It's another hot Saturday afternoon, and I'm neither incapacitated and confined to my room or wandering somewhere in Hong Kong. It's a peculiarly refreshing sentiment. I wouldn't mind being out and about today, but at the same time, my knee has re-tightened and hurts pretty badly, so I daresay sticking close to home is probably my best bet.

Thursday started with a meeting, then work in the office, then Aladdin rehearsal (more about that later). Went out after the rehearsal to Wan Chai, and didn't get back till late. Meeting on Friday, then Cantonese class. Went into Tai Po for dinner and bought pants!!! Which is good, since I haven't been able to wear most of the pants I brought with me because they're either too long to wear without heels or too tight around my knee and thus uncomfortable. So I got a pair of grayish slacks and a pair of guys' cargo-ish khakis. They were a bit long, but I tacked up the hem on the inside, so they work. Came home and read some of Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose. I read it a few years ago, remember liking it, and as I'm rereading it, I'm wondering what attracted me to it so much. It's a very odd book. Fell asleep around midnight, only to be woken when my room heated up around 7 in the morning today. Putzed around my room, had lunch, and have been in the office for awhile now, dealing with emails, organizing my schedule, and trying to determine what needs to be done, when, and how. And this brings me to Aladdin.

SO. Thursday was the first dance rehearsal for Aladdin. I have the Aladdin soundtrack, because as we all know, I love the music from the 'classic' animated Disney movies. Shanita and I had been working with the movie version of 'Prince Ali' which we were teaching them. Unfortunately, in the movie version, the Genie does most of the singing and the beat is relatively slow. In the musical version, the chorus does most of the singing and the beat is quite a bit faster. So we had to readjust to the tempo and the fact that they had to sing and dance at the same time. Admittedly, the dance moves are pretty basic, but from previous experience with musicals, singing and dancing simultaneously is quite a trip. Especially for those who haven't done much if any stage work. Further, we had choreographed the dance with the idea that we had most of the stage space, only to find that we had about a third of that space. *eeks* It went well, but it was very slow. And part of that was because of having to reformat and fit the dance to the new guidelines and dimensions. Not to mention blocking which is a huge pain.
Anyway, so that's that. We're going to finish choreographing it this weekend (that song, I mean). I finally got a copy of the script. The movie Aladdin is one of my favorite Disney movies. I can quote huge chunks of it. Sad, I know, but what can I say? As I was reading the script just now, I was struck by several things.

1) There's a lot more songs. They weren't kidding when they said it was a musical, as opposed to a play/movie with songs. Luckily, with the exception of a new song "Why Me?" most of the songs are musical reprises of the big numbers, notably "Arabian Nights" and "Prince Ali".
2) The chorus sings as much if not more than the title characters. This is not a bad thing, particularly if, like me, you have spent your musical theater career in the chorus. It's just quite different from the version with which I was familiar.
3) There's a lot of odd humor in it. Sarcastic asides, little quirks and such that do not appear in the movie.
4) As I read the play, I hear the original cast's voices, most predominantly with the Genie. Again, not a bad thing, just disorienting then to hear it live.
5) It's shorter than I thought it would be.
6) There's no Abu!!! I still haven't gotten over this tragic omission.
7) I love this movie/musical. Reformatted, different, odd, doesn't matter. I'm so psyched to be involved.

On other business related notes, my most recent duties (at least for the month of October) are as follows: Aladdin, Help Desk(possibly in French and English), Arts&Crafts in the primary school, English Ambassadors also in the primary school, workshops on Social English and Have you heard the news, a Spanish class (two different time slots for it I think), dorm activities, and Club IEd. Sounds rather daunting, but each is only a few hours of 'class time' a week...and then all the prep time. :) Nice to be doing stuff though.

Anyway, dare say I should get back to doing all the above things, rather than just writing about them. I'm trying to wrap my mind around this new version of Aladdin and the technique/skill of the chorus, because I think we're in for a rather fast round of choreography in the next month or so, since once November rolls around, I'll be relatively immobile for a week or two at least. And I want to be prepped for my classes. *nods*

So all that stuff I said I was going to do on Sunday? I know this will come as a huge shock, but I didn't do most of it. Did read a lot, but didn't read the things that needed to be read.

Anyway, I'm still feeling sick. It goes off and on, and sometimes I think I'm all right again (like this morning) only to realize that I am still incredibly sick (like tonight). I must have caught something somewhere along the way. *oof*

But! Very exciting news...I got my hair chemically straightened today! But let me back up a bit.

