Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

Hello all!

I'm going to keep this post short on words and post a whole bunch of pictures since I'm using the Banerjees' super fast internet!  I'm having a fantastic time visiting my friends and exploring their city of Kunshan.  We spent all of yesterday and will be spending today in Shanghai.  Enough with the talking, here's some pictures!

Taking the high-speed bullet train from Kunshan to Shanghai.  It took 10 minutes and went about 200 MPH! So smooth!

Megan teaches at a Canadian International School.  This is her super cute classroom!

Megan, Chitrak, and me at the Bund in Shanghai.  I visited the Bund 7 years ago when I was first in Shanghai, and am still overwhelmed by how awesome it is!

Hanging with the bull on the Bund

We ate dinner at an amazing Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai called Lost Heaven.  This is after I stuffed myself full of delicious food!

A random Italian placed named after the movie Goodfellas!

The Bund at night takes my breath away.  All of these lights are constantly changing and there are videos/ads on the sides of the skyscrapers.

Taking a break for some Carlsbad beer while shopping in Shanghai.

Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed my time with the Banerjees.  Today, we're headed back to Shanghai to eat and shop before my flight back to Guangzhou.

Thank you all for the encouragement after my last post.  I'm feeling much better and out of my homesick funk!

Until next time,

jessica.eae

Bitten by the Homesickeness Bug

Hello all,

This time, next week, I will be on a big ole' airplane back to the US.

I might be counting down the days.

A few weeks ago, I was counting down the days to come to China.  I was so excited for this adventure!   However, after I said goodbye to Pierce at the airport, I walked away from him crying.  It was super difficult and reminded me of the last time I cried in an airport, when I dropped him off for boot camp.

Basically, what I'm trying to say, is I'm homesick.  The first week was filled of all new things and really getting to experience China.  My second week has been a little more bittersweet.  Sure, I've seen a few cool procedures in the infertility center, but most of this week I've felt queasy and been battling the dreaded diarrhea.  Plus, only  one doctor I've been with this week has spoken English, so that's been different.  She's so busy, she usually forgets to translate anything unless I ask.

I did spend the night on-call in the OB department last night and scrubbed into a C-section.  Luckily, the basic steps to the operation are the same here as they are in the US.  It's difficult to be assisting an operation as a student when you know the language...last night there was literally no English spoken during the operation.
 
 I suppose I just expected there to be a bit more English.  The other IU student has been placed with one single doctor for the past 2 weeks, and I think his situation is a lot better than mine.  I've been bouncing around from doctor to doctor in various departments and clinics.  Sometimes, the person I'm supposed to be with forgets about me.  No one really seems to understand why I came here, since I don't speak Chinese.

I definately don't regret deciding to come to Guangzhou.  I have met some great people and observed a completely different healthcare system that makes me ridiculously grateful for the one we have in the US.  I have grown as an independent person and learned that I can survive in a foreign place in ok living conditions.  I can help in procedures where no one speaks my language.  I can make friends that barely speak English but somehow, we can understand each other just fine.  I can do a pelvic exam, telling the patient what to do with only hand motions!

And for all these things and many more that I have learned, I am thankful.

So, with just a week left, I am going to try and adopt a more positive attitude than I have had the past few days.  I am coming home to people that love and missed me.  Though it is still freezing in my room, at least I have shelter over my head and two blankets.  I have a bit of hot water and an occasional mini-Snickers bar.  I'll try to curb in my homesickness and live more in the moment.

Tomorrow, I'm off to see two of my favorite people in the world in Shanghai.  It's going to be an awesome weekend!

Sorry for the random venting/complaining blog post.  I feel better now :)

Until next time,

jessica.eae 
  

 

 

Chickity China the Chinese Chicken

Hello all!

Shout out to anyone who remembers the song that contains my title :)

Currently, it is Monday evening and I'm not shivering!  Woot!  It warmed up a little in Guangzhou today, though my room is still chilly.  With the warm weather came the air pollution, though.  It might look like it's super foggy, but that is all polluted air.  My eyes and throat are dry from just walking to get dinner!

I think I caught a touch of food poisoning/traveler's diarrhea last night; however, thanks to my meds that I so thoughtfully packed, I'm feeling normal again.  Sadly, clumsy me fell down a few slippery stairs today so now I have a large bruise on my thigh.  Luckily, that was all that resulted from that fall!  I'm now resigned to taking the elevator.

