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Happy thanksgiving to you and everyone else!!!     Wow, China!!! neat.  

thanks

David

Enjoy your trip and be safe!  You will eat much less rice than you think (after a recent trip myself)....

 Have a great time!!! And have a great Thanksgiving yourself !

Kathy

I spent 2 weeks in Sept/Oct visiting my son in Hangzhou, China, where he teaching college English.  What an experience!  I had the opportunity to do a presentation to the nursing classes at Hangzhou Normal University on what nursing in America is like.  It was really fun and interesting to hear about nursing in China!  My son's girlfriend (Chinese) is a nursing student there and in talking with her, I asked her about sterile technique, using gloves for starting IVs, etc.  She said "Oh, no, we never wear gloves to start IVs.  Gloves are very expensive so we only wear them during sterile procedures!"  I explained the need for them with IV insertions - shortly after I got home, I got an email from her stating that she had poked herself while starting an IV and now thinks gloves might be a good idea!

The nursing students asked how American nurses reduce stress.  The relationship there between doctors and nurses is very adversarial with a great deal of verbal abuse.  I explained the things we might do and also talked about the fact that many nurses work jsut part time. "Part time??  What is that?"  So I explained it and they all said "How do you get those jobs???!!!"  I asked them what the number one health problem is in China and they said lung cancer.  Smoking is still VERY prevalent.  The hospital I visited had posters on the walls talking about the hazards of smoking, so they are trying to make an impact.

I hope you have a great trip!  I am glad I went but I hope to never go back!  Not my kind of country at all.  But it was great to see where and how my son lives and see the major sites.  Walking on the Great Wall was awesome!