hi everyone. i have a holiday off from work for the new year until friday 4th january, so you won`t be hearing anything from me until then. don`t worry though - i will have a number of posts ready to go, including about my christmas and new year in japan.
i hope everyone has a very happy new year!
Friday, 28 December 2007
Wednesday, 26 December 2007
整形外科 はだいすき - I Love Orthopedic Surgery
Nothing can make my day like watching a fractured clavicle being screwed back together. I finally got to watch some seikei geka (orthopedic surgery) today. I had been waiting for this for four months and it was certainly worth the wait. There were scews and titanium pins and electric drills and screwdrivers and wire cutters... They actually bored the grooves into the bone for the screws! Come on, how awesome is that?! Oh man, it was excellent. To quote Christina from Grey`s Anatomy, it was "like candy, but with blood, which is so much better!"
I love Seikei.
I love Seikei.
メリークリスマス - Merry Christmas
Here are a few photos from around Nagasaki during the Christmas season. I thought I would share them with you. Also, it saves me writing a real post.
Sorry this isn't really a very good photo. This is Hamanomachi anyway – the main shopping district in Nagasaki. There are actually tons of festive decorations all over the place here, but apparently, not visible from this angle.
This one is a bit more obvious, huh. Even if you miss the giant snowflake light display on the wall in the background, you would be hard-pressed to miss the 25 foot tree in the centre. Japan is a Buddhist country.... that fact and what we're looking at here really doesn't seem to add up, does it?
The “Japanese McDonald's” is called Mos Burger. This is an advertisement for their Christmas menu. Let's take a closer look...
Yes, the sign does read “Merry X'mos!”. (Sorry that it's blurry, by the way). At first glance I thought it was a misprint, just some poor English, but the Japanese continue to surprise me with their rather clever advertising. What is a little funny though, is that 'Xmas' is not pronounced here as 'Eks-mas' but 'Ek-ku-su-ma-su'. You try saying that quickly... it's really difficult.
I know this one isn't very festive, but I couldn't not share it with you. That is indeed a 3D illuminated human heart model plastered to the side of that building. The hiragana beneath it reads “Nagasaki haato kurinikku” ('Nagasaki Heart Clinic'). What you can't see in this picture is that the heart is lit up so that it appears to pump blood! How's that for innovative? God Bless the Japanese and their advertising genius! It might have been a little wasted in this case though. I mean, if you need to go to a heart clinic, whether it has a giant illuminated heart model on the front of the building is of little importance to you really, isn't it. Would you choose this one over a clinic that didn't have such a display? Hmm?
*
Well, that's all for now, folks. I hope everyone had a smashing Christmas. See you in the new year.
Sorry this isn't really a very good photo. This is Hamanomachi anyway – the main shopping district in Nagasaki. There are actually tons of festive decorations all over the place here, but apparently, not visible from this angle.
This one is a bit more obvious, huh. Even if you miss the giant snowflake light display on the wall in the background, you would be hard-pressed to miss the 25 foot tree in the centre. Japan is a Buddhist country.... that fact and what we're looking at here really doesn't seem to add up, does it?
The “Japanese McDonald's” is called Mos Burger. This is an advertisement for their Christmas menu. Let's take a closer look...
Yes, the sign does read “Merry X'mos!”. (Sorry that it's blurry, by the way). At first glance I thought it was a misprint, just some poor English, but the Japanese continue to surprise me with their rather clever advertising. What is a little funny though, is that 'Xmas' is not pronounced here as 'Eks-mas' but 'Ek-ku-su-ma-su'. You try saying that quickly... it's really difficult.
I know this one isn't very festive, but I couldn't not share it with you. That is indeed a 3D illuminated human heart model plastered to the side of that building. The hiragana beneath it reads “Nagasaki haato kurinikku” ('Nagasaki Heart Clinic'). What you can't see in this picture is that the heart is lit up so that it appears to pump blood! How's that for innovative? God Bless the Japanese and their advertising genius! It might have been a little wasted in this case though. I mean, if you need to go to a heart clinic, whether it has a giant illuminated heart model on the front of the building is of little importance to you really, isn't it. Would you choose this one over a clinic that didn't have such a display? Hmm?
*
Well, that's all for now, folks. I hope everyone had a smashing Christmas. See you in the new year.
Tuesday, 25 December 2007
リハビリ - Rehabilitation
May and I have worked our way down to the fourth floor of the hospital for the second time now. However, because the fourth floor is all orthopaedic, there is only one ward (4F) on the east side of the building and a rehabilitation centre on the west. Last time we were on this floor, I went to work on the 4F ward for two weeks and May spent the first week in Rehabilitation and the second with a nurse doing home visits. So, this time I got to go to Rehab. Compared to the work on the wards rehab is a piece of cake – in the literal sense too, since you get a daily tea break, complete with your choice of okashi ('confectionery').
It was very inspiring working in rehab. At first I was quite anxious during my time there because a lot of my responsibilities involved talking with patients – all in Japanese, of course. One patient changed my perspective a little though. She came and sat down next to me part way through her walking laps of the centre. All I said to her was, “Tsukareta desu ka?” (“Are you tired?”) and she launched into a whole story about her knee replacement. Within minutes she had lifted up her trouser leg and shown me her six-inch scar too. She didn't care that I clearly wasn't understanding everything she was saying; she just wanted to say it to somebody. I was less shy about talking to patients after that.
