Justin has been quite busy these past few weeks. As previously mentioned, I know work at Yadong Hospital.
Thursday the 26th was Doctor Appreciation day in China and they set up a stage (red of course) and had some speeches and some singing. They introduced the chiropractic department and it was the official opening of their new cancer treatment wing via Chinese Medicine. I do not know much more about it than that.
My job duties were really quite simple. For 3 or 4 of my afternoon shifts I would adjust a handful of patients and when the other American was off work I would adjust all day. We were seeing less than 20 a day so I had plenty of down time. I spent a lot of it #learningfrench via #duolingo. I got to level 5 and surmised a 5 day streak, which has now been vanquished.
Also caught up on 24, that show is so good. If I did not mention it earlier, the marketing director lived in France for 17 years so we tried to parle francais un peu. She liked my pronunciation.
Another top-ish person asked how I was doing with Chinese. I told him, I was spoiled with my translator always hanging out with me. Several months into the contract I noticed I wasn’t studying too much and then at some point I just stopped trying. Squandered that opportunity to learn a new language perfectly. Well at least I know a few buzz words and stuff.
The other half of my day was spent marketing. Even in the big city of Kunming, if you venture onto a side road you find that the little village type communities still exist. Sure the houses are still 3-4 stories but they pale in comparison to the 18 story ones that surround the village. These were the places we would set up.
Put a tent up, a few banners, and attract people away from the vegetable shopping just long enough for me to palpate their spine and find out what was ‘tong bu tong’.
One day we went to a 5 city block 5 story mall and we screened close to 60 people, normally we do 20-25. Most people are real receptive to it. Now I’m not sure if they schedule them in but at least that’s not my problem.
Another day we had two crazy things happen. We had the proper permit to have a booth at the market but the lady whose space we occupied did not. But she was not really in our way but the police were not too thrilled about her. She was selling wooden spoons and wicker half baskets. They kicked the spoons around and after an hour or two she finally moved.
Same day in eye shot of us this lady hit her husband once or twice with a big stirring spoon she used to cook with. He then grabbed something and hit her back a few times. Then she got super pissed and grabbed a machete blade. Luckily a few people finally stepped in and stopped her from slicing the guy open on the street like a fresh fish butcher that was next to us that day.
Side note: those fish butchers can clean a fish super quick… and since they cook with most of the bones still in the fish, it makes it easier. Once with Ling, we cleaned 50 small fish before lunch. I met an old English lady riding a bike one day too.
It was unknown if I would work the Saturday and Sunday before I left china on the 1st of July, but luckily I did. Hey that was an extra 3000 RMB; I still had 1.5 days to finish packing up to leave.
went to a village one day and even though it was rainy cold and foggy, they delivered blankets and food to two poor villages. pretty cool
FENCING
As you may have seen from social media, I found a fencing club. One day we marketed at a 24 court badminton gym and inside the space a fencing club sublet a 4 track size space. While there the male translator helped me negotiate a price per class and we even got the price of equipment. I needed a few things to make my sword fighting ensemble complete and their price was great…for same quality material.
Three of the coaches were in the Chinese Olympics and I was taught by all 3 at some point, along with a master fencer trainer on my last session. I had 11 sessions total. Yup that means I nearly went every night I was in Kunming.
Hauling around my new equipment about half the time through 25 minute walks and subway rides.
Each session was roughly 90 minutes and cost a whopping $8. I did 7 epee trainings and started realizing that I don’t really care for it. Since it had been about 13 months since fencing in Denver, I had forgotten.
Really while in Denver I trained in all 3 because the idea was that it takes a little time to figure out what you will enjoy. Apparently you should pick one style and learn that one. Then it hit me, I really enjoyed saber. I got a price quote, negotiated it down and after comparing that price to online prices and factoring in shipping back to the states…it was determined I would purchase saber gear too.
It is by far more expensive because the metallic lame (vest) is actually long sleeve and the helmet is all metal laced too. It was a blast learning the perry repost and counter attack etc.
Did I mention they don’t speak english? Luckily the main guy Shia had a girlfriend who could translate and she showed up about half the time to help out. Another guy could direct me because he knew the jargon. Seventy five % of the time though was all body language.
Warm up exercises they had to demonstrate and they would show how I did it wrong and then what is right. It did get a bit frustrating one day because we were doing one exercise and then the coach would change or add something and I would be lost. I would try to do it slow to learn the steps and then he would be all Faster. I worked through it and enjoyed myself immensely. We even used a computer to help translate key phrases that of correction, reasoning and encouragement.