I had a great weekend with lots of exploring Guangzhou with my Chinese friends and the other IU student.  I thought I would take this post to talk a little about my everyday life here, Q&A style.

How do you eat and drink if you can't speak Chinese?
Thank goodness, many of the students/doctors here seemingly enjoy taking us American students out to lunch and dinner.  When they take me to a restaurant, I just let them order for me.  When I'm by myself, I might eat Western food (places like McDonald's have a picture menu I can point at and Starbucks has employees that speak English) or I may try my luck at a Chinese restaurant.  I pick the ones that have pictures of the food on their walls and menus, so I can point at things.  I eat noodles almost everyday, since there is a convenient noodle restaurant by campus that is run by Chinese Muslims.  Their cooking is known to be "safe" and it's cheap.  I get this one noodle dish for about $1.50 US and I can't eat all of it.  There's another noodle restaurant I have discovered that has a picture menu with English!  Jackpot!

What have you been eating and drinking?  How is it different from the US?
Besides my new love affair with noodles, I've tried quite a bit of traditional Cantonese food.  Cantonese food is known for being pretty bland... and it often is.  I've had many delicious dishes, including pigeon (seriously, tasted like chicken), turbot fish, dim sum, Cantonese soup, shrimp, and dumplings.  There was an amazing beef and cashew dish I tried.  I eat steamed bun sandwiches (baozi) from convenient stores.  I did try this rice paste/noodle dish that is common for Cantonese people to eat and did not enjoy it, since the texture was all mushy and slimy.  Chinese food in China is NOT your typical American Chinese food.  I would punch someone for General Tso's Chicken and crab rangoon. 

As for drinking, I'm pretty sure I'm constantly dehydrated.  I swear, people here NEVER drink anything.  They don't have any drinks with meals, unless it's a fancier meal and then it's tea.  People don't drink water or pop like we do.  I'm always thirsty.  I buy Coke Zero/Sprites in the convenient store on campus and carry them in my purse.  No one uses ice and I've noticed people becoming concerned that my water is "too cold," so they will pour hot water into my water to warm it up!  Only bottled water is ok to drink.

What kind of transportation do you use?
Very few people here own cars.  The traffic is just too awful on an everyday basis.  So, everyone just walks, rides the bus, or hops on the Metro.  I walk pretty much everywhere.  The hospital is about 5 minutes from my room.  There's a huge mall called China Plaza that's about a 10 minute walk away.  Restaurants are everywhere.  I did ride the bus last Friday with the Chinese students and it was much nicer than Indy buses, even if it was crowded.  The Metro here is AMAZING.  Super clean subway with everything in 3 languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.  I've been on the Metro quite a few times and think it's definitely the best way to get around.  There are taxis as well.

Are people rude to you because you're a foreigner?
I'll be honest, I do get stares everywhere I go, probably due to my trifecta of: height, ghost white skin, and red hair.  No one has been outright rude.  Actually, everyone I've talked to has been very friendly and really just wants to know more about the US.  I did have a bunch of Chinese high school boys come up to me at Sun Yat-Sen Memorial and tell me I'm very beautiful.  They proceeded to take a few pictures with me...but that's been about it!

Hey, you know that thing you signed up for called the Mini Marathon... How's your training?
HAHAHA.  I've only run once since I've been here.  There is a soccer field with a track around it in the front of my dorm.  I about died breathing, thanks to the air pollution, so I only ran 2.5 miles.  Tomorrow, I will attempt to run again.  Last time I ran, the soccer team that was practicing finished their game and directly lit a bunch of cigarettes.  Oh China.

Alright friends, that's all I have for now.  Please have a fountain pop Mountain Dew with ice for me.

Until next time,

jessica.eae   

   

 

 

A Quick Peek at Women's Health in China

Hello all!

Today is Valentine's Day, so shout out to my amazing husband back home who is the most supportive and loving man I know!  I lucked out when I married him and am currently missing him like crazy.  I hope you enjoy your surprise, Pierce!

Chinese people also have started celebrating Valentine's Day, so there's lots of flowers and hearts around today.  It seems to be very similar to how Americans celebrate.  Today is also the Chinese Lantern Festival, which is the 15th day in the Chinese New Year.  Most of the larger buildings have red lanterns hanging outside their doors.  This festival marks the end of celebrations for the Chinese New Year, which is 2 weeks long.  My Chinese friends are taking me out tonight to see all the lanterns in a park and eat rice balls called tangyuan.  I'll take pictures and attempt to upload a few.  

