"i think... if you drink this, maybe you will become powerful."
i got sick... again. i'm pretty sure that among 1st world countries, japan is one of the worst places to get sick. aside from the fact that even catching a cold means that people will treat you like a leper and insist you wear a mask all the time, there's the bureaucracy to deal with...
at my current job, i have vacation days and sick leave, but most japanese people ignore the sick leave and only take vacation time when they're sick... because in order to take sick leave, you have to go to a hospital (that day) have a check-up (which, in this country, is a total joke, but i won't go into detail about that now...) then pay about $20 for a certificate saying that you are sick enough to stay home from work. once you take into account dragging yourself to a hospital while fighting a fever/dizziness/nausea/headache what-have-you, the fee and the hassle of dealing with a staff that doesn't speak any english... it almost seems worth taking a vacation day just to avoid all of the extra work!
but... with my upcoming trip to the states, i wanted to salvage as much vacation time as possible... (and also i wanted to avoid looking like a douche who misses work frivolously...) so i went to the hospital :( but only because a friend of mine who speaks japanese was able to come with me. this came in handy because i had two goals: 1) get permission to take sick leave and 2) NOT get any medicine. the first goal is pretty self-explanatory... but the second, you might need some background information to appreciate.
exhibit A: the results of my first trip to a japanese doctor for a severe fever
5 different kinds of pills (about 50 pills in total) each with a separate set of instructions (in japanese)
exhibit B: the results of getting sick in tokyo
5 different kinds of pills (about 70 pills in total) one of which the doctor described as "something to protect your stomach when you take the other pills"
exhibit C: the results of a check up to see whether i had allergies
the following conversation:
doctor: take this paper to the desk, and they'll give you the medicine you need
me: do i have allergies?
doctor: take the paper to the front desk...
me: yes, but do i actually have allergies?
doctor: no, you have a mild cold. it's so mild that i'm surprised you actually came to see a doctor.
me: ...
...and 3 types of pills (about 30 in total) which i didn't take any of, since colds go away on their own
so this time, i decided that since i'm already paying a sh*t ton for paperwork, i didn't want to waste money on meds that i probably wouldn't need (and might destroy my stomach if i took it!) i explained this to the doctor (in english! because the doctor spoke english!), but instead of taking my word for it, turns to my friend (who is canadian) and asks her in japanese whether it's okay if i don't take medicine. my friend (being canadian, and not japanese) assured the doctor that i would be okay without medicine and just needed paperwork.
...and, after waiting 20 minutes to get the paper, had to get it fixed because even though it said something along the lines of "congratulations! you are officially sick!" it didn't say "...and don't have to go to work for the next few days" but it was fixed, and i get an official 5 days of sick leave!!! (two of these days are saturday and sunday... but i guess i appreciate them telling me i don't have to work this weekend either...)
long story short (haha, as if that were possible when i'm telling the story!) this was only phase 1--i had to turn the paperwork in at the office... but my boss wasn't there. after waiting a while, i decided to leave a note on her desk and go home, so i could finally get some rest... but i asked her to call to confirm that she got the papers that my friend and i had worked our butts off to get.
the first thing my boss said after saying that she got the papers and making sure that i understood that both saturday and sunday counted as sick days was "do you understand how to take your medicines?"
i didn't feel like explaining, so i just said "yes..."
***
this is already a super long entry... but i figure i should explain the quote at the beginning since i used it...
i dragged myself to work on thursday in spite of feeling under-the-weather because a) taking sick leave is a pain and b) i had an important class to teach in the afternoon (about 15 teachers from other schools were coming to watch) and i didn't want to cause trouble by missing it... but by the time i got to the school i felt like i was going to pass out, so they canceled all of my morning classes and sent me home.
i came back in the afternoon to find a mysterious small glass bottle on my desk with a bright yellow lable in japanese. the teacher whose class i was teaching smiled at me and said "drink this!"
and my response was "... thanks... but... what is it?"
hence "i think... if you drink this, maybe you will become powerful."
