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Sunday 2004-11-14 - Utrecht, the Netherlands
Almost back to normal
Yesterday I felt extremely tired, but I went to bed early and when I got up today I felt fit enough (and my foot felt good enough) to face a major undertaking with a not-quite-healed broken foot: I’m going to the “HCC dagen:” a big three-day computer fair organized by the HCC, the largest computer club in the world. Always great fun, lots of bargains, and interesting discussions. I actually have a shopping list for some small hardware and accessories - but is my foot up to it? Just to be on the safe side, I take along not only a backpack and a small trolley but also pain killers in case I have to quit and head back home sooner than planned.
Surprisingly, the train to Utrecht is quiet, and it doesn’t look crowded on the fair, mainly because it’s set up with a lot of room: there are actually quite a lot of people around but because it’s so roomy I can walk quietly without being crushed or having to jump out of the way; my foot certainly agrees with the relaxed stroll this allows, and I’m enjoying myself enormously. Even better, I get everything on my shopping list, and for a good price. That includes a headset which will enable me to get started with Internet telephony.
I end up spending well over four hours there, with only two breaks to have something to drink and eat and rest my foot; by the end of the afternoon, both my feet are hurting, but that’s pretty damn normal, especially considering I haven’t walked much the last few months! I’m expecting my broken foot will hurt tomorrow, though…
Wednesday 2006-09-06 - P’yŏngyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
To the hospital
After a delicious lunch and a short visit to the monument to the Founding of the Worker’s Party (more good sculpture but otherwise uninteresting) we’re treated to a tour in the Hospital of Korean Medicine in P’yŏngyang; this small hospital, concentrating on traditional Korean medicine serves several important functions: science, treatment (free), training of doctors, and exchange between the DPRK and the UN security council.
Rather surprisingly, we are shown various treatment and diagnostic techniques. (Some of us wonder whether we’re seeing real patients or actors but it would be a really elaborate setup for a small group of foreign visitors — we see no other tour groups; I just can’t believe this theory.) For diagnosis, the patient is assigned to one of four “body types” (at least that’s how I understand it); one of the intake techniques used is taking the patient’s fingerprints — directly into a computer system, using a touch-sensitive pad and a program that graphically prompts for each of the fingers. Echography is also being used for diagnosis.
Some treatments are surprising for us westerners but we could learn something here - they don’t poison the body with chemicals when not needed; for instance one lady with a gall bladder problem is being treated purely with a course of acupressure and massage; she’s getting 40 massages of 30 minutes, and no medicines at all. The massage seems to be targeted to stimulate the body to “heal itself” and looks very relaxing, too. Treatment of broken legs with acupuncture is somewhat less surprising to me given that in the West bones are often helped to heal with electrical stimulation — but there is no cast. We are shown many more things and treatments, all in all a very interesting visit (and not something you’d expect to see on a visit to a foreign country; they ‘re obviously proud of their medical techniques).
Friday 2009-05-15 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Panic mode
I'm spending the day packing — I've almost never been so late packing, and this has various reasons. A minor reason is that I've been "under the weather" for a week or so, so I'm running a week late now. Of course, our plane does't leave later, so I'm trying to squeeze two weeks into one, which means chronic lack of sleep and still too little time.
A more important reason is that I'm also working on starting up with my own web development business, and that's a lot of work. Trying to combine that with preparing for a five-week trip was … interesting. It would not have been a major problem, if only…
If only I'd not decided to handle updating my travel blog a little differently, by using a netbook to directly type my notes during the day, so I don't have to write everything three times (first in a little notebook, then write it out as a story, then type it all in (while watching the clock) in an Internet cafe on an unfamiliar keyboard. And if only I'd not decided that I wanted a lighter camera for travel, and a digital one at that. And if only my new bank hadn't had a special offer for a mobile phone account with a good discount — with phone if you wanted it — and I wanted a different (mobile) phone for my nascent company; and the phone I got has GPS built-in, so If I'd take that I could leave my separate GPS home. The upshot was that I ended up with a lot of new hardware, all somehow intended to make traveling, blogging and taking photographs easier and lighter… but all of that needed to be tested, set up, practiced with, and even connected together.
Still, this week I finally managed to prepare the blog with the itinerary for the coming trip, and now I'm typing this on my netbook, and in a bit will send it on its way to see if the email interface to update the blog still functions nicely (and I haven't forgotten how to use it). So, here goes. And then back to packing!
