Eric's Beijing Diary

Went to the dentist today. I have been going to an office over in Zhongguancun that provides English speaking dentists, but there has been some kind of management change there, and their pricing seems to be a little more arbitrary. Sorta depends on what you're wearing that day, and how much money they think you have when they eyeball you. Fortunately, Sophie told me about a good dentist out at the Air Force hospital. He doesn't speak any English, but he seems pretty competent. That's the big problem in China. Local medical professionals charge much more reasonable rates, but you have be able to communicate had a tooth that was hurting, and I didn't want to go back there, so I did what I sometimes (sometimes??) do in such situations. I prayed. The other day I got a call from Sophie. I couldn't remember for sure who she was, but she reminded me that I had prayed for her on the street once. I told her I would get back to her so that we could arrange a time to meet. The next day, I met her on the street by accident. I asked her if she knew a good dentist. She said, "Yes. I can take you there tomorrow." This guy is out at the Air Force hospital. Not as fancy as the other office I have been going to, but he seems pretty good, and he charged me the local rate. I really do need to learn to speak this language.