Yesterday was the Mid-Autumn Festival. Despite stomach trauma, I went into Hong Kong to Victoria Park...met up with some of the other research Fulbrighters prior to that for dinner. We watched some dancing, some acrobatics, etc., and walked around looking at the lanterns and people out celebrating. Then I headed back...all that standing was exhausting.

Woke up today, intending to do work. But it was a public holiday (thus no classes) and a beautiful day, too good to waste in the office. So instead I went to Festival Walk, a huge mall on the KCR line at Kowloon Tong. *blush* Got lunch and then! I went to the Esprit Salon and got my hair done. It took, kid you not, three hours. Let me detail it for you, in steps:

1) pick out hair package (1088 HKD for the straightening, cut, and full-size gift product, which ended up being some nice shampoo, pricey, but in my opinion completely worth it)
2) hair washed
3) conditioner put in...thirty minutes spent under a dryer
4) hair washed
5) hair blow dryed
6) chemicals applied (I think to remove the protein or something?)
7) weird heating/drying device used
7) hair washed
8) hair blow dryed
9) hair straightened with a flat iron
10) more chemicals applied (to put the protein back in to make it hold?) and let stay on for ten mins
11) hair washed (again)
12) hair blow dryed
13) hair cut
14) got bottle of product and paid

*whew* Beauty comes at such a price. But it looks good. I mean, I straightened my hair back in the States, but this is wonderfully and evenly done. And it's so straight. And shiny. And silky feeling. I washed it when I got home (it smelled of chemicals and I had little hairs all over me) and I just ran a brush through it and let it air dry...and it dryed to a flawless straightness. At first, I was a little leery of the cut itself...it's really straight cut in the back, which I haven't had for awhile. But it's growing on me, and since I'm growing my hair out, having the layers evened out was probably a good move.

Anyway, a meeting tomorrow late morning, then working on stuff that needs to be done/read/prepared, then Aladdin rehearsal. Off to bed! Or to read for a few hours. Similar, really.

Three days of activity!! And all off campus! *gasp*

So let's see. Thursday started off with a bang: 9am PT session at the hospital. Then I had two workshops, one on pronunciation and one on linking words. The pronunciation one was hilarious...we were doing tongue twisters, and at some point we started 'rapping' them. It was good fun. Ran back to my dorm to drop stuff off and then to get the van to take us to our dinner with the US Consulate in Wan Chai. It was nice...we got to meet the rest of the Fulbrighters (who are here on research or lecture fellowships) and to chat etc. Had shark fin soup for the first time. It was interesting, not quite what I was expecting, but all right. I had to get up about halfway through the meal and walk around outside because my knee tightened up and hurt. After the dinner, we hung out for a little bit with some of the people we'd met, then took a cab back to IEd.

Friday started out with an oof, sometime around 4:45 in the morning. I was sick to my stomach, so that made for a fun however long. Had lunch and then took off to the hospital to meet with my doctor. Now, I've gotten somewhat used to certain areas of the hospital, mainly the Orthopedic Ward and the PT rooms. But this...this was crazy! Outpatient appointments are chaos! It took me about thirty minutes to find where I needed to be and what I needed to do. Then sat in a room waiting while they called off dozens of names and instructions in Cantonese. Finally, a voice comes on and says "Miss Laura Brymer please to go room 14 and wait." So I limp off to the general direction of a room. I see my doctor and he greets me, saying "Hello, have you seen your doctor yet?" Which stumped me. I thought he was my doctor...and he is. Anyway, finally found room 14 and he looked at my knee, told me to keep doing PT because I was still not at full range (to which I should have said, yes, well, I've been sitting in a chair in an incredibly uncomfortable position for the last hour and it's just tight right now, if you'd quit grabbing it and rotating the knee I'm sure it would work better), and then he told me to go get my stitches taken out. Something about following the red line to the blood something room and then the yellow line to make an appt. Apparently, there are colored lines on the floor which lead you places. Unfortunately, it led me to the wrong place, so I ended up waiting a lot longer than necessary. Anyway, finally got the stitches out. The wounds are in the shape of x's, two of them, and they're scabbing over. (Side note: I took my first non-plastic-bag-taped-to-my-leg shower today....so nice.) Then I waiting for twenty minutes in a line to make my next appt...and the surgery appt. November 6th. Assuming my knee is ready for it.
Anyway, Friday continues...with Cantonese class! Which I hadn't looked at the material since last Friday. And I showed up late and flustered because I was at the hospital a lot longer than I thought I would be. After that, I went back to my room, relaxed for a bit, then a friend and I decided to go out for dinner. We ended up going to SoHo for breakfast foods. Since we were going to be out out, I gave a friend from BMC a call, and she met us there. It was fun...just hanging out at dinner and talking for like, two hours. And we took the bus back, and I think I fell asleep on it. *shrug* The ride's a good forty minutes, and it was after midnight because we had to walk so slow on account of my leg.

