Federer vs. Murray-Shanghai Masters Cup

While in Shanghai we were lucky enough to have an opportunity to watch Roger Federer and Andy Murray compete in the Masters Tournament. The tickets were originally gonna be pretty cheap but when the locals found out that Federer was gonna play that night they bought all the tickets so the only way you could go was to buy a scalped ticket. We payed more than we thought, a lot more than we thought actually, but it was well worth it. The details about the match are on the website found below-it was awesome. Murray won, but it was hard earned. Federer was hurt but still put up a good fight.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3701958







I don't follow tennis and have never played it before, but I'm way interested in it after this.

Chinese Medicine(中医）-Fire Cupping

Yesterday I went with a few people in my study abroad group to a Chinese Medicine and Massage Parlor deal. Marc got a foot massage (which are awesome by the way) and Julianna Trent and I got the fire cupping treatment. Here's some facts about it from Wikipedia

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), cupping is a method of applying acupressure by creating a vacuum next to the patient's skin. The therapy is used to relieve what is called "stagnation" in TCM terms, and is used in the treatment of respiratory diseases such as the common cold, pneumonia, and bronchitis. Cupping is also used to treat back, neck, shoulder, and other musculoskeletal pain. Its advocates claim it has other applications as well.

A vacuum is created by air heated by fire in a glass cup placed flush against the patient's skin. As the air cools in the cup, a vacuum forms that pulls up on the skin, stimulating the acupressure effect.

The cups are roughly bell shaped with a capacity of about 4 fluid ounces. 8 to 12 cups are applied to the subject's back in two parallel 'vertical' columns, midway between the spine and each edge of the body; cups within each column are placed four inches apart measured from the center of the cup.

There are several ways of heating the air in the cup with fire:

1. One can swab rubbing alcohol (minimum 90%) into the bottom of a cup, then light it and place the cup immediately against the skin. The seal thus created extinguishes the fire by cutting off its oxygen supply, preventing the person from being burned. The smaller the amount of alcohol, and the quicker the flame is extinguished by application of the cup, the better, so long as there is no risk of the cups falling off due to lack of a proper seal. Some experienced cuppers prefer the use of kerosene over alcohol, claiming it provides better ignition and thus greater suction.
2. One can hold the cup inverted over a flame (e.g. a lit candle), heating the air within it, then place the cup against the skin. Care must be taken not to heat the glass itself. Even so, the person to whom the cup is applied will feel distinctly more heat than in the previous method.
3. One can ignite a flame with a small alcohol-soaked cotton wad resting on a small pad of leather or other insulating material that rests directly on the patient's skin, then place the cup immediately over the flame, putting out the fire. The quickness with which the flame is extinguished depends on the size and shape of the cup.
4. One can place the cup on the skin and gently heat the bottom of the cup with a flame heating the air inside, whilst leaving a small gap to allow air to escape. When the air is heated sufficiently, the gap is closed and the air is allowed to cool.

Methods 1 and 2 heat the glass to some extent and have a risk of burning the patient if not carefully executed. Method 3 risks the cotton falling off the insulating pad onto the patient's skin, and leaves the pad and cotton wadding inside the adhering cup which could be considered cumbersome.

The longer a cup is left on, the more of a circular mark is created. The skin pores are more open, and the patient may experience a sensation similar to sunburn. An application of about 20 minutes is average, for the back; however this varies with the individual.

The method they used at the place was the first method. It didn't hurt too bad, the thing that hurt the most was that i was using a pillow and my neck was killing me. But I couldn't move without popping one of them off so I had to lay there. The wierd thing about the whole deal was how much skin was pulled up into the jars. Two of the spots on my back were real dark, which they say is bad or unhealthy or whatever. The lady said it shouldn't last more than a few days but we'll see how that works. Overall it was pretty cool...but I'm not sure how much I believe its supposed to help and all that.

补偿

So I forgot some stuff in the 10 day "educational" trip blog. So here's what I forgot. When we were in Xian we went to the branch there and we met a lady in the branch who's from South Africa. Her name is Amanda de Lange. She's here doing work kinda like an orphanage but not. Ha. Anyway, she takes children that have been abandoned (which happens quite often in China) and takes care of them until they are adopted. Most of the children she takes in are born with medical problems or physical defects. (I'll explain why children are abandoned at the end of this blog). She invited our group to come over to her place and see and play with the children and how her operation runs. I didn't really take any pictures when I was there, but my friends did, so I'll try to get some and post them. It was a pretty awesome experience and the whole group decided that we should try to help, so we're gonna make some donations. This lady is a hard worker, they have I think around 15 children all under the age of three. She has people volunteer and others I think she pays to help her take care of the kids. They all stay at this lady's house (which is an apartment in a pretty nice community, pretty roomy). The kids suffered from many different birth defects, some easier to fix than others. Some of them are Cleff Lip (spelling?), heart defects, and skin conditions. Amanda works with only western trained doctors (many American doctors that come over specifically to help her cause) and the money she spends is all from donations. Its a pretty awesome little operation she runs, and they've already had quite a few children get adopted. She said most of them go to the States.

The other thing I missed happened while I was on the great wall. We got to the very top and climbed the tower and then I jumped on top of the little tower building on top of the tower. We were super hot from climbing so far and steep and it started raining, it felt awesome, it wasn't a hard rain, more like a mist. Pretty awesome. Anyway, thats not the point. The point is I met some German kids up there who's english was awesome. I found out he lives pretty close to where we lived in Heidelberg and he was over here on a couple week exchange program. His name is Moritz. We talked for a pretty long time up there. He's a way cool kid, we met some of the other kids in their group too. Then for the next couple days we ran into them in some of the most random places. It was pretty cool.


Ok, now for why there are so many abandoned babies in China. There are two main reasons, the first having to do with Ancient Chinese culture. The Chinese have always been biased towards boys when it comes to bearing children. If a wife did not bear a male in ancient china she was looked down upon, especially if she is the emporer's wife/concubine. This is due to the fact that sons are able to keep the family name going and bring honor to this name. Daughters cost the family money because when they get married they have something similiar to a dowry (a payment to the other family) and after the daughter is married, she is apart of her husbands family and will rarely see her own family after that. Sons then, can take care of parents when they're old whereas daughters must take care of their husbands parents. (I might add that in ancient culture all weddings were arranged)
The second reason is due to the Communist Party's policies concerning childbirth. The law, although somewhat more lax now, states that one family is only able to have one child. If they have a daughter there is a good chance they will be abandoned. I don't know the facts but if they are born (many are aborted even though its technically illegal) there is a good chance of either abandonment or that they will end up dead. If a child is born with a defect the parents in many cases do not have the money to fix it or would rather abandon the child and hope the next one doesn't have a problem. Many of the parents that do it are good people, they just are so broken that child has a problem they think they will have a better chance with either an orphanage or a group like Amanda's. Its a sad reality here. People like Amanda come here and give up everything to help these children. Its hard work, but she's says its worth it. She has my respect. She gives these kids a future, she gives them hope for a normal life, a life with a family that will love them regardless of any birth defects they might have. Its a noble calling.
I don't know if any of you have any interest in helping but if you do let me know. They not only have need of donations, but some American things like blankets and other things that are a little better quality. So if you have interest let me know and I can get you her e-mail or contact information. It was a pretty humbling experience. I realized I need to do more (even just a little) to at least help my community in some way, if not children on the other side of the world.