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Guide Page
老怪物
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Mid-Summer Lull 5 August 2008 Soon The Old Codger will be celebrating one year in China. It will be a quiet celebration, no doubt. With all of the security concerns in China these days for the Olympics, it may be prudent not to get too exuberant. The last few days there seems to be an increased police presence - at least during daylight hours - here in Nantong. It appears that their biggest concern is traffic and parking enforcement, but for all anyone knows, there could be a more sinister motive. Of course, any attempts to enforce traffic laws in Asia is a sinister endeavor even in the best of times, as that requires a modicum of common sense from the enforcers and their targets. The Old Codger did get caught up in an enforcement sweep the other day. His e-bike did not have a license plate. The license plate in question was safely at his apartment in a drawer so that it could not be stolen. An officious, albeit scrawny officer stood in front of The Old Codger blowing his whistle and pointing to the side of the street where two other equally scrawny officers were standing. Of course, The Old Codger was not able to go to the side of the road because of a few dozen bikes behind him that were hell bent on making it through the green light, and who didn't really give a damn that the scrawny officer was blowing his whistle or holding up his hand for traffic to stop. One of the driving rules observed throughout Asia is that if the light is green one stops for nothing and no one, no matter how officious they may be. The Old Codger finally got to the side of the road, with the officer triumphantly following him. He signed to The Old Codger that the fine for the infraction would be 20 Yuan, and then instructed the other officers to take care of the details. They apparently weren't too impressed with the 'Barney Fife" routine, and said something directed toward the other officer which did not sound too kind or hospitable. One office then began motioning to The Old Codger to move on. He was a bit slow in getting the message, so the officer began gesturing more emphatically. The other officer was at a 90 degree angle to the gesturing officer, and with the last emphatic gesture, he ended up smacking the other office square in the face. Message adequately received by The Old Codger and he moved on trying not to chuckle out loud or show any amused facial expressions. And yes, for the time being, The Old Codger now has the license plate affixed to the back of his e-bike. While it is doubtful that anything drastic would occur in the future, there is no need to tempt fate. The odds of being able to witness another officer getting smacked in the face are also probably rather remote. The summer started off with a few days of water problems in the apartments. Invariably, the problems have all occurred on a week end, when no one is around to fix the problems. One such instance happened on a Saturday morning, and The Old Codger sent his liaison the following text messages:
Chinese communication is a wonderful experience. Of course, being as this is China and things never get fixed right the first time, the above sign language scene was repeated five more times in varying degrees. One time there was no hot water, and The Old Codger got a cup of hot water for his efforts, until they realized that was not quite the message being conveyed. The scary part is that The Old Codger is starting to actually understand some of what is being said. Last week The Old Codger had an opportunity to tour a teaching hospital in Shanghai - the Ninth People's Hospital which is connected to a University in Shanghai. While in Thailand, The Old Codger had been amazed at the progressive medical procedures that were being performed, but the amazement here in China is even greater. People are moved through the system for follow up treatments almost like on an assembly line that runs smoothly and efficiently. The medical equipment is all state of the art. X-rays for example, can be printed either on film or simply on a piece of paper in less time than developing a film. No need to worry about billing for medical procedures here in China. There is a set fee for a diagnosis. It must be paid before you get diagnosed. A person checks in with the nurse's station, gets the bill, and then goes to another counter to pay the bill. The lady collecting the money doesn't have to say a word. She merely enters the appropriate code into the computer, and the computer then tells the patient what the cost is. Money paid. The computer verifies it and tells how much change is being given, if necessary. The patient then goes back to the nurse's station and typically is told what room to go to for treatment. If more tests are required, the payment process is repeated and the patient then goes off for the tests. The quality of care that The Old Codger witnessed was exceptional - equal to what is in Western countries. While all the conversations between doctor and patient were in Chinese, it seemed that a full diagnosis process was observed and adhered to. The Old Codger may get brave enough to let them do a procedure or two on him yet. Old age is catching up to him and a few repairs or refurbishments will eventually be needed. The Old Codger did have a bit of a taste of America while in Shanghai. He had to go to the US Consulate in Shanghai to get some more pages put into his passport. The taste of America was having to go through extensive security - the first time in many, many years. Practically had to get undressed just to get into the office. A bit of overkill. Security checks in even Chinese airports is present, but not as heavy and inconveniencing. The extensive security is one thing that he doesn't miss about America. From the "what it's worth department:" Thanks to an avid reader of the Letters From China, The Old Codger was enlightened to the fact that his favorite delusional paranoid - former fellow teacher "PD Dave" - has a web blog where he displays all of his delusions and paranoia to the world. Visitors to his blog can also download his epic book that has been allegedly banned by the CIA and the Vatican for free. One of those "must visit" web sites for students of the strange and unexplained. Visit his ramblings at http://decodingthedeluge.blogspot.com/ The summer here has been a humid, windy and rainy one so far as the area is being hit by the remnants of tropical storms emanating from Typhoons battering Taiwan. A miserable winter. Now, a miserable summer. The weather is certainly not an advertising point for this part of China. The Olympics are the key words these days. The Western media appears to be doing their best to find fault with almost everything about China. The results of a recent poll show that the majority of Americans are afraid of China militaristically and economically. Even though the American media has condemned China for it's Olympic security, something tells The Old Codger that George Bush isn't buying into that condemnation at all. He is bringing 600 security people with him to Beijing just to protect him. Wonder how many millions this trip is costing the US Taxpayer? All in all, little that can actually be published in this forum has been happening here in Nantong. Since The Old Codger has been tutoring students this summer, and a couple of other projects, his ability to travel has been curtailed dramatically. All for this time around. Hopefully something exciting will happen this month.
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