Sorry for the delay...

Once again, sorry for not posting earlier, this past couple weeks have been a whirlwind of things.  All last week I was preparing for the big WABX to the Max, this is our fall tournament for boys and girls rugby, tennis, and volleyball and a Jazz festival.  We had roughly 10-15 different teams on our campus and I was in charge of the medical coverage for the entire tournament.  To make matters even more interesting, NFL China decided to move their competition day from Sunday to Saturday.  So we had to bring up reinforcement from Shanghai to help with the tournament and on Saturday, to help with NFL China.  IWS decided to bring up Gina another IWS ATC.  This was the first time I have actually met Gina, but we hit it off like old friends.  

Before getting to the tournament; on last Thursday we had a day off due to the Mid-Autumn Holiday or another term used is the Moon Holiday.  For this day off, one of the other interns, Nate and I decided to visit the Summer Palace.  This is the place where the old emperors would go during the summer.  It was massive!  We spent about 5-6 hours there and we saw maybe half of the estate.  The other thing about the day was it was a little hazy so the photos didn't turn out the way I would have liked; however, here are a couple.

This is Nate

Now, the tournament on Friday went on, with no casualties; a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing really major.  Saturday was a little more interesting.  During the final girl's rugby match, one girl got hit and fell to the ground.  When she hit the ground her head bounced and hit twice, and then a girl came in and seemed to accidentally hit the girl in the head again.  The young girl had now hit her head three times and immediately went into a seizure.  This was the first time I had ever seen a concussion cause a seizure.  I ran onto the field and just held the young lady as she seized so that she wouldn't hurt herself.  Her father some how got to field and was yelling to find out what was happening.  I casually asked him if his daughter had a history of epilepsy and he said "No, what is happening?"  I stated to him that she was having a seizure and that she would come out of it in just a bit.  He immediately grabbed her and spoke "Baby, I am here!  You are going to be okay, please wake up."  At this, she immediately stopped her seizure.  I told the father that she would be dazed and act strangely and that it was completely normal, just to keep calm and comfort his daughter.  I then asked what his daughter's name was and she immediately turned her head and spoke her name in a very matter-of-fact manner wrapped in joy.  It was the oddest situation that I have ever been in.  After about 3-4 minutes, she was very responsive and moving about with no signs of any issue what-so-ever, but I still insisted she go to the hospital.  On Wednesday of this week, I talked to the young lady and the testing all came back normal and she was diagnosed with a "convulsive concussion."  I've never heard that term, but I am in China!  That pretty much wrapped up the tournament.  (Though there was another injury, one of our guys broke his clavicle.) 

On Sunday and Monday, Gina and I decided to tour Beijing.  On Sunday we visited the Forbidden City and a park just beyond their.  The Forbidden City was huge.  I will say that the gardens inside were worth seeing, but other than that, not much but a bunch of old buildings.  The park behind had a great view of the Forbidden City and just beyond.  Here are a couple photos from both.

This is Gina as we are walking in...

On Monday, we got up and it was rainy, but we still decided to go to the Temple of Heaven and the Lama Temple.  The Temple of Heaven was a huge park with different temples in it.  This site was where the Emperor had to go every year to sacrifice so that it would be a bountiful year for the crops.  After spending an hour and a half there we were off to the Lama Temple.  

The Lama Temple is a working Tibetan temple in the middle of Beijing.  To date, this is probably my favorite site I have visited.  The beauty of this place was beyond words.  This temple was filled with Budha's and burning incense.  Monks roamed the grounds as visitors paid homage to the different temples housing the many different Budha's .  One building housed the world's tallest golden Budha.  It stood some 3-stories high and you could hardly see the face.  Unfortunately, due to the weather, I did not get many photos, but please be sure I will be visiting again with camera in hand.  

This next week is the Golden Holiday and we have the entire week off.  I haven't planned anything as of yet to do, but I will be seeing a few sites here and possibly even visiting a couple other cities around.  Stay tuned…And as usual, thanks so much for following me in my journeys!!!

PS-It's official, I am going to New Zealand from December 17-January 5!  I can't wait!  Jenny and I will have a blast, I know it!  (Now to make enough money so that we can enjoy it!)

