Out of Commission

Usually I'm not in the habit of posting more than once a month but seeing as I have some sitting around time...why not? If you haven't read my last entry just scroll down a bit, lots of good picture links and stuff. It will also give you a bit of back story as to my current predicament.

I had decided to wait a day for the swelling to go down and it didn't. In fact it got a little worse, so on Friday (two days after the accident) I decided to go to the hospital. I phoned, Hiroko, my private student Koyuki's mother, to cancel my lesson for that day so I could go and see a doctor. She informed me that due to it being Golden Week, many hospitals would have altered hours, and she would make some calls and check for me. Well seeing as it took us forever to find a place when Colleen had to go to the hospital I accepted her offer. Twenty minutes later Hiroko called back to inform me that they found a place that was open and that her husband had the day off so they would come pick me up and take me there. Wow! Never underestimate the generosity of having native friends in Japan. Not only did they take me there but they waited with me, translated for the doctor, put he sock and shoe back on my good foot and took me home again after. The X-rays said that there were no broken bones but there was damaged ligament which would require healing time, a splint, crutches and "Please come back next week."

I went back to work the next day, my six minute walk to the station now being a twenty-five minute trek. Did I mention how much fun it is walking in the rain with two crutches when you can't hold an umbrella? And another thing... I thought I got stared at a lot before just for being a foreigner. You have no idea! Being a gaijin on crutches puts you into superstar celebrity status when it come to being stared at. Children, shopkeepers, housewives, dogs you name it, except when it comes to priority seating on the train. They have special seats on each car that are designated for expecting mothers (not me), people with children (not me), the elderly (mostly not me) and handicapped (me, both physically and sometimes mentally) with a little stick figure picture indicating each. Just like the Olympic event signs but these were for the ol'gimpics. Now don't get me wrong plenty of people have offered up their seats but just as many have not, in fact trying very hard to do the anti-stare while gazing fixedly at the floor. (this including a med student with his face buried in a medical book, studying joints and ligaments). Now don't really expect people to move, but it is difficult to maintain your balance on the wobbling trains when you can't bear down with both feet when the train lurches and you're holding two crutches and the train strap so you don't fall over. The best one I saw though while I was standing at the priority seats with a very old and shriveled lady standing beside me, the train stopped and a young business man got up from his seat. Before the old lady and I could even think of playing the politeness game of offering each other the seat repeatedly, another young business man jumped into the seat and immediately stared at his shoes so he wouldn't see everyone glaring at him. Believe me they were, but no one said anything. That would be rude.

Well now it's Tuesday here and the swelling was still huge when I woke up this morning and the bruising had spread to my toes over the weekend, so I opted for another trip to the hospital. Hiroko offered to join us again (this time by bicycle) and met us there where we waited much longer than last time. I finally got in, and the doctor who could speak some English looked at my foot and said that there was a lot of internal bleeding because the ligament was more damaged than they originally thought so in order to prevent it from taking months to heal I would have to be put in a cast for three weeks. WHAT? A cast for sprained ankle? Man do I know how to do it good! After the casting Hiroko had to leave immediately because her daughter's teacher was coming over to the house for a parent teacher interview at 1:30 in the afternoon. Eh? (Guess they don't do parent/teacher interview nights here.) Not feeling like walking anymore we decided to hop in cab, which can be daunting when you tell the driver where to take you, and then have to give him directions (in Japanese) how to even get to a major area (local train station) near the apartment. On more than a few occasions drivers have refused the trip because they didn't know the area we wanted to go. (they won't pull out a map) But out driver was determined and shut off the meter halfway through the trip, because he didn't have clue. We finally got home having exhausted a good portion of our Japanese speaking ability (migi=right hidari=left), and now after a long nap I am sitting here writing and feeling a tad sorry for my crippled self (Colleen left at 7pm for her 8pm-8am shift). Good thing there are vending machines everywhere.

Before I sign off, just a few more pictures to share. In the food and drink section of our photos I have included Fruit Parfait Kit Kat, Mild Bitter Kit Kat, an unusually named soft drink, and three beer related products. Count them...one...two...three. Also while walking by a children's clothing store recently I looked in the window and saw some little girls clothing with some rather foul English on it. I'm sure the owners have no idea of the meaning. In fact I'm not so sure that I do, considering the grammar.

Cheers to you all, take care, get well soon, Carl.