Saturday started off ridiculously early, in my books. Out to catch the bus at 8:30 to go to Kwun Tong to pick up my Hong Kong ID card. It's interesting...since having to go out in public with crutches or just awkwardly and slowly because of my knee, I've noticed a lot more signs about 'handicapped' or 'people with disabilities'. At the bus stop, at the Kwun Tong office, etc. Anyway, we decided to go to a temple that was a few stops away on the MTR. It was a beautiful day, sunny and hot, but with a breeze so it wasn't stifling. Part of the temple included this area with pavilions, ponds, fish, turtles, a waterfall, bridges, etc. It was really peaceful, quiet, and I felt at ease, sitting on one of the bridges, watching all the turtles swim into each other. We went out for lunch afterwards: vegetarian dim sum. Some of them were really good...and some were a little odd. Then we got Starbucks. :) Haven't had that in ages. My friend got a call from relatives who were in HK, so we went to TST and met them at the Intercontinental Hotel. It has an amazing view of the Harbor (again, nice day so a very nice view), and we had drinks (I stuck to a mocktail, since my stomach hadn't quite recovered from whatever afflicted it Thursday night/Friday morning) and talked for a couple hours. It was quite swanky. We went back to their hotel (next to that one) and then out to dinner at a Korean barbecue place. I've been to Korean bbq's a few times since being here...and I love the fact that I can just eat a plate of meat. Or more, if I wanted. After dinner, they were all going to walk around, but my knee hurt a lot, so they got me to the bus stop and I went back to IEd. I did laundry, puttered around my room, and then got McDonald's fries at like 1:30 in the morning! We ate outside in this pavilion type thing on campus. The wind was really going and it was actually a bit chilly. Maybe the weather is dropping! *crosses fingers*

Anyway, went to bed last night/this morning around 4 after I read a few hundred pages (don't know why...I've read that particular book a dozen times). Woke up at 7 because my room was hot, fell back asleep and woke up at 11. Have taken a shower, am updating blog, and will then proceed to go out and get some foods and clean my room. My body's a bit sore from all the movement of the last few days, so I think I'll take it easy today, do my PT exercises, read, study Spanish and if I feel ambitious Cantonese, read the paper for the conference I'm going to next week, etc. Although knowing me, I'll probably only get to half that, and then end up napping. Ah Sundays.....

Yesterday I ventured off campus (in a non-hospital related way) for the second time since the incident. A friend and I went into Tai Po for dinner/shoe shopping. I was looking for flats, because I own none. With the exception of flip flops and the white slip-ons another friend bought for me shortly before surgery, all my shoes are heeled. That's not true. I do have one pair that's flat..slip on, close toed, black. Typical me. Even my tennis shoes have a rise in them. So I bought a pair of dressier sandals, mostly because I have a formal dinner on Thursday and because we're not allowed to wear flip flops or tennis shoes to the primary school. Anyway, they're cute and comfortable. I also bought a hello kitty phone charm. And had dinner at a ramen place. Can I just say that, as a die-hard fan of ramen noodles, I am delighted to find a restaurant devoted to dishes made with ramen? I had ramen with deep-fried chicken pieces (yum!) and we split a small serving of garlic and beef (yummier) and then had a soft serve ice cream from McDonald's. I think I'm gaining back the weight I lost during my hospital stay. Which is probably good.

Planning for the Spanish module goes into effect tomorrow. I'm going to go through some ideas tonight, and I also just want to brush up on my Spanish. I wish I had some of my Spanish novels from college with me, just to be reading in it so that when we (three of us) teach the class, we can comfortably speak Spanish the whole time.