The patient I interacted with most though was an eighty-nine year old woman. I don't know what was wrong with her (she came down each day from 6th floor, so not an orthopaedic patient) but she was clearly very old and very frail. Unlike most Japanese people, she looked older than she was. She came to rehab every day for both a physical and metal workout. I was given the task of keeping her word association up to scratch. I would show her a picture on a card and ask her what it was and she had to answer. This was quite difficult for us both. She couldn't always remember the word and I couldn't always understand the Japanese. She was your stereotypical Japanese woman though: she could remember the names of every different type of flowers I showed her but she couldn't remember the difference between a fork and a spoon. At the end of the week, the tables were turned and she got to ask me what the picture on the card was and I had to tell her in Japanese. Even at 89, she totally kicked my ass at it!
I noticed that most of the people in Rehabilitation were elderly. I thought how it would be bad enough for a young, fit person to go through such dramatic surgery and to be faced with a long rehab program, but add onto that old age... that's tough. I broke my little finger playing netball when I was eleven and it still aches to this day. I have noticed it more recently due to the type of work I am doing here in Japan. Any task that involves splaying my fingers or moving the little one independent of the adjacent finger and it'll become all stiff and painful. And that's just a broken finger from eight years ago. These people are recovery from broken pelvises for goodness sake! It was very clear how great a job the orthopaedic surgeons do. It seemed impossible that these people were walking at all and yet there they were, striding through the rehab centre with their walking sticks permanently raised from the ground. Yes, Rehabilitation was very inspiring. I realised though, that physical rehab is a lot like yoga – very beneficial to your health but it makes, at times, passing wind impossible to avoid.
It was very inspiring working in rehab. At first I was quite anxious during my time there because a lot of my responsibilities involved talking with patients – all in Japanese, of course. One patient changed my perspective a little though. She came and sat down next to me part way through her walking laps of the centre. All I said to her was, “Tsukareta desu ka?” (“Are you tired?”) and she launched into a whole story about her knee replacement. Within minutes she had lifted up her trouser leg and shown me her six-inch scar too. She didn't care that I clearly wasn't understanding everything she was saying; she just wanted to say it to somebody. I was less shy about talking to patients after that.
The patient I interacted with most though was an eighty-nine year old woman. I don't know what was wrong with her (she came down each day from 6th floor, so not an orthopaedic patient) but she was clearly very old and very frail. Unlike most Japanese people, she looked older than she was. She came to rehab every day for both a physical and metal workout. I was given the task of keeping her word association up to scratch. I would show her a picture on a card and ask her what it was and she had to answer. This was quite difficult for us both. She couldn't always remember the word and I couldn't always understand the Japanese. She was your stereotypical Japanese woman though: she could remember the names of every different type of flowers I showed her but she couldn't remember the difference between a fork and a spoon. At the end of the week, the tables were turned and she got to ask me what the picture on the card was and I had to tell her in Japanese. Even at 89, she totally kicked my ass at it!
I noticed that most of the people in Rehabilitation were elderly. I thought how it would be bad enough for a young, fit person to go through such dramatic surgery and to be faced with a long rehab program, but add onto that old age... that's tough. I broke my little finger playing netball when I was eleven and it still aches to this day. I have noticed it more recently due to the type of work I am doing here in Japan. Any task that involves splaying my fingers or moving the little one independent of the adjacent finger and it'll become all stiff and painful. And that's just a broken finger from eight years ago. These people are recovery from broken pelvises for goodness sake! It was very clear how great a job the orthopaedic surgeons do. It seemed impossible that these people were walking at all and yet there they were, striding through the rehab centre with their walking sticks permanently raised from the ground. Yes, Rehabilitation was very inspiring. I realised though, that physical rehab is a lot like yoga – very beneficial to your health but it makes, at times, passing wind impossible to avoid.
Monday, 17 December 2007
Tabi
Here is one of the pairs of tabi that Yamaguchi-san gave me. I love them. The Japanese really know how to decorate their feet.
ぼねんかい - Bonenkai
It was Bonenkai (the hospital end of year party) last Friday night. There is no denying that May and I looked great. She wore a green dress that she had bought on Wednesday and I wore a red top that I'd bought the week before; Our hair was pretty; We had make-up on. All of these things were massive improvements on how we normally look at work – tired, uniform-clad and a little sweaty from all the bed-making. I think we surprised people a little actually. "Wow, they scrubbed up well, didn't they?" It turned out to be as formal an occasion as people wanted it to be - some of the staff wore suits, some wore jeans - so May and I felt nice and comfortable somewhere in the middle.
The party was at the hotel that is right next to the hospital. We pass it every day on the walk to work and it turned out to be very nice indeed on the inside. One thing I didn't like about the evening was that you had to pick your seat number out of a box at random, meaning you could wind up sitting next to complete strangers. That was half the reason for doing it, also there was a raffle at the end of the party based on seat numbers. It didn't really matter though because Kumiko-san arranged for May and me to sit with her at table 7 by talking a few members of staff into switching with us.
Once seated, the food promptly started to arrive, all of which was delicious. There were a lot of dishes that I didn't recognize, but that has never stopped me before from digging in and it didn't then. There was quite a lot of debate between a few of the doctors at our table over what the English name was for the meat in the soup. We had everything from 'seagull' to 'whale' put forward as suggestions. I think it might have been goose, but who knows?!
Part way through the meal, the performances started. Half a dozen or so of the departments gave a 5-10 minute performance and the senior members of staff had to judge the best for a prize of ¥50,000 (£214 – the same amount May and I get per month from the hospital). After the Kumamoto trip, I knew what to expect: Semi-nudity, group-participation and on-stage consumption of alcohol. Oh, and also wigs and cross-dressing. Needless to say, it was very entertaining. Mariko-san dressed up as a reindeer and threw a mango at a doctor in drag, with the aim of him catching it on a fork. He managed it two out of four times, in case you were wondering. Oka-san was up there, Nakashima-sensei and Imamura-sensei too. You would never think that such respected doctors are so willing to make complete fools of themselves in front of a room full of their work colleagues and friends, but apparently it is the complete opposite. Anyway, 4F won. I can't even bring myself to tell you what Imamura-sensei had to do to get the victory for his floor. *Shakes head in disbelief*. All I will say is that it involved a dominatrix. Enough said.