I still can't upload pictures to this blog, so I've started uploading more on Instagram/Facebook.  You can see more of my adventure there!  My Instagram username is arnettj.

Quick announcement:  I wanted to clarify my last post, where I mentioned that occasionally, doctors are murdered.  This RARELY happens and the few instances were because the patient had some sort of bad outcome (complications or death).  People here don't dislike doctors in general.  They just don't trust their medical decisions and don't comprehend that not every procedure/disease will end perfectly.  I am still very safe here, promise!  (Nana, this paragraph is for you!)

Since I'm going into OB/Gyn (fingers crossed), I was very interested in learning about women's healthcare here.  Much of it is the same or very similar to the US: the diseases, pelvic exams, treatments, laboratory tests, procedures.  What is NOT the same, of course, is the elephant in the room: China's One-Child Policy.

The Chinese government, since 1979, has mandated that each family only has one child.  There were exceptions, of course: rural families could have a second child if the first child was a girl.  Ethnic minorities were exempt.  Foreigners were exempt.  A new change to this rule has many people here very excited.  If either parent is an only child, the families can have another child.  Some provinces have already implemented this change, though Guandong province (where I am) will not change until later this year.

This sounds nuts to us Americans, right?  A government telling us how many children we can have?  Here, of course, it's to control overpopulation.  There are so many people here and not enough resources.  Other things I have learned about this law:  you can only have a child if you are married (people can get married around 22).  If you decide to have more than one child, you must pay a large fine.  For someone who makes about 200,000 yuan (about $33,000 USD) per year, the fine would be between $30,000 and $60,000, USD. That's a huge fine.

Thus, to follow this law, a large number of women must have abortions, either medicinal or surgical.  Contraceptives are highly encouraged and IUDs are the most popular.  From what I understand, after having a child, women are required to get an IUD.  Mirena IUDs are used here, but are decently expensive ($150 USD) compared to the very common copper ring IUD (75 cents USD).  However, things happen, and abortions here are ridiculously common.  The abortions are completed the same way there are in the US (except with no general anesthesia or sedation), and similar guidelines are followed regarding the age of the fetus.  By law, they are not done based on the sex of the baby.  I've talked to multiple patients who have had 3 or 4... one patient had 9!  There is no debate here about wrong or right, like there is in the US.  It just seems to be an (ugly and sad) fact of Chinese life.

It is hard for me to comprehend a system like this, where the government controls such a personal aspect of your life.  Being the type of person who sees many shades of gray in every discussion, I can see some of the positives.  It would be fantastic to not have to deliver a 15 year-old's second baby.  The majority of the patients I see in the US are unmarried, single moms with multiple children by different fathers who struggle to raise their children.  It might be a stereotype, but it's a true one.  Spend a day at any community hospital in the US and you will understand.  That just does not happen here.  And, of course, when population > resources, many terrible things happen.

Am I endorsing the one-child policy?  Absolutely not.  I find it contradictory to natural rights.  However, I wanted to share what is part of everyday life in China.

Many, many women and doctors here are excited about the changes in the one-child policy.  I hope such an advance in thinking continues.

Until next time,

jessica.eae  

Culture Shock... Grab the Defibrillator!

Hello all!

Sorry it has taken me a few days to update the blog.  I keep trying to upload pictures, but the WiFi in my dorm has been ridiculously slow the past two days.  I guess until I figure that out, it will just have to be words!  Definitely not as fun as pictures :(

For the past few days, I have just been settling in and attempting to get my bearings.  I am a little homesick and am missing the little things in life: driving my car, heat in my house, unlimited showers, Western toilets, English letters.  This experience makes me a little more grateful and humble everyday.

I realize it is pretty cold back home in Indiana, but I am freezing here in Guangzhou!  It's typically 60-70 degrees during this time, but right now, it is the coldest it has been in many years.  It's about 40 degrees.  The problem is that none of the buildings here have heat, so my room is so cold, I have to wrap myself in blankets while sitting at the computer.  At night, I sleep with about 3 comforters and wrap them over my head.  Supposedly next week, it should be warmer!  I feel like I can't ever get warm.

The clinical experience of this rotation has been off to a slightly shaky start.  On Monday, I was in clinic all day.  Everyone keeps asking me why I am here since I don't speak Chinese!  Well... it was supposed to work out ok since supposedly most students/younger doctors speak English.  However, not as many people speak English as I thought.  Even those that can speak to me don't really translate/interpret what the patients are saying because honestly, they don't have time!

