Hospitals in China

How to know you are in a Chinese hospital:
1.  You are bartering over the price of your surgery.
2.  You find yourself pulling away from the doctor because you have forgotten the word for gloves and he is not wearing any/you find yourself eliciting the word for gloves several times per visit.
4.  You are using phrases such as "wo shi lao wai dan shi wo bu shi ben" (I am foreign but I am not stupid) because you are being asked to pay 1000s for something you end up paying 200 for.
5.  There is no soap in the bathroom they ask you to pee in the cup in.
6.  There are people smoking in the waiting rooms, stairwells, hallways and oncology units.
WELCOME TO CHINA!!!

On my third day here in China my school took me to have a physical.  Here is how it went.

April 13

        Today I woke up around 8:45 so I could be taken to the doctors at 9:15. I went to the school where I met Kimi and another Chinese women who would be taking me to the doctors. When we arrived, I filled out a form with help from Kimi since some of it needed to be written in characters. The women at the desk took my picture, typed in my info and handed me a card. 

        The card had several boxes on it with arrows from one to the next. I changed into a top they gave me after being lead upstairs. The first room we went to, there was a man with no shirt on inside wiping his stomach and getting off of a bed. Kimi said to lay down on it and pull up my gown so that they could do an ultra sound to see if I was pregnant, then she left the room. I was a bit surprised to see that they didn't change the bedding or anything, it seemed a bit unsanitary, but I didn't want to be difficult so I got on the bed and laid down. 

         I said "Ni hao" which means hello here. The lady said nothing back. If theres a word for bedside manner she has probably never heard that either I thought to myself. A few minutes later I was on my way to the next room. Here I was told to lay down again on a bed that hadn't been sanitized or changed. The lady said something to me I didn't understand then got Kimi who came into the room and asked me to roll up the bottom of my pants. I did so and the nurse put clips on my ankles, clips on my wrists and clips all over my stomach and chest. She walked over to her computer and then back to me almost immediately, removed all the clips and said "all done" in broken English. I'm still not sure what they were testing for but I walked into the hallway and found Kimi waiting for me. 

        She took me to a counter with a glass window and a hole in front of it. She told me to reach through the hole and grab a cup. I gave a slight laugh and asked if they were clean. Kimi didn't answer, just replied that they this was for a urine test to see if I was again, pregnant or using drugs. I knew I would come up negative for both so I grabbed the cup and went to where the bathroom was. I was surprise to see that the toilets were drop toilets, more surprised to see that the bathrooms didn't have soap. 

        At this point I was disgusted. I couldn't believe that this was any type of medical facility at all. I handed over the cup and asked Kimi where I could find some soap. She looked in the men's room and said that they must be all out today. Coming from such a medical family, you can probably guess how grossed out I was. This clearly was far from the western medicine I knew from home.  

        Next, Kimi said it was time to have a blood test done. There were several young Chinese girls all getting this done in front of me. I kept quiet and watched. The needles that were being used were clean, which made me breathe a slight sigh of relief. No sooner had I fully exhaled did I realize that the nurse had no gloves on. She was going from girl to girl, drawing blood, with NO GLOVES ON. 

        I said to Kimi, "Where are her gloves?" 

        Kimi replied, "Don't worry her hands are clean." 

        Doubtful, I thought, theres not even soap in the bathroom. The countless diseases I could get raced through my head. I didn't want to make a big deal, but there was no way I was letting her hands weren't going anywhere near me unless she wore gloves.

        "Do you think she could put some on when she draws my blood?" I asked. 

        "I'll ask her" Kimi replied, "but what if they don't have any?" she asked. 

        I was getting frustrated and uncomfortable at this point. "Then I won't get my blood taken." I said in a rather blunt matter. It was her job to take new teachers to the doctors, I couldn't believe this was the first she had ever had this problem with this. 

        When we approached, Kimi and the nurse talked for a few minutes. I wish I knew what was being said. I thought the conversation would be quicker. Surely this wasn't an obscene thing to ask for? She found some gloves, showed me they were clean, and put them on before taking my blood. The whole ordeal was done after that.  Needless to say things are pretty different here, this is just another example.  Welcome to China. 

