Go to See a Doctor in Beijing Xiehe Hospital (協和醫院)

協和醫院
Originally uploaded by taigerwan.

Yesterday was my first time to see a doctor in Xiehe (協和) Hospital, the most well-known hospital in Beijing. Unusually, I got up before 6 o'clock and then dashed to the bus stop because it is said that registration would be full after 7 o’clock. Fortunately, I succeeded in registration and left the hospital about 9:30.
Although the medical services in Taiwan must be better than those in China, for me who do not have the public health security, the cost to see a doctor in Taiwan becomes very expensive. Registration in China may be only 5RMB, while that in Taiwan may cost 150 NTD.

Except the terrible crowded patients, I had a good impression on Xiehe Hospital. Therefore, I went to apply a card issued by the hospital which can make the registration process become easier after second time.

First Time Language Exchange

Beijing Botanical Garden
Originally uploaded by taigerwan.

Yesterday in Yannan (燕南) coffee shop, Neptune and I had our first time language exchange. Neptune revised my three compositions and advised me to apply more personal and specific examples to my writing. I think he is right. However, he seams not good at instructing writing details, such as proper use of vocabulary and grammar. Olive appears to be more experienced than Neptune. I made a phone call to Olive and we three had a lunch of dumplings together in NongYuan(農園).

Olive was so thoughtful and generous that he suggested us to use his room in Shaoyuan (勺園) for exchange. In the afternoon, I began to teach Neptune how to pronounce those Chinese sentences in his textbook, a material from Global Village. Neptune complained that in Global Village, most students are Koreans and thus they generally use the Korean language to communicate. Besides, He found that many students spoke much worse Chinese than he, an environment that, in his opinion, is a disadvantage of learning Chinese.

How Can I Endure My Face to Become "SWOLLEN"?

Beijing Botanical Garden
Originally uploaded by taigerwan.

I especially aspire to go swimming today. However, the swimming pool of Huateng Club, where I buy its membership card, has been closed for several weeks, deriving from some construction of a third party. I was very unhappy with the status quo so that I made my third time phone call to the reception of that club to complain. The result, of course, was that I still have to wait for its notification and there is no precise prediction to the re-open date.

When I especially desire to go swimming, most of the time I am in a condition of frustration. Now I become even more depressed after meeting the above-mentioned situation.

Usually, I do not enjoy doing exercises. What is more, I do not enjoy watching any sport program, which, for me, is so boring that I seldom to tune in to any sports channel, such as ESPN. Nonetheless, I do not really want to become a fat guy, and I do want to live longer to enjoy life, so that I force myself to do some exercises, such as jogging, swimming and yoga.

I am a fan of Yoga, but the expense of practicing it here in Beijing is much expensive than that in Shanghai, where I used to buy a seasonal membership card of a yoga club next to my flat. I might consider to practice it around July, when my membership card of Huateng Club is about to expire, making me have to spend all the balance by the expiration date. I might take the 20 times program, which would cost me RMB 720.

Now that I can not go swimming, I turn to jog this evening. Jogging is tiring and boring and it take persistence to accomplish the running each time. In Beijing, it is impossible to get into any school to take advantage of the track on campus, a situation different from Taipei. I planed for myself a route to run in my neighborhood. If I am in a good condition, I can run about three circles of it. But today, I only finish two and a half. I vow to myself that I would go jogging each day, because I notice that my face manifested in recent photos becomes “swollen”!

Scorched Indian Cake

Scorched Indian cake
Originally uploaded by taigerwan.

Today I grilled 2 Indian cakes for my breakfast. Unfortunately, the second one got fire. I scorched it!


Successful====>Scorched!

