January 20th, 2016

10:55 am

Unexpectedly, I woke up about an hour ago, feeling fairly okay. I won't be winning any singing contests or anything, but today is doable. 

So yesterday I had to get up early, slight tickle in throat, to go do the medical check ncessary to extend my visa for the full year here. I ate some more from that bag of bread, again, I couldn't finish it, and a banana. Like an adult, I remembered that whatever was happening for this check up, it probably wasn't free, so I grabbed an extra 100 yuan from the envelope on my bed and added it to my carrying around money.

 I've gotten a little cocky with how long it takes to get to Web International, leaving myself less and less extra time to arrive before being due. But keep in mind, the doors don't open at all before 9 am, so actually being inside and early is impossible. Let's keep warm, eh?

I arrive to find Dany already here- he needs the medical check as well. I began to check facebook, but Vicky arrived, and apparently there was some rule about needing to have this done at wherever we were going before 11 or something, so I didn't want to hold us up at all. I hastily completed the message I was writing, it probably made sense, and hurried up and out.

I asked about the hospital we were going to and then realized "wait, are we going to a hospital, or just some clinic place?" I think I got a halfway, noncommital answer (if I was even being listened to) and then I remembered where I was "orr some governmental building. Yeah. We're going to a government building."

The cab ride was mostly uneventful- I learned that Dany had already visited Dalian before to look for work, and had a Columbian friend here, which is a fairly solid start for being familiar with the area. Naturally I kept a background eye on the route we were taking- Zhongshan Lu to the roundabout that is Zhongshan Square was of course familiar by this point. From there I think we took Renim Road south west. I wasn't entirely sure of the direction, but I did remember Renim was another road that shot off from Zhongshan Square, and so I was comfortable that it was a straight line back into familiar territory. There was another roundabout, and from there we were on the road, a straight line, to the government building we were aimed for. I'd say I was 95% confident that, if I needed to find my way back to my apartment, I could do it, and it would take about 2 and a half hours of walking. Maybe less, I'm giving a somewhat conservative estimate here.

We got out of the cab, Dany explaining that they don't slam car doors in Columbia ("are you going to pay me for that door?") but it seemed okay to me. Gotta shut those doors. They know what they did.

This building as far as I noticed was bland on the outside, but had two points of design interest inside. One was the wide spiral staircase on the far left that straight up looked fancy, and the other were these twin, I'd say emerald or jade coloured, statues that seemed to be, I guess you'd call it, a cliff-face tableau- it looks like a cliff, with trees on it, and the one had a bird perched there (again, I'm talking about a statue. A statue-bird. There was no live bird inside the room.). It reminded me of paintings/drawings I had seen of, well, the only concrete example I can think of is the Monkey King segments of the book "American Born Chinese" by... uh, Gene... Lueng... uhh, Ha? Man, I forget his name. Last I checked he was the writer on Superman. Which makes him the first person of Chinese descent to write Superman as far as I'm aware, which is a big deal-- and no one made, as far as I heard, a big deal about it, which is ALSO a big deal! In a positive way, I think. Anyways.

Vicky went back and forth figuring out where to go, talking to a couple of people on either side of the room. There really only seemed to be the one place to talk to someone in any official capacity, those counters on the far right side of the room, but what do I know? She eventually printed out two tickets for myself and Dany, and of course I had to know each of our numbers to see who was up first, which made me seem to be a smart ass when we were asked our numbers and I replied for the two of us before Dany could even look at his paper. When I say I "looked" like a smart ass, that would be because I rather AM one. It's okay, I can cope.

Dany pointed out a Canadian Girl just leaving, and I asked how he knew she was Canadian. He cited the maple leaf on her Canada Goose jacket. I suggested those jackets are pretty famous for being good, so she could still be from anywhere. Was I wrong in that determination? I also missed her earlier because, I think, she was obscured by this broad shouldered, well-dressed gentleman, with an impeccably whatchacallit, uh, maintained beard, worn short, almost chin strap-y, though I wouldn't want to give offence by labelling it as such. He was dark, and with a bit of a hunch, so think Heathcliff, but had pronounced eyelashes like what I imagine (I just scanned through my final Romantics essay from last year to find his first name, and came up empty) Linton had. Not Heathcliff's son. Wish I found that first name. Regardless, this guy here had a fairly blank expression, which was a comfort to me- unless that was merely an affectation to give me a false sense of superiority!

