Chinese Flu

I got sick.  I haven't been sick in awhile and I kinda failed at being sick--because I went to work the day after having a fever, thinking I was better.  I forgot my chord to show the powerpoint, was a bit irritable, and ended up staying home the rest of the week.  But when I felt no better I headed to the hospital on Friday.

Chinese hospitals are more like health clinics.  After being worried every time a student has e-mailed me headed to the hospital, I know understand that hospitals are where you go for everything.  Simon, one of the Chinese staff from work, picked me up with a hired driver.  We made it to the hospital where it was a mere 5 yuan to get a ticket to to see a Dr.  She was nice, and diagnosed me almost instantly with Chinese flu (or that was the translation Simon provided).  I was not very sure what they thought I had, but I found myself paying for a 17 yuan blood test, getting the test done, and eventually bringing the results back down to the doctor, who was eating her lunch.  She smiled, so maybe blood work is good? I'm not sure still.  She prescribed three mystery medications; one to take tomorrow; one to take three times a day and one to take today--as an infusion.

But before the infusion, I needed to eat something, so Simon and I left and found some bread, which was about all my appetite could hold.  We returned to the infusion people and they got the needle in my left hand.  All was well until I felt a very strange sensation which Simon realized was probably because the fluid was going into my hand, but maybe not my veins.  There was a rather large bump on my hand.  I could only laugh.  Because when you don't understand something you can fear it or you can laugh.  Needless to say, I laugh a lot in China.  They switched the needle to my other hand and after 2 hours, I was free to go.

We took a taxi back and Cynthia popped over and made me a delicious chicken broth and rice soup.  Sarah offered to make rice porridge.  Jerry, Cindy, Hans and Laurrr (the August crew) came over that night for a ten-minute visit to make sure I was alive.  Mark, the principal, brought over his homemade chicken soup the next day and by Saturday evening I was finally starting to feel a bit better.

When I get sick, I always get super-stressed, which never ever ever makes me feel better.  Thanks to Mark's decision that I was not to come to school, I was able to take time off and start feeling better.  And thanks to the offers of food and care, I felt much of the stress melt away.  Though I am now behind in my teaching plan...but so what.  I've been behind the whole year starting in October and that hasn't stopped me yet.  Besides, I'm a 1st year teacher...I need to learn to give myself some credit for getting through the 5 chapters I've gotten through!

This week, though not what I was hoping for, was maybe what I needed: to be still, to watch too many movies, too feel cared for and loved by new friends, and just relax.  This is a stressful life, but that was part of the appeal.  If I can survive this year, just think of how much stronger I'll be?  Think of how much more I'll be able to cope with!  Or so I tell myself, buddy-boo, when things feel like they are starting to spiral out of control (which is only because I pretend to have some silly sense of control in this new and foreign environment that I rarely understand).


Now...what am I doing on my break? It's still weeks away, but Chinese New Year means the great migration as sons and daughters trek to their home times for Dragon Year festivities and thus plane and bus tickets will be scarce.