You are a very bad person! [Days 14+15]

First of all, I don’t know how, but I forgot to tell my story of going to the hospital on Friday.

So, Friday after work, I went to the hospital for personal reasons. Nothing serious, no worries. It was, however, my first time out in the city on my own. Celine gave me the addresses to two hospitals with English-speaking doctors, so I pointed to the closer one when I hailed a taxi. He took me there, and I walked in with my Lonely Planet book open to the translation for "Is there a doctor here who speaks English?" Everyone I showed this to just said "No" and pointed to another person. Finally I just followed the signs to the ER. It was a really sad scene – there were ill people sitting in chairs and in cots in the middle of the room, throughout the halls, and in rooms without doors. There was no sense of privacy or, it seemed, sanitation. Finally, I found a female doctor who spoke English fairly well. She told me that this was not the right hospital for what I needed and wrote down the name of the Peking University Hospital. I took a taxi there, and it was not too much nicer. I checked in, which included no paperwork – I just told them my name, age, and paid them 6 kuai. Can you believe that? Any medical exam would only cost $1. They never checked my insurance or identification. The doctors there were very nice and helpful. I also noticed that they were all very young, and many of them were female. Their method of examination is anything but thorough, but I have no choice but to trust them.

Saturday was fun. Four of us took the subway to the Sanlitun Yashow clothing market, where I haggled like heck for some t-shirts. I was even told by one of the hecklers that I was smart and good at it. Who knows how honest that was… especially since the title of this post was said to me by another heckler.

I really love the clothing that the young Chinese men here wear, but it's all way too small for me. Especially the shoes. I'm determined to bring some home, somehow. Shopping continued when we found out that we were near an American Appearal that we had seen twice before. There were more really cool and fashion-forward stores, all of which were way over priced and non-negotiable. I definitely prefer to set my own price and will be sad when I have to pay full price for something back in the States. I couldn't resist and gave into a Big Mac and chicken nuggets from McDonalds.

I discovered a new favorite place on Sunday. Well, Brian discovered it a while ago, but now that I know about it, I'm claiming it as my own! It's Yuyuan Tan Park, and it's about a 20-minute walk from our apartment. It costs 2 kuai to get in, but is huge and so worth it (not that 2 kuai is anything more than pocket change…). There are two huge lakes, several places to eat, beautiful trees to sit under, people swimming, families camping out, and so much more. I can't wait to come back with a good book, a journal, a bathing suit, and possibly a kite and make a day of it!
We ate at "the porridge place" (as Brian and PA call it) for dinner. I somehow picked the best thing on the menu, but we all shared. That seems to be a good way to test out the selection.

Monday evening I'm going to attempt to learn some Chinese and teach some English! We’ll see how that does!