Here at the First Affiliated Hospital of SYSU, patients first arrive to register.  At the registration desk, they say why they are here and get a ticket to see whatever doctor they need.  There's no appointments, no orderly lines.  It's just masses of people shoving their way to the front.  After receiving a ticket, they make their way to the appropriate clinic and wait in even more lines.  Patients carry all their medical records, lab results, and imaging results themselves.  There's no centralized charting system.  Everything is handwritten, except for the occasional order, which is printed out on printers that were popular in the states in the early 1990s!

Forget HIPPA and privacy.  There's usually 2-3 doctors per room.  A doctor will be examining a patient, even doing a pelvic exam, and other patients will be standing there, watching.  There are a few screens set up, but people totally ignore them.  Patients also read other patient's charts.  The only way to get to see a doctor is to make your way to the front of the queue and shove your papers into the doctor's face.  Everyone around you hears why you're at the doctor.  Can you imagine Americans doing this?  Absolutely not!

After completing the exam, such as a pelvic exam, the patient is given their own samples to take to the laboratory themselves.  They will be given the results to take back to the doctor.  If another test is ordered, such as an ultrasound, the patient will head to another department, get the test, and bring the results back.  The doctors have fairly  minimal interaction with patients.

It is definitely completely different from the US!

Patients here have very little respect for doctors.  This is something that every student and doctor has mentioned to me.  Even though healthcare here is very cheap compared to the US, patients feel that, because they are paying, everything must go perfectly.  If something goes wrong (which so often does in healthcare), they become irate with the doctor.  People have told me about patients trashing clinics, getting physical with doctors... and there have been reports of patients even murdering doctors in other provinces and smaller hospitals.  

Don't worry (Mom and Nana, if you're reading this), my hospital is very safe and I don't treat anyone :)

I have plenty more things to discuss, especially regarding obstetrics, gynecology, and the One-Child Law.  Some of it is pretty controversial, but anyone who knows me knows I am an open book and don't mind discussing things that others are probably offended by! 

Hopefully I can get my WiFi working better and post pictures! 

I have to head back to the hospital for afternoon clinic in prenatal diagnosis.  I will try to write more tonight or tomorrow!

Love to everyone back home!

Until next time,

jessica.eae

 

Hello from Guangzhou!

Hello all!

I'm writing this on Sunday at 6:30 PM China time.  Back home in Indianapolis, it's 5:30 AM Sunday.  I feel jet lag creeping in.  My body is so confused right now, it doesn't know what to think!

Getting to Guangzhou wasn't too horrible.  I flew from Indy to Detroit (40 mins) with a three hour layover.  Next, I hopped on a 777 to Beijing.  That flight was a ridiculous 13 hours!  Luckily, I snagged an emergency exit row seat and had plenty of leg room, plus a handy flip-out TV.  There are only so many movies you can watch, though.  I attempted to sleep with the help of Nyquil, but only snagged about 2 hours.  We were served 2 attempts at "meals."  Finally, we landed in Beijing.

 
My time at the airport in Beijing was CRAZY.  First, we disembarked from airplane.  We then had to wait for our luggage.  After grabbing my checked suitcase, I had to pass through immigration and then customs.  Think long lines everywhere!  I successfully made it through both of those and then had to recheck my bag for my domestic transfer.  They printed me a new boarding pass while I attemped to figure out where the hell my gate was.  I ended up walking to Terminal 2... which was the wrong terminal and a 15 minute walk from Terminal 1.  I realized my mistake and jogged back to Terminal 1 where I then had to go through airport security.  Security was insane.  I had to try and understand the Chinese policeman about taking out my laptop, tablet, contact solution, and umbrella for them to check.  My layover was only two hours, so at this point I was sweating like a madwoman and freaking out that I was going to miss my flight to Guangzhou.  After security, I jogged through the aiport to get to my gate at the end.  I MADE IT with barely any time to spare.  I was so exhausted that I slept the entire 2.5 hours to Guangzhou.  Small world: my seatmate during that flight was from Michigan!

After arriving in Guangzhou, I waited what seemed like forever for my checked bag.  I was almost in tears at this point, because I thought they had lost it, and I had no idea how I was going to deal with that.  I was never so happy to see a bright pink suitcase in my life.  I walked out of the baggage area to see 2 students from Sun Yet-Sen University (SYSU) holding a sign with my name.  We hopped in a waiting car and drove to the university.

Chinese drivers are the worst drivers ever.  Pretty sure there are no rules of the road here.

