Catch up

I've been dragging my feet a bit on the blog. Nothing remarkable has happened so I haven't had anything to write about. So here's a re-cap of the last few months.

We officially signed our paperwork letting our schools know that we will be going home in March. 145 days to go. We spent the first 18 months here thinking about all the things we miss back home but after the official paperwork we've been thinking a lot about the things we will miss in Japan.
I've come to the realization that we really have set up a home here. We have our tiny apartment just the way we want it, our routine at school is settled, the car's running well, we have our friends to hang out with on Friday nights. It's scary to think about going back home to none of these things. Don't get me wrong, the paperwork is signed and we are going home on March 31st.

The N1H1 flu has hit Mito. I have over 100 students out with it. They canceled our school for a few days to hinder the spread but the teachers still had to go in. That was annoying. It did give me a chance to catch up on my reading.

I had another chance to experience Japan's medical system. (attention: this is not a commentary on socialized medicine. Japan's system is unique to Japan so don't use this as proof in your mind one way or the other of the validity of socialized medicine as a whole). About 2 weeks ago Paul accidentally scratched my cornea with his finger. It happened late on a Friday night so any doctor's office was closed. Here, you have to call in to an emergency room first to see if they have the staff that can help you. So we had a friend, Naomi, call around to see if any hospital would take me. Finally one did but they said I had to have a translator with me. So we all piled into some cars (6 of us had been hanging out and they all decided to join me) So I/we saw the doctor, he gave me some goop to put on my eye and an eye patch. He told me to keep the eye patch on until my follow up appointment in a few days. Hahaha, except I work at an elementary school. That eye patch was off within an hour of getting back to work on Monday. That was just too much attention for this foreigner to handle.

My eye has mostly healed now. I've been back to the hospital for a couple of followup appointments now. I must say that walking into a stuffy hospital in the middle of flu season has become one of my least favorite activities. All said and done, the entire thing (ER visit, 3 follow ups, and meds.) cost me 15$. However, I'm not a citizen here so I don't have to pay their taxes.

Finally, winterish weather has hit. We don't have central heat and air so getting up in the morning is literally a painful experience. A few mornings ago it was 36 degrees in the bedroom! I'm sure after the next four months of freezing all day in an unheated school building and apartment I'll be ready to head home. I must add some cultural commentary here. Most times you don't wear shoes on carpet in Japan, that's fine but when it's 4 degrees outside and you are refusing to heat the room, can I please at least wear slippers in my carpeted classroom. I may come back to the US with fewer than 10 toes.

That's all for now. I'll try not to let so much time pass between the next post.