5 days a week is a bit much though, thank goodness I only was that gung-ho because of my limited time with them. A thank you letter and letter of recommendation was written and they were appreciative and sad to see me go…as was I. One night they took me out to dinner and another night I stayed late because they wanted to hear and find some popular USA music.
Bo le fencing club. Great stuff. I was so thankful that they didn’t see the communication barrier and my short stay as a complete waste of their time.
Last Days
On my last day I went to the post office with my fencing gear but they wouldn’t mail it. First it was that it would take two boxes taped together. Then it was the swords may pose a problem in customs and finally it would cost double of what it should. I went back and packed it out with as much clothes as possible and then mailed my mid-size bag instead.
Turns out all I really had to put in that bag was winter clothes and it was a pretty decent price all in all. Airline was cool with my fencing gear as a second bag.
I saw the latest transformers (4) the night before I left and then went to another 24 hour stay Spa. I want to discuss the ridiculous bank stuff first. Three days before I left I got paid and so I took what I thought I would need as cash. Well after last minute souvenir shopping and spa plans I wasn’t sure if I would need more…so I waited till day of leaving to transfer my money. Last day came and boc was having technical problems.
Normally to buy online you get a text message with special code and you have to generate a code on a special device you buy from the bank. It came to our attention that I may or may not be able to get an international text once in the states. So the verdict was to buy the usb code device and bypass the other steps. Hopefully that all works as expected.
What makes this all crazy is the fact that this all occurred two hours before leaving to my plane ride. YIKES! I find myself losing my temper and being aggravated easily when dealing with things in china. I hate that so I try to apologize to the people before I leave and they are always understanding. What I should have done was transfer the money sooner and just exchange the left over RMB once in America. Another lesson learned the semi-difficult way.
The spa was pretty chill even though a bit confusing for us all. I had one prior experience so at least I was somewhat prepared. Upon entering they take your shoes and give you flip flops. Next up was the locker.
They wanted me to get naked and walk to the men’s bath area. I ended up having to call the female translator. Please tell them I want a Robe or pajamas or my euro bathing suit or just a tour and lay of the land.. I DO NOT want to walk NAKED..yet. It took a while but we figured it all out.
Took a nice shower and then went eat. Laid out on the reclining comfy chairs and read a bit. Then went to the bath house because I wanted a massage and I was killing time waiting for my turn. It is quite a sight to walk into a room with a bunch of naked men in different positions getting massaged by male staff.
Well at this point I was like, I’m keeping those tiny trunks on and I don’t care what you say about me in a language I can’t understand. First up was an exfoliating hand pad that he used to scrub my whole body with. I mean he got aggressive, I looked down and saw dead skin tearing away. Followed by an oil rub down (more a rub than a massage). I wasn’t sure what to say…i paid extra for this and it wasn’t really a massage. On the bright side, new experience and hey my body was all shedded.
After I left that area, I decided I can walk around naked like the rest of them, I just didn’t want a massage with my junk bouncing around in another guys direct vicinity.
Dry sauna is next followed by a soak in the hot pool and another shower to clean myself all off. Time for more recliner relaxing with coke and coffee…oh is it time to eat again at 11:30pm..sure will. It was a buffet of fruit and 12 or more different dishes. Some were good others were not…but frozen ice cream out of a machine was a nice dessert each time.
At this point I had to make a decision, do I get a massage by a girl in the recliner before bed or in the morning. While sitting in the recliner, it took about 3 people but we figured out which massage I wanted. There was a 1/2 cost leg and foot massage or a full body for twice the cost. I think they went with the more costly of the two. Who cares for 20 bucks instead of 10 right? I could totally give someone “the Classic Chinese Recliner Massage”. I’ve had quite a few and frankly they tend to all do it about the same…which is quite different than the kind we are used to back home…but I like it well enough.
Slept on that chair with a blanky and had breakfast and lunch their the next day. Got to watch France score 2 goals while doing alternating hot and cold pool soaks during the morning hours between meals. Heck the price was only 2/3rds of what I expected so Yippie for me. ShuFu baby ShoeFu!
this is a master plan model for an area of the city. Gigantic buildings and tons of them.
Well, I wrote this while flying home and China adventure is complete
signapore and moscow airports
