We had two big adventures today. The first one was the result of a little medical panic. Two weeks ago, a mosquito big me on the cheek while I was walking home. It itched like mad (as they do) and I did what I know better than to do and itched at it all the way home. The next morning, it had swollen up significantly. It looked like I had had dental work - or was suffering from the mumps. Luckily that was the beginning of the flu vacation week, so I just hid out at home and it eventually got better. Just about the time it stopped itching, though, I got another bite under my wedding ring. This was really aggravating. I knew I shouldn't itch at it (I had already learned the hard way) but it was driving me crazy. I was good for about a day, and then I took my ring off and really went at it. Of course, the next day I could barely get my ring off again. I did manage to get the ring off, and there was a nasty red welt going all the way around my finger. I had learned my lesson, and left it alone no matter how badly it itched (and it really did itch badly). Then I was bitten AGAIN. This time I got two bites - one between each finger on the same hand as my new red wedding welt. Super! I fought the urge to itch for about five more days - but the funny thing was that the bites didn't get better. The welt on my finger started to look less angry, but it was still itching badly. The bites between my fingers were getting worse and worse and starting to look uncannily like poison oak. I started getting suspicious. Finally this morning, after an especially bad flare-up of itchiness, I decided I needed to go to the doctor. It had now been 10 days of these "bites" getting progressively worse. I had changed my diagnosis and was now convinced I had somehow come in contact with poison oak/ivy/sumac of some variety (though I had pretty much been isolated to my house for the flu week, and had only been at the school this last week...). I called my boss and asked where I should go to get the rash looked at. She recommended a dermatologist nearby, and even called them in advance to make sure of their hours, to explain the situation, and to ask if anyone there could muddle through with some English to help us. They gave her the green light, so Russell and I went over.
Now, we haven't exactly had to deal with any aspect of the medical system here in Japan, and we were pretty worried. Everything went surprisingly smoothly, though. When we arrived they immediately connected us with the phone call from my boss. The receptionist gave us some medical forms to fill out, so we got to work. I would have been totally lost at this point, but luckily, Russell was a champ and was able to translate everything with a few quick referrals to his dictionary. He was especially proud of himself for understanding the question about whether I was pregnant or nursing. It turns out he had just learned how to read that kanji from a beer advertisement on the train warning women not to drink alcohol while they were pregnant or nursing. Bonus points for being observant! The only question we weren't able to figure out was one that Russell translated as: "Do you have any hobbies/activities?" Like knitting? Grading papers? Russell checked the dictionary and it agreed with him, so we asked at the front. The receptionist explained that they were asking about activities like hiking that might lead to skin issues. Since we hadn't been up to any of that lately (alas) we marked "no."
Next adventure: talking TO the dermatologist. It turned out that he spoke a bit of English. At least, he certainly knew the names of a wide range of skin ailments in English - and he was quite willing to use whatever else he could to explain. He was relieved that Russell was pretty much able to hold the whole interview in Japanese, though, so we fell back to that. He looked my fingers over and took some skin samples. He checked with his microscope and determined that it was not a fungal infection (which I had also wondered about since it was between my fingers and under my ring), but he also didn't agree with my poison ivy assessment. What kind of ring had I been wearing? he wanted to know. White gold. Aha. Turns out I have developed an allergy to nickel. This won't surprise my mother (who is also allergic to nickel) but it sure as heck surprised me. I had been wearing the ring for, what? Three years now? Perhaps you as readers are more aware of this than I was, but yes, even after ten years, a person can develop an allergy to a ring. Unfortunately, that means I can't wear my wedding ring anymore. On the bright side, it means I get to buy a new, awesome, Japanese ring made of platinum to replace it. Score! This was, of course, the first thing Russell thought of as well. The dermatologist was very sympathetic.
All in all, the experience was very easy. Russell's Japanese was superb - not only getting the task done but allowing for some joking around with the doctor. Very well done. We got some ointment and some anti-itching pills and we were ready for our next adventure of the day: Back up Mount Maya!
