No wonder my allergies are going crazy! I swept the floor and two minutes later,
this was what it looked like! The trees are in bloom and so the white
fluffies are EVERYWHERE!! They come in through the window out in the hall
and then seep into my room under the door.
It looks like a lot less in this photo than it really was! They were everywhere!
So I went and skipped a day or two again this week!
Sigh!
I always have pretty good reasons! haha!
My little thing for yesterday was going to be this:
I went out to get some dinner and came across the
wife of one of the teachers. {I went to his wedding back in the beginning of
last semester. I have known him now since my first year, but I had never
met her before the wedding}
She was wearing a mask like the one you see in the photo above, but
I could recognize it was her. She flagged me down {I had headphones on}
and after a quick greeting, handed me a mask of my own
and said that I should wear this to protect myself from the many floaty things
in the air. {Not her exact words...haha! It was all in Chinese of course!}
These are SUPER common in China!
You wear them when you are sick or when you are afraid you will get sick.
You wear them when you are on a scooter to keep dust out of your face.
You wear them when the pollution is at its highest.
And you wear it pretty much anytime you don't want to get stuff in your nose or mouth.
It was just so nice of her to care and make sure I was taken care of!
And you don't look as silly doing something that everyone else is doing
right? So I put it on, even though it felt strange at first!
#ItsTheLittleThings
And look, I can put sunglasses on and you would never even know who I am!
I can be all like
"别看我!"
Don't look at me!
And then...this happened today!
Last night, I had just made some cinnamon sugar
fried bread/donuts and took about three bites when I felt
part of my tooth break off. It didn't really shock or worry me that much
as my tooth has been falling apart for like four years now. I got it filled four years
ago before going to camp one year, and then while at camp the tooth broke a bit, Since then, it
has slowly been chipping and breaking, even with a piece breaking off earlier this year,
BUT, as I ate the next couple of bites, I felt something new and weird!
The filling fell out! :(
I debated what to do about it, as there was little to no pain, but I didn't
want to get an infection or have to pussy foot around the hole forever! Plus, once I return
to the States, there is no way I could ever afford to have anything done there. So after
some buzzing, I started to text people to see if anyone was available to help me go to the dentist.
My very sweet very dear friend went with me to be both my translator and moral support.
I was going to tell the to pull the rest of the tooth as I was pretty sure it was too
far gone to be filled again. This option scared me a bit though, as they do not really give
much in the way of pain meds. :(
Instead, the Doctor suggested putting caps on them. The set she offered first was over 700 RMB
which was way out of my price range. {Father had provided the money just hours
before, when a friend told me she had been setting aside money to give to me, and
hadn't had a chance to yet!} The 700 RMB option was nice white
teeth, but they had an inside lining of silver/metal so they would not
look completely real. There was also a 1000+ option for full on
white real looking teeth. I told her they were both too pricey and we could just yank it.
Once it was explained to the doc that I was a student,not making money, and
not being given tons of money from my parents {I would like to make a side
note here just to say that my parents have been awesome and are wonderful
in helping me out when I need it! But the idea about International Students
is that we are all here on Daddy and Mommy's dime, as many students are!
It is also the common thought that all Americans are rich and want only the top
quality of things and are willing to pay lots for it.} once this was all explained to her,
she said there was a final option of having silver {Filling coloured} teeth
made, but that she hadn't mentioned it thinking I wouldn't like the idea of it.
As it was less than 450, and involved far less pain, I went with that!
It took much longer to file down the teeth than she thought it would
{It is a back molar, and she is going to cap the final two. Both have
had problems in the past, and this will help to stabilize the cap.}
as she said that American's have much stronger teeth! haha!
She kept having to change the drill bit!
She was super kind! Encouraging me the entire time, and complimenting me
about my Chinese comprehension and my strong teeth are,
And the friend that came with me was amazing!
Not only did she translate for me when she could see I was confused
but she also stayed right next to me the entire time, speaking
encouragingly when she could see I was in pain, worrying
about my back because of how I had to sit, and squeezing my hand when I
was in the most pain. I am so thankful she was with me!
While i have not been in a great deal of pain {I've had a headache
off and on since it was done, and my jaw is sore from how long and wide I had
to hold it open} but a friend from the office dropped in tonight to see how
I was feeling after she read about my day on WeChat,
She told me to make sure I call her if I needed anything and
that if I don't have someone to go with me when its time to return for
the caps to be put on.
I am so incredibly Blsd where I am! I am so thankful for all the
friends I have here. Days like today really sink it in that I have
only two and a half months left before I will board a plane and leave China!
I love this country I call home! And I love these people that have become my family here!
