Injury

I sprained my ankle last weekend playing soccer and was reminded of how something that is a small problem in your home country can be a much bigger problem when you are abroad. For one thing, you can't just go out and buy ice - corner stores don't stock it and I was not about to make a trip to the big foreign-run supermarket in my condition. Because I had just moved in the only thing in my freezer was a box of mooncake, so I ended up holding frozen mooncakes against my ankle to keep the swelling down. Friends graciously contributed medicine and a pressure bandage, which helped a lot. Every Chinese person I met told me I needed something called yunnan bai yao to get the circulation going and so I ended up applying some dark, strong smelling Chinese medicine that made my foot tingle.

The bus has a regular announcement, roughly translated: "Caring for elderly and weaker ones is a traditional virtue of Chinese people. If there are old, weak, lame, pregnant, or child-carrying passengers please let them sit." So by the time I hobble onto the bus usually someone has cleared their seat for me. When I went to my regular Chinese TCM place for a massage yesterday, they strongly suggested I 'bao yao'. I had no idea what that meant so I agreed just to find out and it was a poultice. They mixed some brown powder (also very smelly) with water and bound the stuff in a cloth against my ankle, then told me to leave it on until the following day. The swelling and pain are nearly gone and I am back to my normal routine though might not be able to play for a couple of weeks.