Scrubs in Beijing

Gallery: Xi'an to Beijing to Houston

enanareina — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:14:00 GMT

Gallery: Xi'an Wild Goose Pagodas

enanareina — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:13:00 GMT

Gallery: Xi'an Drum & Bell Area

enanareina — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:12:00 GMT

Gallery: Forest of Stone Tablets

enanareina — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:13:00 GMT

Gallery: Xi'an City Wall

enanareina — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:12:00 GMT

Gallery: Terra Cotta Warriors

enanareina — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:11:00 GMT

Gallery: Beijing to Xi'an

enanareina — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:10:00 GMT

Gallery: Jingshan Park

enanareina — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:08:00 GMT

Gallery: YouAn Hospital & Closing Ceremony

enanareina — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:25:00 GMT

Gallery: Drum & Bell Towers

enanareina — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:25:00 GMT

Gallery: Chaoyang Park

enanareina — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:24:00 GMT

Gallery: Lama Temple

enanareina — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:23:00 GMT

Gallery: Beijing Children's Hospital

enanareina — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:23:00 GMT

Even Lazier Sunday

enanareina — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I was going to go to Drum Tower, Bell Tower, Lama Temple, and maybe see some hutongs today. Was, until I woke up and it was pouring rain and cold. I spent a leisurely day mostly in bed instead. I got up for breakfast, came back, slept through lunch, and woke up this afternoon. I've been organizing pictures and trying to finish some of the older stories on here. I also added titles for every other story I need to complete but haven't. There will continue to be tons of construction on here, probably until long after I've gone home, so keep coming back to check it out. Also, if you find an error, please let me know.

Funny story from today: a small group of students took a side trip to Beidahe, on the coast. They left yesterday morning by train and returned this afternoon. Late last night, our leader received a panicked phone call from one of the guys: they'd been asked for their passports, but several people didn't have them. Henry was able to read their passport numbers off his printed list, and disaster was averted.

This afternoon, the group hadn't returned by 4 like they'd said. Henry was off at the airport, picking up his friend. At some point, Laura received a phone call from the group on the train, looking for Henry, who wasn't here. She heard brief snatches of a story involving a hospital and a train passenger with an injured finger, but the connection was bad. She told those few of us at dinner what she'd heard, and then when Henry arrived she filled him in--after getting him a beer.

Finally, people from the train straggled in--soaking wet and freezing cold, and the story emerged:

One of the guys, Brian, who is fairly accident-prone, had gone to the restroom on the train. He closed the door behind himself, but it was opened by the conductor, who pulled him out and pointed to a female passenger who was holding her hand. Apparently, she'd had her hand near the door, and when he'd shut the door, her finger was smushed in some fashion. He apologized and went back to his seat.

After a few minutes, a group of train officials came to his seat, with the injured party, and began to argue with him. She kept asking him, "What are you going to do about it?", which apparently means, "Pay up". This was being translated through several different people. He kept apologizing, but she kept demanding money. One member of the group called the American Embassy for advice, but they told him it would be wise to just pay up. By that point, everyone was encouraging Brian NOT to pay her, as she was clearly extorting funds. As we are a group of doctors to be, her finger was examined and declared to probably be fine. Eventually, though, it was decided to take her to a hospital when they arrived in Beijing. At one point, an official had grabbed Brian's passport, making him really anxious, but it was returned to him in due fashion, and he wasn't arrested.

An ambulance was waiting at the train station when they arrived. This was utterly ridiculous for a minor injury to a finger, but they complied with it. The rate was 2 yuan per kilometer, making it cheaper than a cab (which is also 2 yuan per km but with a 10 yuan starting fee). They went to Tonghren Hospital, where her finger was x-rayed and declared to be fine. Brian paid the 350 yuan hospital bill, but was mostly pleased that none of the money went to the girl. He eventually came home, along with Roger, our one student who speaks Mandarin (and who went with him to translate at the hospital), and eventually got some food.

A near miss in China.

Saturday: Aggie Muster

enanareina — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:58:00 GMT

Saturday morning, we intended to leave very early, but we didn't quite make it. Arising by 7:45, we decided to eat group (ie, free) breakfast before leaving. Now, our breakfasts consist of fried eggs, white bread, jam, coffee, and hot milk. I've been supplying my own wheat bread instead of white, and insisting on two fried eggs, because the first couple of days I was really hungry afterward. It's getting better. I also brought some bananas (leftover from the Massive Banana Lifting at Friendship Hospital on Wednesday) in the hopes that people would share them, as they are now quite ripe (but delicious).

