Re-Post of Lost First Post (from Sept. 5th)

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Still no info re my teaching responsibilities, nor even any contact from the English department. Luckily I was prepared for this, so will wait Zen-like for my orders:-) <br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" />Today I went downtown to get the mandatory physical exam required to get resident work visa. A special assembly venue and assembly line for foreigners, though I only saw a handful who weren't Asian and speaking Chinese. A mystery that my handler, Christina, couldn't explain. (Nor, by the way, could she explain those curious pink and blue packs containing a small bulbous device that I found for purchase in my hotel room when I showed them to her. "For sex, maybe?" We needed a graphic to close the gap between imagination and ah ha! Oh well.) <br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" />Back to the hospital: Took a number, waited, had picture (8 copies; they needed 4) taken, waited, registered and had another pic taken which followed me electronically into all of the exam rooms to come. Procedure: Wait in line outside an open door. When it's your turn, hand form with photo attached to straightfaced medtech who compares it to computer pic to affirm you're who you claim to be and not someone trying to sneak in for the fun of it. 1) blood draw at a counter and a urine sample (I used only western toilet which had no TP (damn! I had promised myself never to leave home without it), and the only door that didn't close 2) height (still under), weight (still over), bodymass (!) and blood pressure. 3) ear, nose, throat "Sit!" (tech shocked at apparent blindness in my nearsighted eye, and visibly relieved that I could see the huge letters out of my other one so she could pass me on to 4) someone who asked me to lie down behind a curtain (so all in line couldn't share) "Lie!, then poked and prodded many parts of my upper body. "OK!" Guess I passed. 5) EKG, then 6) Ultrasound of torso (brrrr) and, finally, 7) a chest xray. Mission accomplished and morning spent. Got my first view of downtown and a peripheral glimpse of West Lake, though, during interminable rush hour traffic. Unfortunately REALLY polluted today, tho it's not usually very, according to Christina and my first few days here. <br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" />After giving Christina a dumpling (jiaozi) quiz (wouldn't want something unexpected inside), I was able to pick up 10 cooked and 10 uncooked from a shop across the street for a little over three bucks. Lunch and dinner taken care of! I also learned that teachers are charged under a buck for two veggies and one meat meals at the cafeteria, or, in my case, for one meat, but still... Also learned that we're given allowance of $15 for electricity and $30 for gas (or is the other way around?). EIther way, enviable utility charges. <br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" />I had a cast of thousands in my apartment around 4p tending to some of my residential requests: a water machine and water (very welcome, but living in my sitting room at the moment) All of my appliances might be considered oddly placed, actually--a function of where the single outlets are: washing machine in kitchen, fridge and microwave on opposite sides of main room, computer in bedroom. Mei banfa (whatever). Gas delivery (for stove) and a drain repair. Plus Galyna okaying purchase price for a multimedia concert we're going to see on the 15th (famous composer of score for Crouching Tiger and Hero). <br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" />Even better than the dumpling score is that, after two hours of on-line chat and remote manipulation, I seem to have got my VPN up and running! The test was getting on Facebook...and I did! Hopefully that means youtube and google/yahoo will also be in my flight path. <br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" />Unless I hear from English Dept tomorrow, I may be headed for the police department to keep the visa process ball moving along. I'm definitely going to walk the hood (do you think the ball of twine will be noticeable?) to increase my radius of mobility and try to find someplace to buy protein cookable by me. The traffic light in front of school mysteriously disappeared today (who knew is was even portable?!), which seriously ups the risk factor involved in walkabouts. <br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" /><br style="color:򇨣 font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;" />Back to protein: Christina confirmed with me this morning her belief that Americans neither eat dog nor fish heads. I hope I didn't steer her wrong...
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