Chinese Surgery

Unfortunately our good friend Kevin was injured playing Gaelic football on Saturday, April 9 (I know we're behind again on updating the blog), when he collided with another player during a practice game. After two days of pain, Kevin and Leon made a trip to the local clinic and after the doctor there showed Kevin & Leon information about his condition using her iPad they visited the hospital. The hospital, doctor through a hired interpretor, that he fractured and dislocated his shoulder and tore all of the ligaments and as a result would need to have surgery the next morning.


On Wednesday, April 13, to provide moral support, I accompanied them to the hospital where he would have surgery to insert a metal plate into his shoulder to connect the fractured bone. When we arrived we were assigned a room in the VIP area which is attached to the regular hospital though an underground tunnel. The room looked very much like a 4 star hotel room; it had two large twin beds, a flat screen TV, and a refrigerator. 


Shortly after we arrived a male nursing assistant came in to prepare Kevin for the surgery by shaving his chest, underarm & arm. He and the nurses thought it was very funny that Kevin had as much hair as he did. The nursing assistant came back several times after a nurse inspected Kevin and decided that the nursing assistant hadn't shaved enough hair. After Kevin was shaved we anxiously waited in his room for him to go into surgery. He was instructed not to eat or drink, even water, from 10:00 p.m. the night before in anticipation for his 9 a.m. surgery, but he didn't go into surgery until 7:15 p.m.


When the nurse finally came to get him we were surprised to see that they simply took his down comforter from his bed and placed it on a dirty gurney. They then asked him to lay down on the gurney. The nurse was very concerned that he didn't have a hat and tried to place a hand towel on his head because they said that he would catch a cold if he didn't have anything on his head. Kevin wasn't too keen on this idea. When we got to the hallway we discovered that myself, Leon and our friend Cindy were expected to physically push him through a dirty dungeon of a basement to the operating department. When we were in the elevator almost to the operating department the nursing assistant escort turned to Kevin and asked if he was nervous. Kevin responded, "No, are you." The nurse responded, "Yes, it's my second day." Thankfully we assumed that she wouldn't be allowed into the operating room.


Once we reached the operating department, our friend Cindy translated the legal paperwork Leon had to sign since none of the personnel spoke English. Then they indicated that Kevin would be awake for the surgery. Of course this was a bit alarming. Kevin and Leon quickly responded indicating that he didn't want to be awake for the procedure. Thankfully Cindy was there to translate or Kevin may have been awake for his three hour surgery. 


Cindy, Leon and I were lead to a waiting room for friends and relatives of people having surgeries. We noticed it was a bit different than Western waiting rooms. There were individuals smoking and a family has pounding hard alcohol. We also noticed that there were two TVs built into the wall and they were labeled TV 1 and TV 2. After awhile, on the screen on one of the TVs was a view of a man laying on a hospital bed, seemingly still under. We learned this was the other group's family member coming out of surgery after having a "bowel full of tumors removed from his head."


After about three hours we could hear the word "Westerner" over the loud speaker and decided that they may be referring to Kevin so we went to the first floor of the hospital searching for Kevin. Luckily, as we were frantically searching, the elevator opened and we saw Kevin who was wide awake and moaning in pain. We were alarmed since we had expected him to be out of it and comfortable. Now two other nurses and a doctor were pushing him back through the dungeon basement tunnels to get him back to his VIP room. Interesting enough they didn't have any clue where to go and Leon and I had to run ahead and look down hallways to figure out how to get back to his room as they pushed the gurney and knocked Kevin's shoulder into the walls. When we reached the room Kevin was lifted into his bed and the duvet was placed on top of him. He was in an incredible amount of pain, but the nurses couldn't be found. Finally after 20 minutes the nurse gave him a shot of pain medication in his butt, but we didn't know what type of medication. He was then hooked up to several monitors. Over the next two hours we begged and pleated with the nurse to administer more medication and some water, but she said in broken English that this was the only medicine and he couldn't have any for 2 hours. The nurse said he couldn't have any water, but could be given ice chips. We asked where we could find the ice chips and she said they didn't have any. It must have been the longest two hours of Kevin's life. While Kevin was in horrifying pain, the nurse asked Leon to sign some paperwork, which included that someone would be with Kevin 24 hours a day while he was in the hospital. During this time we did get a hold of our friend Cindy who conveyed that they had given him morphine, the best pain medication that they had. Not knowing what to do, did my own internet research to see if they gave him enough, (although I'm not sure what we could have done if we thought he could be given more, I'm not a doctor). Later Kevin told us that he could hear Leon & I whispering about the amount of medication he was given & thinking how crazy this situation was. Exactly two hours later we went to the nurse to administer the additional medication and his pain began to wain just a little.


