After getting nowhere with getting my health check done in the UK, I decided that, after being made to re-register at the GP I was at for 10 years before Southampton, I may as well look into getting some travel vaccines done. Although I've travelled to China before, I've never bothered with any vaccinations. The Confucius Institute suggested we got them done before the trip at Easter but as everything was so last-minute, there simply wasn't time.
I filled in a travel form stating where it was I was going and how long for and handed it to the receptionist. She told me that the nurse would look at the form, work out which jabs I needed and that they would phone me to organise and appointment for the travel clinic which takes place every Friday. I waited and waited but never received a phonecall, I realised this on the Friday before we were going to France and knew that I'd need to ring up and enquire to see if I could get an appointment for the Friday when we were back as it was the only Friday I was available due to leaving on Friday the 13th! I spoke to a receptionist on the phone and agreed on an appointment time for Friday 6th. She told me that I would need Hepatitis A (free on the NHS), Hepatitis B (£37.50) and Malaria tablets (she didn't know how much they would cost).
I went off to France and didn't think much more about it until my return. I drove to Marple Bridge for my appointment (I've got car insurance on one of my parents' cars for a week which means I've turned into my brothers' taxi service!) and went straight through to the nurse's room. She asked me if I'd had any travel vaccinations before to which I responded that I didn't think so and I certainly hadn't had any in the last few years. She then turned to her computer and was surprised to see that there were absolutely no records about me on the system! She thought it was particularly strange seeing how long I'd been there before but she simply didn't have any information. The nurse told me that she simply couldn't administer any vaccinations without my records and asked for details of my previous GP, the University Health Service in Southampton, so that she would be able to phone them and get the information she required. Seems like my records have got lost somewhere between the two!
We then chatted for a bit about what vaccinations I would actually need. Recommended for all travellers to China is Hepatitis A. Other vaccines are offered to higher risk people (I come under that heading as I'm going to be there for a long period of time) include Hepatitis B, Typhoid and Malaria tablets. We decided that if I were to have any of those it would be Hepatitis B as the risk of Typhoid and Malaria is considerably lower as well as there being a shortage of the Typhoid vaccine. However, Hepatitis B is a course of three injections, £37.50 per injection, and it wouldn't be possible for me to get it done with the limited time I have before I leave. The conclusion of our discussion was that if she could get hold of Southampton and find out about my details, she would give me the Hepatitis A vaccine later that day.
I went off to pick my brother up from school and phoned the GP when I got home to see if the nurse had left a message for me as she said she was going to do. The receptionist I spoke to this time told me that she'd managed to speak to University Health Service and that the vaccine was going ahead. I brought Ethan with me in the car as there wouldn't be time to return home before taking him to his swimming lesson, and went back to the GP. Ethan wandered around Marple Bridge and sat around in the waiting area while I had it done. The nurse asked me if I was ok with needles and wasn't going to faint on her (yes, don't worry) and the injection went smoothly. She then gave me an information sheet about the vaccine and asked that I waited 10-15 minutes before leaving the surgery. The sheet gave information about the virus, the vaccine and the side effects that are "relatively uncommon" and "last no more than a day or two". It seems that I am unlucky as on Friday my arm was hurting and I felt a bit queasy. Now the queasiness had gone but the pain's still there! Hopefully it'll go soon. If I get a booster in 12 months time it'll last for 20 years so it's probably worth having. My mum got out my baby book with my baby vaccinations in later that evening and we found out that I'd had Hepatitis B as a baby in Hong Kong so maybe I'll still have some protection from it anyway?
On Wednesday I emailed Xiamen University to request airport pickup, following my mum's advice. After three flights and waiting around inbetween, I probably will be very tired and not wishing to deal with a taxi driver who could potentially not understand me, take me to the wrong place, charge me extra or just refuse to take me to the new campus as it's not in the main town. When I went to Nanjing last summer we weren't offered a similar service so it was a good thing I'd got someone on the plane to write the address out in Chinese characters for me and had plenty of money for a taxi. The taxi driver chatted away in Chinese for most of the hour-long journey and at the time my level of Chinese was so basic that I didn't even know how to say "I don't understand!". He seemed to give me a bit of a tour of Nanjing before taking me to the university hotel as well, the taxi I got to the airport on the way back was quite significantly cheaper! I filled in a form stating my name and flight details and attached it to an email, immediately receiving an automated response that it would be replied to within 3 working days. Thankfully I got a response and the driver should be waiting for me when I arrive on Saturday.
It still hasn't quite sunk in that this is happening, this time next week I'll have been there for more than 24 hours!
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