Pinkeye Blues

Posted on 31 May 2009 | 2 comments

I’ve been quiet for the last couple of weeks because — dum dum dum! — I picked up a case of conjunctivitus, better known to the general public as pinkeye. Without going into details about it here, you are welcome to look it up on Wikipedia if you don’t know what it is. My situation was not as bad as some on there, but it was gross enough.

The first week was pretty awful. I went to three doctors and my optometrist before it finally started improving. Dr. Zia at West 4th Optometry Clinic is wonderful and did for me what the other three general doctors did not: stop my swelling and my pain. I faithfully recommend her for anything to do with your eyes.

Anyway, my pinkeye is finally gone and I am just left with a little bit of red in my eye where it haemorraged. This sounds and looks a lot scarier than it really is, but it really isn’t very much for me as I didn’t even feel when it happened. This, too, is finally clearing up and I am so glad. I’m sure my supervisor and coworkers are also delighted not to have to see a red-eyed girl working next to them all the time. I brought a tub of Lysol Clorox wipes to work and was constantly disinfecting all areas I’d touched, particularly common ones, in a fear of spreading pinkeye to others.

A lesson I did learn from this experience is to constantly ask pharmacists if they accept the AMS/GSS extended medical plan. Now, I’ve never really paid much attention to this particular coverage; I’m used to being asked for my CareCard, but not anything else. So it was with a pleasant surprise that the third time I visited the pharmacy, they asked me if I had any extended coverage. I was about to say no when I remembered one of those things I pay fees for — and voila, they accepted it and the plan paid for a portion of my prescription! Judging by previous prescriptions that I had to collect, I’d say I saved about $10 or so. I am now a lot more interested in what the AMS/GSS plan covers and will be sure to look it up the next time I need anything remotely related to it.

I also have plans to look up Fair PharmaCare and see if I can get help from that. Prescription drugs can cost a nice load.

2 Comments

Posted in AMS, Wellness

Dentist Recommendations?

Posted on 14 May 2009 | 2 comments

Frightened foreign girl with growing wisdom tooth seeking good (family) dentist with a light hand and a belief in the benefits of anaesthetic and painkillers, one who accepts the AMS/GSS dental plan, and who is preferably in the Vancouver region.

So one of my greatest fears has occurred and one of my other two remaining wisdom teeth is making a showing. I was told by my dentist at home that all my wisdom teeth will need to be removed sooner or later — I always kind of hoped it would happen while I was visiting Hong Kong, but no. I have a feeling I need to get this out soon.

I’ve heard too many stories about Canadian dentists that terrorised me, though: taking all four wisdom teeth out without an anaesthetic, etc etc etc. Maybe I am a big wuss. I won’t deny that one. But I do not want to feel my jaw being sliced open. And I am scared.

So I need a good dentist. Recommendations are wonderful! It’s tough not having someone so necessary to go to when you need it.

2 Comments

Posted in Wellness

Culture Clink

Posted on 6 May 2009 | 3 comments

I was sitting on the bus today when someone made a movement and I suddenly remembered what it was like to be new and foreign to Canada.

May 2007 was a nervous month. IB exams came and went with all the fears that had built up for two years, and the complete and utter exhiliration of sitting my last exam. (My last paper was for Philosophy HL and I was definitely having trouble concentrating on answering the last question when all I could think was soon I would be done.) Graduation came and went. Personal troubles came and went. And suddenly it was August and I was taking a Vancouver bus on my own — not for the very first time in my life, but for the first time since my first time the year before.

For the worried non-Vancouerite student-to-be, busses here are quite easy to take. Before setting out on any new journey, I always check up my route through the Translink website, which tells you how to get from Point A to Point B and back again. I draw little maps and prompts for myself to see when I should get ready to get off. When I first came to Vancouver, busses didn’t announce the next stop, so you had to keep an eye out for yourself. These days, most of the busses I take do have a voice announcing the upcoming stop, as well as a dashboard at the front of the vehicle that tells you the name. You still need to keep an eye out, especially when it’s a bus that doesn’t have the new system installed, but it’s not as scary to take a new bus anymore.

