Fall/Winter update!

Obviously my intent to update here weekly has fallen by the roadside. Badly. Things have been pretty busy here with some activity or another each evening and usually more than one per weekend.

Winter has kind of jumped right on us. A week ago I was comfortably wearing short-sleeved sweaters and light shirts to work but now it is most definitely sweater season. There was snow on the mountains yesterday morning! It didn't reach quite this low but it was close! I suspect that within a week the kerosene heaters will be making their reappearence in the classrooms. The leaves hadn't even finished changing but they'll easily be gone within a few weeks now!

Um, yeah, I have to go do some photocopying now but last night I put together some of the pictures I've taken over fall with a few comments. My kotatsu (heater table with blankets) is set up now so I should be spending more time attached to my computer over the winter. Maybe I'll update more often :D Anyway, enjoy!

Fall 2008

Yay hospitals?

Well my good news is that I do not have pneumonia! Yay! A cold I had (now whether this was the nasty hacking thing I had two weeks ago or the sore throat from last week or both is up for debate) irritated my asthma to the point where I had to go visit the hospital today because it felt like pneumonia. Not being able to breathe properly sucks.

Luckily Keith was able to come with me and translate so things went very easily. We waited for 1 1/2 hours and watched Keroro Gunso on Keith's PDA. Then a doctor listened to my lungs, I had a chest x-ray taken, and they put me on some air pump thing where I breathed in medicine to clear up my lungs for about 5-10 minutes. After another shorter wait they took my monies and gave me two days worth of powdered medicine.

I did notice that the doctor's computer console had English for words like heart and lungs and although he spoke no English he typed things like wheeze and no (heart) murmur. I thought that was pretty strange. Also I got a card that contains all of my information at that hospital so next time I need to go I can just present my card! How awesome :D

When all was said and done we went to Yumiko's mom's house and I got to meet her mom and see her sister and niece again! Her mom is such a sweetie and fed me food that's good for sick people like tea and umeboshi (sour, sour dried plums). I also got to meet her mom's three cats and dog. And Yumiko cut my hair for me! (She was a full-time hairdresser before she started teaching school) I'm so happy! She layered it and shaped it around my face. And all because I helped her learn to knit. She's such a sweetie!

And I just realized that tomorrow is going to be the last time I see half of my Nishi Elementary students until the New Year. That's really disturbing!