Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Home sweet home?

First things first, Happy New Year all! We are back in Taiwan (home? seems I call both Taiwan and Oregon home now) and already looking forward to our next break - Chinese New Year. We had a wonderful trip back to Oregon, though there was not nearly enough time for all the people we wanted to see, the things we wanted to do, or the food we wanted to eat (we did get a chance try out this very cool new restaurant in portland called Slappy Cakes. With built-in griddles in the tables, you cook your pancakes yourself. Lots of fun - I recommend you try it if you are in the area). Highlights included lots of family time, snow, homemade cinnamon rolls and vegan cheesecake and of course the general perks of being on vacation - no work, sleeping in, no work, etc.

And on to other news: I wanted to share with you my recent Taiwan doctor experiences. In the last month I've gone to 2 different doctors; nothing serious, just check-ups. Going to the doctor always fills me with a general feeling of dread. Waiting, paying, dealing with insurance, more waiting, forms, trying to get an appointment after work... ug. Compounded with language, not knowing where to go and cultural differences suffice it to say I wasn't any more excited to go to the doctor here than I am in the states. But I sucked it up and went (with Jeremiah by my side as moral support), and am happy to report both experiences were fabulous. I walked in with no appointment, handed over my alien resident card (ARC), my national health card and $150NT (about $5 US) and not more than 5 minutes later I was talking to the doctor - in english no less. They put my health card into a scanner and recorded my information on the chip in the card. At the end, they handed me back my health card, gave me some medicine (no charge) and sent me on my way. Great system.

4 comments:

  1. Sorry we didn't get to see you :(


    Your experience at the Taiwanese doctor only makes me realize even more how screwed up the US's health care system is!

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  2. wooo socialized medicine!! even if we only adopted the microchip card, our system would be so much better off.

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  3. Wow that's incredible.
    If only it were that easy here....

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  4. We have SO much room for improvement with our health care system... sheesh! I am impressed about your dr. visit!!

    And we're trying Slappy Cakes next weekend... Trask sent me the link a few weeks ago and I can't stop thinking about it!

    Love you!

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