A catch-up on the events of 3 months ago - might be interesting for Cathay-inclined... It happened with me in January. Who could have believed - winter again, and again I am inflicted with pneumonia darn it.
Spent some time at an authentic Chinese hospital, now that the employer doesn't pay for the expenses - the way ASE did in Lianyungang, every day costs about 500 yuan. Bugger. On the other hand, if life throws this dealie in my direction, it sure wants to tell me something, and I have to walk through this field patiently... They say bloodletting is healthy. Might be good for my savings as well ; ))
In general food is not included in the overall treatment at the Chinese hospitals and patients have to take care of the nourishing all by themselves (note - in Russian hospitals where I had a misfortune to spend some quality time, feeding the patients is a sort of an inclusive service). Good thing my girlfriend visited me every day, otherwise I don’t know how I could have pulled through.
Now - everything I am writing here is not some grouching over things I don't like or don't understand, but rather a description of something that gave me a sort of a culture shock, stirred up my feelings and thinking; and I decided to share this unusual experience. I am of course grateful, and a hundred of kowtows to the doctors who pulled me out of a nasty disease, if not for them, you know. Anyhow -
Warning - people with unstable nerves would be better off not reading this;)
When we came there to be admitted I was offered either a 2-bed or a 5-bed ward. I naturally go like - ''Who’s in the semi-private ward?'' - ''Well, '' they say, ''there is this new dude, we are still unsure what he’s got; spits blood. '' I prick up my ears and venture to ask if it might be tuberculosis? ''We don't know, '' they say, ''maybe not'' :-E
I say, ''But what if maybe yes? '' - ''Well, if yes, we’ll transfer you to another ward, but so far it’s ok''.
Now, I am not a doc or anything, but to put people with pneumonia and tuberculosis (even under question) in the same ward is, to articulate it mildly, a bit off. A Chinese roulette.
I cautiously continue: "And is there anyone with tuberculosis in the 5-people ward?" The nurse scratched her white head-gear, starting to get tired of a laowai who asks too much and said she didn't know. Which, I venture again, may mean that 'maybe yes'? The nurse: ''I am not responsible for that ward''. But I get the whiff that such a situation is nothing out of the ordinary. I am shocked all over after being dealt such a challenging hand, sitting in that nurse room, thinking that I cannot just go home and deteriorate, I need to get some treatment, but will probably have to gamble here, so at least there is no need to cross the border to Macao. It is apparent the nurses see such a pricky patient for the first time and start to lose patience. Well, I gotta do something, so I choose the 5-people ward. According to the latest information there was no one with tuberculosis there.
So there I was with 4 other dudes. One is coughing away, sticking out his tongue in raptures with ardour and half-closed eyes... I ask the nurse, why don’t you tell him anything, it's insanitariness and all, - and she is like: well, it’s his cultural tradition, cannot change it, so you gotta be a little careful; and she kind of keeps turning her masked face to the wall. 8-E Later this same dude is sitting by his bed, gurgles some water from a glass and bang! - with gusto spits it all out on the floor in the ward. Even more shocked, I hid under the blanket, pulled a surgical mask over my face and looked around winking helplessly. And that dude looks at me squinting from time to time, like saying, what, little laowai, scared yet?
I asked the doctors later - it is surely not only a western tradition to cover the mouth when coughing, - yeah, they say, people should do it here, it’s universal, specially in the medical surroundings. But you are doctors, why don’t you tell him, it’s not about aesthetics anymore, but purely for the health of the nation! NOBODY dared to ask him. Probably respect his old age. Well, I thought about stepping up but thought better of it... Just imagine - an aged guy with a lot of problems on his mind is being taught by a younger guy, a snotty laowai to top it up, who with aplomb and irritation tells him how to live his life, especially in the way that is so strange in his picture of the world. I figured the result would be surprise and rejection - in a happy case of his nerves being alright... My gf even laughed outloud when I tried to describe to her such a variant. ...The dude himself was quite cool otherwise, - a hoar-touched pony-tail, which he let out through the rear hole of his baseball cap in a hip way. And a goatee. Looked to me like a real Taoist or a free-thinking artist. Exactly the way I envisioned Taoists who were at the same time independent artists. I even felt a bit of shame after getting angry at his behavior, for it is quite natural and devoid of conventionalities... I figure the Taoists used to live this way for thousands of years in their mountains and other convenient places, with no concern of some not-yet-invented stipulations. And, on the other hand, it is a kind of natural selection and free vaccination for the ones lucky to be the fittest.
BTW, another curious thing about that hospital, - as it is known, to the south of the Huanghe (or is it Yangze?) River the central heating does not exist at all, hospitals are no exception either, so the people are wandering around in hats and coats right indoors. Of course the greatcoats are not taken off when going to bed. Reminds of a field hospital and gives a disturbing feeling of unsettlement, - but it looks this way only for the slickers entangled in their weird conventionalities, ain't it?
It is necessary to mention that for the sake of disinfection the window and the door opposite it are wide open - the breeze is traveling through the room, everybody is in an overcoat and some with woolen hats on, with pneumonias and coughs are watching TV. A laowai's soul, brought up on the belief that a hospital is a place of calm and comfortable atmosphere for a recuperating organism, might want to stir up in righteous indignation, but later on a philosophical wave it calms down and adjusts to the oriental wisdom: should we air the room? Sure thing. If it is cold we got all those overcoats on. So: the pesky infection is being frozen to death, the body is being tempered, and if anyone is bothering you with his cough, cough back to him to gain the balance of elements. Amazingly, nobody argues, everything is in perfect equilibrium, - when I closed those doors and windows, nobody uttered a word, but after the first person passing through the door the left it ajar, and the window returned to its initial open state with a little help by a concerned relative of a recuperating fellow. No discussion of what is better for health, what the rules are; everyone is content and this whole thing exists in a universe parallel to that of medical books - which, I am sure, are not too different from those used westwards from here.
Later they did transfer me to a 2-people ward. The ward-mate turned out to be a calm grandpa, but sometimes he did venture out of the usual indifferent state. My gf asked him once - is it ok if we watch some TV while you are talking to your relatives - he says yeah, but without sound, because I am sleeping. And the whole crowd goes on chattering. Then the gaffer raises on an elbow, looks at me and with distinctive pressure says ''Sleep!'' It’s either he orders me or makes a comment on what he’s doing. But anyhow, he let us know he’s not your usual simpleton from the street. Now I start thinking whether he digs English being a Kuomintang spy, and actually gets everything we are talking about without ceremony. His family is alright, there are always a daughter present, the wife, and loads of other relatives hanging around. I am keeping the temperature condition in the room under control, the windows and doors are closed on a regular basis, and the grandpa doesn’t protest. The window faces a corner of a seaside and the sun-lit town.
The visitors of that hospital are coming and going whenever they want, no rules about clothes and shoes. Nice laid-back attitude.
Actually I have a hunch that just a generation passes - and the new generation is already being taught the manners and everything, without wasting much sap for re-educating the venerable elders - and in a couple of decades China will be all renovated, - 'tis a nice policy. And respectful, to top it up. In the meantime though, you gotta take a little care of yourself.