The cast for Aladdin is set. That's exciting. And the other choreographer and I will be in probably two dances...and I suppose the company bow. I think we'll be in "Friend Like Me" and "A Whole New World". I'm excited. I mean, this all assumes that my knee turns out all right. Regardless, choreography is going well thus far. It's not as hard as I originally thought, partially because the dancing isn't anything like the difficulty I'm used to and partially because we're working together, so we can bounce ideas off each other and when one person gets stuck the other can work through it. We saw the prelims for the sets. It looks amazing from the sketches. Intense. Elaborate.

I cleaned my room today. Swept, reorganized, tidied up, etc. Thank goodness...I was beginning to feel like a mess.

What else is there to say? Thursday will be my first time to Central since the injury...have to take a cab back, which is pricey, but at least they're providing transportation there.

Oh, injury update. I had PT today (gag) in which I explained to the therapist that one of the exercises hurt a lot. She told me that there are two reasons my knee gave out and that I was unable to complete it: 1) that the pain was too great and so my knee reflexively gave out so that it wouldn't be hurt anymore or 2) that I'm weak. Apparently, if it's the latter, I'm supposed to keep doing it. If it's the former, then I'm only supposed to push it till it hurts. I couldn't quite seem to get the point across that it hurt because it fell over because I couldn't control it. Anyway, I'm supposed to keep doing it. I did some of the exercises tonight, but that one...I'm still scared of it. They're making me come in twice a week now, and I was informed that while building up my strength is important, the range and mobility of the knee is a greater concern at the moment. I was told that if I did not have full range within ten days, that would be bad, and I would be "below average." They also made me walk sans crutches, which I had been doing anyway, around the dorm. She said I was "stiff but stable" so I'm supposed to go without them when I can. I tried that today...and now my knee aches and my calf has tightened up because I can't straighten my knee enough to stretch it out. I think I'll use one crutch tomorrow.
All in all, it's just frustrating at this point. Knowing that I'm putting myself through all this stuff, only to have to repeat it in less than two months, probably with even more pain. C'est la vie, non? Et il n'y a rien que je peux faire pour changerla.

I'm making a list of the books I read while I'm here...I go through four or five a week, although part of that might have been due to the limited movement and ability to do ANYTHING on the weekends when other people go out and do fun stuff. Such is life, and that which cannot be cured must be endured. Or something.....

Right. I'm away laughing on a fast camel.
*gallops off majestically into the smoggy sunset and humidity*

So I had Physical Therapy today at the hospital. It went well, in that painful sort of way. They gave me exercises to do at home since, as the PT pointed out, I can't get the second surgery till the swelling all goes down and I have full range of motion (at the moment I can't bend my knee even to 90 degrees, nor straighten it all the way). Anyway, minus the pedaling activity, they all seem to be good ideas.

Being the good patient I am (insert skeptical laugh here), after I got back from dinner (side note: first time off campus since the injury, if you don't include hospital visits...curry in Tai Po...yum!), I took care of a few tasks related to Spanish and my life, and then proceeded to do the exercises. As they are boring beyond all belief and essentially require me to be lying down either on my back or side, I read while doing them. The first three were fine, peachy keen, painful, but okay. The fourth one...my knee gave out. It's fine now *knocks on wood*. Essentially, I have to lie on my stomach and bring my right knee up towards my head...just as much as the pain will let me do. Unfortunately, what the PT neglected to tell me, was that I have NO STRENGTH OR CONTROL whatsoever of my knee. Perhaps this is one of those self-evident things to which I am completely oblivious. Regardless, my knee fell...it went sideways and towards my head in a way that knees should not move. And it hurt. I screamed (hopefully no one heard) and I seriously thought I had broken something. Five minutes of pain later, it lessened to tolerable, and now it just throbs as per usual. But the pain was something I cannot accurately describe. It's happened once before, to a lesser degree. I was going to sit down and forgot to move my leg so that I didn't bend it to sit, and the pain shot up my leg. Luckily I was able to take the weight from it quickly, so it wasn't bad. But this time, due to gravity and the fact that I was in essentially a helpless position, it hurt. It feels like a weakness that burns, running from your knee up to your hip. It's not the kind that makes you cry (unlike that pedaling exercise); it's the kind that makes you scream. *shrug* I'll not be doing that exercise for a bit. I'll come up with another bending one, cause that was too risky.

I know it seems as if all my posts are about my injury. In a way, this record is as much for me as informative for others. I feel that, as a writer (sorta), this experience is a cache of material for future pieces. Not, of course, that they will all be about knee injuries. Yet as the novels I've been reading suggest, pain, courage, and helplessness generate great stories. "Terrible yes. But great." (Rowling, HP and the Sorcerer's Stone, some page I can't remember which). I'm such a dork.

