Chapter 2 - The Legend of the 10-Foot White Man

The arrival of three students from the University of Michigan was relatively big news for the people at the Tianjin CDC. But the news of an American standing almost 2 meters tall was bound to quickly spread around the neighborhood as well. At around 6’3”, Keith was never what a typical American would consider an extraordinarily tall person; but he would soon come to realize that in addition to his white skin-color, he might just be too big for China. People would surely recount the story of how they had come face-to-face with this gigantic being from half-way across the world and lived to tell of it.

After getting settled into his new penthouse apartment, Keith’s internship in the Department of Communicable Diseases began with multiple field trips to learn about the disease control system in China. During the first few weeks, he was taken to a local CDC and to a clinic accompanying the TJCDC facility to examine their rabies control procedures. He was told that the department was currently trying to ensure that universal practices were being followed in order to combat the disease. Surprisingly, rabies is a huge problem in Tianjin. Between the three clinics that he was able to travel to, apparently between 110-130 patients are seen per day for rabies wound care and vaccination. Finding it hard to believe, considering the relatively few cases found in the US, Keith thought that something was lost in the translation. Given that a rabies vaccination requires 5 inoculations, he was hoping that “110-130” referred to the number of shots given for rabies on that day rather than the number of actual cases. While he pondered this question, he was sure of one thing – wherever he went, his every move was being captured on camera as if he were Brad Pitt and his Chinese co-workers were the paparazzi trying to document his time there.

Xu Wenti, one of the exchange scholars from China who had gone to the University of Michigan the previous semester, was one of Keith’s translators in the Communicable Diseases Department. She would bring him pictures taken during their trips, but he could not help but laugh at the photos. Maybe it was the angle the pictures were being taken at, or that he always seemed be standing next to his shorter co-workers, but the shots always made him look so much taller than he actually was. It would become a recurring joke with Jeff and Kellie that it was as if he was Godzilla and that he should just walk around with his arms flailing wildly, yelling “RAWR!” as he walked down the street. This feeling of Godzilla-ness was no more apparent than on a routine trip to Wal-Mart.

As the three students strolled through the aisles of strange snack foods and even stranger assortments of meat products, they heard the faint sounds of familiar American songs playing through the speakers. Singing along to Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” and Mariah Carey’s “Hero” the rhythmic beats of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” gave them inspiration. Tossing tons of packages of foreign cookies and snacks into their carts, one by one they began to snap in unison (a la music video) until they were in a single line, “rocking out” as Kellie would say, down the center aisle. As if they didn’t stick out enough in this place, they danced through the entire chorus until they reached the electronics department. Only somewhat embarrassed, they stopped and began to look through the rows and rows of shoes. A few minutes later, Kellie suddenly signaled the two boys to come over to the women’s section. It had seemed that a little boy, no older than 12, was staring at Kellie in disbelief because he had probably never seen a Caucasian person before. But out of nowhere, Keith came around the corner and the boy’s jaw literally dropped and stayed open for at least 5 minutes. The boy’s head turned back and forth, not just a double-take but almost a ten-take, looking around in disbelief as if to say “Is anybody else seeing this?!” This would be one of many Godzilla sightings that would be made in the months to come.

Despite that hilarious, yet somewhat awkward situation, Keith tried to return to work as normal. His next project would focus on one of the largest outbreaks in China of Hand-Foot-and Mouth Disease, a viral disease associated with blisters on the hands, feet, and mouth as well as fever and other mild symptoms mostly found in children. Jeff accompanied him to the Tanggu district (a business district known for its extremely fast development) for visits to hospitals and public and private schools. Ironically in China, private schools are for the economically disadvantaged students. Their educational quality is not as good as the public schools, which can be very prestigious. This is a result of the socialism vs capitalism paradigm. Migrant laborers, or "float" populations, do not have access to government services outside of their native region. This relegates them to low-cost, private schools as their children are not allowed to enroll in the public schools of the area that their parents work in. After Godzilla had devoured some children, he and Jeff returned to the office after a long but interesting day of work.

Though the legend of Keith-zilla and the Americans would spread far and wide, do not be alarmed… He does have a weakness in case you are ever in need. After weeks of rabies investigation, Keith developed a fear of all dogs in China. Whether they were small Pomeranians, goofy looking pugs, on a leash, or roaming freely, they say that despite his gargantuan stature and intimidating American features, Keith can still be found to quickly run off when faced with the terrifying and utterly horrific beings known only as… puppies!