Vaccinations

I went to see the travel nurse today as my doctor advised. I certainly trust PC people to give me adequate prophylaxis, but I'd rather get shots now instead of when I'm moving half way around the world. The Welcome Book says that PC China vaccinates for: hepatitis A and B, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid, influenza, meningitis, diptheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella. The nurse largely agreed, but she also gave me anti-malarials. Apparently, I should take them if I go into any rural areas in Sichuan or Guizhou during the summer. That seems like a likely occurence, so I'll bring them along. She also gave me Cipro to take along in case of traveler's diarrhea. Lovely.

I was nervous that I would need tons of shots, but I lucked out. I have already had everything but Hep A, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid, and rabies. Typhoid vaccine comes in pills, interestingly enough. One refrigerates them and takes them every other day for a week. They also give you a handy "Livestrong" style bright orange rubber bracelet proclaiming "Remember Oral Typhoid Vaccine!" Quite the fashion statement. I got the first shot of Hep A, to be followed by a second in six months. I couldn't get the encephalitis one today. Apparently it has a higher risk of side effects and they must observe you after the shot, and I didn't have time for it today. I'll go back for that later. Finally, the rabies vaccine is in short supply and not available for prophylaxis. Oops.

Short version: I was afraid of becoming a pincushion, but it wasn't that bad. Hooray for being protected!

Dental Clearance! (Again!)

I received paper confirmation of my dental qualification today, two weeks after my toolkit told me this. More paper for my bloated PC folder :-)

Considering the awesome technology of the toolkit, it surprises me that they still send all the letters, since they arrive so ludicrously out of sync. At the very least, I'd expect them to have a paper or electronic option on the application- so you could opt out (or in) of all the letters, just like they do at the bank. Anyhow, it's not a problem, just funny.

Rosetta Stone

So far, mixed feelings...I got a free pass to use the Rosetta Stone for Mandarin a few days after I accepted my invitation. There are three levels, and within each level is four units, and within each unit are four lessons. I'm currently on Level One, Unit Two, Lesson Two. A good bit of the stuff I knew from Chinese class, but I've learned some useful vocabulary from it.

Already, I can tell that if I didn't already have a concept of the language, the program would drive you mad. It shows a language pattern, has you mimic it, then has you parse it and use it in new combinations. I think it's just that I don't like the style. I enjoy knowing the grammar and the whys and wherefores of language. However, it's been a nice way to practice speaking and listening without stressing about characters, which is the focus of my Chinese course.

Verdict: It's nice to have, but I'd never use Rosetta as the sole means to learning a language.

Dental Clearance!

Woohoo! I got the last of my fillings done on Thursday, got the bewildered receptionist to type me up a letter, and over nighted it to the Medical Office. The dental folks, prompt as always, got it cleared straightaway, and I received the Application Status Update today. All clear. Now the only thing that doesn't say Complete is the legal status, and there's no hold, it's just they haven't done the final check. Hopefully they will now that I'm dentally cleared.

In other news, I never heard back from the country desk that they got my resume/aspiration statement, nor did they return an email about when they'll send the staging kit. (It matters because I'll be leaving this address on June 5th and stay with my parents until I leave.) I suppose I should phone and see what's going on.