Cirrus@Austlit

'In school it was very hard for me to pull a sickie. Dad would come into my room and open his black medical briefcase and unfold and slide out the various tools he would need to inspect me: his stethoscope, a thermometer, a wooden tongue depressor to push down my tongue so that he could look down my throat. I hated going to school because I was a shy, scared kid, and I felt like I looked weird because my dad is Australian-born Chinese and I have auburn red hair. Luckily Dad usually left early for work so I could wait to tell Mum about how unwell I felt. She was more amenable to my plight and I usually could get the day off.' (Introduction)