A Day For Needles

Yesterday I went to a travel clinic to get my inoculations for the trip. I found the place by searching on the Web. From what I saw on the Web it looked like a stand alone travel medical clinic. I assumed it would be a small, quiet place. People would come in, register with reception and then sit on vinyl chairs and wait for their turn. Some of those assumptions turned out to be correct. However the travel clinic is actually one doctor who also has other kinds of patients. And there is more than one, probably several, doctors in what is a walk-in medical clinic. Some people coming in had appointments, some did not, as is usual in walk-in clinics. Some people came alone, like me, some came with other family members. Sitting and waiting for my time with the "travel doctor" was like sitting in a subway car.

Some people came and sat and waited. Some people came and sat for one or two minutes, then got up and went to one of the clinic rooms. Some people came to the door and looked in and went away. Some people got told to come back later. (The place is open seven days a week and until 9.00 pm most of those days.) I sat and waited with all kinds of people, and conversations both face-to-face and on cell phones were going on in several languages. I waited for about twenty minutes, which is not unreasonable.

I talked first with the "travel doctor's" assistant, then with the doctor, then the assistant came back in and got the materials ready. She reviewed the schedule of shots and took my payment. She also shared with me some of her experiences as a traveller in Beijing. Then the doctor came back in, one shot in one arm plus a band-aid, another shot in the other arm and another band-aid. We talked for another couple of minutes. He reminded me to come back in a month for the second of three shots for hepatitis, and he went over the procedure for the traveller's diarrhea and cholera preventative. Then I was done. As far as medical experiences go this one was not only painless but even pleasant. If you want a quiet office-like atmosphere for a travel medicine clinic then go somewhere else. If you are comfortable in Toronto's multi-ethnic mix then you are guaranteed to find it where I went.

I also talked with my mother last night. She is excited and pleased that I am going on this trip. She visited Egypt and parts of the eastern Mediterranean some years ago. It was something she wanted to do for most of her life. When she had both the time and the resources she went. She still talks about that visit from time to time. She said I will make memories I will never lose. Her first question was "are you ready to go yet?" I had to say no. I still have to get my visa (soon) but that is the last "official" thing I have to do. After that I just have to pack. I think the baggage allowance is quite generous: 2 - 22kg bags underneath plus one carry-on bag. The carry-on will be my laptop and its associated stuff plus a book or two, headphones, a pillow and my Palm Pilot which is my MP3 player. If I trusted the airline baggage system more I would put my laptop in my checked baggage but it is not mine, it is my employer's. If it gets lost or damaged it will be almost impossible to replace the information on it while I am in China. And I need it in China because I will be communicating with my online students while I am away. So I will keep it safe by carrying it with me.

If you are reading this and have suggestions about either how to survive a 15 hour plane ride (plus a 3 hour layover in Chicago) or what I should pack for two weeks of summer in Beijing I would be very happy to hear from you.