Drama in Suzhou

Sometimes, life just gets a little bit more dramatic than normal and, since Friday, life in Suzhou has gone from serene to vaguely stressful drama.

Friday evening was spent saying farewell to Alex, one of our new (and short lived) Suzhou friends. Jenny, Jonas, Alex, the Germans and I had a relaxed dinner followed by less relaxed drinks, which left us all crying with laughter over the ever childish but ever amusing "in my pants" Ring of Fire rule. We did some of the worst karaoke to Aerosmiths "Don't want to miss a thing" and Alex went out in a blaze of glory when he beat the Chinese guy who dominates the bar, at pool. Overall it was a really fun night and we were all sad to see Alex go, but I guess this is the nature of living in a non-permanent community.

Saturday was spent relaxing after Friday night and then on Sunday we ventured out to find Suzhou's number 1 tourist site, Tiger Hill. Of corse it was easier said than done to get there and our flawless plan to get the subway and then a bus was proved less than flawless when we couldn't find where the bus we needed was, except going in the wrong direction. Eventually, a taxi ride later, we made it to Tiger Hill in the glorious sun. Tiger Hill is most famous for the seven story leaning Yunyan Pagoda standing at the top of the hill and towering over the Suzhou skyline.

We had been warned that the walk to the top was not suitable for the elderly or young and that it was a proper serious walk so we came mentally prepared for, and kind of looking forward to, a bit of a hike in the sun. 

As it turns out after about 15 minutes of strolling up the hill, stopping off to look at the beautiful gardens and temple on the way, we emerged triumphant and not even a little bit hiked out at the top. I still don't know if I was relieved or disappointed that it wasn't more of a struggle to get there but regardless, it was definitely worth the walk. The pagoda itself was dominating and beautiful in its magnitude and the views over the industrial city made a stunning contrast to the ancient momuments and blooming gardens around us. 

I think we were blessed to visit Tiger Hill on such a beautiful day, and wandering through bonsai gardens and bamboo groves I really did feel relaxed and at peace. How were we to know that this was the calm before the drama?!

Monday started off as your average day. (Well not entirely average, I was sick so didn't actually go to school but that wasn't dramatic, that was just annoying, so we'll gloss over that one.) Around 4 o'clock we started getting calls from various contacts in Suzhou and TTC people saying that they were sorry to hear Jonas had hurt his leg/arm (depending who you spoke to) playing basketball last week. We were seriously confused because 1) Jonas hadn't played any basketball, and 2) he'd not hurt himself in the past week. Eventually after numerous phone calls and texts it came out that something had been lost in translation and that Jonas was in fact hurt and in hospital. This obviously set off a slight panic that we had no idea what was going on and Jonas wasn't picking up his phone.
Eventually he called us and told us that he'd managed to break both his elbows and a wrist by tripping over a particularly small child in the playground. I've always thought their small size could be a health and safety hazzard! He was so unlucky to break anything, at first he didn't think anything was wrong and was going to continue teaching, and to have both arms in slings is just beyond unlucky. Credit to Jonas, when we went to see him he was in fantastic spirits considering the situation; although I suspect a lot of this was putting on a brave face. Seeing his in his too short bed, both arms in slings and grinning was a very strange sight indeed.

Both Jonas' arms are in Chinese style casts, which basically means that they are strapped up with bits of cardboard to minimise moving. No plaster casts here. But this was not the only traditional Chinese medicinal method Jonas has encountered, hearing about the stages before strapping on the cast sounds horrific and I have nothing but sympathy and admiration for Jonas and his attitude. After the standard x-rays and admin Jonas was given the choice of having surgery to re-place (move back rather than take out and put new ones in) his elbows or do it the Chinese way. Jonas bravely opted to avoid surgery and go for the Chinese method. It turns out this just meant two doctors holding him down and his arms being pulled back into position, even the thought of it makes me want to cry! I pray that his arms heal and set properly after his very Chinese medicinal experience but, with a 2 month healing period, sadly Jonas can't stay with us in China and is being escorted back to Denmark within the next few days.

I never really thought able how debilitating it is to be unable to use either of your arms; you can't feed yourself, you can't go to the bathroom, you can't even get up without use of your arms. Whilst in the hospital for the next few days Jonas has an 'Uncle' looking after him for price of 150RMB a day. The Uncles job is basically to be Jonas' bitch; he stays with him all the time, feeds him food and drink when he wants it, sleeps by his bed and is just there 24/7 for whatever Jonas needs.

Jonas and Uncle

This is an amazing idea on the part of Chinese hospitals, it means patients get the care they require and that nurses aren't wasting time helping patients to the bathroom and can focus on the healing and medicine, it's perfect. But the problem comes when Jonas has to leave hospital and can't take the Uncle with him. If Jonas was staying in China, as much as me and Jenny love him we couldn't be there to help him everyday. We have school and I'm not entirely sure our friendship quite stretches to helping each other pee yet! 

Jonas was lucky to be brought into the hospital by a gaggle of English speaking teachers from his school, who could help let him know what was going on, otherwise I'm sure the experience would have been that much scarier.  I know, from my last encounter with a Chinese hospital in Beijing, the most frustrating and scary thing is not being able to communicate properly. Not knowing what the doctors are going to do before they do it and then not having a clue why they're doing it when they do. So Jonas was fortunate in that respect to have a translator. One particular teacher, Daisy, was an absolute star. She (somewhat randomly) found me and Jenny when we were wandering around the 20 story hospital trying to guess what floor Jonas might be on and she brought Jonas a home cooked dinner and patiently spoon fed him. She also brought with her her daughter, Candy, who happens to be one of Jonas' students. Candy thought it was hilarious that Jonas couldn't do anything for himself and completely took on the nurse role by scolding him when he tired to move, saying "no! Naughty!", and feeding him bananas, milk and cake whether he wanted it or not. The funniest thing though was how she went from calling Jonas "teacher" to calling him "baby Jonas" in his new helpless state. Kudos to Daisy and Candy for helping out so much and huge kudos to Jonas for keeping smiling and not getting frustrated by the little 7 year old bounding around his bed!

It is absolutely rubbish to loose Jonas back to Denmark, and having his freedom of mobility and independence so suddenly taken from him makes me think about how quickly things can shift and how we really should seize every opportunity when it comes along, you just never know when you're going to be stopped in your tracks and forced to take a giant leap backwards.
On that note, sending all our love and get well wishes to Jonas and 'carpe diem' people!