So today I was supposed to go to the school hospital to have my bandage changed but first I had a lunch on the Alliance with a woman who is going to recruit students back in the states. We ate on the 5th floor of the dining hall which was great! The higher you go in the dining hall, the more expensive the meal becomes and the 5th floor is the highest. It was really good! Marketus joined myself, Cheyenne, and Andrew because we were supposed to have another person but whoever it was forgot. At first we stayed on topic and talked about our experiences in China, what we thought students coming should know, and what we thought of the program. Eventually we got off topic and at the very end she asked Marketus something that was very interesting. Apparently, right after our first vacation with our group we're going to be expected to speak mostly Chinese. I suppose I should have seen this coming but since we rarely see Marketus I'm not sure how they can enforce this. We're already expected to speak on Chinese in our Chinese classes and our Contemporary Chinese class has an English instructor so I'm pretty sure we'll be speaking English in there. It will be interesting to see what happens. Not that I really mind speaking Chinese it's just it takes me a long time to come up with how to answer some questions and so sometimes, if the other person speaks English, it's just easier for them if they speak English.
This kind of leads me to my experience at the hospital. So I had to go to the ATM to get money first, just in case they had me pay, and then went straight to the cashier's, showing my receipt. I've become a little braver now and not so afraid of saying something wrong. Now I just give it my best shot. So I went over and said "医生告诉你也来这儿” [doctor told me again come here]
The lady starts talking to me in very quick Chinese (why on Earth they speak so fast to a foreigner is beyond me) to which I reply my Chinese isn't good and repeat what I said before.
She keeps asking me something and I figure I'll show her my shoulder. When I do it becomes clear to me she was asking what was wrong with me as she tells me it's going to be 3 kuai again.
I head upstairs and the same doctor is there. There's a little bit of a wait and everyone looks at me at first but when I catch their eyes they go back to the business. While waiting I notice a man go in and he takes out an x-ray that he and the doctor study. I started wondering if he had just gotten that x-ray done, I mean, it's been a while, but I'm sure it took a couple weeks for my doctor to schedule the x-ray and then me have the x-ray done and then go back to the doctor to talk about it. I ponder this a bit as I realize he's not a student. Neither is the old man who goes in after him, nor the lady who seems to have pulled a muscle in her leg. So I guess it's not much of a school clinic really. I guess it's like Emory Hospital in GA? Don't they have a hospital that regular people go to? Anyway, I go in and he prints the receipt thing for me to take back down to the cashier. I do and then go back up to wait. While up there I notice the woman with the bad leg return with a bag. She pulls something out of it and it's an x-ray! She freakin' just had her leg x-rayed! I have to say that is some quick service that I would certainly appreciate if I had a bad leg. Certainly would have liked it when I was a sophomore in high school suffering from the worst hip pain ever that was apparently caused by Mono.
I finally go in and he takes me in the dressing room again but this time the nurse isn't around. He fixes my wound and tries to talk to me in Chinese. Once again he speaks way too fast (seriously, it doesn't occur to anyone to try speaking slower) and then attempts to speak in English. Eventually I get out that his son wants to go to the states for his bachelor degree and he wants to know what college I recommend. Luckily someone comes so I have time to think of a college. I don't think foreigners realize how many colleges there are in the U.S. I eventually say Northwestern since they have the linguistics program I was interested in getting my masters in. Plus I figure that means they have a good language program and can help his son with his English.
He then asks me about "Creem." He stumbles over his words, clearly not very comfortable and I get "Creem..somewhere..."
"Cream?"
I'm thinking maybe I need something for my shoulder and he's wondering if I know a place I can get it from but then I ask "美国？” [America?]
"Yes, yes."
Now I'm thinking he means something like ice cream for his son.... Actually, I don't have a clue what he's trying to ask me so I say "吃？ [to eat?] or-" and point to my shoulder.
"Nooo! No no. Creem." and he spells it for me and I repeat it out loud to get the image of the word in my brain.
"C-R-I-M-E."
I slap my hand over my mouth "Ohhhhhh!!!! No no! 不多！" [not much]
Of course he wants to know if there's crime near the school where he might be sending his son! Duh, Courtney.
He explained that he practices English with a lot of reading but he seldom has the opportunity to speak.
I go back next Monday :)
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