The next morning, after a sleepless night, Kevin was told by a laughing and English speaking nurse that he wasn't very strong because he needed so much pain medication... Lesson learned, the Chinese don't have the same philosophy about pain medication as Westerns. 


Later in the day, the nurse asked Kevin when he had received his last dose of pain medication instead of tracking his medication on a chart. Over the next week Leon was told to get out of bed at 6:00 a.m. after only several hours of sleep, so the nurse could make the bed. The nurses also instructed to keep the room very clean because the nurse manager may stop by. Each day while in the VIP room, Leon and Kevin were given a bill and asked to pay for the previous day's services and in advance for the night stay. The entire surgery cost 19,292.16 RMB equivalent to less than $3,000 for surgery, treatment & 7 days in hospital. The interesting thing is the anesthesia was less expensive than the surgery itself. Again, very different from Western hospitals. 

The actual bill for the entire hospital stay & surgery. Notice the name is just "Kevin."

Kevin being shaved by a nursing assistant.

Kevin trying to rest after surgery.

Kevin sporting his nice hospital issued pajamas.

The scare.

*All photos courtesy of Kevin.


Update: Kevin's doing well. He returned to week after 4 weeks recovery and the doctor said his bone is almost completely healed.

Naked Spa

Over the past couple of months there’s been a lot of talk about a hot spring spa, a.k.a.the naked spa. The spa is attached to a hotel within a 10 minute walk from our apartment. From all the hype, all I really understood was that you had to be naked, no swim suits allowed! Many of my Western friends aren't too keen on a naked spa.  A couple of weeks ago my friend Cindy, who is Chinese, asked if I wanted to go with her. I thought a day at the spa sounded wonderful, naked or not.

When we arrived, I was surprised that we didn’t need to check in. We simply were handed a plastic bag, which contained a white hand towel & were escorted to a locker room. Cindy began taking off her clothes & I realized there wasn’t any warming up to this naked spa thing, you walk in and take off your clothes… so I took off my clothes.

 

After getting naked, we went to the pool area where there were many naked Chinese woman. There were multiple indoor pools in varying temperatures. There was also an outside hot tub and a wet and dry sauna. It was nice. We headed for an indoor hot tub. From the hot tub I noticed that there were small cubical type stations at one end of the room where it appeared women were scrubbing, with a towel, the bodies of other women. It’s not something I've seen in the U.S. From there we went to a special area to get a body scrub from an employee of the spa. The employees in this area were wearing matching bras and underwear. The underwear had the word "Rosy" bedazzled on the front of them. I guess that was their work uniform. The area had a number of large cubical type areas with 3 foot walls and large doorways. I lied naked on a massage table and had an employee used the white hand towel I was given when I arrived (so that’s what the towel is for), to give me a full body scrub, or at least that’s what I thought I was going to get. After a short bit my friend translated that the employee was stopping the scrub because I wasn’t “dirty.” Instead I agreed to a full body milk massage. The milk massage was $5.80.

After the milk massage we were issued pajamas, which were pink flannel shorts and matching tops, so we could leave the woman only area and have lunch. We enjoyed a delicious hot pot lunch Hot pot is where customers choose raw meat, seafood and vegetables and cook them in a pot with either spicy or bland broth at their table. After lunch we went to a lounge area where we got a 2 hour head, shoulder, leg and foot massage for about $21. We also checked out the communal sauna where both men and woman can lounge in there cool pajamas (men wear the same pajamas, but they are blue). Six hours later we left the naked spa. I’m a fan.

Needless to say, there are no photos associated with this post...

Old School Chinese Wedding

We recently attended a traditional Chinese wedding. Our friends Preston & Maria are American, but have lived in China for several years managing an English school called Jayland Learning.  They decided to go all out and have guests dress in traditional Chinese dress and follow many Chinese wedding ceremony traditions that most don’t follow any longer. We had a great time.

Here are some photos from the day, which includes Andrew wearing a dress:

The procession. The bride was carried from her home to the venue
with the groom walking in front.

Firecrackers shaped in a heart, notice the guy lighting
the firecrackers has a cigarette.

 

The groom relieving the beautiful bride.
The bride's face was covered most of the ceremony.

Andrew's dress was a favorite among male guests.

The bride & groom & us.

Andrew posing with his lunch crew.

The banquet style reception.

Enjoying the dinner.

Trying a cold chicken foot (a favorite amongst the Chinese) & Andrew's look of disgust.

Andrew not enjoying what he just placed in his mouth.

Cultural Introduction

A few weeks ago (I know, we're a bit behind updating the blog), Andrew and I attended 16 hours of China cultural training. The training was conducted by a company, Jayland Learning, which Intel contracts with to provide all Intel ex-pats and families an introduction to China. There were 9 people in the class. Five of them had been in China for over a year and we've been here already 6 months, so it wasn't exactly an "introduction," but helpful nonetheless. It helped us understand, at least a little bit, why some Chinese do the things they do. 

