I should learn how to write my name...

Whoops. Somehow this slips past me ½ the time. I faithfully check everyone else’s blog through following on my little blogger dashboard thingy, but writing myself… that pretty much only happens if I plan on it by taking my laptop into the office (where there is no Internet so I can focus on just writing word docs). Anyways, enough excuses…

Now I have to tell you about TWO trips to Chinese clinics!

1) I was sick. It was special, some sort of Primary School Teacher Flu that rendered me completely zapped of all energy and unable to eat anything other than a few crackers. So we went and saw an ex-pat friend of ours who has a little clinic on the other side of town. She’s fantastic. She decided to take me to another clinic to get my blood drawn to double check that it was just a little virus. We walk into this clinic and it was empty. I don’t know how to convey how completely bizarre that is in this country. Empty… and quiet. It was like they were filming a horror movie there – I would give you a reference but I don’t watch horror movies because they are scary beyond all reason, so you can imagine how exciting this was for me! We went to the back, and this conversation ensued:

(In Chinese)
Nurse: What’s her name?
Carol: Amanda
Nurse: No, her Chinese name.
(English)
Carol (to me): What’s your Chinese name?
Me: Uh…
(Chinese)
Carol: She doesn’t have one.
Nurse: She must. Give her one.
Carol: Can’t you just write her English name?
Nurse: No. It is impossible. She must have a Chinese name. Give her one.
Carol: Whatever – you write a name. Make it a good one – a girl name!

After that, it was standard-ish. Whole thing cost RMB21… just a little over $3.

2) My physical for next year. That was in a different clinic and absolutely amazingly clean and cheap! Whole thing cost RMB280 – about $42. This is great considering the amount of tests they ran – normal physical stuff (blood pressure, height, weight, eyes, blah blah) as well as an EKG, chest x-ray, blood tests, and, my personal favorite… an ultrasound. Seriously? Good news – not pregnant.

Speaking of next year (I’m a fan of segue…) – I’m moving to Lanzhou! It seems as though the Father has been preparing me for this for a while – dust storms similar to Lubbock and pollution like Taiyuan! Despite this, I’m still really excited – proof positive that the Father IS indeed working in this! =) I’ll be on a team with 4 other people, a couple that I already know and are pretty much the definition of fun, and then 2 others that I don’t know much about, other than their names. I’m excited about so much for next year – the university campus, the relationships with students, students actually speaking English, different culture of Western China, riding a camel to school across the sand dunes, etc etc! There is a running joke on the team – I LOVE Muslim food, it’s my favorite that we can get here in China, and I’ll be living in a city with a large population of minority groups. So… I’ll be able to eat “all the baby sheep that my heart desires”! Nothing beats a good lamb chuar, with a generous helping of cumin (skewer of roasted meat).

This entry is already too long. Catch ya later!

PS – Computer is acting better… USB’s work if I restart the computer. Bizarre… but thanks for all the advice! And I’ll GLADLY switch to a Mac if Scott buys me one!