My condition at the moment can best be described by Mr. Butler who wrote, “I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better.” Even better is the fact that I’m not actually ill, just temporarily immobilized.
This morning I totally wiped out on a patch of ice on my way to work and managed to twist my foot under myself and smash it with … well, the rest of myself. I was running a bit late to work so without thinking much of it I hobbled the rest of the way realizing that the tingling was turning to pain and I wouldn’t last much longer. Upon finally arriving at school, convinced something was broke, nurses and vice principles were mobilized to come to my aid and a plan was established to get me to a hospital to see if I was right.
I’ve only broken a bone once before and was a little nervous because the feeling in my foot was very similar to the feeling upon breaking my arm back in the summer of ‘03. But, luckily, the x-rays showed all the bones and joints were just fine it was just badly sprained and bruised. After being at the hospital for three and a half hours I was sent home with a cold compress and crutches to experience one of Butler’s greatest pleasures in life. I took a nap, my husband made me breakfast, I watched episodes of Friends, I got sympathy from my mommy and various friends, I sent my husband back out to get supplies for dinner (which he will also have to cook, poor thing).
Being at the hospital is one of those places where I’m struck by the eerie feeling of being in the US yet … things aren’t exactly right. A Twilight Zone hospital. At first glance, it’s a very normal hospital full of elderly people and young mothers with infants. There are rows and rows of chairs for those waiting and doctors, nurses and other uniformed personnel bustling around. At second glance, all the elderly people are incredibly tiny and hunched over at a 120 degree angle. Most are wearing rubber rain boots. The babies, naturally, are adorable. Yet, they’re wearing camo onsies and I even saw a baby wearing a grey bandanna tied around his neck. One had fur boots and and a fur scarf. Other clearly ill or injured young women are wearing mini skirts and boots as they cling to their neon colored, zebra printed boyfriends.
When I went over to radiology a very cute radiologist carefully placed my foot on the x-ray plate and, without asking if I could be pregnant OR getting me a lead vest, took the x-ray! These, of course, are all surface details. But learning more about the Japanese health care system and philosophy has been interesting.
Sean has an (adult) eikaiwa student who is a cardio surgeon at a local hospital. He aspires to work in the US, hence his desire to master English. In a discussion about “white lies” and phrases of formality in English (i.e. Your new haircut looks great!) he revealed that up until approximately ten years ago terminally ill patients were NOT notified that their illness was terminal. Apparently, the general consensus among Japanese people is that they don’t want to know. Even oncologists kept their patients in the dark as to their condition! More recently, doctors have been notifying family and leaving it to the family to decide whether or not to notify the patient. This whole attitude seems really bizarre to me. Death is incredibly difficult to deal with whether sudden or foreseen. I can’t imagine losing a loved one only to be told later by a doctor, “Well, we knew all along, just didn’t want to upset you.” I imagine being able to say goodbye and come to terms with a death before hand can have a lot of impact on the grieving process.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Not obliged to work till I'm better!
My condition at the moment can best be described by Mr. Butler who wrote, "I reckon being ill as one of the great pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work till one is better." Even better is the fact that I'm not actually ill, just temporarily immobilized.
This morning I totally wiped out on a patch of ice on my way to work and managed to twist my foot under myself and smash it with ... well, the rest of myself. I was running a bit late to work so without thinking much of it I hobbled the rest of the way realizing that the tingling was turning to pain and I wouldn't last much longer. Upon finally arriving at school nurses and vice principles were mobilized to come to my aid and a plan was established to get me to a hospital to see if it was broken.
I've only broken a bone once before and was a little nervous because the feeling in my foot was very similar to the feeling upon breaking my arm back in the summer of '03. But, luckily, the x-rays showed all the bones and joints were just fine it was just a bit sprained and bruised. After being at the hospital for three and a half hours I was sent home with a cold compress and crutches to experience one of Butler's greatest pleasures in life. I took a nap, my husband made me breakfast, I watched episodes of Friends, I got sympathy from my mommy and various friends, I sent my husband back out to get supplies for dinner (which he will also have to cook, poor thing).