Anyway. Onto more exciting things. One of the ETAs and I have been offered the chance to run an 8-10 week class on basic survival Spanish. Incredibly psyched for that!!!! I meant to go to French today, but it didn't quite happen. We'll blame PT. Or something. Also, I'll sit in on my first workshops tomorrow (I missed my first ones for the very good reason that I was getting surgery and was confined to a bed in the Orthopedic Ward...like you do). So that's exciting. Also, final callbacks for Aladdin are tomorrow night, and we should have the cast set after we meet with the directors and the musical director. We (myself and another ETA) are merely the choreographers. Which admittedly is no small task.

I'm hoping my schedule fills up...I've spent a lot of time brooding, partially induced by the can't-move-anywhere-been-in-a-hospital scenario. But I'd like to be up and about and getting things done. Doing something. I'm used to running a Bryn Mawr schedule...this time last year, I had four jobs (Dining Services Supervisor 8 hours, Hall Adviser undisclosed time req, Peer Mentor 4-6 hours, and Human Resources student receptionist 8 hours), was dancing between 9-12 hours a week, taking a full schedule of classes, starting research for my Senior Thesis, and applying for the Fulbright. I mean, it drove me crazy sometimes. But that's what I want again...that kind of busy. Well, almost that kind of busy. ;)

Mmmkay, my knee has finally stopped throbbing, though my leg still feels weak. I suppose I'll do something more productive than update my blog. Like discover the meaning of life, the universe, and everything...in Spanish.

I'm having some trouble sleeping again. I don't know what it is. I'm physically tired, of course, because hauling myself around is wearying, but for some reason this doesn't translate to a nice sound sleep. I had terrible dreams one...maybe Monday night. The kind of dreams that could be scenes from horror movies that I don't watch...torture, agony, etc. And then last night I just couldn't sleep. I laid in bed for two hours, just staring up. And the first few nights out of the hospital, of course, were bad too, because of the pain. And I'm clenching as I sleep. So sometimes I jerk my knee in while asleep...and that wakes me up.

Meh, I think I'm just pitying myself. *snaps out of it* Things to do. Places to go. People to see. Courses to design. Dances to choreograph. Books to read.

What a fantabulous day, all said and done.

I had my first solo Help Desk shift (IEd students sign up and come talk to us about questions specifically, a writing sample, or just to talk to practice their English). It went well...I had two for a half hour each, and the conversation went relatively well I think.

I met up with peoples for lunch. I then proceeded to go get my dressing from my surgery changed at the campus health center. I walked back to the library afterwards, because I've read everything in my room except for some of a book on Post-Colonial Lit and part of a Roald Dahl (spelling?) short stories collection. The one depresses me, the other scares me, and thus neither are appropriate for pre-bedtime reading. I got a few books, including "When We Were Orphans" which I just started and am thoroughly enjoying. It's funny...here, with the selection of trashy quick reads greatly decreased, I've turned to Brit Lit mysteries (Agatha Christie) as my fast reads and just a lot of 'big name' authors to pass the time I spend in my room: Saul Bellow, Woolf, Ben Okri (if you read PCLit), Thackeray, etc.

So, I was out of my room for about four hours, which frankly, is about the longest in almost two weeks. I'm able to put weight on my right leg, which helps take the pressure off my arms, and so I'm able to stay out and move around better. Still incredibly exhausting, of course. But good.

It was wonderful, to be honest, to see people. To be a part of society again. On my way between the Health Center and the Library, I stopped to talk to three people. I caught up with someone else on my way to auditions. It's just nice to be out again.

Came back to my room for a few hours...couldn't nap although lying down made my arms/back feel better. Read some (no surprise). Got up and meandered out again...met up for a brief meeting with peoples then went to the second day of auditions for Aladdin. It went well...we have a rough idea of casting, though nothing definite, of course. Having spent so many years as a performer, be it a musical, play, or dance piece, it's incredibly interesting to be on the other side, to essentially dissect and discuss each person's capabilities, express doubts, praise, without worrying about gossip. Interesting. We'll see if the cast gets - well, cast, as I think would be good. If not, we work with what we get.