Here are a few random things we learned about the Chinese culture during the training:

• Chinese people typically do not directly communicate their true intentions, known to us as beating around the bush (much different from Andrew & my “direct” communication sytleJ)
• Chinese generally try to avoid direct confrontation; try not to make the other person look bad.
• Rather than responding with a direct yes or no, Chinese will often say things such as "it is inconvenient" or "I'll try my best," which means no, without saying no.
• Yes doesn't always mean yes. For example, when asked 'Do you understand,' and a person responds yes, it could only mean, 'Yes, I'm listening.'
• China is a collective-oriented society. Collectivist cultures expect people to identify with and work well in groups which protect the group in exchange for loyalty and compliance versus individualist cultures, such as the U.S., where individual uniqueness and self-determination is valued.
• As a westerner, our presence at a Chinese social function, such as a wedding or community event, is often viewed as something special and could raise the host's prestige and social standing.
• Never give a Chinese person:
• A clock. The phrase "to give a clock" means to attend someone's funeral in Chinese.
• An umbrella. The Chinese word rhymes with the word 'separate or break up.'
• Pears. The Chinese word rhymes with saying 'saying farewell' which is linked to breaking up or death.
• Scissors or anything sharp as it symbolizes severing relations.

In addition to the classroom setting, there were a lot of Chinese activities that we took part in. 

Traditional tea set-up

Following instructions, smelling the tea before tasting it.

Chinese artist

Our Chinese names: bai ting ya & bai an de.

Attempting to learn Tai Chi

Making traditional Chinese dumplings.

Traditional Chinese hot pot.

We ate all of the shrimp, eyes & shell included.

Learning how to write Chinese characters.

Pizza Anyone?

Andrew ordered pizza for his team last week. Since he doesn't speak Chinese he asked the administrative assistant, Cherry, to call. 

He asked her to order these pizzas:

1)      Cheese

2)      Meat & Veggie

3)      Veggie

When the pizzas arrived they got:

1)      Italian Sausage, hot dog, chicken, mystery meat, corn green peppers, pineapple

2)      Mushroom, tomato, peppers, corn, pineapple

3)      Squid, crab, fish, shrimp, oyster(?), peppers, tomato, pineapple

This is a picture of #3; if you look closely you can see the tentacles as well as crab and shrimp:

I think you can guess which one he didn't eat…

Pebble Beach

Andrew and I were interested in taking a hike a few weeks ago and a friend suggested a place for us to go. We didn't exactly find the area she suggested, but ended up at Pebble Beach. In the winter the beach is desolate, but I'm told in the summer I'm told the beach is packed with umbrellas and the water is a sea of neon flotation devices. I understand a lot of Chinese don't wear swimming suits, but rather clothing that covers all of their skin and sit under umbrellas to avoid the sun. I'm also told that many can't swim so adults wear floaties around their arms and tubes around their waists, similar to toddlers in the U.S. I'm looking forward to going to the beach in the summer. I guess I'll need to leave my swimming suit at home and bring my arm floaties.

The beach & a couple fishing boats.

It was a bit chilly.

Discoveryland, a small amusement park.

We're unsure why they decided to ruin this nice walkway by pushing the road onto it.

Many small fishing boats in the bay.

Traditional Chinese Dress & Karaoke

Andrew and I were invited to an iMandarin Show/Lantern Festival Party which was hosted by the company we take Chinese lessons with, iMandarin. The invite explicity said "dress up in traditional Chinese style. Being the rule followers that we are, I had a traditional Chinese dress made, called a qi pao, and Andrew wore a traditional Chinese jacket."

We didn't know what to expect of the party. It was held in the afternoon from 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. and the invite said drinks and snacks would be served.

The day of we realized that the party was held at a karaoke bar, which in China, are called KTV. Andrew and I with our friends Leon & Kevin, arrived a little late and soon discovered, after walking through the stage area while a Chinese person sang karaoke, that besides a handful of iMandarin employees we were the only ones wearing traditional Chinese dress. I guess we are the only ones that follow the rules... This was my first time visiting a karaoke bar in China. I discovered the Chinese take their karaoke very seriously and since I'm not much of a singer, I don't think I'll be frequenting KTV bars.

Leon, Kevin, me & Andrew in our traditional Chinese dress.

Andrew begging to leave after we just sat down.

The craziness that is KTV. The foreigner on the right actually played his violin.

This Japanese man sang a song. (I don't think he realized his pant leg was up.)

An iMandarian teacher (also not in traditional dress) singing a Chinese pop song.