Good Olde Chinese Medicine!

Some of you might know that Shanghai has not been being very nice to my body and to a certain extent my health. The first few weeks we were here it was burning hot all the time, eight degrees or more in the middle of the night hot, no joke. Then Shane English School took us out to Daqian for teacher training and that is when the mosquito bites started, they were no where near as bad for me as they were for a lot of other people, but goodness they did itch. Since then the temperature has dropped, one week so drastically that the government issued a cold warning. And, now the high never breaks 69 degrees and more often than not lies somewhere closer to 61 degrees.

With this extreme weather fluctuation, the severe drop in already troublesome (Read: everyone smokes everywhere, especially right in front of the "no smoking" signs, and has poor smoking etiquette (e.g. they will blow smoke right in your face or light up as they drive you around in their taxi - yes, this happened!) levels of air quality, and the stress of life, school, work, and communication -- It is no surprise that I've been sick a couple times since I've arrived in China. My body held out for a while, a solid month or so which is more than most people in the program. But, this weekend was the worst! I had to a certain extent accepted that I now have developed a somewhat chronic cough (i.e. the Shanghai cough) that will more than likely clear up once I'm no longer exposed to terrible air. A fever on the other hand is a very serious matter.

I woke up Saturday morning with a terrible headache and feeling lethargic so I took DayQuil so that I could function during my 9am piano lesson. But, by the afternoon I developed a temperature of about 101.6 degrees. The rest of the day pretty much sucked, but the temperature went down below 100 degrees before I went to bed for the night. When I woke up this morning, I still had a slight temperature so I went to the doctor with the assistance of the amazing welfare officer Shane provided us all with, Annie.

Upon arrival at the hospital the lady behind the counter produced a glass mercury thermometer, from where exactly I cannot say that I know, and told me to stick it under my tongue for 3 minutes. After I popped the thermometer in my mouth, figuring that whatever temperature I still had might kill any germs on it, hopefully. Direct quote - Annie: "I know you want to ask me if it's clean. Bernessa, she asked me that when the had to do this [and points at me holding the thermometer in my mouth]". Gah! Temperature: 100.7 degrees

Then, I saw the doctor. I sat down and with Annie's interpretation skill I answered the questions he posed. He produced a tongue depressor from where I am not exactly sure and checked my throat. And maybe a total of five minutes later he wrote out a prescription. Then, he pointed us towards the cashiers window and the prescription window.

What exactly is wrong with me? I don't know. I guess from the medicine he prescribed me that it's just a cold. Check it out:

Jiaozhou Fire

As I made my way home this last Monday I stopped off at Zhongshan Park, just two stops down the Green Line from Jingan Temple, to pick up a few things. As I waited at the intersection, a procession of fire trucks and ambulances sped through lights flashing and alarms wailing. And, as they continued in their mad rush I wondered as to their destination, prayed briefly for their safety and for the safety of those they hurried to help, and continued to make my way home.

As I emerged from the metro stop at Jingan, the blare of sirens continued to pierce the air. I took my normal route turning on from Yanan onto Jiaozhou and walked briskly towards my apartment, as my feet carried me farther down Jiaozhou a large tower of smoke revealed itself behind the buildings that rose high on the street before me.

As I turned onto Xinzha, more firetrucks made their way towards what I later learned was a burning high-rise apartment building. Many were saved that day and many escaped with minor injury, but some are still missing and currently there are 53 confirmed dead.

In a couple weeks, most will have forgotten about this tragic fire, but those that survived it will still be dealing with the aftermath. Please keep them in your prayers.

Post-Expo Haze

People warned us that manicured state of the Shanghai that greeted us in August was primarily due to the presence of the World Expo and guaranteed us that once Expo was over the facade of cleanliness would quickly fall away. Not to say that none of the "improvements", both convenient and inconvenient, that accompanied Expo have remained: the new Expo taxis are still in use, the security scanners in the metros, etc. However, the air quality went down the drain from day one after the Expo closing ceremony. Maybe the following pictures will in part demonstrate what I mean:

This picture was taken on a sunny day when we arrived in August during Expo.

 This picture was taken on a cloudy day in October during Expo.

This picture was taken yesterday afternoon, which believe it or not was a sunny day.

No kidding, what is all of that? Even the air inside of buildings has enough particle matter that under any amount of light you can see the air. You can SEE it!

But, in all honesty, I should have known how bad it would be the very first time I saw the fashion face-masks. They come in a various assortment of solid colors, plaids, and cutesy patterns. Shanghai, you will NOT mess up my respiratory system!

Hey, hey Wednesday!