Photos from KL

For my "Swim Club" family!!!  You were on my iPad and on my mind on my flight to KL!  Love and miss you!

The clinic I visited...KLSMC

One of the Petronus Towers at night

I was playing with shutter speed in the middle of the road...Hey, I like it!

Batu Cave...Lord Murugan and the 272 stairs to the caves

Me representing SCATA!

These little guys were everywhere!  If you didn't watch out, they would take your bag, glasses or food if you were eating.  Such fun little creatures!

Inside one of the caves was this little temple shrine...I do love the colors and the artistry of the Hindu religion

The view from the top

I took so many pictures of this mother and her baby.  She sat right there as folks walked by and even walked up to them.  I was literally and hands width away from them at one point!

This may be my favorite photo from this trip.

Not sure who this is, but I am interested to find out...I will research that one later.

The "Selfie" in the park

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

First let me apologize for not posting earlier.  I really have no excuse other than in my free time at home, I try to study Chinese.  I feel that in order to feel more comfortable I must learn the language or at least know how to get around and order food and have a basic conversation with a local. 

So, a lot has happened since my last blog.  The big this was the trip to Malaysia.  On Sunday, after working all day at Beihang University for NFL China, I had to come home and pack and get to the airport by 11:30 for my 1:30am flight to Kuala Lumpur.  Of course I did make it!  Though I was worried about finding a taxi out at my place at that time of night.  Luckily, I only waited about 10-15 minutes and one came by; I flagged him down and I said "T-san" as I got in the back seat.  (T as is terminal, san as in Chinese for 3)  The cabby repeated, and I said "Dui." (Yes)  Off we went to what I hoped was the airport.  Luckily, 15 minutes later and 75 kuai later, I was at Terminal 3 checking in.

Now, if you know me, you know I am a horrible packer; meaning I like to pack as much as possible so that I have many possibilities-after all, you never know which outfit you really want to wear until you are in the moment. With this trip being so short, I tried to limit myself to two pair of shoes (the pair I wore on the plane and a dressier pair for going to the clinic) though I also wanted to take my flip flops; but I refrained.  I also only packed a pair of slacks, and two pair of shorts along with a pair of swimming trunks (just in case) as well as a couple tee-shirts and a couple polo shirts.  Along with the other necessities, that was pretty much it.  I was able to fit all that in my small duffle bag (Gamecock of course, that my mom had made for me at the beginning of college for me to travel with for football and the other sports!)-so I was extremely proud of myself!  Because of this, I didn't have to check any baggage!  This was the first time I have ever gone somewhere on a plane and not checked a bag!  It was actually a pretty good feeling. 

The flight was just at 6 hours long and I think I slept 4.5 of those 6 hours.  Breakfast was served an hour before landing and it consisted of chicken and noodles and some veggies.  Who eats that for breakfast?  I want a bagel with an egg and bacon and cheese; but not on this flight.  Landing into KL, it was like landing on a tropical island, just minus the water.  Palm trees were everywhere. We exited the plane and got to customs and the agent asked what my purpose was, and I replied "just visiting!"  Stamp, stamp and I was through.  

The KL airport is about an hour away from the actual city of Kuala Lumpur, so you have to get a taxi to get you there.  My taxi driver knew exactly where to go when I said "KL Concorde,"  right smack-dab in the middle of the city.  The Concorde is a 4-star hotel with a Hard Rock Cafe attached.  Out of my window I could see the KL Tower and on the other side of the building I could see the Petronus Towers.  

So, why Malayasia.  Well, in KL there is a physician who has come up with this interesting technique of regrowing articular cartilage, where many doctors have said that you can't regrow that type of substance.  He has proven that you can…and in fact has done it in my Athletic Director at the school I am working with.  We (my AD and I) thought it would be a great idea for me to meet the surgeon and the rehab team so that I would know how to rehab him back in Beijing.  It was amazing to be able to meet and talk to a physician who defied odds, and now his technique is being introduced and processed through the FDA in the United States.  Cutting edge, and it really makes sense.  Anyway, I was off to the the Clinic to meet everyone as soon as I cleaned and washed up from the flight.  