Finally, we were ready to head to Panjiayuan, or the weekend antique market. We caught a cab and soon arrived at a gate through a bare grey wall with tons of people and pushcarts around. We fought our way inside to find basically a massive flea market. Vendors had small stalls, cube/cage like spaces, or spots on the ground from which to hawk their wares. We looked at artwork, cheap jewelry, some not-so-cheap jewelry, furniture, rugs, porcelain plates, cloisonne Christmas decorations, and the fun part: the junk. My friend almost bought a broken piccolo, but unfortunately the vendor wanted $100 American for it. We argued and argued that it was broken, and had no case, but he stuck firm, so we did not buy the piccolo. I did play taps on his tiny cornet (which was in much better shape than the piccolo--I didn't dare ask the price). We saw empty clips for machine guns (possibly AK-47), bullets, canteens, bugles, and other army paraphernalia. Anything truly antique has either been bought or destroyed long ago in China, so most of what was there was junk. Still, it was fun to look.

Afterward, we walked east on Panjiayuan to the Third Ring Road, turned north for half a block, and came to a mecca of optometrist and eyeglasses shops. My friend bought a pair of prescription sunglasses for 280 RMB, and I had a spare pair of eyeglasses made (by taking the prescription off my current glasses) for 160 RMB, or around $22 American. Our glasses were done within 45 minutes and we came home just in time for lunch.

After lunch at the dorm, we met up with another friend and did some frenzied shopping. First to Liulichang Xiejie, a small street/hutong with antique shops, artwork, and tea shops. I had my beautiful silk paintings mounted on silk paper for the journey home. Then, we caught the subway to Hongxiao Pearl Market, where I bought "Brain Age" for my Nintendo DS, pearl necklaces for our teacher's female relatives (he'd asked me to do this--he doesn't like shopping), and pearl earrings for me. Thank God I think I'm done buying pashminas--I've acquired 5 on this trip and have 2 at home. Then I took a cab home in order to shower before Muster, while the other ladies went to Silk Street to exchange some jeans.

We all met up at 6 and went with a group of 9 to Tim's Texas Barbecue in the Jianguomen Embassy District. Apparently, Texas Tim went to A&M, and then came to Beijing and opened a bbq restaurant. We were greeted at the door by a Chinese man wearing a shirt colored like a Texas flag, saying "Howdy, podner" in the most hilarious accent. I almost fell over laughing. Up the stairs and 100 RMB later, I had a large stein of Tsingtao beer in hand and was doing the old Aggie meet and greet. Most of the people there were living and working in Beijing, some in oil, some in business, others teaching English. We had a delicious barbecue dinner, complete with brisket, barbecued chicken, pork ribs, beans, cole slaw, and potato salad (made with mustard like my mother's). It was unbelievably delicious. It was a very nice reminder of home. The room we were in was decorated with Texas memorabilia and Aggie flags, as well as a Twelfth Man jersey on the wall.

Eventually the Muster began. We stood and sang the Aggie War Hymn (badly, as many of us had forgotten a few words), then listened to some poems about Muster, and had a roll call for the dead. Only one name was on the official Beijing list, so I added my grandfather's to the list. Even though he died two years ago, I'd been unable to attend his Muster, so I figured I'd make up for it here in Beijing. No one minded. Then, we concluded with another poem and singing "The Spirit of Aggieland", took group photos, drank a bunch of beer (and margaritas for some), and hung out. Some of the group went on to Sanlitun to go salsa dancing, but I headed back with 4 others toward the dorm. I was able to Skype for a little bit with my husband (although not in a good fashion, as my headset microphone is not working, so he talks and I type on IM). All in all, a good and successful day. I have big plans for tomorrow: Drum and Bell Towers, Yonghedong Lama Temple, and maybe some hutong walking.

Gallery: Aggie Muster

enanareina — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:05:00 GMT

Friday: Anzhen

enanareina — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:56:00 GMT

wanfujing

Gallery: Anzhen Hospital

enanareina — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:04:00 GMT

Thursday: Anzhen & Olympics

enanareina — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:54:00 GMT

Gallery: Olympic Stadiums

enanareina — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:37:00 GMT