Adventures in Eye Disease

No.  No, you're not reading that wrong.  I'm in Japan and I'm sick.  Life sucks.  Okay, now that that's out of my system, let me give you a few new tidbits dear viewers, as my time being sick has given me some interesting experiences here in Japan.

My eye disease started on saturday, as best I can tell.  Thought it was just an irritation or something.  Before that, I met with my speaking partner and went to Kuraten Zushi, one of the revolving sushi dish restaurants.  It was jaw droppingly cheap, with two large pieces of sushi at only 100 yen a piece, and this included most deserts too.  I gorged myself on eel, egg, octopus, and shrimp.  This also reminded me that though many things are super expensive in Japan, some things aren't.  Fresh fish is really really cheap here and healthy food is not hard to find.  In many ways, the most expensive stuff is what's actually bad for you...sometimes.  And the fact that the food, usually fish, comes straight from the ocean to your plate does wonders for the taste.  No preservatives, just natural goodness.

Anyway, I also discovered the wonders of phone charms, as Japan has tons of little machines that give out trading cards, toys, charms, etc for practically nothing(200 yen)  This is easy to get carried away with.

After Saturday, I headed back to Kyoto on Sunday.  I love Kyoto, but the trip, led by Japanese students, tested my patience, as the heat, the walking, and just getting lost in parts of Kyoto that were not pretty really wore on me.  We did get to see some fascinating sights though.

 Architecture and the like is really amazing in Kyoto.  We got a bus pass to help the day along and after getting lost, we found our way to a sweet/tea house, where the activity of the day began.  Making Japanese confections.  Like the ones below.

 These treats are unholy expensive, usually because they are beautifully crafted and very delicious, but it was shocking.  One box of sweets costs the same as over a week of meals for me in this particular shop.  Still, it was a beautifully designed place, very rustic and reminiscent of tea houses seen in movies or novels.

 These lovely ladies and two gentlemen not in the picture, were our hosts.  They are all fun and spoke English pretty well, but were always asking questions about how life was in America, how to pronounce certain things, etc.  It was a bit shocking, being given so much attention...and after a while it exhausted me, but they were very friendly.

 Yes, that's me in an apron...DO NOT LAUGH!

 Fits the ladies better, eh?

 This was our workstation.  We didn't actually mix the sweets, but rather crafted them, molding lumps of colored sugar into beautiful confections that people would be proud to eat.  It was an interesting experience and gave me an appreciation for the craft of not just baking, but creating a work of art in and of itself.

 These are my finished products and they were delicious.  But the labor I went through to make them...we had to shred, mold, and mix all manner of sugars together, then carve them into shapes that were pleasing.  It was a lot of work.

 Closing out this rant on art, look at these statues...they are all made of sugar.  They are all edible...that boggles my mind.  These Japanese craftsmen are just amazing.

 Had to get a shot of this.  An old school toilet in the Japanese tea house.  It takes some practice to use right.

 After confections, we went to a music box museum, which was as beautiful as it was eerie, but a bit too expensive for our tastes.  At least the gifts and the grand tour was.

 This was the bamboo path, a deathly hot, but very spiritual place to visit.  The shrine in the deepest part is pretty standard, with charms and tags for good fortune, but the pathway is so mystic...it almost blocked out the sun with how tall the bamboo were.

 As the day turned to night, we did a little bit of shopping along the Kyoto coast and it was just beautiful...the water here is so clean and serene and I really wanted to stay longer, but time didn't allow it.

These last shots were from an okonomiyaki shop, which is like a japanese pancake filled with meats and vegetables.  It's okay, but I wouldn't want to eat it everyday.  Not only are all these statues a little creepy in their realism, but also kind of funny, as this statue actually shows a dog trying to pull down a delivery boy's pants.

It was quite a trip...and when I got back home on Sunday, I realized my eye was swollen and inflamed.  I do have a chronic eye disease, but this was nothing like what had happened before.  I was a little worried...this worry lasted into Monday, a holiday in Japan, and I decided to see the doctor on Tuesday.

My trip to the doctor was...interesting.  The Kansai Gaidai CIE office was very obliging in this matter, as a very helpful young lady guided me to the hospital and acted as my translator, which was good, because the doctors and nurses spoke so fast that I could barely keep up in Japanese.  My translator was very kind and very funny, asking me questions about English and pronunciation just like the students on the Kyoto tour.  The tests were inconclusive, though they acted very similar to eye exams in the states, with my pupils getting dilated and the doctors looking into my eye.

Also, a few things to be added.  Anyone traveling to Japan and who doesn't plan to get the Japanese national health insurance, be prepared to pay at the door.  I had to pay about 8,000 yen for my visit, which isn't too bad, but is annoying.  I can get reimbursed through my international insurance, but for a student on a budget it is...disconcerting.  And apparently, this eye disease isn't just me alone.  My translator commented on plenty of foreign students visiting hospitals as they adjusted to the new diet, environment, and countless new germs they'd never encountered before.

Chances are my eye disease isn't too critical.  The doctor gave me medicine to bring the inflammation down and I'm heading back on Thursday to see how things turn out.  This appears to be a pretty average experience for foreign students in Japan, as something or another, stress, germs, allergies, can easily screw with your bodily system.  I even spoke with a girl on Monday who'd been through the same experience as me.  So, this is not out of the ordinary.

On the whole, I'm tired and sick, having to administer drops and pills to myself while I wait to see the doctor again.  Good thing though is that, while Hirakata city doesn't often have snow days, they do have typhoon days, and school was canceled on account of a nearby typhoon.  They happen more often than I thought.

I'm a bit tired, so I'll cut this short.  I don't know what caused my eye to turn red, but I'm handling it.  The doctors and nurses were pretty nice and CIE offered me plenty of help in getting to and understanding the doctors, which was much appreciated.  My trips were hindered by my eye and how exhausted it made me but...well, with all the traveling I've done since arriving, I guess getting sick as an inevitability.

I'll manage though, so no one needs to worry.

See you next time.