Day 12

September 1, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Let me be right up front about this: Today was terrible. Last night, as soon as I laid down, my arm started hurting worse than before. Instead of just a pain in my tricep, now my whole shoulder hurt. If I tried to move it anywhere over my head, there was an intense, sharp pain. It was as if the nerve contracted all of the muscles in my arm at once. Maybe it did, who knows. In any case, there was no sleep for me last night. Just lying down was too much. I took half a sleeping pill hoping to doze off, but sleep came very, very late. I had to be up at around 7 this morning to take my placement exam. Let's just say that that didn't go very well. Really, it didn't go very well for anyone.

I took the exam and went out to the store to find milk. The internet seems to think this sort of thing can be caused by a calcium deficiency. Hmm. Yeah, that's what I thought, too. I mean, is it possible to be calcium deficient after two weeks? I guess so. The only dairy products I've actually had was a slice of some kind of cheese on a burger last week and whatever milk was in that black milk drink. At home, I drink milk often, eat yogurt regularly, and have butter and cheese every single day. Could it be that my body is just used to having more? Is this a (severe) sign of an adjustment?


Milk. It comes in a bag here. I dunno why.

Conversely, the internet seemed concerned about acidity. Everything I've eaten lately has been acidic. The food here is just naturally acidic. In any case, I'll probably go and try to find some vitamin supplements tomorrow. I'm getting a lot more vegetable here, I know that, but none of them are exactly fresh. And the only fruit I've had was inside a cake. Also, I might have meat two times a week. So, I'm thinking this dramatic shift in my diet might be the cause of my pain, even though my stomach has been fine.

I took a few Tylenol PM at around 10am when I got back, hoping they would knock me out. About two hours later, they did, and I was gone until around 7pm. Not a very exciting day for me.

So, that test. No one did very well. Just about everyone I know is in Class 1, which is the beginners level Chinese immersion class. Jordan ended up in Class 2, probably because his conversation skills are so good. I'm OK with this placement: They give us a week to try it out, and if I don't feel like I'm being challenged, I can move myself up to the next level. In any case, a bit of review doesn't hurt anything.

When we went this evening to see what class we were placed in, I found my name on the Class 1 List:


Huh? Hey! I know that guy!

Hmm. If their English is as bad as my Chinese, maybe we can all teach each other a thing or two.

Hagcla