One way or Another

I have a cold or something of that sort that I've had for almost a week now. It got worse yesterday so that I had to go home early. Since it seems like most Taiwanese people go to the doctor at the slightest hint of anything I thought maybe that was a good idea. Earlier in the week I went to the pharmacy to get some generic cold medicine. That was surprisingly difficult as nothing looked like western brands even though western brands pervade everything else here. I ended up with some scary looking yellow and black pills that I think were essentially tylanol and did very little for me. When Roxanna asked if I wanted to go to a Chinese or Western doctor she describe the Western one as the one that gives you pills because that seems to be the doctor's primary job here. You go, state your symptoms and they give you a pill for each one. I think if you went in with a runny nose they would still give you medicine. My housemates experience with this had lead to side effect such shaking and extreeeeeme drowsiness.

Still, at first I wanted to go to a Western doctor. This however, was primarily because I was paranoid that maybe I had cold like symptoms for something like tonsolitis and I might need them taken out, or who knows, maybe bird flu. The next day, when we actually went and I felt a little better my paranoia had subsided and I decided that it might just be better to have the "lighter" (Roxanna's description) Chinese medicine. So I went to a Chinese doctor. He asked my symptoms and checked my pulse and then gave me a bottle full of medicine to be mixed with water four times a day.

I don't know what's in it, but I wouldn't know what the western doctor was giving to me either so I figure one unknown is like another, no?