A sample of 7W's performance:
Yamaguchi-san (assistant nurse, 6E) came over to our table part way through the proceedings and gave May and me each a present: two pairs of tabi (Japanese split toe sock). I had yelped with delight at the inter-departmental volleyball tournament a few weeks ago when I had seen her wearing the most beautiful tabi I had ever come across. She obviously took note. You gotta love Yamaguchi-san :-)
Kumiko-san was very drunk by the time the party ended at 10:30. It was quite funny to watch her giggling to herself and tripping over her own feet. She asked us to forget this occasion in the future and although we won't be so cruel as to bring up her embarrassment again, there's no way I could forget her singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" over a sobering cup of coffee in Mos Burger after the party.
The party was at the hotel that is right next to the hospital. We pass it every day on the walk to work and it turned out to be very nice indeed on the inside. One thing I didn't like about the evening was that you had to pick your seat number out of a box at random, meaning you could wind up sitting next to complete strangers. That was half the reason for doing it, also there was a raffle at the end of the party based on seat numbers. It didn't really matter though because Kumiko-san arranged for May and me to sit with her at table 7 by talking a few members of staff into switching with us.
Once seated, the food promptly started to arrive, all of which was delicious. There were a lot of dishes that I didn't recognize, but that has never stopped me before from digging in and it didn't then. There was quite a lot of debate between a few of the doctors at our table over what the English name was for the meat in the soup. We had everything from 'seagull' to 'whale' put forward as suggestions. I think it might have been goose, but who knows?!
Part way through the meal, the performances started. Half a dozen or so of the departments gave a 5-10 minute performance and the senior members of staff had to judge the best for a prize of ¥50,000 (£214 – the same amount May and I get per month from the hospital). After the Kumamoto trip, I knew what to expect: Semi-nudity, group-participation and on-stage consumption of alcohol. Oh, and also wigs and cross-dressing. Needless to say, it was very entertaining. Mariko-san dressed up as a reindeer and threw a mango at a doctor in drag, with the aim of him catching it on a fork. He managed it two out of four times, in case you were wondering. Oka-san was up there, Nakashima-sensei and Imamura-sensei too. You would never think that such respected doctors are so willing to make complete fools of themselves in front of a room full of their work colleagues and friends, but apparently it is the complete opposite. Anyway, 4F won. I can't even bring myself to tell you what Imamura-sensei had to do to get the victory for his floor. *Shakes head in disbelief*. All I will say is that it involved a dominatrix. Enough said.
A sample of 7W's performance:
Yamaguchi-san (assistant nurse, 6E) came over to our table part way through the proceedings and gave May and me each a present: two pairs of tabi (Japanese split toe sock). I had yelped with delight at the inter-departmental volleyball tournament a few weeks ago when I had seen her wearing the most beautiful tabi I had ever come across. She obviously took note. You gotta love Yamaguchi-san :-)
Kumiko-san was very drunk by the time the party ended at 10:30. It was quite funny to watch her giggling to herself and tripping over her own feet. She asked us to forget this occasion in the future and although we won't be so cruel as to bring up her embarrassment again, there's no way I could forget her singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" over a sobering cup of coffee in Mos Burger after the party.
Friday, 14 December 2007
Bossy Me
I actually got to be somebody else's boss on Tuesday. Okay, sure, it was to a fourteen year-old high school student doing her work experience at the hospital, but still. It felt great. I got to order her around a bit when we were making beds but then, showing that I can also be a very nice boss, arranged with the chief nurse on 5W for me to take her on a quick tour of the hospital. I had forgotten what it is like not to feel as though you are at the bottom of the pile. Shame she was only here for one day.
*
Bonenkai party tonight. Very, very excited.
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Bonenkai party tonight. Very, very excited.
Monday, 10 December 2007
New Schedule
There are only two new departments in my revised work schedule for this month: the nursery and the operation room. I worked in both of them for the first time last week, so I can tell you a little about them now.
Before my timetable changed, I worked on the wards every day of the week. Now, with the nursery on Wednesday mornings I have a break from that, a 'weekend in the middle of the week' as May called it. It made a huge difference. How could it not have? Instead of changing bed sheets, folding towels and making oshibori, I am playing with a dozen children under the age of five. They were all very cute and very shy at first, but after about half an hour they were jumping all over May and me – literally – and trying to out-do each other in impressing us. The teachers were great too; they didn't even laugh when they had to show me how to change a nappy.
The highlight of the morning was watching the children's Christmas concert rehersal. I felt a little sorry for them though. They must have been petrified performing to a couple of foreigners instead of their parents. To my surprise, they didn't show any more fear than you might expect from a toddler singing a solo to an audience. It was a great little show. The costumes were wonderful too. And because this was a Buddhist Christmas concert, there was no mention of the birth of Jesus or telling of the nativity story – as you would expect – just lots of singing about Christmas time... and food, for some reason. I can't wait to go back there on Wednesday.
Second, the operation room. You're probably wondering what work two un-trained volunteers could possibly do on the surgery floor. Unfortunately for me, it turned out the answer didn't involve anything inside the theatres. We were doing behind the scenes stuff – packaging sterile equipment mainly, for both the OT's and the wards. I thought it was quite satisfying in a way, knowing that this medical equipment was soon going to be used by a surgeon or doctor. Maybe I was grabbing at straws though; I wanted to be observing surgery.
