Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Dentist Appointment

Milly cracked a tooth yesterday at school during lunch. We have not been to the dentist here yet, so I (Page) called the number of the Pediatric Dentist referred by some friends here. The receptionist did not speak any English, so I fumbled my way through the conversation and THOUGHT she said to bring her "tomorrow at 7:00 p.m."

Today, before I rode my bike to go get the kids from school, I decided to make sure I could find the dentist's office and make sure I understood right about our appointment time. Levi and I (he rides on the back of my bike) found the office with no problem - which is an accomplishment in itself since I didn't have directions. I just happened to know the street and followed the signs to the correct alley and building. I was most thrilled that I was correct about the appointment time! In the 7:00 p.m. slot on the appointment calendar were three Chinese characters that mean "foreigner". I told the dentist that was me! I was so happy I not only made an appointment using my Chinese, I also recognized the characters written in the book.

Milly and I rode bikes to her appointment tonight. The dentist was very kind, and he actually spoke English pretty well! The cracked tooth was the last baby tooth in her whole mouth! He numbed her gums and pulled it easily. My total bill was $150NT, which is about $5.00! Though most things here are very expensive, medical care is excellent and cheap! What a blessing!

3 comments:

Whitfield Family said...

Way to go Page. Language victories are so much fun and a great reward for the hard work of language study. Isn't it great to know that you are making progress? I do hope you're passing along some of your nearly flawless Chinese to Keith.

Anonymous said...

I'm proud of both of you!

Anonymous said...

What a milestone!!! SO glad that you had a good experience. You both should be very proud.
LOVE YOU!
Kay/Kaykee