I am not sure how to describe the physicals that would do the experience justice, but here goes. We left the hotel at 7:45 a.m. and picked up Cherie Sparks and Tracy Crump. They were going to take their driver’s tests. We drove to Chang Zhou, a city of about 3 or 4 million. We arrived at the Chang Zhou Medical Center (I use that term loosely) at about 9:30. We met Tony, our realtor/babysitter, there. Cherie and Tracy went with Katherine and Sherry to take their tests.
The reason we need the physical is to get a Residence and Work Permit so we can live in Nanjing. First, Tony got us signed in. They needed our visas and a picture. Next, was the urine collection. They handed us a little plastic cup (emphases on little) and sent us to the restroom (if you could call it that). They were right next to each other. The woman’s had a squatter toilet, with a door that locked and sitter in the corner with no door. I waited for Craig and then had him hold the door. It was too early in the morning and I was way too freaked out to even think about using the squatter. There was one sink to wash up in with Kleenex to dry our hands. Nice. I wish I had pictures to describe this place. Don’t get it in your minds that it was like going to a health clinic in the States. Craig described it as a meat packing plant.
Next, we went to the blood draw. I was really worried about this because we had to go fasting and I was afraid they wouldn’t be able to find a vein. I have horror stories about blood draws. There was a girl sitting behind a glass window. I told Tony to tell her I needed a pediatric needle. She just stared at me. I then said to tell her a baby needle. She pointed to a container with needles in them and there were pediatric ones, so I was in luck. They were in sealed bags, so hopefully they weren’t contaminated. I put my arm under the space in the window. She grabbed it and wrapped the band around my upper arm and proceeded to look for a vein. When she couldn’t find one, she started slapping my arm. She was able to find a vein and I got this over with. Because we had been fasting, Tony had a little snack for us to eat at this point. Not sure what it was.
From there we were herded to the x-ray cubicle. They wrapped a big thing around the abdomen and then took a chest x-ray. The next cubicle was the ultra sound. I lay down on bed with a cloth cover on it (which wasn’t washed between victims) and she did an ultra sound of my abdomen. We moved to the EKG cubicle and had EKGs on another bed with the same cloth. Next cubicle was the blood pressure, color blindness test, eye test, and eye exam. The next place he took us was a room with 4 curtains around the cubicles. I looked in one of them and saw a crude form of stirrups on the examining table and about had a nervous breakdown. I thought, “Oh no, here we go!” But they took us to the next cubicle where we were weighed and had our eyes, throat, and neck checked. I left out that somewhere along the line they listened to our hearts (which probably wasn’t hard to find mine because it was beating so fast).
The ordeal was over. That whole thing was completed in one hour! We wait four days to see if we pass and then they will issue the permits. Don’t know what to hope for. If we don’t pass, they send us home with something wrong with us and if we do pass we stay.
Tony got word that they wouldn’t let Katherine and Sherry interpret the driver’s test for Cherie and Tracy. This was bad news for them. We ended up having to wait two and a half hours for them. While we were waiting, we walked to the Wanda Mall. It was huge. It had seven floors with a cinema on the top. We found a McDonalds and I was excited to see if I could get a decent soda. No such luck. I am officially just drinking water (warm I might add) now. You have to ask for ice water or they bring warm. At this point I needed to use the restroom and was getting nervous about that. I wrote an email when we were here before about the restrooms. We went in and all of the stalls had squatters with no toilet paper. The sinks had no soap or anyway to dry the hands. I took one look at the situation and decided I would pass. I couldn’t believe I had left my Kleenex and wet wipes in my backpack in the van. I was so careful last time we were here and totally spaced it out. Hopefully, that won’t happen again. We met up with the others at the Sheraton Hotel parking lot. I noticed Cherie heading inside and quickly got out of the van to join her. The restrooms in there were exquisite and very appreciated. I couldn’t believe a mall as nice as the Wanda Mall had restrooms like that.We walked back to the mall and went to the Pizza Hut to eat. It was a nice sit-down place. Before I left Newton, I told the family I had had about enough pizza for a while. Well, I was very glad to eat the pizza and it was delicious. We even got ice water to drink!
We came back to Nanjing and went to the Metro Store to get a card. It’s kind of like Sams Club, but near as nice. We bought a fine items, including chocolate! That was a treat. We are heading out house hunting today and it is raining again. Should be a drenching day. I don’t think I will spend too much time getting ready.
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