Taiwan's Medical System

In case you didn't already know, I had a cough that was persisting over an approximately 3 week period.  Although it was slowly getting better, I had never experienced anything like this before especially since the rest of my body felt like a champ.  Then when my throat randomly got sore, I decided I wanted answers.  So far I had been to the doctor's office twice, and each time they said "You have a cold. Take these pills, and you will get better." Well I took the darned pills, but I didn't get better. So this time, I was gonna go to the hospital.  There they would for sure do a swab test of my throat, maybe take me in for some scans of my chest, or something more than just do a visual observation, right??? Wrong.  The ENT took a more thorough visual observation of my throat and said, "I see nothing wrong with you. You look fine. You just have a cold." ---- I almost cried right there.  When I've had a cold, I have never had a cough that would just not stop nor did I have a sore throat where it felt like knives were stabbing my throat when I swallowed.  And I think he saw how upset I was because then he said he would take another look.  And he looked again and came back with the same answer.  Was it too much to ask to have them stick a q-tip down my throat to swab for a bacteria culture test? However, instead of giving the same pill regimen that I had been working with (general anti-cold stuff), he gave me anti-cough medicine and gave me specific instructions to not talk so much (aka not talk as much during teaching for a while).  So in a nutshell, it felt like a waste of time.

However, after about 5 days of being on the anti-cough meds, my sore throat went away. And now that I'm off the anti-cough meds, I am no longer coughing. So in the end, I suppose the doctor knew what he was doing.  But I came out of this experience with a couple thoughts.... 1- when we first came to Taiwan, we were so excited about taking advantage of the cheap medical system here. I have since found that, in most common sickness cases, their cheap medical system is very helpful and reassuring, especially for those people who don't have a lot of money.  But if you get a more complicated sickness or one that is inexplicable and you are not worsening/on the brink of death, they aren't going to go out of their way to find out what is wrong with you.  They will continue to push you the standard diagnosis (you have a cold) and some standard medication. Although America's healthcare system is overpriced, as long as you have the money, they will do what is in their power to find you a medical answer until you're satisfied. So both Taiwan's and America's medical systems have their pros and cons.  For those of you who say poo-poo to "government medicine," it feels amazing to only have to pay $0.20 for 7 sets of pills.  For those of you who say poo-poo to America's medical system, one way or another they will get to the bottom of your sickness if it continues to persist or not follow the standard symptoms. 

The finale of an epic hike in Yilan

In terms of travel and teaching.... I visited Yilan and did some amazing hiking (on possible the most intense hike I've ever done).  We were climbing up ladders, hiking up steep hills with ropes, climbing over rocks, wading up rivers, and all sorts of stuff.  Something new I learned... there are leaches in Taiwan. I had never thought "there aren't any here," but it was something I had never thought about before.  About 5 minutes into the hike, I look down, and sure enough... there is a leach on my foot. Luckily I was able to spot it and brush it off before it attached to me.  My friend on the hike was not so lucky.  On the train ride home we spot this HUGE leach crawling around on the ground beneath us (*cue the "gross!" and quick moving of bags to different seats on the train*).  We had no idea where it came from until we got home and he found a bloody part on his foot under his sandal strap. 

ETAs + Waterfall (credit to fellow ETA's awesome camera/running-to-get-into-the-picture skills)

Why yes, we commonly meditate before class :D

Teaching! If you would like to see some pictures and videos of me teaching a bunch of 2nd graders, head over to my Facebook profile page.  I would upload them here, but they are not my pictures/videos.  Teaching is still going well, and I have discovered that 99.99% of the children here LOVE and/or watch Adventure Time (dubbed in Chinese of course).  I foresee many grammar lessons involving Adventure Time in the future....

Main office where my desk is

Being silly

Side of Jifeng Elementary School's building

Lotus pond in front of my school