The largest event to prepare
for this week was certainly the fieldtrip that our team organized on Wednesday
focused on stress-reduction and alternative medicine. One aspect of the
experience also centered around Chinatown and Asian culture, in which much of
alternative medicine is studied and practiced. In preparation for the day, I
went with David to explore the many assets of the Chinatown community, so that
we could later accurately represent it to the rest of the team.
The trip around Chinatown was truly amazing and eye-opening. I find
it incredible how many of these locations I have visited throughout the school
year, but never fully explored or understood until this summer, and I believe
that many of the students felt that way too. Firstly, it was the number and
scope of all the herbal medical stores that really surprised me in Chinatown.
According to one shopkeeper, the herbal medicine recipes are tailored towards
each person out of 300 ingredients based on pulse, their tongue and one other
factor. Even as we saw the old Chinese man carefully layer 6 different
ingredients into an elegant little package, the whole thing seemed like magic
to me. This amazement continued as we found birds’ nests, seahorses, shark fins
and even deer tails being sold in various shops.
This
overwhelming variety helped me gain an appreciation for the intricacy that is
the art and science of eastern herbal medicine, and certainly has piqued my
curiosity to learn more about it. It almost seems logical in my mind that if
natural remedies are as effective as synthetic ones in managing symptoms, that
they’re worth exploring and giving a try.
Aside from
just the herbal medicine shops, the various temples, monuments and kitchen-ware
stores that we saw really helped me see how that community was so
self-sufficient and tight-knit. I’m glad to have had this experience, and will
appreciate this community even more the next time I step foot in it.
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