Do I understand my readers will find it odd the degree to which I've evaluated this person? Sure, but, eh, whatever, leave it in.

I handed over the two pictures the kodak guy took yesterday- decent pictures, would have liked a copy, but very roughly cut, to the point that I understood the low price. These were acceptable, despite the lack of passport level appropriateness, however "where's the third one?"

"Third one? I got two." No one said anything about a third one. Frankly, they're lucky I got more than one with the amount of information I had to work with here. Well, okay, two pictures was happening, I didn't really have a choice there, but the point stands, no one mentioned anything about three pictures, don't act surprised when I don't produce three pictures. So I had to get another picture taken at kodak today, ignoring entirely that the desk in this building took my picture not two minutes ago, it's right there on the screen, and if they want arbitrary pictures of me they're more than welcome to take their fill, but whatever, let me go back and pay for a crummy picture for you.

We move over to the far end of the counters and, similar to when I first heard about the "3 months up front plus deposit thing" for my apartment, I must have had a similar deer in the headlights look upon being told the price for this medical check- 479 yuan. UUMHH OKAY so I take out all my cash, including the coins collected in my backpack- 478 yuan. Vicky chips in the last yuan.

Every other word in my head is me swearing about this situation. I didn't expect it to cost nearly that much, obviously, and a heads up would have been, you know, appreciated. 15 days until payday man, and again I feel like I'm playing chicken with my budget. Or whatever, some more appropriate game, but also ends terribly.

So I'm standing there shocked and a bit pissed off, Dany heads out because he actually had all this done last year when he came by (at a hundred yuan less, so he was surprised too) and his pass was deemed still valid, and I have to get some medical tests done.

Pulse. I usually have a fairly low heart rate, but here Vicky noted it was a little high. Yeah, I could see my heart rate being a little high at the moment.

For the other tests Vicky is outside the room. There was SOME privacy here. Had a couple diodes thrown on in another room for the ECG, aannnd done and out of that room, now with a weird smell where the applicators were thrown on, and in for a sonogram/ultrasound(? not sure):

Doctor: "(Something in Chinese)"

Vicky: "Did you eat anything today?"

Isaac: "Yeah, I told you, some of that bread."

Vicky: "(Something in Chinese)"

Isaac: ".. and a banana."

Doctor: *Laughs*

I guess the doctor knew "banana".

Was I not supposed to eat? Again, no one told me about that beforehand. Or even after the fact I couldn't tell you if it was a big deal or not.

We climb up the spiral staircase to get some blood work done, and I start unbuttoning my shirt for ease of arm access. I could also see the test with the words "urine" upcoming, and could feel a sort of nervous round in the chamber, getting prepared for that one.

(I'm really getting into the story, but I do have to get ready for work now, it's 12:18 pm. I should be able to get back to that angry energy headspace easily enough to continue once I return.)

(And I'm back, it's 10:34 pm and I've re-read everything thus far. Let's continue.)

Vicky asks me what "hemophobia" is, pointing to a sign that mentions it. I explain, and then opine (real word? I think so) that the sign should really be asking about hemophilia, which I then explain, as well as mentioning the Homer Simpson fighting technique of screaming "I'm a hemophiliac" and then taking the time to kick some back. I wonder whether Vicky is trying to distract me from the money situation. Or the weird "tests in front of a co-worker" situation. While talking some white guy cut ahead of me in the previously non-existent line. Curse those white people!

I wanted to pay attention to where the needle went after I got stuck, but forgot for just long enough that I missed what happened. Sue me for being paranoid, I wanted to make sure they threw out each needle. In spite of my bad mood, I had to give props for a quick and clean job of getting blood out of me, and the tiny circle shaped bandage was a very effecient design as far as minimizing bandage discomfort. I grabbed me stuff with one hand, and was just told before leaving the room that something had fallen out of my button-up shirt: my brothers social insurance card. Yeah, I don't know what it was doing in my front pocket either.

