Friday, December 23, 2016

Things you should know better ...

I don't know. If you drop something really heavy on the top of your foot you should probably know better than to go for a 5 kilometre run, followed by a 20 minute bike ride to a two hour tennis game.

And I guess if you get away with that and it's just a *little sore* you probably shouldn't walk 10 kilometres the next day. And then wearing heels to work on the Monday. You should probably know better.

And when it puffs up like a little puffer fish you probably should just go to the doctor hey? Not a good life choice to google 'home care for fractured foot'. No. You should know better.

You also shouldn't stand around on it /sit in a chair for 12 hours every day. And after a good week of ignoring the puffer fish foot, you probably shouldn't ride half way across town to your favourite cafe. IN THE ONLY PAIR OF SHOES THAT WILL FIT SAID PUFFER FISH (shoes not fitting is a sign you should know better).

So fast forward to over two weeks of puffer fish foot and I finally went to a doctor. Yes I was putting it off because I don't like going to the doctor. And no offence China, but I was pretty freaked out about going to the doctor here. And guess what? My doctor was lovely. He'd just got back to Guangzhou after six years of working in Adelaide. He was really nice about my stupid puffer fish, and was pretty okay with the fact that I should have known better.  I got an X-ray in under ten minutes, then he was pretty stoked when my foot came out not broken foot. I liked that about him. Genuine surprise is good if the result is not broken. I got instructions about resting and was out of there in under an hour - you wouldn't get that service in Belcompton.

And I got this great photo of my foot. 


So thank you to all the people who gently suggested that I should go to a doctor. I appreciate your sensibleness. You know who you are. And for the person who told me the story about a friend having their foot amputated due to misdiagnosis of a broken foot (and tardiness in seeking medical attention).... let's just hope that story is a one off.

Dogs of China - #219 & #220 (Hongchun edition)







Thursday, December 22, 2016

Guangzhou Sundays...

My temporary home has been charming me of late...maybe it's the weather and the few days of clear skies? Maybe it's the fact that I've finally cracked online shopping and parcel boxes? 

Or maybe because it's nice to be in a city and bump into people who are now sort of your people.  People from your favourite coffee shop, the florist from instagram whose flower you adore, the woman from the new dumpling shop which you found via a friend of a friend. 

I don't know exactly what it is, but it's nice to leave your house smiling as you fang to work on a bike and look up to the towering skyscrapers around you. It's wonderful to be at the halfway mark and still find new places to explore and to be enchanted by the everyday.