My counting starts from the day when I was transferred to a cage that myself, since then, was buried in dusty and stinky papers and undistinguishable dialectical Mandarin hovering all over my head. My Mandarin is standard, at least I thought to myself. But I wonder, now Mandarin, more exactly, Putonghua is so popularized in all provinces throughout China, why would a well educated person like me would still fight through to tell apart Mandarin and Mandarin mingled with other mother tongues? Sometimes I wish they could speak English, at least that’s one language I am still making efforts to learn.

The first time I felt like being sick was at my new office anticipating the workload afterwards. But I was not at real sick stage on that day. It was the day after. I was embraced by the Flu so tightly that I had to call a day off to stay in bed. By then, I hadn’t been delivered greetings from any of my co-workers, let alone to mention the chance to meet my new boss. What a shame by asking for sick leave on the very first day at work.

Now 5 months has passed and I survive and 2 times of sick leave tend to be forgiven by my boss’s leniency. But my old friend never fails to knock at my door on time, these days it comes the 3^rd time and it still lingers. As the public ads goes: When coughing or sneezing, wear a mask, visit your doctor promptly and maintain good ventilation…(I really appreciate the efforts to arouse people’s awareness to look after their health and welfare, but these ads are commonly used to cut and replaced those commercial ads of the channel and whenever sensitive news are being broadcasted. What a great media control!) Anyway, since my mask is nowhere to be found (I guess I tossed it away after SARS) and I hardly feel like getting up on my feet for injections, I decide to stay indoors to build up my blog instead.

Actually this 3^rd time is enough to set people’s curiosity agog. I have been stuffed with analysis these days that were supposed to help me realize what contributes to my already broken-down immune system. The summarized analysis is:

1.      Lacking in rice-feeding.

2.      Congenital insufficiency.

3.      Problems with stomach and spleen.

4.      Working stress.

5.      Too vulnerable.

Since nobody has thought of unluckiness as the proper explanation of my sickness, I decide to take the easy way out. I believe this misfortune attributes to a little bit of running-wild during the National Holiday in Eastern Overseas Chinese Town. (Photos attached as evidence). Well, when coughing or sneezing, it is always the bad luck to be blamed, thus avoiding cosmically body-building scheme. I am sorry, Doctor.