Anyway, that's about it. My timetable will change again come January. I will no longer have a free Wednesday afternoon but will be working in Nutrition and then Radiology. Although I will obviously miss my free afternoon – especially considering that is the only time I have been able to watch surgeries so far – it will be nice going back to Radiology. I already miss it after only a week without it. There's such a great atmosphere there, one that seems to be unique to Radiology. Plus, May and I have made some good friends there. Matso-san stands out for both of us. He is a similar age to us (he's 24) so we feel like we're on a similar level to him. I am the youngest employee on the hospital staff so, according to Japanese culture, everyone else is essentially my boss, including May. Matso-san treats us more like equals though, maybe because if it weren't for us, he would be the youngest on the staff. I also miss the chief Radiologist, 'Ojiisan' ('Grandfather' – not his name, just what everyone calls him). He shows me the coolest x-rays, MRI's and CT's that he can find and then lets me try and work out what they are of. At least we will see all the Radiology gang at Bonenkai on Friday. Yay.
Before my timetable changed, I worked on the wards every day of the week. Now, with the nursery on Wednesday mornings I have a break from that, a 'weekend in the middle of the week' as May called it. It made a huge difference. How could it not have? Instead of changing bed sheets, folding towels and making oshibori, I am playing with a dozen children under the age of five. They were all very cute and very shy at first, but after about half an hour they were jumping all over May and me – literally – and trying to out-do each other in impressing us. The teachers were great too; they didn't even laugh when they had to show me how to change a nappy.
The highlight of the morning was watching the children's Christmas concert rehersal. I felt a little sorry for them though. They must have been petrified performing to a couple of foreigners instead of their parents. To my surprise, they didn't show any more fear than you might expect from a toddler singing a solo to an audience. It was a great little show. The costumes were wonderful too. And because this was a Buddhist Christmas concert, there was no mention of the birth of Jesus or telling of the nativity story – as you would expect – just lots of singing about Christmas time... and food, for some reason. I can't wait to go back there on Wednesday.
Second, the operation room. You're probably wondering what work two un-trained volunteers could possibly do on the surgery floor. Unfortunately for me, it turned out the answer didn't involve anything inside the theatres. We were doing behind the scenes stuff – packaging sterile equipment mainly, for both the OT's and the wards. I thought it was quite satisfying in a way, knowing that this medical equipment was soon going to be used by a surgeon or doctor. Maybe I was grabbing at straws though; I wanted to be observing surgery.
Anyway, that's about it. My timetable will change again come January. I will no longer have a free Wednesday afternoon but will be working in Nutrition and then Radiology. Although I will obviously miss my free afternoon – especially considering that is the only time I have been able to watch surgeries so far – it will be nice going back to Radiology. I already miss it after only a week without it. There's such a great atmosphere there, one that seems to be unique to Radiology. Plus, May and I have made some good friends there. Matso-san stands out for both of us. He is a similar age to us (he's 24) so we feel like we're on a similar level to him. I am the youngest employee on the hospital staff so, according to Japanese culture, everyone else is essentially my boss, including May. Matso-san treats us more like equals though, maybe because if it weren't for us, he would be the youngest on the staff. I also miss the chief Radiologist, 'Ojiisan' ('Grandfather' – not his name, just what everyone calls him). He shows me the coolest x-rays, MRI's and CT's that he can find and then lets me try and work out what they are of. At least we will see all the Radiology gang at Bonenkai on Friday. Yay.
げか 2 - Surgery II
I went back into surgery on Wednesday. It was only the third time I have been in there but it felt like the hundredth. I feel like I have been watching surgeries all my life, but each one is still just as amazing as the first one I saw.
I watched two operations on this visit: a Cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder) and a skin graft.
Cholecystectomy:
This was an endoscopic (or laparoscopic) procedure. Several small incisions are made at strategic points on the patient's abdomen and then the surgeon detaches the gallbladder and pulls it out through one of the holes. This particular patient had a rather bad case of gallstones, so his gallbladder was very enlarged. It was about the size of a pear, and the incisions are roughly the size of grapes, so there was quite a bit of tugging and twisting when it came to pulling it out. It reminded me of birth, only the result isn't a cute baby but a diseased sac of bile. Oh, speaking of bile, the surgeons accidentally punctured the gallbladder while they were detaching it from the liver, and this caused some of the bile contained within to gush out into the patients abdominal cavity. It was quite a sight!
This procedure was particularly impressive because the surgeons can't see anything they are doing directly. They have various long instruments stuck into their patient, which they are enthusiastically moving around, thrusting them into the far corners of this poor man's stomach, all time while looking at a TV screen. It must take a lot of practice. Obviously.
Skin Graft
Now this one was very interesting indeed. Whereas all the other procedures I have observed have been fairly routine, a skin graft can never really be routine, can it? I mean, if you need some of your skin replacing... how often does that happen?
The patient had had a malignant melanoma on her foot. The cancer was very aggressive so the dermatologist had to remove a lot of skin from the foot around the tumour to ensure there wasn't a single cell of it left that would spread. That happened several weeks ago. Now, the patient was well enough to undergo a second surgery to repair some of the damage sustained to her foot as a result of the first surgery. A large section of skin was removed from the patient's abdomen – about the size of a mango, to continue the fruit sizing system – and while an intern and resident took to sewing up this huge hole, the chief of dermatology started preparing the skin for grafting. This involved carefully cutting off the inch of fat – which is a delicious, bright yellow colour by the way – that was present and then smoothing the underside of the skin by cutting away any imperfections. When she was finished, the skin looked so thin and shrivelled I was just hoping that it was stretchy, otherwise it would never cover the wound. It turned out to be remarkably stretchy; The skin really is an amazing organ, you know.
