The other day we had a huge event for the company. 2 or 3 days prior to the patient appreciation event, the translator and all the workers met after work for about 2 or 3 hours.
They were to perform a classical hand gesture dance to go with a song and act two is to sing a song as well.
Around 3 o’clock the day before,was when I discovered a 40 minute speech was expected of yours truly.
During the same time frame my grandma had just passed away and I was processing that too. I think the company is a little bit nervous that I might not come back once I go to the funeral in America for most of January.
The CEO has been taking me to more dinners and got me out of work to attend the Ye people spring festival in the mountains. That should be the next blog post.
While Ling and I were walking she was asking questions about if I would come back, if I was happy here,etc feel safe etc. Also, I kind of mentioned as well that after this year I am looking at other places maybe in Europe or some other Asian countries, but that I plan to stay this whole year.
A contract was signed and I don’t intend to break it. Of course if I stay here my price tag goes up. Depending on how many other Americans are here and how busy the clinic is, will determine my strategy.
Back to the story. Now that I know I’m to talk, I was asking her what all they wanted to hear about. Turns out it’s the classic four questions: when/how did chiropractic start and what it’s all about, what is wrong with me as far as the spine goes, why do I have the symptoms that I have and can they be fixed, and what kind/how many treatment will I need.
Really they wanted me to explain about arthritis, degeneration and bulges and explain why it takes more than the original 10 visits they come to and why they should come the second 10. Also touched on why they should keep working lighter loads during the 10 days, the break of 15 and the next 10 days. (they get treated everyday for ten days) No talk would be complete without stressing the importance of doing the proper exercises to strengthen the spine.
That Friday morning I go to work dressed as usual and I noticed that there’s a buzz around the office. I thought that the event was not until dinner but it turns out it was going to be a lunch function.
The boss had asked me to borrow a tie so I went home and got him one and then when I returned he changed into a suit. Of course I proceed to ask the obvious question, should I be wearing a suit too? So I ran home and showered and then put on my suit complete with my lapel pin with instrument certification rating and tie bar, oh yeah!
To my arriving surprise, the guests are already there. Guests are old patients and potential patients. Turns out the event was to make patients feel special by buying them a nice dinner and entertaining them for a while.
There were a solid 200 people there and the nurses, myself, the professor and the two bosses sat in the very front the room center stage. Now this part may sound ignorant of the world but I was impressed because they had a projector and microphones, a DJ kind of person and a MC that was hosting the whole thing.
The professor talked for 5 or 6 minutes maybe 10 minutes didn’t seem that long about his background and what he does for patients. The professor as we call him does acupuncture but he created a style were they have to an SSID the area and answered a really long needle into the affected area. It seems like they do a lot of facet, shoulder, the knee issues.
Nurses did their song and then their interpretive dance. My only critique would have been to spread them out instead of lined up in 3 rows…that way you could see more people. It was pretty entertaining but I think my video photage not have sound for some reason. We also gave away lots of money.
There was a drawing and me and the professor were able to pull the first ten number and each won 300 RMB. Later on 10 more people got 200 each. I thought it was pretty crazy that the staff actually could win and sure enough three staff won and one of their grandparents too, kinda cool.
I was kind of a big part of the event and the crowd gave great attention to Ling and I. It feels phenomenal to have the full attention of a crowd and them eagerly listening. I felt pretty calm; I think she may have been a little nervous. Don’t think she did stuff like this before. But she heard my speech earlier and really did great.
No voice tremor. I was saying a couple sentences and then she would translate them. Twice I think I may have gone too long and so she would look at me say could you please repeat it. Umm seriously, I have to repeat that again.. what did I just say.. uh give me a sec . But we tried to play it off, I was able to condense and have a second chance at delivering the information.
Not often you can go back and deliver the message better.. on the spot. After the speech the MC asked questions and if you answered it correct, you got a price (toothpaste Colgate and tide detergent powder).
The end of the event everyone got a foam contour pillow. The staff really wasn’t supposed to get one, so we all held back and then near the end they had so many that we were able to. But it sure seemed like not everyone could get one so I tried not to get one.
I was looking at one nurse open her pillow box and then someone took it from her and then proceeded to give it to me ,I was at a table eating fried steak. Later I asked her, was that your pillow because if it was I was not going to take it from you. She said no.
But then when I was going home that night to grab my pillow it was missing, and turns out that she misunderstood me and and took it anyways. I found that out the next morning. Umm okay then.
Bonus :There are a lot more pillows so apparently I just have to ask the manager and he will go get one for me in a room.
The food was very delicious and luckily they had beer not just the white wine so when we went to every single table and toasted it was not too bad on me. But it was a very festive event and it felt like being in a wedding because you go around to see everyone.
Everyone is so excited to talk to you and shake your hand and saying thank you so much for getting them out of pain and back to their normal activities. It just reminded me of a wedding and it’ not a bad thing.
I could describe the stage and the dishes but I think the picture tells the story well enough.