The clinic was so nice.  Very spacious, and great views.  The folks there were extremely kind and accepting and took me in and around to show me everything.  I met the physician, Dr. Saw, and he was great as well.  He told me what he did to my AD and what was happening now and what the procedure was from this point forward.  He showed us the MRI of immediately after the surgery (back in June) and then the one done that morning.  It was startling to see that there was new growth already!  Here I am seeing proof of something I have been told couldn't happen.  I was amazed. I could go into what actually happened, but I am already getting long-winded; so if you are interested, send me an email or leave a comment and I can get you that information!

After spending the day in the clinic, we were back to the hotel and I was out to see the immediate sites of KL and around my hotel.  I took a few photos and went to a mall…a huge mall; makes the one I wrote about in an earlier post look puny!  After walking around a bit, my AD was feeling up to dinner so we just ate at the Hard Rock Cafe.  I decided to try something different so I got a Lamb BBQ sandwich.  Lamb is definitely a different flavor-that added to the bbq flavoring and it was an interesting mix; not bad, but not something I will order again.  

The second day, Tuesday, I spent half the day back in the clinic, and the other half out sight-seeing.  My AD told me of a place to visit, Batu Cave.  This is a Hindu Temple site.  I am so glad that I went.  At the entrance to the caves is the world's largest statue of Lord Murugan, the Hindu god of war and victory.  It is an amazing site, of course there are photos.  The other really cool thing was all the monkeys roaming the site.  They weren't in cages, they were everywhere…and if you didn't watch out, they would steal or try to steal your bag or anything they could get. (I got some great pictures of them as well!)  After spending an hour hiking up the 272 stairs and exploring one of the caves, I came back to the city.  

Back in KL I wandered to a mall that was a few blocks from my hotel.  The mall was called the Pavillion, and is quiet possibly the biggest mall I have ever been to.  I have never gotten lost in a mall, until I visited KL.  For some reason, I could not navigate this mall, it was huge and had so many different wings and levels.  I think I managed to see it all, but I'm still not sure.   Dinner this night was at a Thai restaurant in the restaurant area of town; there was every type of cuisine available there, but we went with Thai for some reason…good choice as it was delicious. 

Wednesday, my boss left early to go to the clinic before hitting the airport to Bangkok.  I decided to do a double-decker tour of the city and get off at the market to try a pick up some chintzy souvenirs.  The tour was great; it took about 2.5 hours.  I did get off at the Central Market, but was very disappointed in the selection of gifts, so I didn't really get much from Malayasia, except some awesome photos (in my opinion.). 

I had to leave KL at 3 in the afternoon to make the flight back to Beijing.  I did get home around 1 am and was happy that I was able to navigate the airport, and the taxi ride home without having to call anyone for help.  Back at work on Thursday and Friday, all was back to normal.  Nothing really new to tell.  Saturday was pretty much the same as well.  Sunday, I did have to work again with the NFL China and I found out that Joe Montana may be making a visit to Beijjng in October!  I am not a huge Montana fan, but hey the man is a legend and I am excited for the possibility of meeting him.  If this happens, there will be a photo of proof!  

This weekend we have our first HUGE tournament on campus, WABX to the MAX!  This tournament will have a Jazz performance piece, and Rugby, Tennis and Volleyball round-robin tournaments.  (Both men's and women's of each sport)  Needless to say, Friday and Saturday I will be busy!!!!  But I am happy that another ATC from IWS will be coming up to help on Friday and partly on Saturday.  She will also be covering NFL China on Saturday due to a change in schedule.

Other than all of this, I am still subbing and trying to plan my Christmas vacation.  I have decided not to go somewhere big for October holiday, but a couple friends and I will do some quick day trips out of the city each day to other cool cities nearby.  More on all that later.

Sorry for the long post-I will try to do better about length and consistency of posts.  Thanks to everyone who reads and invests your time into my life!!!

Kuala Lumpur

At 1:30 on Monday Morning I boarded a plane set for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  At 8:00 am I landed.  KL is a beautiful place.  It is very tropical place and while it was in the taxi from the airport to KL, it made me think of my time in St. Thomas.  (I loved that place!)  

