Overseas Adventures: Birthday Party, Chinese Style!

Mandy knew yesterday was my birthday, so she and the residents planned a little party to help me feel at home. I didn't know about the party until I invited Mandy to dinner so that I wouldn't have to eat alone. At any rate, Mandy said, "We have a surprise for you...".

I spent the day in clinic with Dr. Lisa. We had some interesting cases, and the morning went by quickly. At lunch time, Sharon (the out patient department "police woman"), took me to buy a hospital lunch card. It was pretty funny. She took me to the appropriate line, told them how much money I wanted to put on the card (100 Yuan, or about $17, which should last me awhile. The typical lunch is about $2 for a decent amount of food. She had to write my Chinese name on her hand to show the guy, so he could enter it in the computer. I don't think their system recognizes the English alphabet!

Sharon helping me get a lunch card :) She is showing her palm to the guy, on which she had written my Chinese name!

Sharon helped me order food, which was also quite comical. She was so nice! She got me all situated. Then she proceeded to translate the entire menu into English for me! She is funny and spicy (she says she thinks her personality is more spontaneous, open and "American" than Chinese, and I would say I tend to agree).

Translated lunchroom menu, courtesy of Sharon. The prices are all in Chinese Yuan, or RMB. It is about 6 RMB to 1 USD.

After lunch, it was back to clinic. My new friend Cookie had a cute story for me. (Cookie is the resident who gifted me the air mask). Last week, I gave all of the residents Dean McGee lens cloths that I had secured from the optical shop at Dean McGee. DMEI was so kind to give me enough :) They are a fun purple color, and the residents really liked them. A lens cloth is a "must have" for an ophthalmologist, as we use our lenses so much. Well, Cookie hadn't yet purchased a lens, but was borrowing from the department. I guess the lens cloth spurred her to buy her own 90 diopter lens and she told me she chose purple to match the lens cloth! I love how the inexpensive lens cloth spurred her to purchase a pricey lens (although it is a great investment and she will use it all the time!)

My party in the evening was held in the conference room. The residents were so excited! I thought we would just have cake, but Mandy had arranged to have take out from my favorite Chinese restaurant (Go Go Shan). (Recall that I have to eat out most meals because I live in a hotel and don't have a kitchen. Sometimes I just eat instant oatmeal that I brought from America or a granola bar). It was so yummy! We all ate cake first and they sang the American version of Happy Birthday. Then we had our dinner. We all stood around in a circle and ate with our chopsticks from common pots (this is very common). It was delicious and spicy... I have decided the Sichuan level of spicy is just perfect for me (and what most Americans would consider very spicy).