The Gakuensai, Changing Leaves, and Being Sick

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the lack of update again. I had numerous midtderms recently and then I also became pretty ill and am still trying to recover. Speaking of being sick, that is a true first for me here in Japan. Granted though in 2006 when I was living with my host parents I suffered from a huge migraine but I blame that one on the lack of sleep and left over jet lag. Anyway, last week I visited the health clinic on campus to see if they could tell me what illness I had. The first day I went they were apparently closed, despite the fact that there were doctors in the office, and told me to visit this throat clinic (the day I went my throat was in pain and I thought I may have had Strep.) There was no way I was going to do that! I felt waaaay to weak to venture to some place I had never been to before. And on top of that all they needed to do was take a giant ear cleaner, swab my throat, and see whats there. I know at the clinic at Pitt they would do that all in the same day.

That is something that I have realized bothers me about Japan. In the language and culture, everything is very round about and answers tend to not be direct. For example, a friend of mine asked me something like this the other day:"I am trying to study English and I want to get better and I know that we will be meeting often but... (will you be my language partner?)" I was frustrated that the facilities at school didn't have the resources to do a simple throat swab and that they had to send me to some other location to have that done. I could understand if they did a test on me, obtained positive results for some illness, and then sent me to a specialist clinic. I knew that this 'beating around the bush' way of speaking and acting existed in Japanese culture prior to arriving here. However, there is a difference between learning about it and seeing it in full-blown action.

Regardless, the next day I returned to the campus clinic when it was apparently open and I was finally able to receive treatment and medicine. That day, my throat no longer hurt and I was more concerned with my fever, coughing, body pains, and runny nose. The medicine I received, interestingly enough, isn't sold in the United States. It is apparently more naturally based and comes from a plant of some sort. I found that very interesting.

It is now been about week or so later since and I am feeling better. I still have a runny nose and a cough but my fever hasn't really flared up again. Also some love and help from my dearest who visited me that weekend helped the healing process.

Speaking of which, on a day that I was feeling somewhat better, I visited a place called Arashiyama to view the changing leaves in Kyoto. It was truly splendid but extremely crowded. I didn't see a much of Arashiyama simply because it was flooded with tourists and as a result I felt slightly claustrophobic. Seeing the changing leaves in Kyoto is a big deal for the Japanese. As a result all of the trains and buses have been unbelievably crowded recently. All of the temples, like Kiyomizudera, Kinkakuji, and others are having light up nights and extended hours to accommodate all of the visitors. I can't imagine what spring will be like when the Cherry Blossoms start blooming.

Though it was crowded, the leaves were still beautiful and I found one other lovely surprise along the way.

One weekend prior to visiting Arashiyama, I was able to experience Ritsumeikan's Gakuensai or school festival. At the school festival, all of the clubs in a school open up different booths and make food, perform, or sell other things. I don't believe anything like the gakuensai exists in American schools. The Buddies (the students that help us adjust to life in Kyoto) made Corn Soup and gave out free hugs. After my friend, Maki, went on break from the booth, we walked around together and saw the entire campus and the various activities going on. I enjoyed our conversations and she has become one of my good friends here.

Next month I will be trekking up to Sendi to visit my dearest for Christmas and maybe go up to Hokkaido for New Years depending on what my host father says. After that I only have a few weeks until the end of the fall semester. Time truly flies! Speaking of holidays, this is the first time I have spent Thanksgiving without my family. I do miss them and I also miss Thanksgiving dinner. For the record, turkey meat isn't sold in Japan though my sources say that you can buy a small Turkey in Kobe. For my Thanksgiving dinner I did not eat anything special. Nothing like what is in the US around this time. On top of that I had to be in school on Thanksgiving day. Not fun. Oh well, at least I lucked out because Christmas is on a Saturday this year.

Next Tuesday I am going to be in a fashion show. More on that next week :D


オリビア
11/27/2010