Being at the hospital is one of those places where I'm struck by the eerie feeling of being in the US yet ... things aren't exactly right. A Twilight Zone hospital. At first glance, it's a very normal hospital full of elderly people and young mothers with infants. There are rows and rows of chairs for those waiting and doctors, nurses and other uniformed personnel bustling around. At second glance, all the elderly people are incredibly tiny and hunched over at a 120 degree angle. Most are wearing rubber rain boots. The babies, naturally, are adorable. Yet, they're wearing camo onsies and I even saw a baby wearing a grey bandanna tied around his neck. One had fur boots and and a fur scarf. Other clearly ill or injured young women are wearing mini skirts and boots as they cling to their neon colored, zebra printed boyfriends.
When I went over to radiology a very cute radiologist carefully placed my foot on the x-ray plate and, without asking if I could be pregnant OR getting me a lead vest, took the x-ray! These, of course, are all surface details. But learning more about the Japanese health care system and philosophy has been interesting.
Sean has an (adult) eikaiwa student who is a cardio surgeon at a local hospital. He aspires to work in the US, hence his desire to master English. In a discussion about "white lies" and phrases of formality in English (i.e. Your new haircut looks great!) he revealed that up until approximately ten years ago terminally ill patients were NOT notified that their illness was terminal. Apparently, the general consensus among Japanese people is that they don't want to know. Even oncologists kept their patients in the dark as to their condition! More recently, doctors have been notifying family and leaving it to the family to decide whether or not to notify the patient. This whole attitude seems really bizarre to me. Death is incredibly difficult to deal with whether sudden or foreseen. I can't imagine losing a loved one only to be told later by a doctor, "Well, we knew all along, just didn't want to upset you." I imagine being able to say goodbye and come to terms with a death before hand can have a lot of impact on the grieving process.
To lighten things up, here is a picture of a Robo Bear Nurse. With the shortage of nurses in an aging society technological advancements are seen as the most probable solution to the problem. This is seen in the amount of government and private research devoted to developing health care robots. This little guy can aide nurses in lifting patients between bed, wheelchair and toilet. But, it can only lift up to 130 pounds ...
It can respond to voice commands and also utilizes facial recognition technology to identify co-workers and patients. The creators said they chose the teddy bear appearance to put patients at ease and not freak them out with a humanoid or creepy Terminator look. I'm not sure they quite succeeded, but I would personally prefer C3-P0 to carry me to the shower ...
This morning I totally wiped out on a patch of ice on my way to work and managed to twist my foot under myself and smash it with ... well, the rest of myself. I was running a bit late to work so without thinking much of it I hobbled the rest of the way realizing that the tingling was turning to pain and I wouldn't last much longer. Upon finally arriving at school nurses and vice principles were mobilized to come to my aid and a plan was established to get me to a hospital to see if it was broken.
I've only broken a bone once before and was a little nervous because the feeling in my foot was very similar to the feeling upon breaking my arm back in the summer of '03. But, luckily, the x-rays showed all the bones and joints were just fine it was just a bit sprained and bruised. After being at the hospital for three and a half hours I was sent home with a cold compress and crutches to experience one of Butler's greatest pleasures in life. I took a nap, my husband made me breakfast, I watched episodes of Friends, I got sympathy from my mommy and various friends, I sent my husband back out to get supplies for dinner (which he will also have to cook, poor thing).
Being at the hospital is one of those places where I'm struck by the eerie feeling of being in the US yet ... things aren't exactly right. A Twilight Zone hospital. At first glance, it's a very normal hospital full of elderly people and young mothers with infants. There are rows and rows of chairs for those waiting and doctors, nurses and other uniformed personnel bustling around. At second glance, all the elderly people are incredibly tiny and hunched over at a 120 degree angle. Most are wearing rubber rain boots. The babies, naturally, are adorable. Yet, they're wearing camo onsies and I even saw a baby wearing a grey bandanna tied around his neck. One had fur boots and and a fur scarf. Other clearly ill or injured young women are wearing mini skirts and boots as they cling to their neon colored, zebra printed boyfriends.