Armed and prepared with my knowledge of Translink and my routes, I got onto my first bus of August 2007 and sat down, relieved that I was doing okay in this new home, and hoping I didn’t look too new and lost and alone. I was handling the important stuff just fine.

And then the woman next to me made a movement to get off. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. In Hong Kong, people typically swivel their legs to the side and let the person next to them pass by without ever bothering to get up. My foreign teachers were often complaining about this apparent rudeness of Hong Kong people. Perhaps it is rude — I was just used to it. This time, however, I was in Vancouver and I didn’t know if this tactic which had always served me well in the past would just appear plain rude to the people around me as well. In my panic, I got up, stood to the side and let the woman pass before I sat back down to worry about whether this was excessively polite.

These days I can tell you that both ways — standing up to let the person get by, or swivelling your legs to the side — are perfectly fine and acceptable. Standing up is the more common way, but if there just isn’t much room to get up and stand in a packed bus, swivelling your legs to let the person squeeze by isn’t a crime.

It’s little things like these that always threw me off and remind me that I grew up in a completely different place. Not quite a jarring cultural clash; more of a slight clink.

This, at least, is now one little thing that you won’t need to worry about not knowing when you come to Vancouver yourself.

3 Comments

Posted in Commuting, International

The end is only another beginning

Posted on 3 May 2009 | 1 comment

I lucked out this term and had all my finals and papers due the first week of exam season. It didn’t feel particularly lucky at the time, but it was really good afterwards to have two weeks’ holiday before my co-op term starts. I begin my position as a customer service representative tomorrow and am a mix of nervous and excited for that. I think I’m mostly nervous about the differences between Hong Kong and Vancouver work culture — there are differences, but I don’t even know what yet or where to expect them to pop up. Kind of like an adventure!

The song “Just Around the Riverbend” from Pocahontas just passed through my head.

The last couple of weeks have been spent doing important things like watching the clouds go by, baking chocolate chip cookies and having dinner with friends before they leave, as well as the more mundane, but somewhat necessary, tasks of getting my learner’s licence to drive, renewing my passport and collecting new glasses. Oh, and I’ve begun Italian classes with UBC Continuing Ed. My teacher, Claudia, is absolutely wonderful and speaks in Italian almost all the time so we are left guessing what she means. This isn’t so hard, thanks to having learned French before! Of course, this is only the beginning…

Did You Know?
Ciao, which is used to indicate either “hello” or “goodbye”, derives from the Venetian dialect for schiavo, which literally means “slave” or “I am your servant”.
— Taken from one of my worksheets.

I think the phrase “I am your servant” is used in the loosest sense, similar to older forms of English when someone was being particularly obliging. Oh, for a resurrection of such etiquette! 🙁

1 Comment

Posted in Careers / Work, Recreation

Terry talks: Good for Breaks

Posted on 19 April 2009 | 1 comment

I missed the Terry talks last year but have just spent the last several hours watching them online here. I can honestly say, without a doubt, that UBC is producing some absolutely amazing students and should be rightfully proud of them. Whoever thought to video them and put them online is brilliant, just to let you know. Thank you, O Brilliant One.

Quite seriously, every one of these talks is well worth taking a break for: they are informative, insightful and thoughtful speeches that will leave you asking questions and considering all the new stuff you’ve just heard of. Can’t pick a favourite, I like them all that much. What a way to take a twenty-minute break without feeling like you’ve just wasted time!

Unless, like me, you have no self-control in the presence of inspiration, and end up watching all of them in one go, in which case it may be better to save them for after exams.

And now I really should think about getting dinner…

P.S. If you scroll down to the very bottom of the Terry talks page, you’ll see a little smiley face at the bottom. It is very cute.

1 Comment

Posted in International, Involvement / Leadership, Recreation