Ice, Carrot, and Ultrasound.

The ice field is done! Or maybe as done as it is going to get. There are still some big holes, ridges and ditches here and there. But it is mostly smooth and getting a thorough work over by masses of Chinese students. Some gliding smoothly carelessly weaving in and amongst their classmates and others awkwardly stumbling and painfully failing. We have one pair of ice skates…still need one more. There is a slight problem finding skates for larger feet.

The other night we went out with street shoes from some carrot ice soccer and freeze tag. It was a great 2 hours of fun. There were five of us, and aside from my brother the rest shall remain unidentified for their sake. One of the unknowns was ridiculous. Granted running on ice and making quick turns to avoid pursuers or score carrot goals is not easy business. However this one person evoked jolly laughter in casey and I frequently. It was mostly due to their manner of running, but sometimes also due to various noise emitted whilst being pursued. Their body above the knees was kept perfectly still and erect. Only the knees ankles and feet moved. Their heels never touched the ice. So it looked like a warner bros style cartoon character, speedily tiptoeing hither and thither. On top of that their arms were kept tight at their sides, with their hands pointing at 90 degree angles straight out to the sides. I thought they looked like a penguin.

Yesterday I went for a physical for my new visa. $60 later I guess I had been checked, but in a way very different from anything I had had before. Everything that I thought should go into a physical was included in this one..but not actually checked, just stamped and signed off. Each portion of the physical was performed by a different doctor in a different room. For example the for the external check, I was asked to stand hold my hands out in front of me and turn them over. Check, stamp, sign. The internal check involved a stethoscope on my nipples. The eye, mouth, ear check was just a check, stamp, sign. I did get some blood taken, as well as an ultrasound, ekg, and a chest xray. So I guess they will know if I am pregnant, have a heart condition or TB. I get to go back tomorrow to pick up the results.