Giving Thanks

I've spent quite a bit of time in the Chinese Hospital again :-( Tuesday I felt so ill that I didn't see, notice or care much about what they said or done or what went on around me. After blood tests etc, I was told "Stomach Cold and a Bacterial infection" hence why I spent the whole previous night with my head in a toilet bowl (that is when my Butt wasn't occupying the space) It really was very nasty, I can't remember a stomach virus that made me feel so unwell..anyway without going into the details to much... I could only just walk on Tuesday and because of this, I ended up on a bed with an antibiotic,saline,glucose drip for three hours (first part of a three day course)The next two days the drip was much quicker only an hour visit each time as I was now stronger and they could feed the drip through more quickly.
The second and third days I got to observe the goings on around me more. People everywhere, A big room for people to sit in and hang their drips up for an hour or so, guys coughing and spluttering with drips in while they still puff on their cigarettes. Girls yelling at their boyfriends (a sign of affection I'm told...apparently shows they care :-)Babies through to old people, all sitting around with drips in their hands. On the third day we walked back to the room where they had been giving me my antibiotics and the room was empty....The twenty or so beds, chairs, patients, Doctors and Nurses....ALL GONE! So for the third day I joined everyone else on the chairs and observed all that I have mentioned. It is very interesting. I have to say I am truly grateful to the hospital and the staff for making me feel better, I really felt so ill and they were very efficient and good. I think good Nurses must be the same the world over, they should be held in very high esteem. Whilst things are different here, they still do the best with what they have and in many situations seem more efficient, especially when you think of the pure number of people they have to deal with everyday.

Sea Change in Xiamen

A week long holiday for the combined celebration of Moon Festival and National Day saw us visit Xiamen for a 6 day change of scenery. I still don't know how they figure that it is a week holiday when we have to work two weekends to have it. Today I'm back to school(Friday) and I have last Mondays classes...tomorrow I have last Tuesdays classes and Sunday I have last Wednesdays classes...Before the holiday I had this Thursdays class on the Saturday and this Friday's class on the Sunday. Then of course this Monday...back to normal...and I have Today again on Monday....DID YOU GET ALL THAT :-)
ANYWAY...for this sacrifice we had a week long break and I went to Xiamen for 6 days with Nettie and her family. We drove to Wuhan (4 Hours) and then a short plane trip to Xiamen for a sea change. The weather reminded me a lot of Perth. Being on the coast it was very windy and warm. We took in the sights of Xiamen, Gulang Yu island and Jimei. Xiamen is infact itself an island that is connected to the mainland by a 5 km long causeway with a train line and footpath.
We visited Nanputuo Buddhist Temple...very, very busy and I couldn't help thinking what a different lifestyle the monks in this temple have compared to the monks in Bodhinyana Monastery back home in W.A.


We went on a two hour boat trip to get a closer look at neighbouring Taiwan (Jinmen Island)...this saw most of the boat load of passengers reaching for the sick bags as the water got more rough...after that we headed to Gulang Yu island...very pretty and interesting. It is full of old colonial style architecture and used to be the home of all the European Consulates. Easy to get lost in the maze of small streets and alleyways everywhere giving much to see and do.
Since I have been in China...I have never seen so many people as I saw throughout our holiday in Xiamen. As they say here "People mountain, people sea". It was also clear though that the locals lived an oceanside lifestyle much the same way as we do when living near the coast in W.A. Of course there are obvious differences but essentially you could feel the same vibe. I enjoyed being near the coast for a while and soaking up the warmth and the sea air.



There are many more photos, some of which are uploaded on my flicker account.. click on flicker link in my blog to see the rest :-)