Once the skin was loosely attached with just enough stitches to hold it in place, a blue dye was injected into the tissue around the would, presumably to track the blood flow to the new skin over the next few hours/days. That's when it happened.... the foot moved!!! Ha! The surgeon stopped what he was doing and gave a rather amused look to the anaesthesiologist, who quickly made a few adjustments to the station at his end of the table. Aw man, the foot moved.... awesome :-)
I watched two operations on this visit: a Cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder) and a skin graft.
Cholecystectomy:
This was an endoscopic (or laparoscopic) procedure. Several small incisions are made at strategic points on the patient's abdomen and then the surgeon detaches the gallbladder and pulls it out through one of the holes. This particular patient had a rather bad case of gallstones, so his gallbladder was very enlarged. It was about the size of a pear, and the incisions are roughly the size of grapes, so there was quite a bit of tugging and twisting when it came to pulling it out. It reminded me of birth, only the result isn't a cute baby but a diseased sac of bile. Oh, speaking of bile, the surgeons accidentally punctured the gallbladder while they were detaching it from the liver, and this caused some of the bile contained within to gush out into the patients abdominal cavity. It was quite a sight!
This procedure was particularly impressive because the surgeons can't see anything they are doing directly. They have various long instruments stuck into their patient, which they are enthusiastically moving around, thrusting them into the far corners of this poor man's stomach, all time while looking at a TV screen. It must take a lot of practice. Obviously.
Skin Graft
Now this one was very interesting indeed. Whereas all the other procedures I have observed have been fairly routine, a skin graft can never really be routine, can it? I mean, if you need some of your skin replacing... how often does that happen?
The patient had had a malignant melanoma on her foot. The cancer was very aggressive so the dermatologist had to remove a lot of skin from the foot around the tumour to ensure there wasn't a single cell of it left that would spread. That happened several weeks ago. Now, the patient was well enough to undergo a second surgery to repair some of the damage sustained to her foot as a result of the first surgery. A large section of skin was removed from the patient's abdomen – about the size of a mango, to continue the fruit sizing system – and while an intern and resident took to sewing up this huge hole, the chief of dermatology started preparing the skin for grafting. This involved carefully cutting off the inch of fat – which is a delicious, bright yellow colour by the way – that was present and then smoothing the underside of the skin by cutting away any imperfections. When she was finished, the skin looked so thin and shrivelled I was just hoping that it was stretchy, otherwise it would never cover the wound. It turned out to be remarkably stretchy; The skin really is an amazing organ, you know.
Once the skin was loosely attached with just enough stitches to hold it in place, a blue dye was injected into the tissue around the would, presumably to track the blood flow to the new skin over the next few hours/days. That's when it happened.... the foot moved!!! Ha! The surgeon stopped what he was doing and gave a rather amused look to the anaesthesiologist, who quickly made a few adjustments to the station at his end of the table. Aw man, the foot moved.... awesome :-)
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Truffles & Blood Clots
With too many truffles to handle even between the two of us, May and I decided to hand some out to a few of our friends at the hospital. This included our friends in Pharmacy and Radiology, Kimura-san, Kumiko-san, Oka-san and Nakashima-sensei. Everyone was really impressed, exclaiming "Oishii!" ("delicious"), and I think they they won us a few brownie points too. Now we're not just the GAP volunteers, we're the GAP volunteer who give them confectionery. Who couldn't love us?!
*
Ide-san, the woman who met all of the Gappers in Tokyo back in September, came to visit Nagasaki last week to check on May and me. Since everything is fine, it was a short, concise visit, only lasting for more than an hour because we broke for lunch. She gave us a piece of advice though that has really stuck with me: be less shy and more active when it comes to asking for more things to do. She said this in the context of asking to watch a birth, but I have already applied it at work in a different context. Yesterday in the Test Department I asked if I could help take the clots out of centrifuged blood - something I see the other lab tech's doing scores of times a day. They didn't even hesitate and handed a blood-filled test tube and a tooth pick each to May and me. They were so impressed they gave us our tea break early and then let us leave for lunch early too. Ide-san's advice really worked! I wonder what else this could lead to? With less than three months to go now, I really have to try to make the most of this.
*
I watched surgery again last week. I didn't mention it before because I took May in with me so we only stayed for an hour. She was very impressed but said that once was enough. Me? I'm going back in this afternoon. It will never be enough :-)
*
Ide-san, the woman who met all of the Gappers in Tokyo back in September, came to visit Nagasaki last week to check on May and me. Since everything is fine, it was a short, concise visit, only lasting for more than an hour because we broke for lunch. She gave us a piece of advice though that has really stuck with me: be less shy and more active when it comes to asking for more things to do. She said this in the context of asking to watch a birth, but I have already applied it at work in a different context. Yesterday in the Test Department I asked if I could help take the clots out of centrifuged blood - something I see the other lab tech's doing scores of times a day. They didn't even hesitate and handed a blood-filled test tube and a tooth pick each to May and me. They were so impressed they gave us our tea break early and then let us leave for lunch early too. Ide-san's advice really worked! I wonder what else this could lead to? With less than three months to go now, I really have to try to make the most of this.
*
I watched surgery again last week. I didn't mention it before because I took May in with me so we only stayed for an hour. She was very impressed but said that once was enough. Me? I'm going back in this afternoon. It will never be enough :-)
Monday, 3 December 2007
クリスマス – Christmas
It is getting rather Christmassy here. May and I agreed 1st of December would be a reasonable date to start celebrating Christmas so we spent the day putting up a little tree that one of the previous Gappers left in May's room, watching a movie ('Notting Hill', in case you were wondering) and making chocolate truffles. The truffles were probably the best thing I have ever made. They were divine. Seriously. However, it was slightly depressing eating them since we knew exactly what was in them. Our truffles contained only four ingredients: chocolate, cream, butter and cocoa powder. Yeah, we're going to give some away as presents to prevent us from eating them all. Anyway, guilt aside, it was a great day. We each made our own advent calendar back in November so of course, we got to start those too.
