Hi again. It's already a month since my last post, which was filled with things from a month before that! So. I guess this entry will have things from the last 2 months. Life here has been pretty good. I've gotten into the groove of doing lessons - I'm still not really that comfortable being the effervescent up-front guy with boundless energy (haha, some days I can barely roll out of bed), but I make a show of it. Lesson preparation time has thankfully reduced dramatically and I have built up a repertoire of games that I can cycle through. However I was sick for a couple of weeks which wasn't great - really tired and downbeat. I managed to make a trip to the hospital which sounds terribly dramatic to us Aussies, but here it's where you go when you have a flu. Gasp, did I say "flu"!? That's a word I won't bandy about so lightly... I told my manager that I have the flu, as you do, to mean "I have a cold". Before I new it she had cancelled my classes and I was told to wait near the station for the assistant manager to pick me up, so I could be tested at the hospital. She arrived in her minivan with surgical mask on, with door automatically open for me to sit in the back. I pre-empted the mask thing and had thankfully just bought one. So I arrived at the local Kobe Adventist Hospital, which is reputed to be excellent, feeling just a little embarrassed. Yoshiko-san, the assistant, then tried to get me a Western doctor - as I realised what she was doing I was like "Hey, it's okay... I trust Japanese doctors!". The nurse came back after a little while and said that there's only a Japanese doctor available, but he was trained in the States. It was amusing to me - here I am, someone who never sees a hairdresser, let alone doctor or dentist, and it was assumed I would demand a western doctor ...in the country populated by the longest-living people on the planet. My doctor spoke perfect English and was amused by my situation - he knew I just had a cold straight away. However he had to follow procedure and produced a long, thin cotton tip which he then fed deep into my face at right angles through my nose. It was a little strange - I never knew my sinuses were shaped like that. Anyway, he got the snot sample he was after and the diagnosis confirmed that I am an unintentional hypochondriac. Just a cold! I won't say "the flu" ever again unless I am dying from influenza... well, not in Japan anyway.
I've just realised the time and I must say good night or I will be late to Japanese class tomorrow. Anyway, I'm sure you're all itching to hear what else has been happening or at least see some snapshots of Japan, so I'll post again soon. Just briefly in the meantime... my parents will be here in a month!!! I can't wait to show them around and see some other parts of Japan with them. Also, my friends that I holidayed with in Gifu - Tom, Jen and Ruby are moving to Tokyo in a month!!! Congratulations on your new job, Jen! Anyway... oyasumi!

Zzz zzz zzz