It's Friday!

What a busy first week of work. I thought it might start slow, but that was not to be. My assignment Monday was to put together a presentation on surveillance in the U.S. and compare it to surveillance in China. Wenti and I have been working together on this. Then on Tuesday at 4:30 PM I was asked to talk about influenza surveillance in the U.S. for a meeting they are having today to kick off influenza surveillance season. So, I have managed to pull together two presentations quite quickly. Thanks to all you at home who sent me information and slides. Hopefully I will do justice to both topics.

In the midst of all this I have been trying to get registered at the police station. The law states that all foreigners coming in to work must register within 24 hours at the local police station. We have been trying, but every day it seems they need something else. Thank goodness Tina came with me the first day. No one spoke English there, so I couldn't possibly have done this myself. She has spared me most of the problem which means she has been going to the police station every day trying to accomplish this task. Hopefully today is the day it will be done!

The epidemiology division is a wonderful place to work. Everyone speaks English quite well! I'm very impressed. Everyday someone brings me some different foods to try. My favorite was something they said was a new species of date. It was the size of a large nut, and tasted like an apple. Very delicious! I have also been given cookies, cakes, roasted chestnuts, and sweet potatoes to eat. And it's only been 4 days!

The CDC is a large campus of at least 8 different buildings. The newest one that I am working in is just 1 year old (see picture). To the right and behind my building is the rest of the CDC buildings. On the grounds there is a tennis court, basketball court, and some various exercise equipment. Every morning when I come in people are out playing and exercising. There's usually a group playing what we call hacky-sack, although their bag has 3 feathers on the top. My epi group does yoga after work. I have not stayed for yoga yet because I want to make sure I can find my way home before it's dark. Maybe next week.