What do you think of this?  Recently, in the past few weeks, one of my male co-workers (50-ish) is running off to the lav every 30 minutes or so.  He looks really tired and stressed all the time, and gets obviously distressed if he doesn’t have immediate access to a restroom.   He’s lost weight, too.  I’m a bit worried about him.  I’m pretty certain that he doesn’t have a drug or drink habit, and I suspect that it’s a health issue, most likely stomach trouble.  Have you ever heard of such a thing?  I’m wondering if I should broach the subject with him, and advise him to see a doctor (which he probably hasn’t done yet, being a typical male).  Even if I pluck up the courage to do so, it will be incredibly awkward for both of us.  Maybe I should just let it go.  It’s not my problem, after all.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t comment on it, but I’d like to say that is not in fact a big huge secret in Japan that whaling continues unabated here.  Whalemeat (or more likely, dolphin meat) is widely available, even in my local supermarket.  It’s not very popular though, and most people can take it or leave it, which leaves me wondering why on earth the Japan cling to their defense of whaling for traditional/nutritional reasons when they have so many other sources of protein available.  On the other hand, many Japanese are genuinely puzzled by the emotional Western opposition to whaling.  Sometimes they ask me, what’s the difference between rounding up and killing whales and dolphins, and doing the same to cows, pigs and sheep?  Why is one okay, but not the other?  I have yet to formulate a satisfactory answer.

“It was a hard adjustment period for me. My husband loved it from the start. Women were all over him, bringing him coffee from the cafe while I was at work, cooking dinners for him if I had to work late, catering to him like he was some sort of god. Within 6 months here I found him cheating with another woman.  I left him, sadly.  My expat experience has turned me into an insecure angry beaten person who was once a winner. Now I’m so weak. Feels like I’ve aged 10 years in three. It’s been a rough life here!”

A common situation in Japan is when a gaijin couple move here and discover that one half of the couple (usually the male) adapts a whole lot better than the other half.  But guess what?  The above experience didn’t take place in Japan …. it took place in New Zealand.  And it’s not an uncommon one, either.

This leads me to believe two things: that men have it easier everywhere in the world, and that most (Western) emigrants have hopelessly unrealistic expectations of what their new life will bring them.  A bit like Paris syndrome, I suppose.

I suspect that he was attempting to contact his controllers, and it went wrong.

Stuff like this.  Don’t forget to read the comments, which are almost as interesting.

I have a lot of complaints about the Japanese national healthcare system, and the other day I aired them at JJs.  The defensive response I got surprised me, and made me realise that the Japanese are – rightfully or otherwise – proud of the NH system here, especially in comparison with the North American model.  A couple of the JJs had lived in the US in the past, and a couple more had close relatives currently living there, and they all had major concerns about the way the system works there.  They were especially critical of the role of insurance companies.  I don’t know much about it, so I took their complaints with a grain or two of salt, until by chance I read this article.  Frankly, it horrified me.  Is that really the way that things work there?  And why do so many middle-class Americans have so much resistance to their taxes being raised to pay for a socialised healthcare system, when in the long run it would probably work out cheaper for them than paying for private insurance?  Surely any idiot can do the math. 

Sure, I have my complaints about the Japanese system (usually we pay 30% and the government covers the rest; the treatment itself is bare-bones at best, yet as a veteran of two successful surgeries in Japan I can’t complain).  But I rest a lot easier knowing that I’d never be in danger of going bankrupt for an emergency procedure for myself or my kid.   And I’m pretty sure that I’d never have to take him to be treated in a “field hospital.” 

Actually I’m thinking of encouraging him to go into the private healthcare insurance trade, as that seems to be the easy path to riches these days.

One of Dan’s pro volleyball buddies came and stayed with us Friday & Saturday. He was playing in a charity event. It was fun to watch. What was even more interesting was having someone else in the house who is as big as Dan. I’m 5′5″, so the shot with John gives you some idea how tall these guys are. The other shot is Dan & John together.

I’m in the middle of a dialogue with a city worker, regarding a translation of a PSA about food poisoning prevention that is going to be published in local newspapers and newsletters this coming week.  It’s not a big huge deal, but she takes issue with one small change that I made to her version.  Here are the sentences in question:

Hers:  “Summer is the season that food poisoning is liable to occur.”

Mine:  “The summer season is when food poisoning is most likely to occur.”

Specifically, she wants to know whether her use of “liable” is incorrect (I don’t believe it is) and if so, in what cases can she use it?  As for me, I’m not concerned with details, I’m far more concerned with getting the message across that a very dangerous strain of E.coli tends to break out in the hot, humid Japanese summers, which gaijin may not be accustomed with, and that it can be  prevented with proper hygiene and food handling habits.    Which sentence has the most impact on you?

 This past week has been one of the most stressful all year, and I’m no stranger to work stress.  On Tuesday I had to go all the way to Wakayama (a four-hour round trip by express train) to give a 90-minute lecture about Western culture.  On Thursday and Friday I had to give two lectures in Osaka for a national teachers’ association regarding Western style education (and they were very well-received, thanks to your help!).  The lectures themselves were not so hard, but preparing for them was. 

I also had to oversee operations at all four JJs Cafes – not that it’s such a hardship to sit around sipping coffee and chatting with extremely pleasant and well-read people, but when you have to go to three different places in one day, as I did today, it can get a bit stressful, especially when you can’t get their names and details straight. 

And on top of all that, I had my usual hectic round of private lessons, tutorials, translating assignments, and cram school.  I feel exhausted.

You know, I like my life very much, but during weeks like these, I have to stop, grit my teeth, and remind myself, “Miko, you wanted this, remember?”  It can be hard sometimes.

Anyway, I have some good news! I have fallen in love with one of the JJs regulars.  We’ve only known each other a few weeks, but I can no longer deny my feelings for him.  He’s Belgian, with huge brown eyes and lovely brown hair.  The first time I laid eyes on him, my heart skipped a beat, and obviously he felt the same way, because as soon as he saw me from across the room, he came over and laid his head in my lap. 

His name is Koo, and he looks like this.  Don’t you think he’s gorgeous?

Ken & I crack each other up, even if it’s not always intentional. We went to Houston last weekend. After we get off the main highway, the route is torturous, involving several turns and roads that might have handled the volume of traffic there 20 years ago. Ken was looking for particular streets for turns. He asked me “Can you read that street sign up there? It was two blocks away, and I definitely couldn’t. My first offering was “Mdhmbne” or something similar. As we got closer, I could see it was a long word with “e” and “t” in it. So, I SWAGged it (Silly Wild Ass Guess). “Rottweiler!” I exclaimed. It was actually “Huffmeister”. Not having learned his lesson, a few miles later, Ken queried, “What’s that street up there?” Another SWAG. “Froot Loop”. It was Forest Lodge. Hey, I got the first letter of each word right on that one. Close enough.

The other day as we were riding along, I saw a sign with antelope on it. I asked Ken “Do we have pronghorn antelope here?” He replied, “Sometimes HEB has them. The best ones are the Pecos cantaloupe.” I nearly wrecked the car laughing. He gave me this look that combined puzzlement and “go to hell”. When I could catch my breath, I told him why I was laughing.

It’s a case of the blind leading the deaf. It’s always entertaining.