Oh, god. My eyes have been hideously dry, and having had some luck with Chinese herbal tea in remedying this in the past, I went to a Chinese doctor yesterday to see if I could get some tea.
I was subjected to a beating (which some might have called vigorous acupressure, but my gawd) and given, instead of packeted dried components already ground up to make a tea, seven (well, seven pairs of) substantial bags of dried herbs and the following instructions:
1. Steep the first bag’s contents in cold water for 20+ minutes.
2. Simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add the second bag’s contents.
4. Breathe the steam for 20 minutes.
5. Strain. Drink half the tea in the morning, and half at night.
I could tell from the smell of the herbs that it was going to taste just like the utterly awful pre-prepared stuff I’d had before, and I was right. The breathing the steam part wasn’t so bad, but OH MY GOD THAT’S HORRIBLE. I choked down most of the cup before concluding if I drank any more I was going to vomit. It’ll just have to do. I can’t do better. Oh my god. And I have to get through 13 more cups of this stuff, AND of course I was told not to expect any dramatic improvements in merely a week and that NEXT week she’d give me different herbs and I should have acupuncture. Which wouldn’t hurt as much as the beating vigorous acupressure, so, y’know.
*shudder* god that’s awful. maybe i’ll take pictures next time. o.o