, "oh yessss". I'm going to miss this guy; he said he will visit us in Zhongshan before we leave, so hopefully that wasn't the last time I see him.
8. Sweet Carmelo. He was so kind and giving to me the entire trip, whether it was him making sure I had food, that my hair was dry after the shower (he assisted one evening, because my small towel wasn't cutting it) that I got on and off the train quickly enough, etc. he just always went out of his way to make sure I was comfortable and taken care of. However, sometimes I'm resistant to help because I feel bad or am confident I can do it on my own, so him calling me out on my stubbornness gave me a little reality check of how stubborn I really am. He said it so kindly, though, so I took it as constructive criticism, rather than an insult. He's a wise one, I really care about him. It was a sad goodbye this morning, but I'm sure we will all see him again while we are still here.
9. The constant hollers while walking down the halls of the silk and pearl market, "hey girl, you want to buy a scarf" or "come in my shop, I will give you a student discount" etc. etc. Some of the people at these markets were ruthless, but I must admit, my bartering skills did improve greatly throughout. I made a few angry, yet made some good friends as well. These markets were just so fun, I could go everyday for the entertainment alone.
10. One of the funniest, or scariest, experiences of the trip was when I began to slide down the steep slope of the Great Wall. I chose to wear the toms I had purchased the day before, and found that to be a very large mistake. They were cute, yes. But did they have any support or traction? Not in the slightest. On one of the steepest hills we climbed, I lost my footing, fell to the ground, and Courtney tried to help me, but all she had in arms reach was my hair. It was a painful fall, and catch, but it was so funny that I couldn't help but laugh.
Beijing was incredible, I couldn't have asked for a better vacation.
1. The train ride over here. Sitting on the middle bunk with Carmelo, Lexi, Courtney, and myself (the bunks are not that large) and teaching Carmelo how to play BS. He rather enjoyed using that phrase throughout the trip, especially to the vendors who tried to rip me off. Speaking of getting ripped off, a vendor at the silk market was rather frustrated with me and went behind my back and pretended to hit me in the head with my ukulele. Well, good thing Carmelo understands Chinese and what the lady was mumbling about me, and he came in, took the ukulele, and said he would set her shop on fire if she touched me. He's a good one to have around.
2. Beijing. It is rising. That is all.
3. Cedric at 7-eleven, and myself leaning against the tree just outside that a man informed me, after the fact if course, that someone had just peed on. They're all for using the bathroom in the streets, on trees, in trash cans, etc. here.
4. Corn's and my washcloths that we had to use as towels. We aren't the brightest, and forgot to bring a normal sized towel, most of our hostels had provided them before. However, we weren't fortunate enough this time to have one, so we bought two from the front desk. They were pastel pink and green and had lovely embellishments of birds on them. The best part was that they covered about one fourth, if that, of our bodies.
5. The mysterious bread napper. Jenna had purchased a brand new loaf (loaves here are like 6-8 pieces, usually) and counted the pieces, so she could determine how many sandwiches she could make. Each day, a piece of her loaf went missing, but not because Jenna ate it, they just magically disappeared. Once Jenna's loaf was gone, the napper moved onto Courtney's bread.
Who it was will forever be a mystery to us.
6. Our roommate from New York. She always talked to us during the wee hours of the night, about scattered topics, typically. She was a chatter, and even though I didn't always understand her variegated rambling, she was a fun one to have met.
7. Our sweet friend Jackie, always in the best of moods and so eager to spread his happiness all around. "I just want to know that...", was a common phrase he would begin with, and always end with an excited, "oh yessss". I'm going to miss this guy; he said he will visit us in Zhongshan before we leave, so hopefully that wasn't the last time I see him.
8. Sweet Carmelo. He was so kind and giving to me the entire trip, whether it was him making sure I had food, that my hair was dry after the shower (he assisted one evening, because my small towel wasn't cutting it) that I got on and off the train quickly enough, etc. he just always went out of his way to make sure I was comfortable and taken care of. However, sometimes I'm resistant to help because I feel bad or am confident I can do it on my own, so him calling me out on my stubbornness gave me a little reality check of how stubborn I really am. He said it so kindly, though, so I took it as constructive criticism, rather than an insult. He's a wise one, I really care about him. It was a sad goodbye this morning, but I'm sure we will all see him again while we are still here.
9. The constant hollers while walking down the halls of the silk and pearl market, "hey girl, you want to buy a scarf" or "come in my shop, I will give you a student discount" etc. etc. Some of the people at these markets were ruthless, but I must admit, my bartering skills did improve greatly throughout. I made a few angry, yet made some good friends as well. These markets were just so fun, I could go everyday for the entertainment alone.
10. One of the funniest, or scariest, experiences of the trip was when I began to slide down the steep slope of the Great Wall. I chose to wear the toms I had purchased the day before, and found that to be a very large mistake. They were cute, yes. But did they have any support or traction? Not in the slightest. On one of the steepest hills we climbed, I lost my footing, fell to the ground, and Courtney tried to help me, but all she had in arms reach was my hair. It was a painful fall, and catch, but it was so funny that I couldn't help but laugh.
