China!

I have arrived in Chengdu, China. To the hustle and bustle of a city of 10 million people (keep in mind this is over three times the size of my entire home state of Iowa...).

My flight was 14 hours from San Francisco to Chengdu. It was a direct flight, and I flew on the United "Dreamliner". It was a nice plane, but I absolutely could not sleep! I arrived at about 7:00pm. I had no problem retrieving my checked luggage or getting through customs.

San Francisco to Chengdu, China

Flying over northern Russia.

Aron, one of the senior residents, was waiting for me as I exited customs. He was holding a little sign that said "Elizabeth". He speaks English quite well, which has been a HUGE help. I honestly don't know what I would have done without him yesterday! He dropped me off at the PaiRui Hotel, which I will call "home" for the next 3 months. He helped me get all checked in. All room numbers start with an "8", no matter what floor they are located on. This, Aron explained, is because "8" is lucky in their culture, so it is put in front of every hotel room number, and all Chinese know to "ignore" it. I am glad he was here to explain, because I definitely would have ended up wandering around the 8th floor looking for my room (which is actually on the 5th floor).

View from the hotel balcony.

The not-so-amazing view from my hotel window. At least it opens up to parking at NOT to the busy street below!

Having lived in Asia before (teaching English in Japan 2005-2006), I should have recalled the insane language barrier. (I had no formal Japanese language instruction when I went. Other than what I taught myself in a little self-study over the summer, I was unable to communicate). The language barrier is fierce, to say the least. No one at the hotel speaks English, and I can only say three things in Mandarin ("hello", "thank you", and "my name is Liz"). Unfortunately none of those three phases really get me anywhere. I know it is said that a "thank you" can go a long way, but not when you can't say ANYTHING else in the language!

By the time I got settled in to the hotel, it was past 9pm. Jet lag has been tough, but I am trying to rally.

At 2pm this afternoon, I was to be at the eye clinic. The Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital (SPPH) is a mere 5 minute walk from my hotel. Aron was going to try to come pick me up at the hotel and walk me to the hospital if he could get out of work. There were no set plans for me to wait for him.  Well, 2pm was approaching rather quickly, and I still hadn't heard from him. I figured he was stuck in clinic or surgery.  My cell phone didn't yet have a sim card, so there wasn't a great way to reach him. So, I ventured out on my own, thinking "It can't be that difficult to find the eye clinic...".  Well, it was. Basically, I ended up in the outpatient clinic area (I thought that was a good start). I saw two girls in white coats, and assuming they were doctors, I asked them if they spoke English ("a little bit"). They directed me to the information desk, where I proceeded to tell them in broken Chinese that I was an eye doctor looking for the eye clinic. They didn't quite understand, and kept saying "Eyes, No! Eyes, No! Tomorrow!"  Perhaps they were indicating that there would be an eye clinic tomorrow, but there wasn't one today??

I walked out of the clinic feeling completely frustrated. There were people EVERYWHERE. I have never seen such a massive amount of people inside and outside the hospital. (The hospital has 3000 inpatient beds, to put it in perspective!) While pondering what to do next, I looked up and saw a little booth that said "POLICE". Immediate relief!  I wandered in, and they all looked at me quizzically. I again, explained in several words that I was a doctor and was lost. I handed them the crumpled piece of paper on which Aron had written his cell phone number for me. They got it! One of the policemen pulled out his cell phone and called Aron on my behalf. Aron was, at that moment, in the hotel looking for me! So, I waited patiently at the police booth for Aron to retrieve me. I asked him later if he was scared I had been arrested when the police called him :)

We then went up to the 12th floor of Building #1, which is where the Eye Department is located. I was briefly introduced to the Chief of Ophthalmology, Dr. Wu. She was lovely. I then sat through a 2.5 hour meeting where the ophthalmology department was asking the hospital administration for money to buy some new equipment (this all translated by Aron). It was so bizarre not understanding even 0.00001% of what was being said. Nothing.

At the meeting, I found it interesting that cell phones were ringing, and people would answer them in the room and talk quietly while still in the meeting. There was a lot of side talk amongst people, and people coming in and out repeatedly. I have never seen such a chaotic business meeting! I know I am in a different culture, and I completely respect that. I just tried to imagine this sort of chaos in an American business meeting, but my mind couldn't even fathom it!

Meeting with Dr. Wu (Chief of Ophthalmology) and the hospital administration. Dr. Wu is sitting up front at the laptop.

A poster highlighting some of the work that Dean McGee has done here in China. A younger Dr. Farris examines a patient in the second photo from the left.

Finally, the meeting was over (without much resolution, as I understand it). I met up with Dr. Mandy Yu who has been SO helpful in getting me here. She did all the translation of documents for me and she responded to my many inquisitive emails. She is absolutely the sweetest, nicest, person and speaks fluent English. A true Godsend. She helped me get money from the ATM, get a sim card for my Chinese cell phone, and then she took me out to dinner at an awesome little restaurant, where we shared hot pot. The food was so spicy...I loved it!

Apparently the Sichuan province (province where I am staying) is known for their great cuisine, especially hot pot. So Mandy insists I won't be ready to say goodbye to the food!

A little more about Mandy. She is married with a 2 year old daughter, but as this is her "Chief" year, she spends the weeks as a true resident of the hospital. She only goes home on the weekends. Her husband is a hepatobiliary surgeon, working at another busy hospital that is 4000 inpatient beds! So, they receive a lot of help from their parents in raising their child.

Mandy (Dr. Yu) wearing her Oklahoma sweatshirt!

One style of "hot pot"--a Sichuan province specialty.

All in all it was a great (but tiring) day. I have met so many nice people, but I can tell the language barrier will be an issue in terms of making friends, getting around, etc. I can hack this though!

For now, I concern myself with things such as "air quality" (generally terrible in most of the large Chinese cities, especially Beijing), "currency conversions" (about 6.5 Chinese Yuan or RMB to 1 USD), and learning travel phrases.