Crazy times in China!

Well, here we are. It’s November already and most of us have realised that we are only two months away from finishing the China internship.

That being said, so much has happened in the last month it feels like I’ve been here forever!  So, where to start?  Well, much of the latter half of October was spent introducing the students to the joys of Halloween.  We approached the school and suggested we hold a Halloween party for some of the students.

The school agreed immediately as they thought it was a great idea! They even gave us the money we asked for to pay for snacks, drinks and sweets.  As it was the very first time this had been done at the school, all the interns joined forces to make sure it was a success. We invited one class each, made all the decorations, sorted out music and games and used the classes to tell students what Halloween was all about. They even got the idea about costumes.

So, everything’s prepared. We have the sweets, snacks, drinks and games. What could go wrong?  Nothing – for everyone else. As for me, well I had injured my back and so spent Halloween night in a hospital room.

This is probably the point where you’re thinking, “That’s really scary!” And it was at first.  How do you cope with an injury in a foreign country where the medical staff doesn’t speak your language? 

The answer is simple. Take someone with you who can speak the lingo.  I was lucky. I had met a Chinese woman who could speak excellent English and she just happened to have a doctor friend. 

One swift journey to the local Chinese Medicine Hospital later and I’d had an MRI scan, (not scary at all), an IV injection to reduce the swelling, (a bit painful), acupuncture, (didn’t feel a thing), infra-red heat treatment, (lovely), and it was all finished off with microwave treatment, (apparently to sterilise the treated area). 

Not only that, but through the MRI scan they discovered I had an ongoing problem with two discs in my back – something not picked up at home on the NHS! But this is China and this is what they do here.  They MRI you before they do anything else so they can get straight to the root of the problem. 

Since that night I’ve had two further courses of acupuncture (with steam) and I’m now back to full clubbing fitness!  I guess the moral of the story is simple – just because you don’t know how it works, doesn’t mean it’s bad or it’s scary.  The Chinese have been doing this sort of thing for thousands of years and believe me, they know exactly what they’re doing!  One thing to look out for though – it’s popular practice to leave every window and door open in these hospitals, so don’t be unnerved if you suddenly find you are the main attraction for every passer-by, staff and visitors alike!  You kinda get used to it.

This is also the time to mention that my idea of keeping a stash of emergency money paid off big time!  Particularly as the week before I had to go to hospital, I had my purse stolen on one of the local buses.  It’s quite common here apparently so newcomers beware – you need to be extra vigilant, especially around Spring Festival time. 

I have always been careful with my bag and considered a zip with a flap over would be quite safe. Unfortunately not so. Whoever took my purse managed to get past both, which meant the loss of my purse, all my cash and my credit and debit cards!  In addition to which, I had no means of getting home again.  I was stranded and frantic. 

Luckily, again, I was able to call on a local Chinese friend, who immediately came to my rescue.  And he even tried to replace all the money I had had stolen. Of course I wouldn’t accept it but I did borrow 1Y to get the bus home again.  My friend was also able to come to the police station with me to translate my tale of woe, which is a good job because I would never have managed on my own.  Anyway, back to the emergency stash. 

When I came over to China I decided to keep a small amount of money in British pounds for emergencies.  It can be changed at any Bank of China, if you have your passport and are willing to go through a lot of form-filling.  This also makes it less attractive to potential thieves.  So, with some of my cash gone and my credit cards, and hospital treatment to pay for, what else is a girl to do but hot-foot it down to the bank and get some GBP changed into RMB.  The cost of my treatments has not been extortionate (around 400rmb or £40 for an MRI), and they usually don’t ask for the money until your course of treatment is finished, which could take weeks. 

The word of warning here is; if you have any kind of ongoing illness, or recurrence of an old injury, you may find your travel insurance will not cover the costs. You may want to check this out fully before you leave the UK so you can ensure you are covered for all eventualities. So the moral of this little tale is, always keep some money for bus fare separate from your purse, this way you can always get home again, and, it pays you to go out and make friends in the community. Mine have been not only great hosts, tour guides and company, but also true lifesavers in times of need.

On a lighter note, a group of us were asked to attend the birthday party of an old Chinese man on Saturday.  It turned out we were to be the main attraction. A bit of singing and dancing, Happy Birthday sung in English and the Hokey Cokey and we kept the crowds happy. We even got paid 100rmb to do it! And we were invited to stay for the banquet! Now you won’t get that in the UK.  We did our best but we were up against a professional Chinese singer and a saxophonist!  Still we had our ‘foreigner status’ to back us up.  We must have done something right because it’s been proposed that we do more in the future!  I’m thinking there could be a little business opportunity here.  Haha. Only in China!

Anyway, to cut a long story short. The Halloween party was an outstanding success – thanks to my fellow interns for holding the fort on that one, the face painting, apple bobbing and pin the eye on the monster were very popular – and I think it’s something the school will make a regular thing in future.  My back is on the mend, thanks to the wonders of Chinese medicine, and the school have been really supportive, (thanks to Niles at TTC for the good advice and support also). 

And finally, if you put yourself out there, there’s umpteen ways to earn yourself a little extra cash on the side – so what if you have to put aside your dignity now and again?

Bye for now.  Keep smiling – China’s waiting for you!

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