We then went across to the x-ray room, which was large and white, reminding me of the scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where Mike Teevee (or whatever that kid's name was) got zapped into particles. Where I put down my coat and whatnot there was a blue something that I assumed was the protective lead gear, and so I waited for some instructions regarding it. I'm still waiting for those instructions- instead I was lead over to where the x gets rayed, told to awkwardly raise my arms half-way up and around this sort of square, white barrier, and there we go, x-rayed without any protective gear for myself. Surely I could have spoken up about it before the picture was taken, but clearly I was more interested in being mad, and in having things to be mad about, and in being able to say "I can't believe I had to pay so much for tests which I already did in October just to get into this country, only to do them again now in a poorer quality enviroment.

Last was the urine test. The bathroom entrance had a curtain draped from the ceiling to half way down towards the floor, but was otherwise a normal bathroom. I considered using a stall, but seeing the squatting down holes there, well, I haven't tried them yet, and good luck getting me on one, brother. No splash back, which seems as successful an operation as could be expected. On the other hand, would I tell you if I did have splashing issues? Maybe, I'm not sure.

This place sprung for soap, one of the few bathrooms... wait, scratch that sentence, it's the only bathroom outside of the bathroom at my hotel that I have seen have any soap in it. But while I was busy wasting my time washing my hands like some kind of sucker, I wasn't done, I needed to take my cup and fill up a test tube. Tube filled, I dump the cup in the trash and- carefully- walk out from behind the bathroom curtain, which seemed like a cheap shot as far as obstacles go. I looked back and forth, expecting someone to approach me with a lid or a cork or something, but, no, just put it on the table, right next to every other tube that is also sans lid. Is this why you were mopping earlier? Someone knocked over the table, and that's it, you're on clean up duty?

I also, as a last word on the subject, can't say that I relished standing in front of my co-worker with an open test tube of my own urine. I'm weird like that, I know, very hard to please.

Sanitized and re-shirted (button-up shirt, that is) we left that miserable place. We cabbed to Roosevelt while I stewed in the back, listening to some music. Anytime we stopped for any extended period the cab driver horked something up to spit outside his window.

11:20 pm I have to stop here and sleep.

9:26 am okay, let's keep going.

We arrived just across from the Roosevelt, Vicky paid for the cab and I felt I should thank her for the ride. I said I'd meet her in an hour back at Web- 15 minutes to walk to my apartment and re-stock on money, 15 minutes to walk back, and 30 minutes to actually get the new picture taken. She suggested we just take the picture right now, and I give her the money later. Okay.

The person at Kodak, different from yesterday, first asks for my passport, or rather, Vicky asked me to get out my passport, I assume she was prompted. Then I was told I didn't need it, because obviously I didn't need it. Vicky opted for option B this time, which would yield some spare pictures, and I didn't care. This time the pictures taken were like a passport photo in that I was told to remove my glasses. Asking how much these cost, Vicky reported 30 Yuan, which is slightly fishy since I paid the same for fewer pictures yesterday, but whatever.

I think it was while we were waiting for the pictures to be ready that Vicky asked if I wanted to go get something to eat. Well, whenever it was that she asked that, I responded like a petulant asshole: "What I WANT is to go get my money from my apartment."

It was a crummy thing to say. I've accepted a lot of help from people while I've been here, but getting better at graciously accepting a gift (where I would be able to return the favour at some point) is very different from being in that vulnerable position where you NEED someone, a stranger, to bail you out. But to be fair to me, I don't need to accept all the blame here. There is a lot of stuff that I should have been made aware of in advance and Vicky is the person who should have told me. But it's not like I've said anything along these lines to her- so good luck to the next person coming down, since you'll have to deal with the same issues. Maybe I'll talk with her about improving the information shared AFTER I'm off probation.

Anyway, I did feel somewhat bad, and after we got the pictures Vicky was good enough to ask again if I wanted to get some food, and this time I gave a (hopefully) relaxed sounding "sure."

