Cold

Don't panic, it's not the swine flu...it's a cold, really. My first issue since I've been in China that has required some extra attention. I started to feel the cold coming on and took the Zicam (brought with me from the US) to try and knock it down but it didn't even slow the onslaught. By Thursday, my voice was somewhere between a bullfrog and Barry White (think about that for a moment). I started coughing and having a hard time with this cold. This is something I would run into in the States, when the weather turns it seems I have this same issue. But now I'm on my own to try and deal with this....I believe I need some Mucinex to fight it. Oops! Not in Kansas anymore Toto, they don't have Mucinex (at least not that I can find). So Friday morning in the office, Jenny offers me some of the medication she takes for a cold. I don't know what it is but I've got to take something. I take it but I need some of my own and I also am told about a cough syrup (it's easy to find, it's on the shelf at the end of the aisle) that might help out. So I'm told to go to the pharmacy at Singa Plaza to get the meds. Look for the Colds/Flu aisle, okay I'll handle it. I was given the option to get some acupuncture done as well to fight the cold but I chose not to take that route. If I still have problems on Monday....perhaps then I'll be less resistant to having someone penetrate my sensitive, smooth skin with a bunch of needles.

I get to the pharmacy and I take 2 steps in before the lady comes around the corner to ask me what I need. I take a quick glance down the aisles and realize that I'm 100% lost (or maybe it should be 110% lost since I was giving it my all, right, think about it). Everything is in Chinese (I know, it's ridiculous, just because I'm in China doesn't mean they can't put both English and Chinese on the labels. I think there's some discrimination happening here). So once again, I'm left to trust someone and I hand over the card with the medications, both the pills and the syrup. She takes one look and grabs both within seconds and has me back to the counter to check out. For all I know she could've given me the Chinese version of Viagra and a bottle of toad feces. How am I supposed to know? I just hand over the cash and trust they got me the right stuff (but 4 hours later I might have had the indication that I got the wrong stuff; if you know what I mean). And as for that "It's easy to find, it's at the end of the aisle"; please. Yes, it was on an endcap for the aisle....along with 20 other brands of stuff. If I had tried that on my own I may have ended up taking the Chinese version of a maximum strength laxative....at the end of the aisle, c'mon! Before I leave I stop by Franco Papas (the bakery) to pick up breakfast (I get to sleep in on the weekends and the best way to take advantage of that is to have breakfast in the room so I don't have to rush downstairs for the buffet) and head back to the Chateau to ponder how the heck I'm ever supposed to know what to get at the pharmacy. Back in the States you pretty much get what you want, when you want and have it ready for the stuffy nose, coughing, sneezing, stuffy head, so you can sleep times. Vick's Vapo Rub....how much more basic can you get? Here, people go to the pharmacy to get what they need, when they need it. Very similar to grocery shopping here, people don't stock up on food, they buy what they need for the next few days and then go back for more when needed. Sam's club, BJs....I don't know that those would work here since they don't tend to have the space to store 70 hamburger patties and a 5 gallon jug of ketchup.

You see what I was up against in the photo. The 999 is the name of the company that makes this cold remedy (or it could be 666 cleverly disguised...you figure it out) . So I take the stuff right before I go to bed and hope for the best. The cough syrup is extremely thick but doesn't taste all that bad. So about 3:30, I wake up and cough up some nice green stuff (oh yeah, you're glad you read further aren't you) and again around 7:15 I had another coughing spell that expectorated more of the goo from my chest. Perhaps I would not need the Mucinex after all but I still had that nagging voice in the back of my head. So being the stubborn man that can fend for hiimself I decide to make a trek over to Nex Times Sqaure to the western market (they can't keep me down, I'll find my own medications and show them how the game is played). Alan, Cecelia, Brossie and I go to New Times Square mall to look around at the pharmacies and see what cold remedies they have. Much to my surprise, there was no cold remedies anywhere to be found (Curses! Foiled again!). There were hundreds of condoms to be sure but not one little pack of cold meds. The only thing remotely connected was a pack of Halls. That's all folks, Halls. Nothing more, nothing less. Even surrounded by all of the Western stuff in Suzhou, underneath it all it's still China. So I guess I'm stuck with the pharmacy at Singa Plaza (or one of the more traditional pharmacies like they have near bar street where the dried frogs are always in demand) so I'll have to get used to that and start to learn more about how to obtain the stuff I need. My voice is still shot but perhaps with another day of rest, I'll be ready for another week at the office. Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there.

Just a quick note on the impact of the swine flu. Dwayne arrived from the US this week and when he landed at the Shanghai airport, the plane remained on the tarmac until all of the passengers could be screened before getting to the gate. They remained on the tarmac for 90 minutes and then were towed to the gate. Enter the Chinese health workers with the suits, gloves, goggles and masks to check everyone's temperature using an IR device and a oral thermometer if needed. If someone was found to have a fever, that person and everyone in the 3 rows in front and back of their seat would all be quaranteened to ensure that there was no spread of any "disease". Just take a moment to ponder that, it's very strange that's for sure.