SYSU is gated and there are security people everywhere.  Everything seems extremely safe and the students have been so welcoming.  When I was told I would be staying in a dorm room, I pictured an American dorm.

HAHAHAHAHA.

Dorm rooms in America are hotel rooms compared to my room.  They typically fit 6 people in each one of these rooms.  I have one to myself.  There are bunkbeds with a mattress about 2 inches thick.  There's no heat and today it was down-pouring and about 40 degrees, so I'm writing this wrapped in a blanket.  I'm only allowed to shower with hot water between 6-11 PM and am restricted to 50L of water per week.  I have a shower card that regulates the hot water.  I'm glad I brought body wipes and dry shampoo.

And yes, the only toilet is a porcelain hole.  The "squatty potty."

Culture shock here is fairly intense.  Granted, one of the reasons I decided to do this rotation was to get out of my comfort zone.  Mission accomplished!  Thank goodness the students are so kind and helpful, really going out of their way for myself and the other IU student who is here.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post soon.  Tomorrow morning I start my rotation at the hospital.  I'll keep everyone updated!

I had some issues with my phone when I arrived, but now I have Wifi and a Chinese SIM card in my phone.  My WeChat and Viber are both working.  I miss everyone back home, especially my hubby and puppies.

Until next time,
jessica.eae    
 

China, Here I Come!

Hello all!

It is Thursday, February 6, around noon.  I leave for China in approximately 20 hours.  I think I finally have a handle of the vast majority of things I needed to get done before I left...except for the whole packing thing.

I realize I attempted to do this "blog" thing about 5 times during the beginning of my second year of medical school.  Let's just say that second year was pretty busy.  Brutally busy.  You couldn't pay me any money to retake second year of med school.  I remember looking at Pierce after I took Step 1 (my first round of boards) and saying, "If I failed this, I'm dropping out." I didn't fail.  In fact, I completed third year and am now almost done with fourth year.

Where has the time gone?

Fourth year is a fantastic year, but has its own set of stresses.  You know, like taking two more rounds of boards, interviewing for residencies, and attempting to match into a residency.  I'm at the awkward point where all my interviews for OB/Gyn have been completed since mid-December, my match list has been set since a few weeks ago, and now I'm just waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.  For Match on March 21, to tell me and my husband where we're going to be living for the next 4 years.  Then we can buy a house, move, and Pierce can find a job all before I start in mid-June.  Or we may just be staying in Indy.  Who knows at this point?

The uterus is kind of my thing, ya'll.

If you've never heard of the Match, it's how us graduating physicians find our residencies.  You can Google it.  I compare it to sorority rush.  It's not my favorite thing (clearly, I was never in a sorority).  The process is complicated, but I feel like a lot of it boils down to whether places like you or not.  Plus, the next four years of my life depend on a computer algorithm.

Enough of the Match before I have an anxiety attack.  I decided to bring the blog back to life for my stay in China.  I've always wanted to travel abroad and experience medicine in another country.  I've been to China, during the summer of 2007, with the UIndy Festival Chorale.  It was so very different from the US that I figured, let's go again!  Plus, my college roomie and her hubby happen to live near Shanghai (visit time!).  So I signed up for a month elective through Sun Yet-Sen University in Guangzhou, China.  I get to experience China and work in the OB/Gyn Department at the hospital associated with SYSU, which is so very cool.

 The Great Wall of China, which I visited in 2007.  Sadly, I don't get to visit it this time!

So here I am!  Sadly, Pierce has to be an adult and work, so he will not be joining me.  This will be the first time I've ever traveled abroad completely by myself... I may be a tad bit nervous.  

And crazy excited!

I may not have access to Facebook in China due to their firewalls and things.  I will not have Verizon either.  If you want to text me or send me a message, there's a couple things you can do.

Skype me!  My username is ebingerjea.
Download the app called WeChat and add me (ebingerjea).  This is free texting that anyone can use!
Download the app called Viber and add me (it imports your phone's contacts and I should pop up).  This is free texting and calling as well.
Email me!  I prefer my IUPUI email address...which I'm not going to post on here.  So text me before I leave the country tomorrow or use one of my other methods to get it from me.

Ok, I better go finish laundry and start thinking about packing.  I'm probably just going to stay up all night, pack, and tire myself out for the 14 hour plane ride tomorrow.  And the whole 13 hour time change thing.

Until next time, from Guangzhou hopefully!

jessica.eae