Lao Wei

Lao Wie

          To some we are celebrities, to others we are aliens.  Some want to buy us dinner and drinks, just talk to us, take our picture or video tape us doing everyday things like crossing the street, ordering coffee or eating lunch.  To others we may be the first non-Asian person they have ever been in close proximity to.  To a few, we are scum; representing the changes they don’t want to see or any horrible thing a western person has ever done.  To all we are something to be stared at.  There hasn’t been too many streets I’ve walked down and not felt like someone was staring at me.  It’s not a comforting feeling but I have slowly started getting more and more use to it. 
             Most of the time I embrace as much of it as I can find a way to.  When they stare I say “Ni hao” and hope to work on my mandarin a little.   Sometimes they feel uncomfortable and look or walk away.  I can’t help but smile at strangers even if they are staring at me.  I got a fortune cookie from Tikiport once that said “a smile is a curve that can get a lot of things straight.”  Half the time when someone smiles at you, you cant help but smile back.  It isn’t something that you see a lot of people doing too often anymore, which is really a shame. Having said that, I have noticed more people smile back home then anywhere else I have been so far, which really surprised me. It seemed like so many people back home where miserable, I guess in comparison they really aren’t. 
             In the past few days, I haven’t been smiling as much or as accepting of people staring.   If a week ago you asked me how I felt about being here I would have told you that the only dislike I have about Fuzhou is not being able to see the stars.  But our paradigms of places are forever shifting with the experiences that happen while we are in them. 
            Racist acts and what we refer to as “hate crimes” back in the states, occur all over the world every day.  Not every racist act is a hate crime. Racist acts aren’t all together new to me.   From being told I would need to move tables in the cafeteria in my high school, to having a women point to my skin and say “no sale”, I have experienced a variety over time.  Hate crimes are different.  They are most often violent and instill fear. 
           Within the past month a Chinese women in Beijing was allegedly raped by a foreigner from the UK.   There is a recording going around of it on the internet.  Its pretty graphic, and ends with the foreigner, or “lao wei” as we are referred to here in China as, getting badly beaten up by several men.  Because of the incident, the people in china are pretty upset with the foreign population at the moment.  If you can manage to find the video on a Chinese website such as http://www.youku.com/ you can read some of the comments and opinions of what the Chinese people think about what happened and foreigners in their homeland.  Most likely they are just the opinions of the people who are very upset, but they aren’t good. 
            A few nights ago it was one of the teachers going away party. We all had a great night together and we attempted to end it with a group of us eating street food in an area we frequent a few times a week. I was with a manager and other staff that has lived here for years and it didn’t occurred to me that I was somewhere dangerous.  Fights had happened there before, but what bar hasn’t had a fight in it?    None had ever involved any of us or any other foreigners that we knew of and the staff where we got food from was always friendly to us. 
             As we were saying our goodbyes, check paid, a presumably drunk, Chinese man started screaming at us.  His friends tried to quiet him and apologized.  My Chinese language skills are a work in progress, and I still don’t know what he was saying.  We had done nothing to upset him and didn’t say a word or respond to his apparent fit of rage at the sight of us.  We got up and left.
              They followed us outside.  We started walking down the street towards where the cabs were.  The next thing I knew I was on the ground.  The angry Chinese man had came up beside me and sucker punched me in the face.  I was with almost all men. The Chinese man had wanted a fight and now he was going to get one.  What kind of a guy sucker punches a 100lb girl in the face? When I got up punches were already being thrown.  As I looked around I saw the street coming alive with people coming out of the woodwork. 
            When you’re in a foreign country it doesn’t matter what started the fight, if you are a foreigner you are the enemy and the locals will not be taking your side.  That’s just how it works.  I had seen similar a situation in Cambodia that almost resulted in someone dying before my eyes and no one caring enough to even call an ambulance.  The value of a human life is different in places like this and moral codes such as not hitting a woman in the face don’t necessarily apply here. It was suicidal to stick around, so I asked my friends to come with me, and then left hoping they would follow me.  They didn’t and most ended up in the hospital.  
            I am okay and my friends either are or are going to be.  That’s the most important thing.   No matter how many times I replay what happen in my head or how I could have done things differently it doesn’t really matter, this situation is well on its way to being behind me.  I do feel slightly responsible no matter how many times people have told me not to because my friends got hurt trying to defend me.  I almost wish I had been on my own when it happened so I could have taken the punch, picked myself up and walked away without further issues.  But the man’s fight was never with me.
            I believe that what happened was in direct result to the media around the alleged rape of the local women in Beijing.  Videos like the one on the internet help to form stereo types of foreigners being the enemy.  I can’t speak for every foreigner in China but I came here to teach English, learn the language and immerse myself in a culture completely different then my own, not to hurt anyone.  
            Fuzhou is a safe city.  I know its hard to believe that given the story that I just told, but it is.  My boss has been here 9 years and says he has never encountered an incident like this until now.  Worse things have happened where I’m from on Cape Cod to women of my age and race.  Bad stuff happens everywhere. You roll the dice every time you walk out the door anywhere you are, this is no exception, and I refuse to hide scared under a rock so that nothing bad ever happens to me.  I do however recognize that I am not indestructible, and needless to say I will not be returning to that area at that time of night. 
           The incident has for the time being, distorted how I see the people here when I am face to face with them.  I wonder what they think of me as they stare.  What my students think about foreigners and if they will grow up disliking me and what I represent.  More then ever I know this will never be home. I have had my moments of wanting to pack up and take off, knowing its something I am good at and have down to a 10 minute routine.  But I signed a one-year contract and will be honoring it.
           I grew up thinking that things like racism and hate crimes were wrong, but concepts are different everywhere you go and that angry Chinese man was obviously raised differently then me.  What’s important to remember is that this is just one day out of that year.  I’ve had so many amazing experiences so far and I’m sure there will be more to come.  I am looking forward to sharing them with who ever wish to read them.  Things aren’t the same as what we are partial to back home and this experience makes that very clear, which is why I figured I would start with it.  I’m 12 time zones away on the other side of the world, as far away from home as is possible without leaving the planet and things aren’t suppose to be the same.  Welcome to China. 

