Doctor - Blogabond

In the morning we were able to visit an acupuncture clinic. The clinic was much smaller than the hospital but they were especially welcoming and friendly. There was much more room to observe as a group as well. We were able to see patients being treated with acupunture, e-stim, cupping and tui-na massage.

In the hallway I talked with a local farmer who travels to the clinic weekly. He said that he used to go to the hospital that we visited yesterday but hates it there. He said that they just gave him the same patent pills over and over to treat his back pain. The results weren't that great. He said, "That place isn't a hospital, it's a shopping mall! they don't treat you as a patient, your just a number in line there." He enjoyed going to the clinic and said his treatments were getting results now. We later said thanks to the doctors there and stopped for a quick group picture before heading out.

After lunch a few of us went with Robert to hike Zi Jing Mtn. with our local guide Sean. We climbed most of the mountain and got to see several medicinal plants in the wild before the rain started to come down. We then hustled back down to ahve the bus pick us up.

Dinner was at the same restaurant as yesterday, only we had a special meal cooked with medicinal herbs. While there were some novelty dishs such as Bitter Mellon (pretty spicy and darn bitter) and Pig Lung Soup (actually really tasty), the meal was really good. We had fun guessing some of the herbal ingredients before Yulien was kind enought to translate to menu to tell us what was really in the meal.

After dinner Sean arranged Tui Na massages for those interested. The clinic we went to had mostly blind therapists giving 1 hour massages. They were great and we all appeared an hour later glassy eyed and sleepy. We thought how in the States the session would have cost $80 versus the $8 that we spent.

Nanjing, China

We checked out in the morning and drove over to Nanjing Pharmaceutical University where we met Dr. Chen and the director there. They took us on a brief tour of the school and a small herb museum while we waited for the herb garden to be unlocked. No pictures allowed.

While waiting a few of us wondered around campus. We saw a few thousand students dressed in military outfits yelling chants and marching around the grounds with rifles. It was strange to see such a presence at a medical school, we wondered if it had anything to do with the upcoming holiday: National Day. Sean told us that it was just a way of breaking in the new freshmen, in an attempt to convince them that school is serious and not a place to party. He thought it was a funny sight too... because the students have little to do with the military at all. Still, it was a frightening to see.

Meanwhile DJ and Patricia were on a mission to buy one of the student jumpsuits that say "Nanjing Pharmaceutical University" on it. The campus store wouldn't sell it to them and thought that something was up, because no foreigners would want such a thing. In the end they were able to trade some stuff from the US with some students there and got the jackets. We were finally able to get into the garden and Robert took us on a tour reviewing the herbs that were growing there.

We only spent a few hours there and most of it was spent wondering around the campus, which is a very different experience then that of any school in the US. Students are 4-8 in single room. Everything is cold concrete communist-style. For fun, there's ping-pong and badminton (only after marching). we then said goodbye to Dr. Chen and our local guide Sean and were off for lunch.

After that we were off for another 3-4 hour bus ride to Hangzhou. This time it was a scenic, sunny drive. We saw lots of farms and then suburban developments; building was everywhere. Along the way was an awesome new rest-stop. We were able to stock up in water and some comforts of home (well, they had Lay's chips.. even if they were cucumber flavor or Italian meat-sauce flavored). We got a kick outta that place. Then it was back on the bus.

We arrived in Hangzhou in the evening. Before checking in at the hotel, we met our local guide Jerry and went to visit a silk factory. It was pretty cool to see how all these tiny filaments are spun into thread and then spooled into what looks like cob webs. It's quite strong when massed together. The guide showed us the way to determine whether silk is pure or not: you burn it.... Umm, OK. If it's white smoke, it's real, black it's not. Good luck trying that one at Macy's. Naturally, there was a silk store next to the factory which had anything silk you could want. Some people bought some bedding, but most of us just wanted to checkin and pass out.

written by

Benjamin Satterfield on September 27, 2005 from Nanjing, China

from the travel blog: China Tour Fall 2005

tagged Food, China, Herbs, Medicine, Nanjing, TeaHouse, TCM, Doctor, Hangzhou, TeaFarm, NationalDay, University, NanjingPharmaceuticalUniversity, Silk, SilkFactory and Clothes

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Montreal, Canada

Woo! Update. Been awhile.

So, I have a few more weeks before the big day. Still feels like there's so much to do. I got my addmission letter from Inha, as to which I was supposed to receive my D2 Visa, but when I went to the consulate, apparently I was still missing ANOTHER piece of paper from the bank. So, this week, I'll have all the papers to go.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to get my passport renewed, which was by far the fastest process I've had to deal with in awhile. Was done in less than an hour and within 9 days, I had my new little passport. I still look like a criminal. No Surprise there. ;) Don't we all look like we've done something bad in those photos?

I also got my Twinrix shots out of the way and let me tell you this- Ow. The first one was fine. The second one hurt a bit, and the last one just made me want to cry (but I didn't because I'm grownup and Manly like that). They're all taken care of now, thankfully and won't have to deal with the last shot until I get back.

Other than all of that, I've actually been pretty busy with other things for the summer. Was up in George River, I went to see Russell Peters, it was my Grandma's 95th birthday... lotsa stuff! And all in our lousy summer weather.

Oh! I got my tickets. I shall be leaving August 26th. My flight will be heading from Montreal to San Fransisco, I sleep there and then the next day I'm off to Seoul. It's gonna be long, but hopefully, I'll manage. Well, I'm going to have to. There's going to be a lot of jet lag involved, I know that much.

Anyway, that's basically what's been going on. Hopefully my entry, I'll finally have my damn Visa!

written by

Maestro on July 3, 2009 from Montreal, Canada

from the travel blog: From Montreal to Incheon

tagged Doctor, Passport, Random, Study and Korea

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Auckland, New Zealand

5 hours to LA
15 hours to Australia
3 hours to NZ..