The landowners put up a tree in the entrance of our apartment building too. It is especially nice coming home after work now, being greeted by a Christmas tree with twinkling lights. It does make me a little homesick though, all this Christmas stuff, since it is my favourite time of the year back in England. Oh well, this will certainly be one to remember in years to come.
The landowners put up a tree in the entrance of our apartment building too. It is especially nice coming home after work now, being greeted by a Christmas tree with twinkling lights. It does make me a little homesick though, all this Christmas stuff, since it is my favourite time of the year back in England. Oh well, this will certainly be one to remember in years to come.
ふくふぐ – Happy Fugu
Well, I am alive. The fugu dinner was excellent and, given that none of the attendees died, could be considered an all-round success. It was actually a retirement party for Hamano-san, the lady who works in the Medical Office where May and I spend Friday afternoons 3-5pm. It is so sad that she is retiring; she is like a mother to everyone in the hospital, including all the surgeons who use the office as a break-room. It was an honour to be invited to her retirement dinner, it really was. I am going to miss her when she leaves at the end of December.
The meal consisted of fugu sashimi, then fried fugu, battered fugu, fugu soup and finally, fugu risotto. The window to the tiny little restaurant we were dining at doubled as an aquarium for the (live but soon-to-be-dead) fugu; by the time our party of six was done with all that food, I kid you not, the tank was half-empty. Given that each one of those fish contained enough poison to kill 15 fully grown men, I must commend our highly skilled chief separating the 'safe' parts from the 'deadly' ones. The battered fugu tasted remarkably like battered cod from the chippies back in England, so that obviously had to be my favourite. We fried the pre-sliced chunks of fish on little grills in the centre of the table, which wasn't anything special in itself but what was endlessly entertaining, the pieces of fish were doing that post-mortem death-twitching thing. They kept twitching for about five minutes too. I thought it would last only a few seconds after death but apparently not. They were really strong muscle contractions too.... amazing.
Here's my plate of sashimi. The sashimi is the pale pieces of meat laid out to cover the plate; the white and grey pieces in the middle are some of the fish's skin. Yum. And yes, my lips did go quite numb after just a few pieces. Way to go, chef!
*
I got my new work schedule last week. Monday and Tuesday are the same as before, but here are the changes:
Wednesday
am. Day Nursery
pm. Free time
Thursday
am. Pharmacy
pm. Nurses Station
Friday
am. Nurses Station
pm. 13:00-15:00 Operation Room
15:00-17:00 Medical Office
Also, starting in January after my Japanese classes finish at the Brick Hall, we won't get free time on Wednesday afternoons but we will spend 13:00-15:00 in the Nutrition Section and 15:00-17:00 back in Radiology. Overall, these changes are pretty pleasing, although I don't know yet what May and I will be doing in the new departments. I'll let you know.
The meal consisted of fugu sashimi, then fried fugu, battered fugu, fugu soup and finally, fugu risotto. The window to the tiny little restaurant we were dining at doubled as an aquarium for the (live but soon-to-be-dead) fugu; by the time our party of six was done with all that food, I kid you not, the tank was half-empty. Given that each one of those fish contained enough poison to kill 15 fully grown men, I must commend our highly skilled chief separating the 'safe' parts from the 'deadly' ones. The battered fugu tasted remarkably like battered cod from the chippies back in England, so that obviously had to be my favourite. We fried the pre-sliced chunks of fish on little grills in the centre of the table, which wasn't anything special in itself but what was endlessly entertaining, the pieces of fish were doing that post-mortem death-twitching thing. They kept twitching for about five minutes too. I thought it would last only a few seconds after death but apparently not. They were really strong muscle contractions too.... amazing.
Here's my plate of sashimi. The sashimi is the pale pieces of meat laid out to cover the plate; the white and grey pieces in the middle are some of the fish's skin. Yum. And yes, my lips did go quite numb after just a few pieces. Way to go, chef!
*
I got my new work schedule last week. Monday and Tuesday are the same as before, but here are the changes:
Wednesday
am. Day Nursery
pm. Free time
Thursday
am. Pharmacy
pm. Nurses Station
Friday
am. Nurses Station
pm. 13:00-15:00 Operation Room
15:00-17:00 Medical Office
Also, starting in January after my Japanese classes finish at the Brick Hall, we won't get free time on Wednesday afternoons but we will spend 13:00-15:00 in the Nutrition Section and 15:00-17:00 back in Radiology. Overall, these changes are pretty pleasing, although I don't know yet what May and I will be doing in the new departments. I'll let you know.
Wednesday, 28 November 2007
3か⽉ – 3 Months
Well, I have made it to the half way point. Today is twelve weeks since I came to Japan. Three months down, three to go. I don't think the enormity of being half-way through my placement has hit me yet.
Over the past few weeks in particular, May and I have really bonded. She is remarkably similar to me, which does mean however, that she occasionally annoys me. Most of the time though, we spend laughing together. Yeah, we get a lot of stares from people at work, let me tell you. She has become a very dear friend to me and one I will always think of fondly when I remember my time in Japan. We have already made loose plans for me to visit her in Vancouver and for her to visit me in England at some point in the future. Man, I'm going to miss her. Although I am excited about finishing my placement and going home, it makes me sad thinking about leaving May-chan. Her nickname among her friends back in Canada is 'Amazing', as in Amazing May; on the same theme, she gave me the nickname Wonder Lily. We could totally fight crime.
*
This week is the last of my current work schedule, the one May and I have followed for the past three months. We still don't know which new departments we will start working in next week (some of our bosses are having a meeting today, I think, to decide) but we are feeling quite optimistic about the change. Of course, I will let you all know where we end up.