It was actually a really good feeling getting here today and being able to navigate in a country I have never been.  Once I got to the city, I went to the hotel, showered, then was off to the Kuala Lumpur Sports Medicine Center.  The reason for my visit to KL was two fold:  to have a short vacation, but mainly to meet with a surgeon who created a new technique in the Orthopedic field.  I wanted to meet him and his physiotherapy staff to see how the rehab goes with this technique.  (Have I mentioned how blessed I am at the opportunities that I have been given?  Well, I am BLESSED beyond belief!)  This surgeon is a pioneer in his field-he came up with a procedure that are just now going through the FDA approval process in America.  

Anyway, I just wanted to give a quick update before bed.  I will be spending tomorrow at the clinic again.  Then Wednesday, is the day for sight-seeing.  More on KL later.  (And I promise photos!)

Olympic Park

Today I woke up early...I have decided on the days that I am not substitute teaching or meeting in the mornings, I am going to get on a bus or subway and experience a different part of Beijing.  On Sunday while I was riding to NFL China, I was looking out the window of the taxi and we passed an unusual building.  At that moment, I realized it was the Bird's Nest and the Cube from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  So today while I had nothing else going on, I decided to take a closer look.  I woke up at 8 am and headed down to the subway station at 9.  After an hour and 15 minutes navigating the subway system, I made it!  

For me, my ultimate goal as an Athletic Trainer is to work an Olympic Games.  So to be able to see one of the most iconic venues in modern Olympic History is a pretty neat experience.  I was able to see all the different venues of the park as well as climb the hill that overlooks the whole Olympic Park; which is also the central axis point of the Beijing.  After a rainy day of tromping around the park, I headed home and in to work.

Today was able to sub for an English class.  I also booked Thursday and Friday for subbing. This is great news as I need all the subbing I can get so that I can travel to New Zealand and beyond for Christmas break.  Here are a couple pictures I took today, I will go back when it is clearer to get a few more photos. 

A view of the Bird's Nest from the Park

Rigth Beside the Nest

Just a close-up of the structure

The Cube-Aquatics Center

Underconstruction...When finished, from the sky you will see the Olympic Rings

 

The TV Tower

 Typical Chinese gate and Pavilion at the end of the park

One quick note...I really appreciate my truck so much more now.  I would love to have my truck here, as this site is no more than 5 miles from my apartment, but it took an hour and 15 minutes by subway to get there.  Had I taken the bus, it would have been at least 2 hours.  But that is just one of the conveniences that I have come to appreciate about home, but am living with out here.

This weeks recap...Sorry, it is a longer one....

So as promised, I went to work early one morning this week and tried to get a few pictures of the market.  They aren't great, but you get the point.  When I take the big camera out, I will get much better shots. These were all taken on my iPhone.

This week was a pretty good week.  Nothing really major.  Rugby started full contact this week, and the first few practices went better than I expected.  Only a couple ankle sprains and a couple head knocks, but all should be good by weeks end.  I will say, the season will be interesting with one of my rugby coaches.  

The interesting thing about WAB is how "connected" it is.  We have coaches here from national teams all over the world.  For our volleyball program there are 2 former China National players coaching, basketball we have former NCAA players coaching, badminton we have former national players coaching, table tennis-former world champions coaching, and we have a published personal trainer working with our fitness for all the teams.  Rugby is no different.  One specific coach is a former Australian national player-and he is intense!  

On Saturday we had a kid twist his ankle.  I was there and saw the whole thing happen.  I watched as the kid rolled on the field and as the team moved away.  When I saw that the kid was not going to get up, I decided to walk out to where the kid was to see how bad it was.  As I got there, the rugby coach was calling the Personal Trainer out there to help carry the kid off the field and was also yelling at one of the team members to get ice.  As I got there, I stopped the Personal Trainer from moving the kid, so that I could evaluate how bad the injury was.  Immediately the coach looked at me and said "It's bad, he needs to get ice on it immediately or it will swell!"  I simply looked at him and said "Thanks, now let me look at it myself."  Obviously this was not what he wanted me to do.  As I am evaluating, the coach is standing over me saying "He needs loads of ice on it right now!"  I just keep evaluating and note that he really has a mild sprain.  The kid by now has picked up on the coaches anticipation and starts to get worked up as well.  I see this and know that it is now time to move.  I ask the kid to sit up; he does.  I then instruct him to flatten out his other foot and put it down and help him to stand on the good one-he does.  The coach then tells the Personal Trainer to help carry the kid off the field and I simply say, "No, he is walking off this field.  No one needs to carry anyone."  We wait as the student-athlete gathers his composure, and he slowly walks off the field with the help of my shoulder and the coaches shoulder. 

