Hospital vs Pharmacy

Can I just say, it sucks being sick? In a foreign country none-the-less. I already mentioned that you can't buy medicine at the supermarket (which is a little wierd for me), you have to go to the hospital, or (as I just found out yesterday) you have to go to a pharmacy store. So here's my adventures this past week. On Monday (after being sick all weekend), Herry, one of my students and my translater, went with me to get some medicine (I was hoping it would be to a drug store or something). Nope. It was to the hospital. There is a small hospital (or clinic I would call it) just off campus. We walk over there (in the rain) and go inside. All I see is a long empty corridor. Herry starts opening the doors to rooms as we pass looking for the doctor (there is no receptionist or anything). We find someone who shows us which room the doctor is in. We go in and there are 3 people in white coats (I'm not sure which one is the doctor and which ones are nurses) and 2 other students. I sit in a chair and they give me a thermometer to take my temperature (it goes under the armpit in case you were wondering and don't ask how I found that out). I sat there for 15 mins and the nurses/doctor talked to Herry about me and where I am from (I've learned how to say America in Chinese)...it was all in Chinese so I got nothing out of the conversation. Anyways, the doctor says my temperature is normal. And asks what's wrong ('cause I apparently don't look sick). I tell her my throat is sore, my ears are plugged, and I have a cough (I'm just looking for some cold medicine here!). She then writes down a prescription on a piece of paper and hands it to me. (By the way, she has been sitting at her desk the whole time). That's it...no 'stick-out-your-tongue and say aahhh', no earcheck, no sinus check....just 'tell-me-what's-wrong-and-I'll-give-you-some-medicine'. I take the paper around the corner and they give me the medicine. It cost me a total of 7.5 RMB (~$1). I've got three different kinds of medicine enough to last me 5 days.

Well, I wasn't getting any better, I was losing my voice and now had an eye infection. So I decided to go to the hospital again. On Thursday, I called 2 of my students to see if they would go with me to get some medicine 'cause I wasn't doing any better. Blanche & Grace went with me. They knew of a place in town that was better than the hospital. I figured why not? Anything has to be better then the hospital. We went to a drug store (yep, they do have them in Weifang). We talked...or they talked actually....to the pharmacist or drug person and told them what was wrong. The pharmacist recommended eyedrops and cold medicine...and....it is finally working! At least I'm feeling better today. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better. Moral of the story: When in China, visit the drug store rather than the hospital.