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CHINA - Your introduction to surviving the first trip.

"Its recommended you at least take Hepatitis A tablets, and at least you will need a TB shot. Ohhh and not to mention Malaria tablets, said my Doctor. I asked "was there anything else i should know about?. "Well there is Hepatitis B and Japanese encephalitis, Rabies and ahhhh yes, Typhoid. "Then we recommend you take boosters for Tetanus, diphtheria and the Measles".

Now for a guy who hates needles and normal medicine at the best of times for anything arbitory like the Flu, or a cold, i stood there stunned. Just to get to China i need to dose up on all those pills and vaccinations... My mind went into overload. I thought i would end up feeling worse than maybe contracting the dreaded diseases myself. So guess what.? On February 22 2003, i made my way to Auckland Airport to board my plane to Hongkong. No Vaccinations and no pills. I did take with me anti mosquito spray and 2 bottles of collodial Silver, to stop an upset stomach. Well, at least i was trying wasnt I.?

Having taken up my post as English Teacher in a Eastern town called Huzhou i hardly found any mosquitos or bugs to bother me in any case. By the way the mosquitos are less irritable and less itchy than the sandflies in Auckland where i used to live. Interesting. They simply dont draw blood. The one thing i didnt know was that most apartments in Chinese cities have good air conditioners and this along with netted windows stopped any mosquitos and bugs coming inside and living there. The biggest concern wasnt Japanese encephalitis, but the overflowing effluent drains that would overflow into the streets. Its a really good idea to just sort of take a bit of a jump so you dont land any nasties on your shoes. And ohh yes, just discreetly hold your nose while you do it.

I often wondered how the Chinese in many respects escaped alot of disease when there was so many flies in the market place where i bought meat and food. And ahh be really choosy about where you go to the toilet. Try and go before you go out. Really important. Public lavatories require a westerner to zip up a pesticide suit and wear a face respirator. If you desperatly have to go do not touch the sides of the cubicles and dont look down. Its best to take the far end cubicle if you can for this very reason that when the enormous flush tank at the other end cascades the trench with water, you at least wont get the Tsunami behind you and wear anything that comes along on your rear end. Be fanatical

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