my day off

Big News: It snowed here on Thursday!


This is Tongliao's first snow. The sidewalks and trees were white when I woke up (on my day off) at 8am. It continued to flutter snow throughout the day, without wind, with a grey blanket covering the sky. I had some green tea and a delux ramen noodle bowl (a true Chinese meal) and celebrated being warm inside.


Now, a few days of sunshine, there is still ice in the streets and snow where the sun does not penetrate the shadowed areas. It's startlingly cold to me, a New Mexican sun browned girl. It gets dark at about 4:30pm, it will only get colder and darker until the winter Solstice on December 21st.




Ned and I had our cozy, wintery day cut short by a phone call from Ms. Jin (who always seems to bother me on my day off) informing us we were going to be picked up at 2:30pm to have physical examinations.



"Is this required?" Ned asked. "Yes, this is necessary," I heard her reply through the phone. A new foriegn teacher from Japan had arrived, and the Foriegn languages department finally got the ball rolling about our resident permits. "We only have 30 days!" I keep telling Mr. Zhang, but he insists that I wait patiently.



So, Mr. Chin comes to pick us up, we meet the Japanese teacher, Michiko, who is very lovely and energetic, and we drive to the biggest hospital in Tongliao. From there, we get EKG's, they check our weight (60 kilos) our height (178 cm), our vision (fine) and then take us to get our blood drawn for AIDS tests...no!!


My heart was racing, and my flight or fight mechanisms started churning. I hate needles and I hate blood, and I don't like people who inject me with needles to take my blood. ekkk. Can't these Chinese get modern and do the cheek swab saliva test instead of taking my precious blood?
Ned and Michiko went first, and the doctor efficiently and quickly drew a vile of blood. I was last, and squiggling on my seat. The doctor roped my bicep with a thick, rubber tie, told me to make a fist, and slapped my inner elbow a few times to locate a vein. I held Ned's hand and looked away. I felt a pinch and took deep breathes. "It's almost over," Ned said. Seconds passed. "No blood yet," Ned said. She missed my vein. I was trembling and a couple tears peeked their way out of my eyes. The other arm was roped, slapped, made into a fist, and stuck with a needle. Thank you dear god, they found my vein. Fresh, hot Mandy blood, everything they need for their little tests. For the next couple hours I was shaken and upset, and for my tramatic blood-drawing event I thought I deserved some "beef-sticks" at our fav restaurant, with beer and peanuts of course, and our fav hostess teaching us words of Chinese and laughing at Ned.


an eventful day off for sure.



as the Buddhists say, with every event one foot is in joy, and the other in pain.