Recorded Saturday, September 26, 2020.
This week’s episode features another friend here in Beijing, Natalya Ba. She has been in China for 9 years originally to study Chinese Medicine and then stayed on to work and to study the Chinese language.
**You’ll note that I make a bit of mix up with the episode numbers right at the beginning of the episode. That is because last week I actually had recorded another episode with another person but technology did not let us save that one. So, we’ve arranged to record again sometime in the near future.
Also, you’ll hear a bit of background noise from outside. Since I recorded this with one microphone and didn’t want it to be too intrusive in the conversation, I placed it a bit further back to record. I’m sure you can bear the few times it pops up.
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Introductions
1.30 – Original intent of coming to China
-Studying Chinese medicine, Mandarin Chinese, and working a few jobs at the same time took its toll
-How the teaching of Chinese medicine changed
-Is there a difference in learning Chinese medicine in English or Chinese?
11.00 – What is “Traditional Chinese Medicine”?
-When someone asks about Chinese Medicine, what should they have in mind?
Massage, acupuncture, herbs, body cultivation
17.30 – What is “body cultivation”?
19.38 – What’s the current relationship with living in China? Love / hate
-The Chinese way of doing things and the way things are done elsewhere
22.40 – The mask debate! In China it was made mandatory.
-the fallout from the COVID pandemic, has it made things better?
24.53 – Nataly’s university degree in China
-no student licence to practice here in China, but elsewhere you are given one
-you need 10-15 years to learn the subject where you could talk with the “Masters”
32.30 – Still studying now, reviewing, and learning the Chinese words for the way things are described in Western medicine
34.00 – Can foreigners practice Chinese medicine here in China?
-licenses, forms (handwritten), other requirements
-the difference between the Chinese and Western systems of university education
42.06 – Natalya started off studying psychology in Cyprus, then thought about getting a Western medicine degree
44.20 – Medical doctors and doctors in other subjects
-does it happen in Chinese medicine as well?
45.15 – Then she went to Serbia for a year
-Then thought about going to Westminster in London, but the tuition increase was restrictive
50.55 – Nataly started teaching English in 2006
-Getting certified as an ESL teacher: TEFL, CELTA, CerTESOL
53.20 – How Nataly got her TEFL certificate
57.15 – Went to London to do the CELTA
-Teaching and learning ESL: grammar
-Michael Swan’s books Practical English Usage
-How students learn a language can be identified based on what language they learned growing up
-The CELTA program is INTENSE
-the typical structure of an ESL class
1.05.49 – Why isn’t Nataly blogging or podcasting about TCM?
-She wants to practice: experience vs. theory
-Thinking of building an online portal for other people’s reference
-Getting certified for TCM in Canada, USA, UK, Australia
1.10.20 – The license to practice issue prevents students to practice here in China
-GuiZhi – cinnamon sticks needs to be a doctor’s presciption for some dispensaries
-Acupuncture needs a license to legally practice
-In the model in China, there is no apprenticeship any more, it now incorporates Western medicine
1.15.30 – What should people be looking for when looking at TCM
-Some questions Nataly gets asked quite a bit about TCM
-TCM asks a lot of questions to create a personal profile that would lead the practitioner to suggest or give certain remedies
-we are “over-everything’ed” these days, Chinese medicine looks to work backward to the preventative state
-disharmony in our bodies
-Is there a time in life where we can stop the fall into the “over-everything” so we don’t have to work backwards to figure out what the problem is?
1.18.00 – There are things people can try if they want, but if you have a specific issue, then you need to sit with a doctor and get a treatment based on your description of what’s happening
1.19.15 – If someone comes in and has already been to a Western doctor, what would a Chinese medicine doctor do differently?
-Steve calls this “invasive personal questioning”, Nataly clarifies
1.24.00 – Difference between Western and Chinese medicine: Western treats the organ, the Chinese treats the system
1.29.00 – Treating HIV, AIDS, cancer, and other diseases
-How does Chinese medicine treat these?
-Is there overlap in terminology between Western and Chinese medicine?
-Western medicine “carpet bombs” the problem, Chinese medicine is a little bit more selective in the application of drugs or other fixes
1.36.00 – Getting medication here in China
-Prescription medications – they aren’t always pure, they contain a lot of stuff your body might not need
-what goes into these packaged medications? Quality? Or are all of the ingredients within the pill necessary for your body?
-herbal formulas are a combination of herbs
1.44.45 – The mask debate! An acceptance of germs
-stay healthy!
1.48.40 – Is there a time in our life that we can stop things from getting out of hand so that we don’t have to use any medicine?
-building an awareness of the body
1.50.20 – Definition of “Qi” (Simplified 气, Traditional 氣)
-different practices and schools within Chinese medicine
-the different “lineages” of Chinese medicine
2.00.40 – Steve discusses the Holy Ghost and his grand unifying theory of the universe which he will pontificate as an old man in the nursing home
-What would God be like?
2.02.10 – Is the subject of Qi subjective?
-Permission or confirmation to know it and understand it
-feelings and semantics
2.06.30 – Positives of studying here in China
-Seems a lot of people who get into TCM did some form of martial arts when they were younger
-Nunchuk training!
2.10.35 – Ukrainian dancing, its culture and background
2.14.44 – In the process of immigrating to Canada – what does it take to move there as a practitioner of TCM?
-Nataly has reached the highest level currently recognized by Canadian requirements to practice Chinese medicine, in the USA she could go on to do a PhD.
2.19.30 – Why is she leaving China? We’re always foreigners but there’s a limit to how much you can integrate.
-becoming a permanent resident in China is difficult
-will always be a foreigner in China
(-Steve talks about kidding around with one of the delivery guys who asks him where he’s from, but Steve gets the Chinese wrong)
2.23.00 – Canada has a selective immigration program (the words Steve was looking for were “Skilled Immigrant Program”)
-the different routes someone can take to immigrate to Canada
-the points system
2.26.55 – Nataly had a choice of a few different cities: Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal
-Taobao doesn’t exist in Canada and how easy China has made buying things and getting it quickly
She’s chosen…
2.31.10 – Kuwait had a hockey team!
2.33.30 – Toronto is the most American-like city in Canada, discussion of Canadian cities and sports
2.37.00 – Nataly’s trip to Montreal
-it’s cold!
-two strikes was enough, so Montreal has been dropped from the list of viable cities
2.48.00 – Vancouver
-outdoorsy, downtown is small
-Nataly’s background is rather specific
2.51.00 – Given Nataly’s background, there may only be a few places that she could move to and fit in
2.52.00 – Steve’s first visit to Vancouver was a trip down memory lane and wasn’t entirely aware of what the song “Crackballs” was about
2.55.00 – Nataly is nearing the end of her stay here in China, as an expat and a foreigner, you live year-by-year and there’s a lot of churn of people in your life
2.57.00 – Living with others while overseas
-Hostel experiences
3.02.00 – Drinking less and the law of percentages
-Going out in Beijing, Nataly was brought to tears when she heard a DJ spinning Arabic and North African music at a club in Beijing
3.06.45 – What is a negative day here in China? Could Nataly stay in China instead of moving to Canada?
3.09.00 – Steve’s Chinese language goals and his commitment to staying a little while longer, but will be sad if Nataly leaves before him.
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Thanks for listening!