I had my first experience with stomach problems this last week and it was not fun. Last Sunday two of my friends and I went to this Korean restaurant. The food was actually really good, especially this dish called haixian bing, which translates to something like seafood pancake or seafood cake, take your pick. I think I ate at least half of this dish myself because it was really good. This turned out to be a big mistake.
The next day I woke up and just felt awful. My head hurt, I was super tired and my stomach was incredibly uncomfortable. I got up to do some hw like I usually do and was planning on going to class but a few mintues before I was planning to leave I just started puking. Afterwards I began feeling even worse. I took some pepto bismol and drank a lot of water and went back to bed. But about 15 min. later I had to get up and puke the medicine and water I just ate and drank. That is basically how my morning and afternoon went. Drinking water and taking medicine and then throwing it back up. Not a whole lot of fun.
Luckily, that night I started feeling better and was able to go to class the next day. My roommate was very concerned for me when he found out about my 24 hr. illness and thought it might be a good idea to go to the hospital. I thought that was a little excessive. He also about died when I told him I had been drinking normal, room temperature water all day instead of hot water. Chinese people have a fear of cold water, they think it will make you sick and is bad for your health. He also recommended I eat this traditional Chinese porridge called zhou. Most Chinese people at the cafeteria eat this stuff every morning. It is basically hot water mixed with like slimy rice. It is not bad but it just does not have any taste so it is very difficult to eat. My teachers the next day also recommended I eat some zhou to get back on my feet.
Another interesting thing is China's view on medicine. You can get Western medicine here but I think Chinese view western medicine as a little risky. Yes, it works a lot faster than Chinese medicine and cures whats ailing you but also can harm other parts of the body. So if you have a headache and take some tylenol, your head will stop hurting but a couple months later you may have some kidney problems or something. So they do not like to take it. They say their medicine takes into account your entire body as a whole rather than treating specific places. I dont know a whole lot about Chinese medicine but it seems like it is mostly herbs, tea and other natural supplements. All the Chinese people I have talked to say it works and is good for you but Im pretty skeptical. Im not sure how much it is based on science than old wives tales.
Anyway, this was my first experience with illness in China and Im actually pretty fortunate because I have not had any other stomach or health problems. I just not going to back to that Korean place and will be wary of any more haixian bing.
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2 comments:
try adding the deep fried bread sticks or the dried meat to your congee or rice porridge. it makes it taste A LOT better! ask around, and they'll tell you where to find that stuff. the dried stuff tastes the best--looks super sketchy, but it's like dried beef and it looks like dried brown curly hair. trust me.
oh man, this is a familiar story for me! I'd say: go for the Chinese medicine. In India they definitely had the same feelings about cold water- it was all about hot water when you're sick, or coconut water. But, Indian's also were way way way too into Western medicine. If I said I was feeling even a little sick everyone would say: needle? meaning, have I taken a shot or some medicine? It seemed a little excessive to the other extreme.
Anyway, I feel like the herbal medicines probably do work- I mean, that's essentially what our medicines are- just all condensed and isolated into a few key chemicals that are found in these herbs. When in Rome... or China as the case may be!
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