Now, Russell and I hiked up Mount Maya before (I'm sure you all remember) and we promised we would never do it again. Don't worry. We didn't break our promise. This time, we took the cable car straight up and didn't bat an eye. We went with my boss and another co-worker. There is a group of American students coming from Pitzer University for a travel abroad program. They arrive in only a few weeks and one of the planned destinations is the Mount Rokko pastures, right next to Mount Maya. The pastures are a local attraction with all sorts of farm animals and farmy (pastoral? I like farmy better) activities (like making your own cheese, butter and ice cream). My boss had never been to the Rokko pastures before, and wanted to practice the trip before we dragged a bunch of students up the mountain. It turned out to be a good choice. We left at 3:00pm (a civilized hour by our standards) and by the time we had taken a bus to the cable car, ridden the cable car, and admired the view, there was only one bus left that went to the pastures. That was fine, we could still go, but there wouldn't be a bus to get us back. We talked it over and decided that the mile and a half walk was well within our capabilities. Unfortunately, the bus didn't leave for another twenty minutes - so, full of adventure, we just decided to start walking along the road and catch the bus at a later stop - it would be more fun than standing around for twenty minutes. Then, we realized there was a more beautiful trail through the woods. As I'm sure you can imagine, we missed the bus and had to walk all the way there. We didn't really mind, though, the weather was gorgeous - warm, but cool under the shade of the trees - and the scenery was beautiful. My co-worker (from Singapore) had never looked down on trees before, and was quite taken with the experience. Russell, who has been running on a fairly regular basis, too off hiking at a breakneck speed and wasn't seen again until we arrived at the pastures. Which were closed. It turned out they were closing an hour earlier than normal today because someone had booked the pastures for a wedding. At this point, we were a bit tired and more than a little disappointed. No ice cream... bah! We had, however, figured out that we should start earlier when we bring the students. We had missed the last bus back to the Maya cable car, so we took a bus to the much larger Rokko cable car and made our way back to the city.
Not to being the types to let our spirits down too long, we decided to get some dinner together. After the hike we were all peckish and ready for a good long sit. It turned out that my co-worker from Singapore lives near the bus stop where we got off, and she had been eyeing an okonomiyaki restaurant in her neighborhood for some time (but was intimidated about going alone). I have included a video on how to make okonomiyaki below. It is essentially a "pancake" made of vegetables, eggs and flour with various other meats included depending on taste. When you eat this at a restaurant you eat it off of a grill in the middle of the table that keeps it nice and piping hot. We decided to go to the restaurant for dinner. It turned out to be an excellent pick. I had been to two okonomiyaki restaurants before - the first on my first day of work when I went with some other co-workers. To be honest, while it was super tasty, it was way too rich for me. I decided I wasn't much of an okonomiyaki fan. This was a problem, because Russell still really wanted to try it. We had seen it being made on a TV drama we both really liked, and it looked both fun and delicious. On the television program the main character explains in detail how to make the perfect okonomiyaki - he has a special way to stir the ingredients, a special way to pour them out onto the grill, and a special way to flip the result. He is very meticulous - and then, of course, is told by the owner of the establishment that all you really have to do is mix everything up and slap it on the grill, it all tastes the same. Russell was a little bit intimidated by the "mixing and flipping yourself" bit, but when he discovered that some restaurants do that for you, he was much more keen to try. We went to another restaurant and while Russell was pleased, this okonomiyaki was not only still not sitting well for me, it wasn't nearly as delicious. I was feeling the need to take Russell to yet another okonomiyaki place so he could see just how good it could be, but I never got around to it. The place we went to this afternoon, though, was ideal. It was lighter than the okonomiyaki I had had the first time, but it was still very high quality. There were three different styles to be had and they were all delicious. It was the perfect meal after a hike. I had mochi and shrimp in mine - the mochi was a bit of an adventure for me - I had only had it in desserts previously - but it was excellent. It added to the texture without adding to the richness. Two thumbs up.
No comments:
Post a Comment