When I went over to radiology a very cute radiologist carefully placed my foot on the x-ray plate and, without asking if I could be pregnant OR getting me a lead vest, took the x-ray! These, of course, are all surface details. But learning more about the Japanese health care system and philosophy has been interesting.
Sean has an (adult) eikaiwa student who is a cardio surgeon at a local hospital. He aspires to work in the US, hence his desire to master English. In a discussion about "white lies" and phrases of formality in English (i.e. Your new haircut looks great!) he revealed that up until approximately ten years ago terminally ill patients were NOT notified that their illness was terminal. Apparently, the general consensus among Japanese people is that they don't want to know. Even oncologists kept their patients in the dark as to their condition! More recently, doctors have been notifying family and leaving it to the family to decide whether or not to notify the patient. This whole attitude seems really bizarre to me. Death is incredibly difficult to deal with whether sudden or foreseen. I can't imagine losing a loved one only to be told later by a doctor, "Well, we knew all along, just didn't want to upset you." I imagine being able to say goodbye and come to terms with a death before hand can have a lot of impact on the grieving process.
To lighten things up, here is a picture of a Robo Bear Nurse. With the shortage of nurses in an aging society technological advancements are seen as the most probable solution to the problem. This is seen in the amount of government and private research devoted to developing health care robots. This little guy can aide nurses in lifting patients between bed, wheelchair and toilet. But, it can only lift up to 130 pounds ...
It can respond to voice commands and also utilizes facial recognition technology to identify co-workers and patients. The creators said they chose the teddy bear appearance to put patients at ease and not freak them out with a humanoid or creepy Terminator look. I'm not sure they quite succeeded, but I would personally prefer C3-P0 to carry me to the shower ...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
For the Annuls of History
For the annuls of history, and those who boldly proceed me, and for that one guy who asked, this is what my housing situation is like.
My predecessor lived in a very small one room apartment. Upon seeing a picture of it I nearly cried. Not only was it tiny ... it was super tiny and I couldn't even imagine where I would sleep. (The answer to that question was apparently in the smaller-than-a-twin-sized loft bed just out of the shot.) I knew I would have to look into finding a different place since I was coming with my husband and there was no way our luggage would have even fit in that place. I was nervous because of the many accounts I had heard from people warning of the difficulty and even impossibility of finding a new apartment.
Luckily, I worried in vain. In only the first or second email I received from my Supervisor he asked if I would like a different apartment. He recommended it, in fact, since apparently my predecessor's place had a nasty case of mold ... interesting . So, I responded with a hearty yes and set about giving him some specifications. I wanted to be close to school. I wanted a separate living and sleeping room. I wanted a kitchen. Nothing incredibly demanding.
He was able to send me pictures of the places he found, maps of their locations and information on the costs of moving in and renting each place. Based on this we chose the one that looked nicest and seemed to be more affordable. Still, I wouldn't describe it as affordable ... per se.
In the first month I had to pay for: One month's rent - 51,000¥
Ouch.
But the apartment I came home to on my very first grueling day in Wakamatsu was well worth the hassle. It has a large living room which is actually composed of two rooms with the separating wall removed. Thus there are awkwardly two sliding doors and one swinging door which lead to this room. The living room has wood floors, as does the entire apartment, so I don't have to deal with tatami. What I do have to deal with is freezing cold floors and dust Dust DUST! One whole wall of the living room is sliding glass doors which lead out to the elongated balcony where we hang our laundry (when it's not raining or snowing or freezing). This is also the only room in the place that has air conditioning. It's also the only room in the place that we consistently heat during the winter since it's where we spend most of our time.
The kitchen area is actually in a large room but the workable area is small. We have a microwave/oven thing which we don't use often as well as a range and broiler and rice cooker. There is virtually no counter space so the dining table is mostly used as counter space for cooking and drying dishes. In the same room is the vanity with sink and shelves for our usual bathroom items. This is where we get ready in the morning, blow drying my hair, etc. Which is pretty annoying considering that the place we prepare food is only a couple feet away. This room also has a large closet, half devoted to being a pantry and half to a linen closet/medicine cabinet.
