Chinese Hospital Experience...

Don't worry! It's nothing big- on Monday I went to see a doctor because I was noticing more questionable spots appearing on my body by the hour and I hadn't seen any mosquitos in my tenth floor dorm. It turns out I have a rash probably from a mango I ate. This picture is from the first day so it doesn't look too bad.. :) You pay for your visit before you see a doctor (under one US dollar) and weave through the hordes of people looking for signs with names that match the checklist in your notebook (P.S. In case you were wondering, no one speaks a word of English)- this details where you go to get different tests done (it's like any assembly line hospital). Everything is very efficient and very public- that means no private rooms, etc... We're so spoiled! But I have to hand it to the Chinese- I had no appointment and I was out of there with medicine in my purse in under thirty minutes. It's definitely a culture of efficiency (which we often translate as rudeness).. As I watched all of the moms pushing their kids into the offices and the elderly people shoving their way to the front (Chinese people don't form lines) I thought in America you couldn't get us to move this quickly, to be this efficient. We like the doctors to move fast but spend as much time as possible with us, etc... I don't know how a country with this many people could function without a system like this for its hospitals. There are a LOT of people.