Today should have been my first day at school, but in order to get a resident and working permit, I have to undergo medical examinations. A bit like the Gastarbeiter in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. The difference is, that I’m not descending a train and walking down to the basement of the Munich Hauptbahnhof to get checked up by the doctors. As an expat, I have flown here and today I’m being picked up by the nice Chinese office clerk who picked me up at the airport and driven to a medical centre run by the authorities.
It’s not very far from my home and it doesn’t take long to get there. First my Chinese has to register at the entrance and then we walk up to the first floor. There are many practices along a long corridor, but before that, I have to get registered with them. We both stand out in the crowd because a) I’m the tallest and he’s the second tallest and b) I’m the only foreigner.
The two ladies at the front desk put on a smile from ear to ear and are very kind and friendly. I have to show my passport and give them two photos. Then they produce a form I have to sign. After that, we have to line up. It’s six examinations I have to undergo. Since we don’t have to do them in a particular order, we join the shortest queue. I enter a practice and am asked to take off my shoes and step on a machine that looks like a scale. In front of me is a display in which a red light flickers and moves from left to right and back again. A bit like the red light Knight Rider had. I’m about to step down again, when I hear a beeping sound. The light stops and some figures appear. It’s my weight, height and BMI index. Then my eyesight gets checked. What I have to read is not in front of me, but behind me and I have to use a mirror. Weird those Chinese methods…
Other examinations include x-ray, ECG, urine and blood sample. I’m asked to sit down on a chair and a nurse comes with her utensils to take some blood. I consider shortly to faint in sight of the needle, but I guess this would look ridiculous and let it be. The first attempt isn’t successful. I suggest the right instead of the left arm, but the nurse insists on trying on the left arm again. The second attempt isn’t successful either. Then she decides to switch arms and try it on my right, which proves to be successful.
After almost an hour running from practice to practice, we are finally done and go for breakfast. I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink since last night. That’s now over twelve hours and I’m thirsty and starving.
My Chinese calls the driver to pick us up and we’re driven to a noodle place. Very Chinese breakfast. The noodle place is very basic and has no decoration whatsoever. A bit like the place in Riyadh where I had my first ever breakfast in Saudi two years ago. There are tables and chairs, the till next to the entrance, a kitchen in the back, a TV hanging on one of the walls and a fridge with drinks that is not plugged in. On the tables are several herbs and spices and the entire place smells quite spicy.
It is an art to eat noodles with chopsticks. But I manage pretty well. Even though it takes me longer to finish than my Chinese.
After breakfast we are driven back to the school. I hang around at the office for a while and get to know my colleagues and am shown where the books are and which ones I can or should use. An admin lady WeChats me and takes a photo for my staff card. She also gives me a card to get into the housing complex and my building. Well, on the card is the photo of a Chinese lady. I was told that she was a teacher at our school and left last summer. After a while we are taken by the driver in the school’s van and brought to a bank to open accounts. Again, like everywhere, nobody speaks English or any other language, that’s why we need a Chinese with us. Luckily opening a bank account is one of the things a foreigner is allowed to do and/or have. It usually doesn’t take that long to finish, but today it takes a very long time. The bank lady gets confused with my Greek passport and doens’t know which one is my last and which is my first name. On the form she puts down my surname only. Given name is missing. I point that out and the hassle begins. She has to call her superior, place some phone calls and try to enter the changes onto the system. Because the system doesn’t accept any alterations, she has to place more phone calls, and I have to fill in and sign more forms. A long time later she finally manages to put my first and last name onto the system. I’m surprised that the only thing we get is a bank card with a number and an expiration date on it. No name, no other information. We get to choose our own PIN number and enter it into a machine. That’s it. The Chinese are so far ahead of us. They surprise me every day.
Card to get into the housing complex and my building (Aren't looking great?)
Part of the housing complex with future shopping centre.
If you would like to read more by me, here are my novel and my diary from Ar'ar, in the northern Saudi desert. Both available on Amazon as soft and hard copy.
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