Our toilet is in a room just large enough to fit a person on a toilet in it. I try not to spend much time here since I get a little claustrophobic. When it's just Sean and I at home I admit I don't close the door all the way. It's like being in a coffin! On the toilet! Anyway, it also has a sink built into the tank which runs water when you flush from the sink down to the bowl. Its really convenient but the water is ice cold in the winter so I don't use it.
Our bedroom is a small room but it does fit our double-wide bed (about the same as a Queen size). There is a small closet in this room we use for clothes and we put in a rug to make stepping out of bed onto the cold floor a little more bearable. Just outside the bedroom is our small washing machine and shower room as well as the entrance and our shoe closet.
For all it's architectural flaws it really is very cozy and I'm happy with our situation. There's plenty of room and some spaces we don't really use at all and look rather empty. But we often have other JETs and friends crash here on weekends, so it's nice to be able to fit so many people in here!
My predecessor lived in a very small one room apartment. Upon seeing a picture of it I nearly cried. Not only was it tiny ... it was super tiny and I couldn't even imagine where I would sleep. (The answer to that question was apparently in the smaller-than-a-twin-sized loft bed just out of the shot.) I knew I would have to look into finding a different place since I was coming with my husband and there was no way our luggage would have even fit in that place. I was nervous because of the many accounts I had heard from people warning of the difficulty and even impossibility of finding a new apartment.
Luckily, I worried in vain. In only the first or second email I received from my Supervisor he asked if I would like a different apartment. He recommended it, in fact, since apparently my predecessor's place had a nasty case of mold ... interesting . So, I responded with a hearty yes and set about giving him some specifications. I wanted to be close to school. I wanted a separate living and sleeping room. I wanted a kitchen. Nothing incredibly demanding.
He was able to send me pictures of the places he found, maps of their locations and information on the costs of moving in and renting each place. Based on this we chose the one that looked nicest and seemed to be more affordable. Still, I wouldn't describe it as affordable ... per se.
In the first month I had to pay for: One month's rent - 51,000¥
Fire Insurance - 15,000¥
Some sort of deposit? - 70,000¥
Key Money (Bribe) - 102,000¥
Realtor Fee - 12,000¥
Total = 250,000¥ ≈ $2,700
Ouch.
But the apartment I came home to on my very first grueling day in Wakamatsu was well worth the hassle. It has a large living room which is actually composed of two rooms with the separating wall removed. Thus there are awkwardly two sliding doors and one swinging door which lead to this room. The living room has wood floors, as does the entire apartment, so I don't have to deal with tatami. What I do have to deal with is freezing cold floors and dust Dust DUST! One whole wall of the living room is sliding glass doors which lead out to the elongated balcony where we hang our laundry (when it's not raining or snowing or freezing). This is also the only room in the place that has air conditioning. It's also the only room in the place that we consistently heat during the winter since it's where we spend most of our time.
The kitchen area is actually in a large room but the workable area is small. We have a microwave/oven thing which we don't use often as well as a range and broiler and rice cooker. There is virtually no counter space so the dining table is mostly used as counter space for cooking and drying dishes. In the same room is the vanity with sink and shelves for our usual bathroom items. This is where we get ready in the morning, blow drying my hair, etc. Which is pretty annoying considering that the place we prepare food is only a couple feet away. This room also has a large closet, half devoted to being a pantry and half to a linen closet/medicine cabinet.
Our toilet is in a room just large enough to fit a person on a toilet in it. I try not to spend much time here since I get a little claustrophobic. When it's just Sean and I at home I admit I don't close the door all the way. It's like being in a coffin! On the toilet! Anyway, it also has a sink built into the tank which runs water when you flush from the sink down to the bowl. Its really convenient but the water is ice cold in the winter so I don't use it.
Our bedroom is a small room but it does fit our double-wide bed (about the same as a Queen size). There is a small closet in this room we use for clothes and we put in a rug to make stepping out of bed onto the cold floor a little more bearable. Just outside the bedroom is our small washing machine and shower room as well as the entrance and our shoe closet.For all it's architectural flaws it really is very cozy and I'm happy with our situation. There's plenty of room and some spaces we don't really use at all and look rather empty. But we often have other JETs and friends crash here on weekends, so it's nice to be able to fit so many people in here!
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