So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable.
1 Corinthians 15:58
Always work enthusiastically for the Lord,
for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
One of the requirements for foreign teachers working in China is ensuring
that we are medically cleared. China does not want us foreigners infecting the locals.
So, we must take examinations at a medical clinic before we can enter the classroom. It sounds rather easy. It’s not. China has 1.3942 billion people to serve, efficiency is paramount.
Knowing this tidbit I quickly verbalize a profound thought while scanning the waiting room:
There is no way us rookie teachers can navigate this clinic on our own.
Why? Any hitch in China’s organized and fast moving society causes a mess on different levels. This bears repeating. Any shift in this fast paced culture causes disorder. I know this because sometimes I am the hitch, the kink, the shift, the train wreck.
Case in point: standing alone in a line at McDonald’s recently took me several tries just to order a Big Mac…unsuccessfully.
No, I want a Big Mac not a McChicken.
They gave me a McChicken.
No, Big Mac!
Before I realized it there were 15 people snorting their derision behind me
that caused someone to be late for work thus, resulting in the complete
collapse of the Asian stock market.
Correct the McDonald’s mistake? Forget about it. I was having the McChicken, like it or not. They are not going to alter or slow things down because they think I ordered a McChicken.1.3942 billion people, remember?
Getting back to the story…
A medical clinic is no different than a McDonald’s except for one thing….no, two things: each patient is on a strict time limit and we, the patients, are the receiving end of the assembly line.
Shù liàng 1023!
If there is no response within a nano second…
Shù liàng 1024!
Nano second later, no response.
Shù liàng 1025!
There are many traits I love about the Chinese; one of them is their customer service skills. They are rude, mean, impatient, demanding, and
fast, very fast.
1,394,200,000.00 people, remember?
Knowing this, I realize that customer service reps have a four-step process to keep the flow going. It roughly translates into –
What do you want?
Here you go!
Get out of the way!
NEXT!
What do you want?
Here you go!
Get out of the way!
NEXT!
Meanwhile, back at the clinic…thoughts go through my brain.
What are you doing with that needle? Where are you going to stick it?!!
Is that for prevention or to hasten my death from an incurable Chinese disease?!
The realization deepens.
Nah. There is no way us rookie teachers can navigate this clinic on our own.
Enter Sū Yǒng Yí. A Godsend. A friend. A PZ student. In that order.
Yǒng Yí knows how to navigate. She accompanies us rookie teachers to the clinic.
We wait. There is a long queue in front of us. I have number 298, they just called 14. The time is 9:45 in the morning. The clinic closes at 1pm.
So, we wait, watch and look amazed at the efficiency. I talk with Yǒng Yí easily since she is very good with the English language. 12:50 comes quickly.
They call 296. The clinic and the customer reps begin to close their windows. 297 @ 12:57. 298 @ 1:00pm. No such luck of being able to see doctors today, good grief. Yǒng Yí steps in.
She doesn’t take no for an answer. She is persistent, frustrated and determined that we see the rotation of doctors. She goes to find the service manager. Finding the person, Yǒng Yí begins her barrage of words. I cannot understand what she is saying, however, I read facial expressions and body language well. Something tells me her one-sided conversation is accurate.
These teachers have been here for hours. They are one number away from being called. You are just closing up. Well, I am telling you that you are not.
I am here to serve as their translator. I am also a student who is missing classes because of this. You are going to see and exam them today because I am not dragging their rookie teacher butts down here again tomorrow morning.
Do you understand?
Ok!
NEXT!
We were examined.
I decide then and there that Yǒng Yí is my hero and that she’s going with me this week to Union Bank. I need to open my direct deposit account.
There better not be any hitches, kinks or shifts either!
September 10, 2014