As always, it's been another interesting day living in China. Today alone I did several things I never thought I'd do.
1. Exchange cell phone numbers with my teacher.
Today was the first day of class, and it went remarkably well. We took a placement test last week, and they placed me in class C2. The classes range from A (the best) to F (no background in Chinese), so C is somewhere in the middle. However, I was a little concerned before starting that I wouldn't be able to handle the C class. My spoken Chinese is still quite weak. But despite not understanding every single word that came out of the teachers' mouths, I followed class fairly well and was happy with it.
At the beginning of the day, we had 14 students in my class, and I am the only non-Asian. There's one Japanese and 12 Koreans, plus me. Actually, though, I think that will be really good; it will force me to not rely on another student or on English to get through.
My first class was "kou-yu" or speaking class. I was surprised to find out the teacher is a male, 25-year-old graduate from LiaoDa. The class is two hours, but with a ten minute break in the middle. During the break, he approached me and asked where I'm from. We ended up talking for more or less the entire 10 minutes in English. A little bit strange, maybe, but it was nice to know that I will actually be able to get help if I need it. After the end of the full 2 hours, he came back up to me and said he wants to be friends with me so he can practice his English.
Is that kosher in China? Can I be friends with and/or hang out with my teacher?
But we exchanged cell phone numbers anyway.
2. Navigate a Chinese hospital relying solely on my Chinese.
Since the first trip to the Chinese hospital went so well, we decided to go back today. (If you haven't read the earlier post: we went last Friday but accomplished nothing in the several hours we were there.) This time around, the two Belgians, two Czechs, and I decided to take a taxi and go ourselves, instead of waiting for the school bus to take everyone there. Please note, however, that I was only daring enough to do this because the two Belgians are in the A class and speak very well. In fact, the one had served as the unofficial translator the first time we went, since for whatever reason the school didn't think to send someone along who spoke English. So, yes, I had a translator.
We arrived and went upstairs to the office where they confirm your medical records and give you the certificate that allows you to register with the police. But it turns out that the U.S. and China have some differing ideas about medical tests and paperwork procedures. So the doctor refused the evaluations that my doctor in the States had done and said I would have to have it all done again.
That, of course, meant I had to go through a different process than the Belgians, which effectively left me to navigate on my own.
3. Allow a Chinese person to stick a needle in me.
Yes, of course, one of the tests they had to do required taking blood. So they stuck me. But not before they also gave me a chest x-ray, another thing I never expected to do in China. It was a little bit awkward when I understood that he wanted me to take off my shirt but didn't understand what he wanted me to do after that.
4. Have an ultrasound when I know I'm not pregnant.
I know that ultrasounds are used for other things, but it's fun to say that they wanted to make sure I don't have a little one on the way. (Don't worry, there were "no abnormal findings.")
5. Give a urine sample on a squatty-potty.
Another interesting experience. Let's just leave it at that.
1. Exchange cell phone numbers with my teacher.
Today was the first day of class, and it went remarkably well. We took a placement test last week, and they placed me in class C2. The classes range from A (the best) to F (no background in Chinese), so C is somewhere in the middle. However, I was a little concerned before starting that I wouldn't be able to handle the C class. My spoken Chinese is still quite weak. But despite not understanding every single word that came out of the teachers' mouths, I followed class fairly well and was happy with it.
At the beginning of the day, we had 14 students in my class, and I am the only non-Asian. There's one Japanese and 12 Koreans, plus me. Actually, though, I think that will be really good; it will force me to not rely on another student or on English to get through.
My first class was "kou-yu" or speaking class. I was surprised to find out the teacher is a male, 25-year-old graduate from LiaoDa. The class is two hours, but with a ten minute break in the middle. During the break, he approached me and asked where I'm from. We ended up talking for more or less the entire 10 minutes in English. A little bit strange, maybe, but it was nice to know that I will actually be able to get help if I need it. After the end of the full 2 hours, he came back up to me and said he wants to be friends with me so he can practice his English.
Is that kosher in China? Can I be friends with and/or hang out with my teacher?
But we exchanged cell phone numbers anyway.
2. Navigate a Chinese hospital relying solely on my Chinese.
Since the first trip to the Chinese hospital went so well, we decided to go back today. (If you haven't read the earlier post: we went last Friday but accomplished nothing in the several hours we were there.) This time around, the two Belgians, two Czechs, and I decided to take a taxi and go ourselves, instead of waiting for the school bus to take everyone there. Please note, however, that I was only daring enough to do this because the two Belgians are in the A class and speak very well. In fact, the one had served as the unofficial translator the first time we went, since for whatever reason the school didn't think to send someone along who spoke English. So, yes, I had a translator.
We arrived and went upstairs to the office where they confirm your medical records and give you the certificate that allows you to register with the police. But it turns out that the U.S. and China have some differing ideas about medical tests and paperwork procedures. So the doctor refused the evaluations that my doctor in the States had done and said I would have to have it all done again.
That, of course, meant I had to go through a different process than the Belgians, which effectively left me to navigate on my own.
3. Allow a Chinese person to stick a needle in me.
Yes, of course, one of the tests they had to do required taking blood. So they stuck me. But not before they also gave me a chest x-ray, another thing I never expected to do in China. It was a little bit awkward when I understood that he wanted me to take off my shirt but didn't understand what he wanted me to do after that.
4. Have an ultrasound when I know I'm not pregnant.
I know that ultrasounds are used for other things, but it's fun to say that they wanted to make sure I don't have a little one on the way. (Don't worry, there were "no abnormal findings.")
5. Give a urine sample on a squatty-potty.
Another interesting experience. Let's just leave it at that.
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