You know the one

Last night we went to a big party for the Bank of China. Everything was wonderful except I had a really sore throat. The kind of sore throat that makes you carefully weigh the pros and cons of dismembering your entire head and neck. The one where you would prefer to let someone is push whole Doritos down your tonsils than to swallow your own saliva. The kind of sore throat that when you yawn, it feels like 30 stitches are about to rip apart somewhere down there.
At one point, Josh asked me if I would pay $1,000,000 for the sore throat to be gone. That question is absurd because I don’t have that kind of money, but it did make me consider how much I would pay to part with the pain: US$150.

When squeezing a steady stream of honey down my throat proved unsustainable, I tried gargling saltwater and then tried to get some crushed aspirin to have a wee rest in between my mouth and my stomach. But alas, nothing helps the cause for too long.

I sat up in the middle of the night and imagined the Word document I would have to type out to Josh in the morning. I planned to describe to him that it was too painful to talk and ask him to make some phone calls for me. When I finally did get up, I let all the pain and stress of inconvenience overcome me until I was in tears making everything worse. Even though I knew working would be a step in the wrong direction, I wanted someone to say, “You can’t teach this morning! Are you crazy?! Go back to bed!” and thus relinquishing me of any guilt attached to making that call by myself.

In the end, I didn’t teach my morning class in hopes to get enough rest so that I could teach in the afternoon. It would be my first day at my new job at the Medical College. My new boss, Wangju, called me early this morning and I thought it might be my opening to explain to her that I was really not well enough to come in and teach,

Wangju: Hi Betsy. The driver is coming to get you today at 12:45pm today. At the South gate, okay?
Me: Oh, hi, Wangju. Actually the reason I am at home right now is because I am feeling very sick. I might need to go to the doctor.
Wangju: Oh, you are going to the doctor today?
Me: No, not today. Maybe tomorrow.
Wangju: Then you teach here this afternoon, okay?
Me: Uh…okay. Yes.

It’s my own fault for being such a sissy. I know that subtle hints don’t work around here, but I didn’t have the courage to come right out and say I couldn’t do it.
Fortunately, I felt a lot better by midday when I had well and truly put an end to my pity party. And as it turns out, teaching at the Medical College is a lot of fun. I teach one hundred and fifty of China’s future nurses; one of them is male. The rest: a sea of 19-year-old girls. Not only are they extremely easy to please, but also they are more than willing to participate. I think I will look forward to my classes at the Medical College.


Speaking of ladies, it turns out yesterday was Woman's Day in China. So, all us ladies handed in our banquet tickets to take a spin in one of those big barrels that turns with a handle. Ten tickets were drawn from the barrel on stage. I had a side bet going with Josh on whether or not my name would be drawn. He bet no and I bet yes.
One Chinese name after another was called out as the tickets were drawn out of the barrel. And then there was a long pause that caught my attention. Suddenly, two heads were looking down at a ticket. Then, a third man was called over to study the ticket! I knew it!
"Bee..eezz...buh ezty?"


Yes! I won! This is me collecting my prize from some important men at the Bank of China. My prize: BeiBei, JingJing, HuanHuan, YingYing & NiNi! These little Olympic mascots are big celebrities around here!