brown mixture and belly dancing

What a full day it's been already and it's not even time for work yet. The day started far earlier that I would have liked with a dr. appointment across town. I've been having problems with my tonsils for over a month and after several visits to the local family dr., I finally decided to simply go see a specialist. I say simply because it is actually fairly easy to get seen by a specialist here. Most can be visited without a referral and for many of them, one can just show up and get seen or make an appointment for the same day. Additionally, an average visit costs about the same as a visit to the family doc, which is fairly cheap with the national health care.

The visit went well, probably the most pleasant of any dr. visit in Taiwan thus far, though the problem doesn't sound like it's one that can be resolved shy of having my tonsils removed. Nonetheless, I left with a prescription of at least 6 pills. Load 'em up and send 'em out seems to be an all too often approach to medicine here, though I actually do have confidence in the ability of the dr. I have just seen. The practice of medicine in Taiwan has been one of the more difficult areas of life in Taiwan for me to get used to and figure out, but I'm sure it would be likely to be that way just about anywhere abroad. Still, there are times when I can't help but get the feeling like the medical practice here really is people "practicing" medicine on me, as in trial-and-error guinea pig testing. With time and experience, I've come to lose confidence in Taiwanese doctors, though again, I think the dr. I saw today was one of those rare gems.

As he explained my daily diet of meds for the next week, there appeared on the list the mysterious and elusive brown mixture. I have heard of this "brown mixture" and even seen the thick, syrupy concoction prescribed to an old roommate or two. I suppose after a few years here, one is bound to be the recipient of it. It's something like a Robitussin, but I'm easily amused by how funny it sounds - brown mixture. I was fortunate to receive it in tablet form but the unpleasant taste still has a way of sneaking in.

Since I was out of the doctor's before 9am I decided to complete a few errands and even get in a bit of last minute Christmas shopping done before work. What an unusual and enlightening experience shopping can be sometimes. I can now say that should I find myself in the position of being asked where one might find a belly dancing outfit in town, I can provide an answer - a good thing to keep in mind should you ever find yourself visiting southern Taiwan without yours.