aka "it's an energy drink." but i like the way the teacher worded it a lot better! :) i made it through the class, but i don't think i became particularly powerful... too bad!
at my current job, i have vacation days and sick leave, but most japanese people ignore the sick leave and only take vacation time when they're sick... because in order to take sick leave, you have to go to a hospital (that day) have a check-up (which, in this country, is a total joke, but i won't go into detail about that now...) then pay about $20 for a certificate saying that you are sick enough to stay home from work. once you take into account dragging yourself to a hospital while fighting a fever/dizziness/nausea/headache what-have-you, the fee and the hassle of dealing with a staff that doesn't speak any english... it almost seems worth taking a vacation day just to avoid all of the extra work!
but... with my upcoming trip to the states, i wanted to salvage as much vacation time as possible... (and also i wanted to avoid looking like a douche who misses work frivolously...) so i went to the hospital :( but only because a friend of mine who speaks japanese was able to come with me. this came in handy because i had two goals: 1) get permission to take sick leave and 2) NOT get any medicine. the first goal is pretty self-explanatory... but the second, you might need some background information to appreciate.
exhibit A: the results of my first trip to a japanese doctor for a severe fever
5 different kinds of pills (about 50 pills in total) each with a separate set of instructions (in japanese)
exhibit B: the results of getting sick in tokyo
5 different kinds of pills (about 70 pills in total) one of which the doctor described as "something to protect your stomach when you take the other pills"
exhibit C: the results of a check up to see whether i had allergies
the following conversation:
doctor: take this paper to the desk, and they'll give you the medicine you need
me: do i have allergies?
doctor: take the paper to the front desk...
me: yes, but do i actually have allergies?
doctor: no, you have a mild cold. it's so mild that i'm surprised you actually came to see a doctor.
me: ...
...and 3 types of pills (about 30 in total) which i didn't take any of, since colds go away on their own
so this time, i decided that since i'm already paying a sh*t ton for paperwork, i didn't want to waste money on meds that i probably wouldn't need (and might destroy my stomach if i took it!) i explained this to the doctor (in english! because the doctor spoke english!), but instead of taking my word for it, turns to my friend (who is canadian) and asks her in japanese whether it's okay if i don't take medicine. my friend (being canadian, and not japanese) assured the doctor that i would be okay without medicine and just needed paperwork.
...and, after waiting 20 minutes to get the paper, had to get it fixed because even though it said something along the lines of "congratulations! you are officially sick!" it didn't say "...and don't have to go to work for the next few days" but it was fixed, and i get an official 5 days of sick leave!!! (two of these days are saturday and sunday... but i guess i appreciate them telling me i don't have to work this weekend either...)
long story short (haha, as if that were possible when i'm telling the story!) this was only phase 1--i had to turn the paperwork in at the office... but my boss wasn't there. after waiting a while, i decided to leave a note on her desk and go home, so i could finally get some rest... but i asked her to call to confirm that she got the papers that my friend and i had worked our butts off to get.
the first thing my boss said after saying that she got the papers and making sure that i understood that both saturday and sunday counted as sick days was "do you understand how to take your medicines?"
i didn't feel like explaining, so i just said "yes..."
***
this is already a super long entry... but i figure i should explain the quote at the beginning since i used it...
i dragged myself to work on thursday in spite of feeling under-the-weather because a) taking sick leave is a pain and b) i had an important class to teach in the afternoon (about 15 teachers from other schools were coming to watch) and i didn't want to cause trouble by missing it... but by the time i got to the school i felt like i was going to pass out, so they canceled all of my morning classes and sent me home.
i came back in the afternoon to find a mysterious small glass bottle on my desk with a bright yellow lable in japanese. the teacher whose class i was teaching smiled at me and said "drink this!"
and my response was "... thanks... but... what is it?"
hence "i think... if you drink this, maybe you will become powerful."
aka "it's an energy drink." but i like the way the teacher worded it a lot better! :) i made it through the class, but i don't think i became particularly powerful... too bad!