TS Ten-Day Conversations

Yesterday afternoon, I read a stunning excellent book by accident. It was after my lunch that I downloaded a old book from chapter one to chapter three - the other seven chapters were not available because this book will be published this year -– and then planed to browse several pages to get an idea of this famous works about application of oversea studying. However, once I begun reading the first page, I can't help keeping on reading it and, eventually, I spent all my afternoon on the first 3 chapters. The book is just a miracle. Usually, I am impatient to read too many words at one time. So this situation is very rare for me. Besides, I was shocked by the deep implications and inflection inside the book.
It is hard to imagine that a book talking about the process of studying abroad can become a legend in China. It has been written since 2005 and was published on a famous online forum. The content is about ten times conversation between an applicant who latter succeed in his application in Harvard University and a founder of above-mentioned forum and a CEO of a company which help students to apply overseas school. The author is clever to a frightening degree for many readers, including me. I guess the lead character is just a makeup role and the book bear the intention to advertise that company, touting more students to buy its services. But nobody can deny that the thoughts inside the book is such an attraction and an inspiration, that not only destroys most people's original thoughts about application for overseas studying, but also challenges everybody's attitude toward life, making the topic elevate to a philosophic level. Because of its outstanding writing, all the readers who hate advertisements turned out to become eager to read one episode after another - those articles are separated into ten times to publish in about a half year, making a sensation that a big number of people can't wait to read the latest content.
This practice by itself is a very successful marking approach, which not only promoted the brand name of the company, but also gave favor to students or its customers. This is a win-win situation.

A Lesson Learned from A Fake Mouse

Yesterday I went to Zhongguancun South, to repair my Logitech mouse, which I bought last month there. I went to the after-sales services department to test the mouse first because I was told that if it dose have quality problem, I can get a new one. However, the result was quite surprising, because the boy who even didn’t open my mouse concluded that what I bought was a fake and suggested me to argue with the merchant who sold it to me.

I returned to the 5th story of Hailong Building and intended to fight with the DIY shop, which sold me the counterfeit product. However, there are just too many similar shops in 5th story so that I can not recognize where I bought my mouse from. I then sent text message to Henry and Olive, whom I bought the mouse with last time. Unfortunately, none of them can provide me any specific information. In addition, I did not ask for any receipt from the seller when I bought the product so that even though I can find out which shop I bought my mouse from, the seller can refuse to admit the mouse was sold by her because I don’t have any evidences.

I would think twice next time if I plan to buy any brand product in China. There are just too many fakes and frauds all around China. Furthermore, I learn a lesson from the story that I can not fully depend on any friends to make any decisions, even they are sincere and knowledgeable. For instance, I believed Henry could help me to choose a good store and then to buy a mouse with good price because he is a local Chinese, so that I did not pay much attention to the purchasing process that time. That is why I did not ask for any receipt from the seller. Nonetheless, such a dependence rendered a miserable result that I paid 95 RMB, a price cut from 100 RMB, to buy a defective product and got no way to ask for refund.

Blogspot Is Blocked Here

This morning, I try to access my own blog, but fail again and again. This situation is very frustrated. I begun to wonder the problem occurred possibly because my blog was blocked by the government for it scrutinized the content of my blog and found some negative descriptions about the country.
In the afternoon, I tried it once again and the situation remained unchanged. I figure out an idea to find out the reasons. By searching on Baidu, the biggest search engine in China, I read many complaints about the same situation like mine. Thus, it is not my problem- I mean, I am not monitored at the moment. Ha ha ha… According to the opinions I searched, people said the failure to access any Blogspot is caused by the block from the Chinese firewall. I am not sure whether this block is intentional and how long the situation can be solved. Furthermore, I don’t know if people outside China can read my post of today!

I Am Homesick

I think I am not a good son. I have not called back home first for several months. Only my father phoned me first. The phone call I made first was on the middle-autumn Day. Usually the conversation in the phone call lasts only 2 to 3 minutes. The content is always trivial, such as the weather in Beijing and the question whether I had dinner.

I become homesick every time when I am frustrated. Now I am homesick again, so I guess I am in depression. At home, I can totally relax, sleeping over 8 hours a day and watching TV programs all day long. This is a repeated situation in every Chinese New Year festival. But as time goes by year after year, I begun to feel guilty to enjoy my laid-back life at home, because I begun to notice the white hairs occupying my father's and mother's hair! They no longer appear to be strong and tall for me. Now I can look at them at a higher angle, but I have never watched them carefully. And usually I am not patient of their caring questions. This is the attitude I have developed since my childhood.

I got to change my bad attitude and spend more time with my family next month when I go home. There is nothing more important than their happiness and healthiness.