I went to the other dorm where I work after auditions (which went 6:30-9:30). Was there till 11 for 'English Coffer Corner' or whatever it's called. Talked with students, played cards, socialized again. We played spoons. I haven't played that in aaaaages. We had a tournament of Spoons, eliminating people as we went. It ended with a face-off of the card game Speed between myself and another ETA who had beaten me in several previous games of it. And I won. :) Granted, the cards lined up nicely, but hey. It happens.

I'm a little sore. Who am I kidding, I hurt quite a bit. I have Physical Therapy for the first time tomorrow at the hospital. An hour of it. I just hope it doesn't totally knock me out. I'd like to go to an Elementary French class in the afternoon and then work on my Spanish SAP, maybe finally get the books from the library. And Thursday will be a long day. And you know, maybe I should eat. I don't eat much anymore. I mean, one 'meal' a day. And a snack or two. I need to go buy food....*sigh* No wonder nothing fits.

that which don't kill me
can only make me stronger
i need you to hurry up now
cause i can't wait much longer

Ah Kanye...
That's addressed to my knee. Yes.

Had surgery Friday morning. I think it went well. Anesthesia is weird...and coming off it, so to speak, is incredibly disorienting and painful. I think I spent the first hour of it crying and feeling sick to my stomach. They wouldn't take me off the IV until I ate, but the food was so incredibly unappetizing. But I ate just so that they'd take the thing off.

They released me early Saturday morning. I have Physical Therapy on Wednesday, and a check-up with the doctor in two weeks. So we'll see how it all pans out.

Anyway, can't lie...hurts like you wouldn't believe. It feels like my knee is on fire half the time. But I suppose I'll get used to it/it'll wear off after awhile. *crosses fingers*

Off to lie down again and ponder the meaning of something. Maybe read a few more books. I've been plowing through them when I'm not half unconscious on my bed. :)

so kiss me goodbye
i'm going to make it out alive

It is officially a torn ACL. Almost completely torn, about 90%, which apparently is relatively intense. Nothing else seemed hurt though, which is good.

I am going in for surgery on Friday (assuming the time slot is still available when I go in tomorrow for Physical Therapy).

Hugs to all...hope all is well with everyone.

The loneliest place in the world, is in the corner bed of a hospital ward in a foreign country where everyone speaks another language.

After much debate and collaborative thinking among a group of ETAs, an ambulance was called. Three people came in, looked at my knee which at that point had swollen up quite nicely and was unable to bend or straighten. They wrapped it up in a huge brace type thing, then brought in the rolling bed and transferred me onto it and rolled me into the ambulance. One of my friends went with me...the men were all very nice, talked to us in English, etc. When we got to the hospital I was wheeled in, they took my vitals, and then sent me for an x-ray. The good news is that there are no broken bones. They then insisted on admitting me to the hospital. So I was taken up to a ward, given a bed, and my friend had to leave. I drifted off to sleep around 2:30 probably, and was woken by the on-call doctor around 6 am. He looked at my knee, poked it, and moved it around. He declared that the regular doctor would be in later to look, but that I might have torn my ACL or torn the meniscus or something.

After about 5 other nurses and doctors filed by, poked at my knee and did things which made it hurt in general, and asked how I injured it, they finally declared that I needed an MRI before they could be sure what was wrong. It's scheduled for Sat. at 1:45pm. They wanted to keep me over night, but at that point, I just wanted out. So I persuaded them to let me go home with crutches, and I have been careful not to put any weight on my leg. The crutches are annoying and hard to use...I don't have the strength for long periods of time on them. So that should make getting to the MRI place tons of fun tomorrow. I also have to return to the hospital on Monday, even though they won't have the results back. They just want to make sure it's not getting worse or something. I get the feeling they're going to try to make me stay the night, which I will fight to the best of my ability. I don't like being there.
Luckily, because I had just applied for my Hong Kong Identity Card, the charge is greatly reduced, with the exception of the MRI which is done via a private agency.

Anyway, that's about all I know. I'm exhausted now...the food in the hospital was icksy, so I hadn't eaten in about 36 hours. When I got home, one of my friends went out and got me McDonald's. :) Nice taste of America. I don't know if I've ever been as homesick as I was in that hospital bed. Although everyone was nice, I was miserable by the time I was finally allowed to leave.

On a completely random note, I've noticed the stunningly stylish glasses that abound in HK and that actually fit Asian noses!!! I'm determined to get a pair while here...after I pay for all this medical stuff. *sigh*

Bed time...lots of limping around painfully tomorrow.