She also gave me the change from the pictures, ostensibly so I could just give her a full 100 Yuan the next day, but it also gave me 70 Yuan of security in the now.

We picked up, er, some kind of meat patty, I forget what it was called here, but I remarked that we've got something very similar in Canada by way of Jamaica. We walked through the basement level foodcourt of Roosevelt when Vicky reminded me we were almost at the end of the choices of restaurant and I should pick one. We were near a place called "Pepper Lunch"? I think that's what it was. The interior was very bright, clean, wood panelled-but-not-really... it was western, it looked like a western restaurant. Familiar.

We both had the chicken stir fry there, and what they do is they bring your order out on a, I guess it's a cast iron whatzit, very hot, with your food ornately placed in the center, before the server mashes it all together and gives it a stir around with the large metal spoon provided (large spoon, yes, thank you- the spoon I bought myself is so small, huge-tiny mistake on my part) and then it's up to you to continue stirring it around cooking, waiting also for it to be cool enough to put in your face. I made a comment that "they would never have a restaurant like this in the west, too many people would sue after burning themselves. Frankly, it's a miracle that they still serve coffee." I was pleased with that zinger.

We talked about some tv, and movies and books. It was a good time.

I must have somehow got a piece of pepper in my mouth before I'd even started eating, maybe I was scraping my spoon clean before diving in? All I know is that I was suddenly having a rough time, my mouth had gotten very hot, and I was working hard to continue acting normal. I mentioned how any time I've had ginger beer I couldn't help but cough after every sip and it's always a laugh to see. For whatever reason, that first bit of mystery spicy was the toughest, and I got through the rest of the meal, which to be exact was chicken, rice, corn, and whatever made it spicym, just fine. 

Vicky and I parted ways after that- she had to go meet Dany and I think pick up whatever medical forms back at that building. I asked her if it was okay to pay her back tomorrow, so I could save myself a trip and just stay at Web for the afternoon. She said it was okay, I don't think I would've seen her anyways, she never swung back by Web after this.

So I spent the rest of my day reading about the history of the word "America" with Bradley until he had class or something. After he left I didn't care to go on reading... but we actually covered a lot of ground! I could tell you a bunch of half-remembered facts about the naming of and actual etymology of America. It's a surprisingly controversial topic. Ah, but other than that I dowloaded a bunch of videos from youtube, both to prepare for the next two days worth of English Corners, but also some videos for me to check out later at my apartment. It's been a while since I'd gotten to watch any theme team pokemon battles, or an Epic Rap Battle of History!

I also spent a good long while helping this one girl with her "V" sounds, we examined the actual mouth movement/mechanics of what makes the "V" sound, and bounced around a bunch on dictionary.com. All in all, I felt like I did some good English teaching on my day off.

When I finally left the place, around 8 or so, I stopped at a pharmacy by the Roosevelt exit to try and get something to help me out, because I wasn't feeling well at all. After a lot of examination I went with this 17 or so Yuan tube that promised 225% of my vitamin C, as well as a host of other vitamins. Seemed pretty safe. So I'm standing outside the pharmacy, trying to open this tube, when a student comes by. He offers to help with the lid, but I'm not THAT much of an invalid (now, if it had a child safety lock, then I'd probably be in trouble). I pop the top, the lid has a sort of plastic core that dives half an inch into the tube. No wonder it was hard to open. I take out a disk of multi-vitamin and pop it in my mouth while talking with this student. I very quickly realized I had made a mistake. The disk, fairly violently, was bubbling, reacting to the water in my mouth. Clearly this was meant to be dissolved in water first. But now here I am in a conversation with this crazy disk bubbling away in my mouth, again, trying to keep cool.

Ugh. I'm basically Mr. Bean, or a Griswald, aren't I?

I made it home, had some oatmeal, two tablets of acetaminophen (you know I'm looking at the bottle right now in order to get the spelling on that correct) and then watched some youtube videos before falling to sleep. And I really needed it.

Finally finished this day- it's 10:26 am. Let's see if I can quickly catch up on the next day, I don't want to fall behind on my days.