Saturday, December 30, 2017

Chasing Santa - a really long Christmas Eve

It's currently Saturday evening and I have just finished packing my bags to go back to Beijing. I can't say I'm really looking forward to the return trip, but the time differences always make things interesting. This trip, I'm departing on the morning of New Year's Eve and flying west. As I fly west the time will get earlier and earlier until I cross the International Dateline at which point it will become 2018. There won't exactly be a countdown for the new year. Of course, this is sort of making up for my trip from Beijing to North Carolina.
I woke up on Christmas Eve morning and went to church. We had a good service and then went to the home of a couple of the church members who live very close to where we meet (in the German Center). We had an awesome church-wide Christmas party which included having pizza and snacks and singing Christmas songs. I left about 2:30 in the afternoon (the party was still going strong) and took the train (the subway to the airport express) to the airport. I flew to Detroit landing about 10 minutes BEFORE I left Beijing. (I called my grandmother from the Detroit airport. She mentioned that you can't be in two places at the same time and I replied, "Oh, yes you can. I was in Beijing on Sunday, December 24, 2017 at 5:40 pm and I was in Detroit on Sunday, December 24, 2017.")
My flight to Detroit was pretty good. After I checked into the airport, they told me that I could go over to the table that said Merry Christmas and get some Christmas items (It was actually kind of funny because the check-in was conducted mostly in Chinese and so he told me this in Chinese with Merry Christmas being in English because the table had an English banner which said Merry Christmas). I walked over to the table and saw that they had headbands with antlers, santas, and other possible items on them; slap bracelets; and buttons. I chose a really cute antler headband with a bow between the antlers. Then the woman was like, "Oh chose something else." I was surprised that I could have more than one item, but I chose a reindeer slap bracelet. Then she told me to get a button so I got a stocking button. The conversation with this woman started in English, but out of habit, a number of my replies were in Chinese and eventually the conversation turned to Chinese. I don't know if it was because of my Chinese speaking or being a foreigner or what, but next thing I know she's asking to take a picture of me.
When I boarded my flight, the flight attendants all had different Christmas headbands like what I had seen on the table (it was a Delta table and I was flying Delta after all), but none of them had one just like mine. They all reacted instantly to my headband, asking me where I got it and commenting that they hadn't seen one like that. There were additional comments as I deplaned as well. I was a little surprised to see that nobody in Detroit had any of these acutraments. I thought they were probably a Delta-wide thing, but apparently they were in a Delta in Beijing thing.
My flight to Greensboro was delayed a bit because of back-up on the de-icing which was the result of weather systems delaying other flights, but when we boarded the flight attendant was like, "We've got to get you all home before Santa arrives." I managed to land in Greensboro at about 11 pm and made it to Mom and Dad's house about 10 minutes before midnight. My Christmas Eve was 37 hours long and I definitely made the most of it. On Monday, I kept telling stories from the day before and my dad was like, "Your yesterday was a week long." It definitely felt like it. This Sunday however, I am essentially skipping.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

A Trip to a Public Hospital in Beijing

If you've read my blog for a while, you know I have clearly been to a hospital in China before. For that matter, I have definitely been to the hospital in Beijing, (You can read about my adventure with gallstones here.) but I've never been to a public hospital (as a patient - I did observe an open heart surgery in a public hospital in Baotou years ago, but I digress). Last week one of my friends had a lot of problems with ringing in his ears, but his insurance only works in public hospitals. Therefore, on Saturday and Sunday I went with him to help him figure out the hospital (sort of the blind leading the blind) and to translate.
In China, especially in a city like Beijing, there are many different types of hospitals (and by the way there is no such thing in China as a doctor's office. You see doctors usually at the hospital, occasionally in a clinic). When I had issues I went to an international hospital (Beijing United Family) and an international clinic (Vista Clinic). I tried going to another international hospital before I went to Beijing United Family because my health insurance covered care at the other hospital (Oasis) 100%, but at Beijing United Family it only covered 80% of the costs. Unfortunately, the day I went was a public holiday and so everything was closed (including the emergency room), except pediatrics and OB/GYN. Since I don't qualify for pediatrics and it wasn't an OB/GYN problem (it was complications from Influenza A that I had picked up during my Christmas travels), I had to bite the bullet and go to the more expensive hospital. At the international hospitals and clinics it's just like being in a hospital in the US. They have the same standard of care, they same general procedures and often even the same brands of supplies (I don't just mean the big stuff like the medical equipment I mean even down to the little stuff like Kimberly Clark toilet paper dispensers). Of course, the biggest advantage is nearly everyone, from the doctors to the receptionists, speaks English. If they don't (or they can't understand you), they can quickly transfer you to someone who does (they may even be a native English speaker). These hospitals even employ many foreign doctors (although the ones I had were all Chinese). The downside is they come with a U.S.-size price tag. If you don't have health insurance that covers treatment at the International hospitals you probably can't afford to go there (and without insurance that they can bill, you will have to pay upfront for your treatment).
My friend didn't have insurance that covers private hospitals so that meant he needed to go to a public hospital. Now, there is quite a spectrum when it comes to public hospitals. I googled public hospitals with international wings and found one not too far away (this is a very relative term). My friend didn't have time to go on Saturday because of a party our friends were throwing so we tried to go to a nearby hospital (meaning in walking distance), but they didn't have an ENT. I thought he could handle going to the hospital himself, but he asked me to go with him on Sunday so I met him after church at the subway station nearest the hospital (Peking Union Medical College Hospital) . We followed the directions on Apple Maps (remember all Google products are blocked in China) and this led us to the main entrance. Unfortunately, the main entrance didn't include the international wing and it was closed. There were quite a few people gathered outside the hospital waiting and long electronic signs that appeared to be listing the specialties and which days they had available appointment times. From my reading online I knew they had an international wing that should be open at that time, but I couldn't find directions on how to get there. The hospital area was comprised of several buildings, but there was also construction going  on making it more difficult to find the International Medical Services (what they call their international wing). We wandered around and eventually found signs pointing to the emergency room and IMS (in the same location). We walked in the door and had no idea what to do or where to go. We just stood there looking around, puzzled. A guard walked up to us and asked if we needed to see a doctor and then told us to go to the nurse's station. I figured since this was the international wing the nurses would speak English so I instructed my friend to talk to them, but they started to panic and picked up the phone. I then told them it was okay, I would translate. After telling them he needed to see an ENT we were directed to the cashier where he had to pay 5 yuan to buy a card and 1000 yuan (about USD 150) to see the doctor. He could use his debit card to pay for the doctor, but had to buy the card with cash. We were then directed back to the nurses station where they gave him some paperwork and then directed us to an exam room (she tried to tell him in English, but mixed up her numbers leaving us very confused until I clarified in Chinese).
We got to the exam room and there was no one there and so we just waited outside the room (there were chairs just outside the door). The doctor walked up and greeted me (in English) and asked me if I had requested an ENT. I told him I hadn't my friend had. This was one of those really funny situations that happen a lot. My friend is Filipino so the doctor thought he was Chinese. Thus, he figured W was the translator and I was the patient rather than the other way around (this is probably also why the nurses didn't freak out until after he spoke English to them). I waited outside while he examined my friend. Then in order for my friend's insurance to reimburse the visit, he needed some form official diagnosis form. The doctor had to go an get an official paper and fill it out by hand. Meanwhile, my friend had to go back to the cashier to pay for the form (250 yuan or about USD 35) and his medication. Then he took the card he'd bought to the pharmacy where they used that to match him to the prescription. Finally, we went back to the exam room and got the form from the doctor. Definitely, a new experience for both of us.