This last Wednesday, Sherry and I went to the Visa Office once again (the first time to extend our tourist visas and this time to get out work visas). When we were done we found ourselves on Line 10 (light purple) with some time to spend. First, we ran off the metro at Shanghai Library Station. Twenty-five renminbi and some contact information later, we are now library card toting members of the Shanghai Library! Check it out:

A bit further down Line 10 we passed Xintiandi where we celebrated Miles' birthday will dim sum. And, we ended up at Yuyuan Gardens:

Yup, mid-week fun!

Brrr! It's cold out here.

Today, after a long day of working with the kids, taking care of school assignments, meeting up with people, and gathering supplies for halloween activities for the kids later this week, I get home and find the following email in my inbox:

The Shanghai Government has issued a local cold weather warning in effect for Tuesday to Thursday.

 

Tomorrows weather could drop below 10 Degrees Celsius, due to a sudden cold snap that has come down from Northern China.  This sudden cold change will mean that many students will suffer from a cold by the end of the week.

 

Also please remember to bring a jacket with you tomorrow.

 Seriously, 10 degrees Celsius. What is that even supposed to mean? I admit, I had to pull up a temperature converter to figure out that it means below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. I've been in worse, but apparently Shanghai cold is a whole different beast, at least that what everyone has been saying... We shall see!

Two Cups of Coffee

Gah! I have always loved this story....

In the book “First Things First” he describes a story that one of his associates experienced on a seminar. In the middle of the lecture the presenter pulled out a wide-mouth jar and placed it on the table, aside to some fist-sized rocks.

After filling the jar to the top with rocks he asked, “Is the jar full?”

People could see that no more rocks would fit, so they replied, “Yes!”

“Not so fast,” he cautioned. He then got some gravel from under the table and added it to the jar, filling the spaces between the rocks. Again, he asked, “Is the jar full?”

This time the students replied “Probably not.”

The presenter then reached a bucket of sand below the table, and dumped it on the jar, filling the spaces between the rocks and the gravel. Once again he asked “Is the jar full?”

“No!”, the students shouted.

Finally, he grabbed a two cups of coffee and filled the jar completely, asking to the public what they could learn from that illustration.

One of the participants answered, “If you work at it, you can always fit more into your life.”

“No,” said the presenter. “The point is, if you don’t put the big rocks in first. . . would you ever have gotten any of them in?”

The moral being that you need to put the first things first and once you have everything in, there is always time for a couple cups of coffee with friends!

Finding the Courage to Win: a lesson about the strenght of vision

I know that China is a very interesting and important place to be right now, but seriously --- it is everywhere! Everywhere! This is an article from Spark People, a wellness website, titled Finding the Courage to Win: a lesson about the strength of vision, by Mike Kramar:

This is the story of an unassuming electrician working hard at a city zoo. He was not known as the kind to stir up trouble, but as mounting injustice swirled around him, he couldn't help himself. He wrote and published a couple of essays expressing his beliefs - and was promptly arrested and sentenced to 15 years in a violent prison.

The man is Wei Jingsheng, communist China's most famous and revered political prisoner. His journey from layman to legendary crusader holds a valuable lesson about the strength of Vision. Wei's vision for a democratic China has granted him the courage and willpower to overcome countless unspeakable obstacles. Today he lives a free man and continues to fight for human rights.

The lesson we can learn is this: There is power and courage inside each one of us, waiting for an excuse to escape.

In 1978, Wei dared to stand apart in order to be heard. He had the nerve to sign his name and address to his posted essay. This was unheard of in a country where "many Chinese people…have even grown accustomed to being oppressed."

He spent eight months on death row and five years in solitary confinement with little light or food. He was tortured. He was beaten by other prisoners who hoped for the reward of a reduced sentence. Still he did not give up. 

Instead, he wrote and smuggled out articles and letters that fanned the flames of the growing democratic movement. He took money from international human rights awards he won while in prison and supported other political victims. 

After 14 years, Wei was released - and was arrested again after six months. The beatings continued. Almost all of his teeth fell out. He had high blood pressure, heart problems and arthritis, but was not allowed medication. He went on a hunger strike for a heater. Still he did not give up. 

Finally, in 1997, China sent Wei to the United States. However, his release was not freedom, but exile from the country he loved in return for economic concessions. Still he does not give up. To this day, Chinese activists fighting for democracy still rally around his writings, while he lectures and lobbies for their human rights. 

The man who has been called the "Chinese Mandela" did more than cope with the world that found him. He conquered it, both in fact and in spirit. When Wei posted his essay, he had no idea of the destiny that awaited him. Fortunately for the world, the strength of his vision gave him the courage and drive to rise to the challenge. 

 Interesting, huh? I agree, vision is important. Sometimes I see things clearly and sometimes I'm not so sure, but I'm figuring it out.