Red Sun....CTM

Here in China there are some misunderstandings about things that I just took for granted when I was around lots of fellow Americans. When we had our mid-autumn event we had to make some paper mache suns so we used balloons and glued newspaper over them.....and then painted them. Dear Americans, what color would you paint this sun? Just to make sure I'm not crazy I Googled "cartoon sun", hit images, and literally every single picture portrayed the sun as (that's right folks) YELLOW!
ex:

 

Unfortunately, due to the nasty gross disgusting pollution that hangs over Beijing day and night, my co-workers strongly resisted Chelsie and mine's suggestions to paint the sun yellow. Instead they said we should paint the sun red....because that's the color of the Chinese sun. You know how when you look up at the sun and it blinds you and it's just a bright shiny thing in the sky with no absolute shape and its rays just extend into one bright blob...? Well, most days here have a sun that's seriously red/orange and the pollution blocks out every single one of the sun's rays. Literally. The only exception to this is when it rains. After rain, you get a blue sky for a couple days and you sure as heck better take pictures to document it because it'll only be a few days before it's so grossly polluted outside that the building across the street is just a faint outline through the grossness.

So......a few days ago, after a night of rain and thunder and lightning, we were blessed with this sight:

 And then, a mere 5 days later, we walked out our door to be greeted with this unfortunate sight:

Yuck. No wonder my Chinese co-workers firmly believe the sun is RED.


Now that you understand the constant debate about the true color of the sun.....on to CTM. I know what you're thinking: "hmmm...what exactly is ctm?" Well friends, it's Chinese Traditional Medicine. And I used to scoff at the idea of ctm, but I am now a firm believer. When I got sick a couple months ago Yogi (one of the girls I work with) helped me get some ctm. Now, this illness is something I've suffered from before and even with antibiotics it took me a solid 2 weeks to get over it. I took this ctm and was over it in a mere 4 days. I decided then that the next time I put ctm to the test I would have to document it. SO. At the beginning of the week I started feeling myself getting sick. I asked Melinda (another friend at work) to write in Chinese my symptoms so I could take it to the pharmacy and get some fantastical ctm. Now, here were my symptoms: headache, stuffy nose, very very congested sinuses, and a seriously runny nose. Your common head cold, only multiplied about 15 times due to side-effects of pollution and the cold Beijing autumn weather. This is what I got:

These little vials are a common form of ctm. You have to stick a little straw in them and suck up the most bitter, disgusting, gag-reflex-inducing liquid you've ever tasted. Normally you have to take 2-4 of these EVERY DAY, depending on the sickness, and it usually leads to a facial expression similar to this:

Yucky icky nasty BLECH
I also got these lovely little green gems....

I got 3 packages with 12 pills, equaling 36 pills. Now, how many of these would you think you'd take in a day? Maybe like 1 or 2 a couple times a day? Oh no no. I asked Melinda how much I was supposed to take and this, I'm not kidding, was her answer: "take 3-5 pills 3 times a day." My response: "what, seriously?" She said "yeah, so take 5 pills right now, then later take maybe 3, then at night take 4 pills. Do this until you feel better."

Wow. No "don't exceed more than 3 pills in a 24-hour period." I took 5 this morning, 4 after lunch, and 3 tonight before dinner. My nose is pretty much un-stuffed now, my nose isn't running, and my sinuses feel rather quite cleared. The only thing that could make this better would be a hot shower to complete the process. This is precisely why ctm works so well....it kicks the crap out of whatever sickness you might have. They smelled like licorice and tasted like soap. Yuck. My gag reflex certainly got tested. But hey.....it works. Can't complain about that.

On another note, this is the beautiful concoction that I invented for dinner for Chelsie and myself the other night....

Yes. You are, in fact, looking at a peanut butter-strawberry jam-smooshed banana-nutella-crunchy cereal cereal double-decker sandwich. It was delicious and I impressed myself with my culinary genius, yet again.

*BOOM*