Monday, December 11, 2017

You're an interpreter in disguise

A while back I heard about the Christmas Bazaar held each year at the Germany Embassy here in Beijing. I heard that it was really awesome and a not-to-be-missed event. Having lived in Germany I was even more interested because it was supposed to have all the typical German Christmas foods. Life got busy and I didn't think about it for a while. On Friday, December 1st I was looking online to see what activities were going to be happening that weekend and I came across the Germany Charity Bazaar (the actual name of the event). I looked into and saw that there were advanced ticket sales, but not online. They were only selling tickets at three locations around town none of which were anywhere close to me and considering the bazaar was the next day it wasn't going to be possible to get an advanced ticket (I never considered the fact it would be quite so early - it doesn't really feel like Christmas around here even now on the 12th). According to the event website tickets would be sold at the door depending on availability. They had to sessions one in the morning and one in the afternoon, beginning at 2 o'clock. I had plans for Friday night and live about 1.5 hours away from the German Embassy so I didn't figure I could make the morning session, but I thought, "If I show up right at 2, it should still be early enough to get a ticket." I shared the word with my coworkers and a few of them decided to join me. One had been the year before and she hadn't had an advanced ticket, so I wasn't too worried. I should have been.
I arrived at the Germany Embassy just moments before 2. My directions actually had me coming up the opposite side of the embassy from the bazaar entrance and so I came across a REALLY long line. I decided I didn't want to get into a line that I didn't know what it was, plus I saw people had tickets in their hands, so I kept walking. And walking and walking. Eventually I found the front of the line and sure enough it was a good thing I hadn't gotten into that first line. It was for people with advanced tickets. The line to buy tickets was on the other side. I found that line and there were some people speaking Chinese who had tickets in their hands. Thus, I told them in Chinese that they were in the wrong line. They thanked me and went to find the correct line. I then stood in line for a long time. After a while I started speaking to the people around me. The women in front of me were Chinese so I spoke to them mostly in Chinese. The couple behind me were a Canadian woman and her Chinese boyfriend. I spoke to them in English. My own friends arrived after I'd been waiting in line for about an hour and a half. They decided they didn't want to wait that long and decided to skip it, but I figured they were letting people in until 5. They would clear the line of ticket holders and then start selling tickets. Since many people had dropped out of the line, I thought I would make it. The couple behind me thought the same thing. We were wrong.
Around 4 pm (after I've waited in line, in the cold, for a little over two hours) a couple of people working the bazaar came out to inform us that there was zero chance of getting in. They had so many advanced ticket holders that they would not be selling any tickets. The gentleman behind me didn't really believe it. Meanwhile, another gentleman was clearly upset. He went up to them and in German explained how they had stood there for two hours and it wasn't right to turn them away. The staff told him (also in German) that they were sorry, but there was absolutely no possibility of getting in. He continued to disagree with them and they continued to be firm and tell him it wasn't happening. I very quietly translated this conversation to the couple behind me. The girl looked at me, "I think you're a secret translator. You speak Chinese AND German. Do you speak Arabic too?" (I would like to learn Arabic, but in case you're wondering, no I don't.)
While I was in line I also met a Chinese girl and a Hong Kong British citizen (meaning she was ancestrally from Hong Kong and has a Hong Kong residence card, but a British passport) who has literally lived all over the world (and is completely fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin) and her Chinese coworker (they were somehow friends with the gentleman behind me and had joined the couple in line). They invited me to go to another Christmas Bazaar that wasn't too far away so that the long trip wasn't a total waste. I decided to go and we took a DiDi (the Chinese equivalent to Uber) to the Hutongs and went to a Tapas bar that had a little Christmas Bazaar going on. I had a good time, but I didn't get the good German food I had been planning on (we were all quite hungry because we had eaten very little lunch in anticipation). Next year, I will make sure to buy an advanced ticket (and probably to make the morning session as well).