The visit to Nanning these past few days was a successful one.

          Tuesday morning had me at the health clinic, my money and photos in hand for the 3rd time to visit in 3 years. 

Guangxi Province's Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine clinic in Nanning.

            I was happy to see all my old favorite doctors on duty as usual.  My eye exam was one which started to  concern me just a tad because I had forgotten to bring my glasses.  I did have my glasses’ prescription tucked away in my purse, which definitely proved handy.

          “I forgot my glasses,” I told Dr. Wang when I sat down for the eye exam.  “Here’s my US prescription, though.”

           Dr. Wang looked at it, said it would be just fine and marked me down as having perfect vision.  No reading the “E”s. No “right or left?” from the chart. Just perfect vision without the test.  (Wish all my doctors did that.)
           One test I didn’t get dismissed from was the color test.  Last year, I was reported to have “green feebleness” when trying to decipher letters from a bunch of colored dots on a paper.  But this year, I managed to figure out there was a “B” and an “A” located in all that jumbled mess.   My health certificate booklet now states I have normal eyesight this time around, without the feebleness.

            Another change from last year is that I’ve grown heavier and taller.  The scales/height machine put me at 2 pounds more than last year and 2 centimeters taller.   Personally speaking, I’d rather drop the 2 pounds but I sure will take the 2 centimeters taller!  I’m short enough as it is.

           My EKG buddy was as always in her usual place on the 3rd floor.  Dr. Li Yue Mei (李月梅）remembered me and was very pleased to receive my yearly May Day photo.  In that short time period we were together, I learned I had actually made a mistake about her age from last year.  She wasn’t 60.  She’s 70!

           To show all my friends back home how well a Chinese doctor can age, she gave me permission to take her photo.    I’ve included it here for your own analysis.  Does she look 70 to you?

Dr. Li. Wouldn't you like to look this great at 70?

             One change in routine to our exams dealt with our chest X-rays.

            It seems our clinic is going green. Instead of having in-hand X-rays taken, wasting precious and difficult-to-recycle X-ray film to read later on in the day, our doctor sat directly at the computer, maneuvered the machine around the chest and read the results right there.    He signed off immediately on our charts, which we then took downstairs for final processing.

            Now that was great service for us and the environment.
            The speedy certificate issuing has likewise been updated to even more speedy.  Instead of waiting 1 day, we now have the option of same-day certificates which are released in the afternoon at 5 p.m.  I took the same-day certificate as it was only $5 more because I didn’t want to bother returning the next day.

             So all in all, everything worked out great for my 3 days away.

I passed! My 2011 health certificate on the left; the newly approved 2012 on the right. Yes, I'm ready for another year of teaching in China.

 A Holiday Approaches            

                Back in Longzhou, we are actually getting ready for yet another holiday, International Labor Day which falls on May 1st.  Make-up classes will be this Saturday and then we’ll have a 3-day break.  I’ll be back to Nanning as always for more pool swims and sits in the public park, returning on Wednesday.  After that, it’s all down-hill as students get ready for the end of the school year to come.  My testing will begin all of May and June for my 2nd years (teaching lessons in groups to the class) and then all of June for my 1st years. 

              Closing off for now and wishing you Ping An (peace), as always, for your day.