[the gist - not the exact words, but basically this is what went down]
Him: So how's the snow? We didn't get too much here in Richmond [Virginia]
Me: Snow? I don't know what this "snow" is you speak of... I only see it when I go skiing in Tahoe
Him: Wait, where exactly are you?
Me: Santa Cruz... like I have been since 2006... well except for that year in 2007-2008 when I lived in Taipei. Oh! and I'm moving to Berlin in July, then going to China for research sometime in September most likely.
Him: Don't you ever stay in one place? Research in China, what's that about? Wow
Me: For the dissertation research I need to go to China
Him: Wow... cool. And Berlin?
Me: Oh, my partner and I live in an apartment near the center, great location! You should come visit!
Him: Wait, you already live there? I don't understand
Me: I lived there all last summer with my partner, it's our home. So yeah I live here and I live there... and in China next year
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Healthcare comparisons
Taiwan: national healthcare for all citizens/permanent residents is free or cheap; private health care and hospitals are cheap. Better to pay $7-9 to see a private doctor instead of $2 though: you'll see someone more reputable and you only have to wait a few minutes. $2 gets you to a 3 hour line at the general hospital, even when you have broken bones. It works like the DMV: you take a ticket and wait in line. You see the doctor, sometimes with a bunch of other random people in the room, then you get medicine and diagnosis and go home.
One example of cost differences:
Taiwan: Cost to have surgery at the hospital on a fractured right hand, including getting pins put in and several subsequent doctor's visits (without insurance): $450-500 USD - doctor who performed surgery and became my private doctor has degree from US and residency was at UC San Diego
U.S.: Two doctor's visits, first to get the broken hand "inspected" as a new patient, including x-rays of the pins and fracture ($100+$70) and the second visit to get the pins removed, i.e. the doctor took a pair of pliers and numbed my hand, then yanked them out :-( (cost: $70). Total cost: $240 USD
Doctor from U.S. tells me that they "did a good job in Taiwan" but the way I was told to take care of the area around the pins (iodine) is "very outdated, from the 1970s" (oh, gimme a break!)
In the end? I got a $10,000 surgery for the price of $500, and without any major issues so far as I can tell.
And on a somewhat related note, it turns out that once L and I get married and I move to Germany I get added to his healthcare at no extra cost. It's just another checkbox on the form for "family plan."
One example of cost differences:
Taiwan: Cost to have surgery at the hospital on a fractured right hand, including getting pins put in and several subsequent doctor's visits (without insurance): $450-500 USD - doctor who performed surgery and became my private doctor has degree from US and residency was at UC San Diego
U.S.: Two doctor's visits, first to get the broken hand "inspected" as a new patient, including x-rays of the pins and fracture ($100+$70) and the second visit to get the pins removed, i.e. the doctor took a pair of pliers and numbed my hand, then yanked them out :-( (cost: $70). Total cost: $240 USD
Doctor from U.S. tells me that they "did a good job in Taiwan" but the way I was told to take care of the area around the pins (iodine) is "very outdated, from the 1970s" (oh, gimme a break!)
In the end? I got a $10,000 surgery for the price of $500, and without any major issues so far as I can tell.
And on a somewhat related note, it turns out that once L and I get married and I move to Germany I get added to his healthcare at no extra cost. It's just another checkbox on the form for "family plan."
Friday, February 5, 2010
Scary life of a rootless person...
I have NO idea where I will be in 6 months from now. Isn't that crazy? Here are possibilities for where I could be between July-June 2010-2011:
Berlin, Germany
Harbin, China
Beijing, China
Taipei, Taiwan
And if all else fails (e.g. no funding)... hanging out briefly in Santa Cruz, CA, researching what I can at Berkeley and Stanford, then jetting to Berlin in July or August sometime.
I look forward to the day I am settled somewhere. For a long time.
[EDIT and UPDATE: Looks like I will NOT be in Harbin this summer since they decided to cancel the program! Good or bad? Well, I could go back to China to study for a few weeks or, better, just go back to Berlin and research/write and read some things in Chinese I have been meaning to read for ever, things I never have any time to do while here!]
Berlin, Germany
Harbin, China
Beijing, China
Taipei, Taiwan
And if all else fails (e.g. no funding)... hanging out briefly in Santa Cruz, CA, researching what I can at Berkeley and Stanford, then jetting to Berlin in July or August sometime.
I look forward to the day I am settled somewhere. For a long time.
[EDIT and UPDATE: Looks like I will NOT be in Harbin this summer since they decided to cancel the program! Good or bad? Well, I could go back to China to study for a few weeks or, better, just go back to Berlin and research/write and read some things in Chinese I have been meaning to read for ever, things I never have any time to do while here!]
Monday, February 1, 2010
Up in the Air!
Two weeks ago I went to watch a movie called "Up in the air." It was a bit heavy for me. In the movie George Clooney finally achieved his one-million-mile goal. I calculated my own mileage after the movie. For the past 14 years I flew more than a half million miles. I think a lot of us are reaching this one million goal. We just never really sit down and add them up together.
Airport is a complicated place for me. It is the place you meet your friends for the first time after years and years. It is also the place you say farewell to your best friends. Sometimes when I looked at the airport, I don't know if I should be happy or sad.
However, flying is also the place you get to talk to a complete stranger sitting next to you for few hours, and you don't have to see them again. I remembered I used to sit next to a pair of cheating husband and wife. That was strange, and interesting. They even bought me a drink. I sat next to a solider, a "diamond" dealer, a musician, students, a lot of grandparents and kids, which I really feel annoyed sometimes. I sat next to a girl who was flying to see her mom in Japan after her mom disappeared 10 years.
Airport is a definitely a special, and emotional place for me. I think rootless people can definitely know what I am talking about.
Airport is a complicated place for me. It is the place you meet your friends for the first time after years and years. It is also the place you say farewell to your best friends. Sometimes when I looked at the airport, I don't know if I should be happy or sad.
However, flying is also the place you get to talk to a complete stranger sitting next to you for few hours, and you don't have to see them again. I remembered I used to sit next to a pair of cheating husband and wife. That was strange, and interesting. They even bought me a drink. I sat next to a solider, a "diamond" dealer, a musician, students, a lot of grandparents and kids, which I really feel annoyed sometimes. I sat next to a girl who was flying to see her mom in Japan after her mom disappeared 10 years.
Airport is a definitely a special, and emotional place for me. I think rootless people can definitely know what I am talking about.
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