Yin, Yang, Trains and Snow: Kunming and Huaihua

Woke up this morning to a few inches of snow! It's hard to imagine that a week and a half ago I was swimming in a waterfall in Laos.  After a 30 hour bus ride to Kunming, I spent a few days adjusting to China and have realized two things - my Chinese sucks and good coffee is hard to come by.

Luckily I got a train ticket to Huaihua (Chinese New Year is right around the corner and this time of year is the largest mass migration in the world). So traveling (especially by train) is utter insanity. I did manage to get a sleeper bed, but it was the top bunk (you can't even sit up), right next to the speaker, and also right next to the smoking cabin (it wasn't the smoking that bothered me - but the Chinese men who seem to deliberately make as much noise as possible hacking up phlegm). The speaker was only a problem at 6:30am when they started playing a terrible version of "My Heart Will Go On", followed by an instrumental version of "Hi-Ho" from Snow White, then the Kenny G. Christmas album (which I didn't mind as much). Seriously where do they get their soundtracks?

Currently I am sitting in a freezing cold room (buildings generally aren't heated in China) at Zhongfang International Red Cross Hospital. I'm taking a week-long course on Traditional Chinese Medicine, focusing on basic theory and acupuncture. I'm the only student. It's really interesting and I look forward to my "classes" everyday. There is loads of information to take in and it's somewhat overwhelming, but at the same time it has made me realize that pursuing acupuncture/Chinese medicine really is my path.  The doctor teaches in Chinese, which I can vaguely follow, but there is a translator as well.  The hardest part for me so far has been trying to shed my Western medicine view of the body/physiology - in Chinese medicine, organs have more holistic functions, and everything is more interconnected. 

Dr. Lili, my teacher, and I at the hospital (and an acupuncture doll)

Huaihua, as a city, is pretty much a dump. Luckily the hospital is really nice (and new), my room has a heater, and all the doctors/translators/administrators I've met so far have been extremely friendly and helpful. And there's even an exercise room! It's quite a walk to the nearest store (I made the venture yesterday), and there aren't really sidewalks (combine that with a busy highway, snow/ice, and crazy drivers), so I think my ventures off hospital grounds will be few and far between. So pretty much I'll be living off of Nescafe, oatmeal, instant noodles, bananas and apples for the next five days.

After Huaihua I will head to Changzhou to spend Chinese New Year (or part of it) with Wen's family. 

{Note Tracey went to login to her blogspot account from China and found it was blocked. Therefore I'm (Brooke) posting for her from Seattle. Yea censorship!}