sick in china

it's been a long week. for the first time, i got reallyyy sick here. my symptoms started on sunday night but i didn't want to miss class on monday so i powered through the day. i was exhausted (i'm not exactly sure how i did it) but i still had to teach my 6th grade private student after school. i really wanted to cancel but i had cancelled our previous class for no reason (i teach him at 9am on saturdays UGH) so i decided to power through again and then pass out afterwards. he's a really nice kid and very curious about many things so he's easy to teach even though his english is not super great. if all else fails, we just talk about justin bieber, his new favorite singer.

however, as our class went on, i went from feeling like i had a bad cold to really queasy. i usually eat dinner with this family on monday nights but i let the mom know right away that i would have to go home afterwards because i didn't feel well. she tried to make me drink some chinese medicine but i knew that i was going to throw up if i drank it so i refused. finally, our lesson ended and i went to say good bye to the mom in the kitchen. she was cooking what smelled like 6 different dishes at once, which made me feel even more queasy. she said she would take me home, and i was too tired to argue. after we left the apartment and started walking down stairs, everything hit me at once. i yakked all over the stairs. i don't think the mom had realized the severity of my reported illness and froze behind me. i was so embarrassed. she immediately started rubbing my back though and when i was done dragged me back into her apartment. when we came back in i heard her yelling to my student and her husband in chinese "she threw up, she threw up!"
when i came back in she got some pillows and blankets and made me lie down on the couch. i didn't really know what was going on, but i think she took my temperature, gave me some chinese medicine, and made sure i was okay. it was definitely embarrassing, but it was nice to have a mom away from home and not have to be all sick on my own. i rested there for a while and she said i could sleep at her house that night, but being the american that i am i wanted to get home and be in my own bed. she gave me some more chinese meds and we left again. on the way back down the stairs, i really thought i was going to throw up again, it took my strongest mental concentration and will power not to. i knew i would be stuck at her house for good if that happened! we got back to my place and she brought me upstairs to my apartment. i knew she was probably going to be a chinese mom and mess around in my apartment for a bit so i just went to my bed and buried my head under the covers. finally she roused me and gave me some tea, and i also noticed that she had tidied my apartment a little. she explained how to take the chinese meds, tucked me in, and that was that! i am ever so grateful to her. i really should have listened to my body and not taught that day....lesson learned.

so anyhow, it's been a hard week of recovery, but at the end of the day my students always know how to make me feel good even when i don't!