Today was the first day that felt like we were finding a rhythm and routine to our weeks in China. We met at 8:30 to get updates about Chinese classes, had class 9-12, lunch, break, class 2-4, then free evening.
During Chinese class, we first reviewed all the pronunciation material we learned in the first two classes, then had a dictation quiz, then started the first chapter in our book by learning the 16-word vocab list. We have a dictation quiz tomorrow on the words in both characters and pinyin, the pronunciation, the meaning, and she will be stringing them into sentences. I'm quite nervous and have made flashcards to study in addition to the homework of writing each character six times. I also got my Chinese name today. Our second TA said, "do you like flowers?" and when I said yes, she said my name should be Lily, which is pronounced "bai he" (in pinyin; for those who don't do pinyin, it sounds like "bye huh?"). I like the name because Lily Evans is probably my favorite character in Harry Potter. It is strange to have a name that does not start with an "s" or "st" sound, though.
We had lunchboxes for lunch today. Mine had chicken but there were other meats, a fried egg, a bok choy rice noodle side dish, and a spicy celery side dish. In the meeting portion, Gu Laoshi told us that he is making a trip to Shanghai to meet with our university's President and that the first Public Health field trip is on Thursday. I'm pretty excited for a field trip, and we have one a week for the remainder of the first four.
During the break, a group of us went to put money on our student IDs so we could eat a on-campus cafeterias. It was a pretty simple process: you put your card on the machine, hand them cash, and then they put the cast through the scanner, which adds the value to your card. After that, I made a trip to the supermarket for lotion and flashcard paper, then got back to the dorm for a quick break before Public Health class.
That class was taught by a different professor today. He talked about China's healthcare system. I felt like the lecture was low on content and high on Mao for the time we were given, but I now have a sense of the Chinese healthcare system. There are various governmental administrative levels, and each level manages its own population's health. 92% of the citizens have health insurance, but between premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, they still pay a lot for healthcare. The providers are in a few different types of facilities, and patients do not make an appointment to see a physician, they just show up and wait.
Between the lack of public health infrastructure, lack of access, overuse of antibiotics, and prohibitive costs of healthcare in China, I actually prefer the American system, as flawed and profit-driven as it is. It scares me that in China doctors are more likely to prescribe unnecessary drugs and procedures just so they can increase their salaries (which two professors have independently and explicitly stated). Particularly with the overuse of antibiotics, I worry about drug resistant disease becoming increasingly dangerous in the future.
After class, I did my Chinese work, then had dinner in an on-campus cafeteria with a group of friends. We got there as they were closing, so we got the last of the food. I had cabbage and rice. After we finished, we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream. We got back from dinner, I showered, blogged, studied, and went to bed.
Since today was kind of routine, I have to mention that when I step outside every day, and it was one of the first things I noticed, China smells different. Sure, you can attribute it to the air pollution, different water, food stalls, and squat toilets, but this is a distinct environmental feature. I think that the US has a particular smell, too, but we don't always notice it as much when it's the everyday thing. When I worked at camp last summer, camp always smells green to me because of the trees and grass. Home home and college smell blue in a kind of neutral way, with car exhaust and lake water being key scents. I'd classify China as a grey, foggy kind of smell, There is something there that is hard to pinpoint, and the things I listed above are each a component, but they are part of a more complex whole. It's not the most pleasant smell, but it's what I'm living in right now.
Today is awesome because I am recognizing words, phrases, and sequences in Chinese. Now if only I could synthesize it myself!
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