Kaze wo hiita

so i get to be sick in another country.

took my bike home monday last week. three quarters of the way was a fuckin uphill climb that got steeper and steeper. just when my legs couldn't take anymore punishment, it sloped down to one hell of a rollercoaster drop. sure enough the wind slapped at my face, dried my lips, nearly peeled the contact lenses from　my　eyes, and froze my lungs.

so now i have the cold. or kaze, as the japanese call it. i spend my days coughing and sneezing and generally just feeling miserable. i think there's nothing worse than being sick where there's no one to really care if you get well soon or not. nobody to visit you if you stay home to recover. nobody to offer to make you soup or hot tea. no mommy to check for fever. it's sad.

but it's interesting too. i went to the doctor today, daring the language barrier and millions of japanese lining up for their annual medical checkup. i fill up a form, write my name in katakana, indicate that i'm a "firipinjin." the nurse shows me the way to the doctor's office with a polite "douzo," and before i could even start on my "nihongo ga sukoshi wakarimasu" routine, the doctor asks "can you speak english?"

whew. all my troubles over. he checks me up, tells me all i have is a swollen and irritated throat. my lungs sound good, so there's no pneumonia. double whew. in the end he sends me home (no need for medicine) and doesn't even make me pay a single yen. i told you it was interesting.

so, mom, don't worry about a thing. your precious daughter is surviving her first month in japan. i just wish i had somebody to ask me how i am and really want to know the answer.