*
Tonight is Fugu Night. I am so excited! I'm going to try fugu at last. I remember seeing that Simpsons episode as a child, you know, the one where Homer demands fugu at a Japanese restaurant and then thinks he's going to die after eating it, but then doesn't. That episode has stuck with me all these years, so I am really determined to go ahead and seize this opportunity. Also, I promised my cousin that I would try it. This is for you, Greg!
Over the past few weeks in particular, May and I have really bonded. She is remarkably similar to me, which does mean however, that she occasionally annoys me. Most of the time though, we spend laughing together. Yeah, we get a lot of stares from people at work, let me tell you. She has become a very dear friend to me and one I will always think of fondly when I remember my time in Japan. We have already made loose plans for me to visit her in Vancouver and for her to visit me in England at some point in the future. Man, I'm going to miss her. Although I am excited about finishing my placement and going home, it makes me sad thinking about leaving May-chan. Her nickname among her friends back in Canada is 'Amazing', as in Amazing May; on the same theme, she gave me the nickname Wonder Lily. We could totally fight crime.
*
This week is the last of my current work schedule, the one May and I have followed for the past three months. We still don't know which new departments we will start working in next week (some of our bosses are having a meeting today, I think, to decide) but we are feeling quite optimistic about the change. Of course, I will let you all know where we end up.
*
Tonight is Fugu Night. I am so excited! I'm going to try fugu at last. I remember seeing that Simpsons episode as a child, you know, the one where Homer demands fugu at a Japanese restaurant and then thinks he's going to die after eating it, but then doesn't. That episode has stuck with me all these years, so I am really determined to go ahead and seize this opportunity. Also, I promised my cousin that I would try it. This is for you, Greg!
Monday, 26 November 2007
I miss rain. I was lying in bed last night, all snug under my duvet and electric blanket and I realised something was missing: the sound of rain against the window. I have been here three months and in that time is has rained four, maybe five times. I am English; I need more rain than that! November brought the cold weather finally. I say cold, I mean by Nagasaki standards, with highs in the mid-teens. But we still have crisp, blue sky almost every day. Wait, why am I complaining again? Oh right, yes, I want night rain. Yes, that would be good, blue sky during the day and rain at night. Oooh, or snow. Mmm, snow would be good. I am told it usually snows here once or twice a year. Fingers crossed, eh?
たべもの と かいもの - Food and Shopping
May and I have become suddenly very popular indeed. I think maybe it was our joining the sports teams in Kumamoto and our pathetic attempt at playing volleyball last week that has brought us closer to certain members of the hospital staff. They just seem a little more comfortable around us and, apparently, more open to inviting us out. I am writing this on Saturday morning (24th November) and yesterday we had lunch out with Oka-san, the assistant nurse on 5W, and her daughter. We had this (it's a type of bento):
Today, we are meeting Kumiko-san again for lunch, and on Wednesday we are having – drum roll, please - fugu(!) with Nakashima-sensei and another of the senior doctors, who's name I don't know yet.
I'll just quickly explain about the Japanese naming system, since I have now mentioned three different addresses in this blog. Putting -sanafter the name is the equivalent of calling somebody Mr, Mrs, or Miss. You generally use the surname only; first names are only used by very close friends or between members of the same family. Also, I have noticed at work that if more than one person has the same surname, people might call them by their first name. If you called out for Yamaguchi-san about ten nurses and three doctors would answer. -Chan, as I think I have mentioned previously, is less formal than '-san' and is usually used when referring to children. Children, and me. Finally, -sensei means teacher as a word on it's own, but after a name it means doctor. So Nakashima-sensei is Dr Nakashima. Oh, actually, like in English, you could just say 'Sensei' when speaking to a doctor, as in, “Tell me the truth, Doctor” or “Thank you, Doctor”.
Back to all the dinner engagements. So yeah, I am having fugu on Wednesday! You all will know what fugu is, even if you don't recognise the word. Fugu is that infamous Japanese fish that can kill you if you eat certain parts of it. It looks like this:
If I am not mistaken, it is the toxins in it's liver that can turn your dinner into your funeral. It is usually served as sashimi (thin slices of the raw fish) or boiled in a soup, I believe. It is a winter delicacy and an expensive one at that, so May and I are very lucky that Nakashima-sensei offered to treat us to some. I understand that a good fugu chef can prepare the fish so that there is still enough toxin in it that it makes your lips go numb – that is the optimum fugu experience. If there's a little bit more of the poison present than that, you will end up in a coma, and a little more on top of that and you'll end up six feet under. I read somewhere that back in the olden days, to distinguish between coma and death in someone who had eaten fugu, they would leave the body next to the coffin for three days before they buried it: A comatose body won't rot. So that is all for me to look forward to on Wednesday. If you don't hear from me after that, you will know what happened.
*
After lunch with Kumiko-san today, May and I are going shopping. Yay! We have been very good and have resisted doing this until now since our last spree in September. But believe me, my urges to buy things are so pent up, there will be no resistance this afternoon. There will be no holding me back. Ha ha ha ha! There is a decent excuse for shopping today though. Firstly, it is a long-weekend so there are a few sales on. Secondly, May and I have a party to go to and therefore, a new outfit to buy. More on this later, hee hee.
Today, we are meeting Kumiko-san again for lunch, and on Wednesday we are having – drum roll, please - fugu(!) with Nakashima-sensei and another of the senior doctors, who's name I don't know yet.
