Hospital tours, tongue and grasshoppers!

The day started off very American. Breakfast at the hotel, an omelet, bacon and waffles. Then we got very busy and decidedly more Chinese. We took another drive 40 minute ride to the 120 center to set up all our equipment for Monday. This was a process. Early on, we realized we were missing a key part, one that we thought was coming from Philips with the monitors. After about 45 minutes, a phone call to Lena and lots of head scratching and wire splicing, I found the Holy Grail, fast patches! We need 3, I found 1. Bummer. But we can make it work. Adapt and overcome, right? Even 6000 miles away!

Once we finished doing all our set up we all walked over to a restaurant. Dave, Paula, Trace, Jesse, Dr. Ho, Dr. Leo (may not be correct spelling of their names, but its how we say it!), our driver and I got a ‘room’ at this restaurant. Of course we had no idea what we were going to eat, and have developed the thought that don’t ask until after you’ve tried it. There are definitely some things I may not eat if I had known, but did since I didn’t. More eggplant, rice, green vegetable resembling spinach, another pork dish, cold cucumber and a host of others. They were all spicy and delicious. The trend is well set at this point, spicy and delicious. The crowning jewel of lunch was duck tongue. I had some. It was good. They eat almost any part of an animal, including tongues of ducks. Careful not to eat the cartilage attached to it, though! They also got us a Chinese beer, which turned out to be a Chinese Budweiser. It was completely different from the US Budweiser. Better than the US version, which isn’t hard to do! We also sampled some Chinese liquor. It smelled like pineapple to Paula and I, but definitely didn’t taste like it! VERY strong. It was good, but not something I would make a habit of drinking! I’ll stick to the beer, please!! Supposedly it was made from sticky rice.

We then were on our way to tour 2 hospital ER’s. The first was directly behind the 120 center where we are instructing. The system is much different than ours, but also very similar. We did not get very specific on the logistics, but rather focused on what they had for equipment so we could better tailor the classes to their needs.  We then went through and ambulance, however the first one we hopped into needed to go on a call! The faces of the crew were priceless. 3 Americans rifling through their stuff as they were trying to leave! I bet they never have that experience again! They have many of the same drugs we do, but they are all in ampules. Their equipment is a bit older than ours, but well taken care of. We then set off on a drive of about an hour to the next visit. This hospital was more of the same, but we met up with a couple new directors that seemed very pleased to have us around.

 PEACH BLOSSOM

At the conclusion of our tour, we were told that they wanted us to relax and enjoy the sights with them. Of course we did. They drove us up a mountain to the small town of Peach Blossom. Peach Blossom trees are everywhere, and while there were a few that had bloomed, we were told that if we came back in a week, week and half that they all would be in bloom and that it would be absolutely breathtaking. Perhaps on our break between the 2 classes we would venture back. Unfortunately the pictures I took were very hazy, and they do not do the beautiful countryside any justice. It was beautiful even without the bloom. We were able to get out and walk, and came across the Love Gate, which I included a picture of. Just wandering around the town was very interesting, and all the businessmen and women as well as everyone else go up there to play mah jong, sip some tea and enjoy the fine cuisine that is highly regarded and only available in Peach Blossom. Our hosts informed us that we were going to sample this cuisine at dinner. We could not wait!

I had not mentioned this before, but dinner and lunch at these restaurants is always served on a turntable, like a lazy susan, and you just spin it around to pick what you want. At no time do you pick up a dish to serve yourself. Just spin whatever you want in front of you, dig in with your chopsticks and go straight to the mouth. It almost negates the necessity for plates. Total hands-on eating as well. I love this culture! So as the dishes were being served, they brought out some more Chinese liquor. Uh-oh.  Yes, the consummate toasts ensued. We had been warned about this, that once toasts are made the drinking becomes a who’s got the biggest cojones kind of event. I quickly made my desire for beer known and Jesse made the waitress cater to my quest for weak alcohol! During this, dinner is eaten throughout. Again, it is all very Sichuan with spiciness, and we had several local dishes that are only made in Peach Blossom. Fantastic stuff. A fish soup, a couple pork dishes, cabbage, fish balls and various others. I don’t remember too much of the other stuff, not because I got blitzed from the toasts, but because of a special dish they brought out. Grasshopper. Yep, you read it right, GRASSHOPPER! Hey, I don’t come to China to eat hamburgers, right?? So I indulged. Salty and crispy and not a hint of grasshopper taste! It did not taste like chicken though. It was unique, but not so much that I can think of a way to describe it other than salty and crispy. I had several, and a great picture of the plate and me eating one with our new friend (and participant in the class on Monday!) Dr. Roger Rabbit. At least that’s what we call him. He was putting bunny ears up everywhere. The guy is hilarious. He was also the director of the 2^nd hospital we toured. Trace and Dave had some grasshopper too. Paula wasn’t having it despite our urging! The food, as always, was absolutely scrumptious. We are going to have very spoiled taste buds when we get back!

Back to the drinks and the toasts…. This went on for awhile as we all ate. All the doctors and directors came over and toasted all of us individually, so the custom is to get them back. It was a lot of fun. None of us got drunk though. We were very good dancing on the line of drinking with them and matching their toasts without getting out of control. Jesse had told us that our conduct was great and that they all loved us and that our classes were going to be excellent. We also met the directors secretary, Qinli (pronounced chin-lee) who spoke beautiful english. We got her contact information because they wanted us to come back on our days off to see the Peach Blossoms in bloom. The director and her would be very happy to take us out again. We all hoped we could do that.

When the night ended, they also bought us sugar that was made into a sort of taffy and was also only made locally. We all know my love for the sweet stuff, so I loved it. Great dessert. They bought a lot of it for us, so plenty for later! Despite that day being so action packed and busy, we got back to the hotel at 9 pm here. We did see some interesting things on the way back. A couple laser light shows, hotels lit up like no other before, including Vegas. We passed a square in the middle of town that had everyone doing a mass dance together! Jesse said it was exercise. It looked pretty cool, and was well choreographed. If we come back, I want to take part! It was a really good day, but I still miss my family terribly.