Welcome to China

Welcome to China

           I left The States on September 11, 2011, nine months ago this coming week.  After 7 months of backpacking 5 countries in Africa, 8 countries in Europe and 6 countries in Asia, I decided to put my bag down for a while and teach English in China. 
           I filled the last pages of my journal in Vietnam. 

             “I finally caught up to Linda and Ged [in Hanoi].  The three of us and Russell had a few beers together on the roof of a hostel. [I had spent a lot of time with Linda and Ged (and our friend Kirsty) in Thailand and Lao and had at last met up with them again here, with only an hour or two to catch up before they had to leave for their flight.  Russell, I had backpacked Vietnam with, along with our friends Jeremy and Aiden.]
          I had felt a sense of family with both groups and it was nice to see them come together.  Just a short while ago, I had no idea that any of them had even existed. We now were willing to not only except each other’s differences, but learn from them and get an inside look at our cultures by doing so.  As I looked at the three of them together I couldn’t help but smile even though I knew we would all be parting ways soon.
            It makes me sad to think of the adventure as over, all of them headed to different parts of Australia on one year work visas, and myself to China.  A part of me really wants to follow everyone else and go there, but its not in my cards right now.  I am headed North for my own adventure.  All good things come to an end, and my backpacking adventure is over… for now. 
           There is a whole other culture out there that until 2 years ago I had no idea even existed.  We surround ourselves with only those we truly want to be around.  We’re where we want to be, and if that changes we can be gone with everything on our backs in 10 minutes or less, never looking back at who or whatever is in out wake.  Strangers to friends, friends to family.  The highs are high, the lows are low.  No memory can ever be recreated.  Our biggest worries vary.  Some worry about how to change the world while others worry about what their next meal is going to be.  We all worry about bed bugs.  We are leaving our dent, and the world will never look the same to us by the time we’re done with it.  We are backpackers.” 

           And just like that my backpacking days ended (again, for the time being).  I had three interviews over the course of three days and received three job offers.  The one in Fuzhou seemed like the best deal, and before I knew it I was walking off the plane and being greeted by a girl named Kat with red curly hair in my new city.
           Fuzhou is a typical Chinese city, with a population of about 7 million.   As typical as it may be to 1.Something billion people in the world, it is unlike any city I have ever set foot in.  I have now spent almost the last two months here.  During that time I have only met a handful of other western people living in Fuzhou that I don’t work with.  I work with about 40 western people, so in comparison to the 7 million Chinese, our western population isn’t very big.  This is not a tourist destination, and although immense in size, could be considered off the map here in China.
           There isn’t a day that passes that I don’t learn something new.  Some lessons are bigger and more shocking then others, but most could probably be summed up in a paragraph or with a photo.  These experiences are the biggest reason I have decided to start blogging.