 When we get to the sideline the coach again steps in and starts barking orders for both of us-I simply do my own thing and ask the kid to remove his shoe.  He asks "but it will swell if I do that, right?"  "Buddy, it's going to swell with or without the shoe!"  By now the coach finally left and continued coaching the rest of the team.  I continued my sideline evaluation and explained to the student-athlete what my opinion was.  He was good with that.  He did ask for crutches, and I told him no because if he wanted to play sooner, he needed to continue with movement and some walking.  As long as he rested for the rest of the afternoon and on Sunday.  (This is also a way of keeping them out of the clubs on Saturday night! -This is a whole other story, high school student's clubbing internationally!)  

Other than that, the 10 volleyball matches we had between Friday and Saturday went smoothly without any real hitches.  Also on Friday, my "story" came out on the WAB website... www.wab.edu (and if that link doesn't work here is the direct link to the story:   http://lianxi.wab.edu/node/1746 )

On Saturday after work, Jenny and I went to Ya Show-a bargain market.  Four or five stories of little shops that sells everything!  Best of all, you get to haggle!  I have been looking for a beard trimmer since I got here because mine didn't work once I got here.  I found one or two at a couple of places but they were close to $100-I am not going to pay that price for a beard trimmer that in the states would cost no more than $40-60.  Ya Show had some!  Best of all, the price we started at was 120 RMB (just under $20).  I was ready to buy then with no haggling, BUT I love a good deal.  The first vendor I walked away, and as I was walking away, he shouted "Okay, 70!"  My response was "I may be back."  Around the corner and down the hall I came upon the same exact brand trimmer and the dealer there started with 120 RMB as well.  "I was just told 70 kuai (same as RMB and Yuan) around the corner, and I walked away from that deal, so NO!"  He replied "How much you want pay?"  I said "how about 50?"  This time he turned and walked away.  As I got ready to leave then, he quickly turned and said "What about 65?"  I thought it over, and realized it was like $10 and I was perfectly okay with that price.  So I came home with a new beard trimmer!  The night was capped off with Cold Stone Creamery!  YUM!!! (Since I couldn't get any ice cream from the Sweet Spot back home!)

Sunday…How did I spend my Sunday.  First of all, I slept in until about 11 am…I was exhausted this weekend for some reason. Then I had to go to the Beihang University to cover NFL China.  To be perfectly honest here, I have NOT been looking forward to this part of my job.  The reason is I felt like it was completely unorganized from the beginning.  I found out that really it wasn't, it was just that we (other AT's in Shanghai and Guangzhou) weren't really "in the loop" as much as we should have been.  I for one thought this was a camp for kids where former NFL stars came over and taught the kids how to play American Football.  Then I thought it was "real" American Football with tackling and everything.  This frightened me because here we are in China playing football when these adults have never played before; I was wondering how many times I would have to spine board someone for spearing or worse.  Come-to-find out, it is a flag football league, sponsored by the NFL.  So today I spent my afternoon watching flag football.  It was actually not bad at all…There were some decent athletes there.  I was told to that throughout the series, there should be some former players coming to give tips and meet the folks here, so we will see what happens and who comes.  I was given a Tampa Bay Bucs hat today, as well as a few shirts.  The girl in the yellow shirt is a Anne, and she is helping me during this whole NFL China experience; the other girl is her friend, but I forgot her name.  I am glad that this was different than expected!

So I got home okay by taking the subway and it is much easier than taking a taxi or bus.  This was the first time to take the subway by navigating it by myself.  

Oh, I forgot the coolest part of the day…As I was getting to Beihang for the NFL China gig, I was riding a taxi there.  I am still not familiar with where things are in this city and as I am looking out the window I notice this strange structure.  I notice it was "the Bird's Nest" right beside "the Water Cube."  It hit me again, I live in freaking Beijing, China!!!  I just have to smile!  So blessed!!