Making a move from the San Francisco Bay Area to Taipei Taiwan in the middle of the pandemic went surprisingly smoothly. The plane and airports were empty, there were no delays and there were no lines at check-in, TSA, or immigration. On the plane I had the entire row to myself (as well as the one in front and behind me) which made it more pleasant than flying in non-pandemic times. The only challenge was wearing a face mask the entire time (maybe close to 20 hours from door to door). You can see it all in this video:
However, on my third day here I had to go to the emergency room after splitting my chin open while working out in my room. It was a funny and silly accident. I brought resistance bands to work out. I thought it would be a good idea to hook the resistance band to the office chair that was provided in the room. After a few reps, the headrest detached from the chair and flew into my face. It hurt! I touched my face and checked if my teeth were still there. It seemed my teeth were fine. However, I noticed my hand was getting covered in blood. I didn’t know where it was coming from. So I ran to the bathroom. It turns out my chin was bleeding quite a bit. I ran some cold water on it, pressed it down with a t-shirt for 10 minutes to try to stop the bleeding. I called June to ask for advice. I was still jet-lagged and not thinking clearly (plus I had just knocked myself on the head with what is essentially a two-meter slingshot).
She asked me if I wanted to go to the ER. I told her I can’t leave the room. I just needs bandaids. She called the hotel reception and had them send some bandaids and something to clean the wound. I used them immediately. Things seemed to be calming down.
I had a call with June and explained what had happened. She also talked to her sister and the police. The authorities said that if I wanted to to the ER I would have to first do a PCR test. I sent her a photo of my wound and she said it was bleeding too much. She asked the reception to send up bandages.
At the time I arrived, Taiwan required 2 weeks of quarantining in a designated quarantine hotel. Going to a hospital seemed a bit complicated. Thankfully, June’s sister is a nurse and she arranged for a quarantine taxi to take me to the hospital.
The taxi arrived and the receptionist told me to come down. I took 5000 Taiwanese dollars with me. June reassured me it would be more than enough. The taxi already knew my destination. We didn’t speak much but we only spoke Chinese. It was raining, and I was looking at the streets of Taipei and taking in the sights. This was my chance to get out of my quarantine and possibly the only time I would get fresh air during these two weeks.
We arrived in front of a large hospital called McKay Memorial Hospital (馬偕紀念醫院). The taxi driver rolled down his window and addressed a hospital employee explaining that he had a foreigner in the car. The word “foreigner” got thrown around a couple of times, after which we were told to go to the back entrance.
At the back entrance I was told to exit the taxi and walk to a building and wait outside. A nurse greeted me and spoke some English. She asked me to fill out a form and asked for an ID. I gave her my California ID. She told me to sit on the chair which was outside the building and left. The form was in both English in Chinese but the bottom section was Chinese only, so I was glad I could read it. It was pretty small but I took my time to fill it out because I had never filled out such a form before.
She came back 10 minutes later and asked if had my passport. Unfortunately I didn’t because I left in a rush and only thought about bringing cash. Luckily, I remembered that when I applied for the Taiwan Gold Card I had uploaded my passport picture to their website. So I was able to login from my phone and download it. The nurse took my phone (unlocked) and disappeared for what felt like an eternity. I had never given my unlocked phone to anyone. It was a forced exercise in “letting go”.
I sat there and waited. The wind grew stronger and so did the rain. The trees were waving about against a background of large concrete buildings. The combination of city life and tropical weather is a refreshing and curious experience. I told myself this was my chance to experience the outside world during these two weeks. I better enjoy it.
Soon after, a nurse called me into the building. She brought me to doctor Wang, who spoke English fluently. After a few questions about allergies and whether I’m single, he asked me to take off my face mask and examined the wound. He explained that he would have to suture it and that he would first inject an anesthetic to make it painless. In addition, he asked me if I had had a Tetanus vaccine recently. I didn’t remember, so he ordered one.
The nurse took me to another room and told me to lie down. She cleaned the wound. She returned later with the Tetanus shot and asked me to sit up and uncover my arm. She injection was quick but a bit shaky. Then I lied down again. Doctor Wang came back and covered my head with a towel which had an opening. I couldn’t see anything but the opening would allow him to work on my chin. He injected the anesthetic and proceeded to sow me up. His work was impressively focused and precise. In cooperation, I did my best to remain completely still. When he was done he told me to make sure I don’t get the stitches wet and that I should come back in 10 days to get them removed.
Afterwards I was asked to go outside and sit on the chair again. A few minutes later a nurse came and told me to follow her into another building. She brought me to an office where a lady sat opposite me, asking me in Chinese how I would like to pay. I replied「現金」(”cash”) and she gave me the total. Meanwhile the other nurse handed me two packets and explained to me that I would have to eat this medication after every meal and use the ointment to clean my wound. Everything happened quickly and in Chinese. I paid 2 bills totaling about $3600 NT, which is about $126 USD, a friendly amount for an ER visit while uninsured (including medication).
I was then brought back to my chair outside and told to call a quarantine taxi. “Call 1922” she said. I called. I heard a menu all in Chinese and was very confused, but the last item said “For English press 7” which I pressed without hesitation. A man responded to me in English and I explained my situation: “I’m at the hospital and need to go back to my quarantine hotel, so I need a quarantine taxi”. The friendly man understood but said this was the wrong number. I had to hang up and call 1999, which I did. This time the menu was entirely in Chinese. There was no option for English. I listened to the menu 5 times, trying to block out the surrounding noise and focus on the voice. In the end I randomly pressed 2. A woman picked the phone in Chinese and I asked「請問，妳會說英文嗎？」(”excuse me, do you speak English?”) She said no. I told her「那我先試試看可不可以用中文」(“Then, let me try in Chinese first”). After I explained my situation she passed the phone to her manager who spoke English. He said he would send a taxi my way.
The taxi called me afterwards. He only spoke Chinese and asked me what entrance I was at. I told him I’m at the back entrance. He said he was on his way. The manager from the previous call called me back and said the taxi was on its way and told me its license plate number. I only remembered half of it. He gave me an estimate of 15 to 20 minutes.
I waited, it was getting dark and the rain was still pouring. The wind was still blowing. My phone rang and the taxi driver said he was here. I walked towards the street and asked him if it was the white car, which he confirmed. He was holding a bottle of sanitizing spray and asked to stand with in the shape of a 大 so he could spray me down. He also sprayed some in my hands. We got into the car and again I got a chance to observe the city. Each time the car stopped I could observe in more detail. I particularly like watching people hanging out casually on plastic chairs or stools in front of a store and enjoying tea, chit-chatting, or playing some board game.
I arrived at the hotel and they provided me a key to return to my room. Usually when you quarantine you don’t get a room key because you are not allowed to exit your room. I felt this was a privilege.
Back safely and stitched up, it was time to figure out how to shower. How do I wash my hair and face without getting my chin wet? I was a combination of bandages, tape, a face mask and changes in my shower routine. Can’t wait to remove these stitches and wash properly.