Beijing was incredible, I couldn't have asked for a better vacation.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Day 71: Last Day
The picture below is Mona Lisa. I just thought I would give her a quick shout out because she hooked a sister up with some glasses, prescription and sun, for super cheap today. She is a gem, and just likes to tell me, "don't worry, be happy". Hands down, cutest little Chinese lady, I am so glad that we are now friends.
I bartered hard today, I am quite impressed with how my skills have improved this week, from practice as well as advice from Jackie. I still have much to learn, but I hope to practice more in our last two months here.
Carmelo took Courtney and I out to a delicious Muslim noodle meal for dinner, and we had ravioli type noodles and yummy scrambled egg, green peppers, sauce, and tomato on top of it; is my absolute favorite.
Lexi and I went out together for our last night here, did a little dancing, and then came home to see Carmelo with his Beijing friends, Wendy and Chris. He was quite entertaining with them, I must admit. The weirdness definitely comes out in people the strongest when it gets to be late at night, or at least I use that as an excuse for myself.
Anyways, it was our last full day of this wonderful trip; we depart tomorrow at eleven and have quite the train ride to get home. It's been a great time, though. It was a good and refreshing boost to finish out the semester strongly. It has been blissful and so full of adventure. I just love Beijing.
I bartered hard today, I am quite impressed with how my skills have improved this week, from practice as well as advice from Jackie. I still have much to learn, but I hope to practice more in our last two months here.
Carmelo took Courtney and I out to a delicious Muslim noodle meal for dinner, and we had ravioli type noodles and yummy scrambled egg, green peppers, sauce, and tomato on top of it; is my absolute favorite.
Lexi and I went out together for our last night here, did a little dancing, and then came home to see Carmelo with his Beijing friends, Wendy and Chris. He was quite entertaining with them, I must admit. The weirdness definitely comes out in people the strongest when it gets to be late at night, or at least I use that as an excuse for myself.
Anyways, it was our last full day of this wonderful trip; we depart tomorrow at eleven and have quite the train ride to get home. It's been a great time, though. It was a good and refreshing boost to finish out the semester strongly. It has been blissful and so full of adventure. I just love Beijing.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Day 70: Buddha
Today, I ventured to the lama temple, which happens to contain the world's largest wooden Buddha! There was a plaque that said it was carved out of only one piece of sandalwood, incredible, right? There were a number of different Buddhas there and many people there for worship, which was an interesting site to see. It was neat to see the ceremonial aspect of this religion as well as the Buddhas themselves, it's just not an everyday thing I guess.
I spent the rest of the day at Chaoyang park, which is where the Olympic volleyball games were held in 2008. The park was enormous, and had so much to offer. There was high rope obstacle course, a carousel, big lakes, animal petting zoos, circus games, people getting their wedding photos taken, and best of all, deep fried potato rings on a stick. They're terrible for you, yet they're delicious. Also, saw (and captured) the famous China baby bum flap. This chubby little baby walked by me and I got the perfect picture of his baby bum; so funny and so cute.
After the park, Carmelo, Courtney, and I went and got the warm tortilla/crepe things we get everyday, put peanut butter, honey, and sliced bananas on them, and them ate them together for dinner. It was so tasty, I wouldn't mind having one every day actually.
My feet are worn and my mind is tired, so I am staying in and getting some rest this evening. While on vacation, I think it's ok to stay back and take it easy sometimes. That being said, I'm off to bed.
I spent the rest of the day at Chaoyang park, which is where the Olympic volleyball games were held in 2008. The park was enormous, and had so much to offer. There was high rope obstacle course, a carousel, big lakes, animal petting zoos, circus games, people getting their wedding photos taken, and best of all, deep fried potato rings on a stick. They're terrible for you, yet they're delicious. Also, saw (and captured) the famous China baby bum flap. This chubby little baby walked by me and I got the perfect picture of his baby bum; so funny and so cute.
After the park, Carmelo, Courtney, and I went and got the warm tortilla/crepe things we get everyday, put peanut butter, honey, and sliced bananas on them, and them ate them together for dinner. It was so tasty, I wouldn't mind having one every day actually.
My feet are worn and my mind is tired, so I am staying in and getting some rest this evening. While on vacation, I think it's ok to stay back and take it easy sometimes. That being said, I'm off to bed.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Day 69: May Day
Fresh and warm street tortillas
Full bus with pick pocketers
Summer palace for May Day
Four person pedal boat with Lex, Corn, Carmelo, and I
Races on the only patch of real grass we've seen in China, it's illegal, oops
Silk market, bartering round two
Ray Bans on Ray Bans from cute little Mona Lisa
Hurt feet and blisters from my cheap China shoes, so I went home and took a nap
Good evening walk and life chat with Chlo
Baby bunnies on the street, baby animals get to me
Ukulele jam sesh, learned "I'm yours" by Jason Mraz
Full bus with pick pocketers
Summer palace for May Day
Four person pedal boat with Lex, Corn, Carmelo, and I
Races on the only patch of real grass we've seen in China, it's illegal, oops
Silk market, bartering round two
Ray Bans on Ray Bans from cute little Mona Lisa
Hurt feet and blisters from my cheap China shoes, so I went home and took a nap
Good evening walk and life chat with Chlo
Baby bunnies on the street, baby animals get to me
Ukulele jam sesh, learned "I'm yours" by Jason Mraz
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)