I'll just quickly explain about the Japanese naming system, since I have now mentioned three different addresses in this blog. Putting -sanafter the name is the equivalent of calling somebody Mr, Mrs, or Miss. You generally use the surname only; first names are only used by very close friends or between members of the same family. Also, I have noticed at work that if more than one person has the same surname, people might call them by their first name. If you called out for Yamaguchi-san about ten nurses and three doctors would answer. -Chan, as I think I have mentioned previously, is less formal than '-san' and is usually used when referring to children. Children, and me. Finally, -sensei means teacher as a word on it's own, but after a name it means doctor. So Nakashima-sensei is Dr Nakashima. Oh, actually, like in English, you could just say 'Sensei' when speaking to a doctor, as in, “Tell me the truth, Doctor” or “Thank you, Doctor”.
Back to all the dinner engagements. So yeah, I am having fugu on Wednesday! You all will know what fugu is, even if you don't recognise the word. Fugu is that infamous Japanese fish that can kill you if you eat certain parts of it. It looks like this:
If I am not mistaken, it is the toxins in it's liver that can turn your dinner into your funeral. It is usually served as sashimi (thin slices of the raw fish) or boiled in a soup, I believe. It is a winter delicacy and an expensive one at that, so May and I are very lucky that Nakashima-sensei offered to treat us to some. I understand that a good fugu chef can prepare the fish so that there is still enough toxin in it that it makes your lips go numb – that is the optimum fugu experience. If there's a little bit more of the poison present than that, you will end up in a coma, and a little more on top of that and you'll end up six feet under. I read somewhere that back in the olden days, to distinguish between coma and death in someone who had eaten fugu, they would leave the body next to the coffin for three days before they buried it: A comatose body won't rot. So that is all for me to look forward to on Wednesday. If you don't hear from me after that, you will know what happened.
*
After lunch with Kumiko-san today, May and I are going shopping. Yay! We have been very good and have resisted doing this until now since our last spree in September. But believe me, my urges to buy things are so pent up, there will be no resistance this afternoon. There will be no holding me back. Ha ha ha ha! There is a decent excuse for shopping today though. Firstly, it is a long-weekend so there are a few sales on. Secondly, May and I have a party to go to and therefore, a new outfit to buy. More on this later, hee hee.
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
わたし の しゅうまつ- My Weekend
I had a really great weekend, maybe the best so far since coming to Japan. It started off with lunch at Ezoesan's house with May. Ezoesan is a now-retired nurse who used to work at the Genbaku Hospital and who befriended May and me back in September. It was possibly the best Japanese meal I have had. It was really wonderful. Exquisite, even. Also, she showed us how to do the tea ceremony. For the first time I felt I was getting quite deep into Japanese culture, which was a nice feeling.
The opera on Saturday evening was fantastic too. It wasn't a performance of the entire Madame Butterfly opera, but kind of an ensemble. There were three main vocalists, two soprano's and a tenor (the tenor and one of the soprano's were Korean and the other soprano was Chinese), as well as three pianists, an violinist/violist, a clarinet player and a group of chorus singers. The show opened with 18 kimono-clad women on stage singing the chorus. It was truly amazing. The clarinet player was the best I have ever seen. I was glad to see his talents were being rewarded with an excellent solo. Of the two soprano's, the Chinese woman was the most skilled, but the the Korean woman, wow. Her voice... her voice just melted into you. Her name is Chun Sonmi, if any of you want to look her up. My favourite performance of the evening was the tenor's rendition of a traditional Korean folk song. He was clearly enjoying singing it, which makes all the difference.
Sunday started bright and early with an inter-departmental volleyball competition at the hospital. May and I went with the intention of just watching and cheering on our friends but, well, one thing lead to another and we ended up playing in a match. I had never played volleyball before in my life and there I was is a tournament game. Naturally, I was appalling. Fortunately, the game didn't last long and May and I didn't let ourselves get dragged into another one for the rest of the day. We enjoyed the cheering part, and a lot of the hospital staff brought their kids along so we got to play with them too.
After much hilarity during an MSN conversation with my friend online and after running 10km 2 minutes faster than my previous time (woo!), I had my monthly phone call home. Although one of my brothers and my Mum couldn't be there, I still had a lot of fun talking to two of my siblings and my Dad. There was lots of laughing, initially at the huge time delay between each person finishing a sentence and the other hearing it. Speaking to them made me realise something: I am happy here. Before I was fine, but now I am happy.
I only have a four day week at work this week since it is a national holiday in Japan on Friday. May and I have plans for pretty much every minute of the three-day weekend. I'll talk more about that later though. Oh, one last thing. May informs me that today marks 100 days of our placement remaining here in Nagasaki. That doesn't sound like a lot does it? That's all for now; Got to get back to work.
The opera on Saturday evening was fantastic too. It wasn't a performance of the entire Madame Butterfly opera, but kind of an ensemble. There were three main vocalists, two soprano's and a tenor (the tenor and one of the soprano's were Korean and the other soprano was Chinese), as well as three pianists, an violinist/violist, a clarinet player and a group of chorus singers. The show opened with 18 kimono-clad women on stage singing the chorus. It was truly amazing. The clarinet player was the best I have ever seen. I was glad to see his talents were being rewarded with an excellent solo. Of the two soprano's, the Chinese woman was the most skilled, but the the Korean woman, wow. Her voice... her voice just melted into you. Her name is Chun Sonmi, if any of you want to look her up. My favourite performance of the evening was the tenor's rendition of a traditional Korean folk song. He was clearly enjoying singing it, which makes all the difference.
Sunday started bright and early with an inter-departmental volleyball competition at the hospital. May and I went with the intention of just watching and cheering on our friends but, well, one thing lead to another and we ended up playing in a match. I had never played volleyball before in my life and there I was is a tournament game. Naturally, I was appalling. Fortunately, the game didn't last long and May and I didn't let ourselves get dragged into another one for the rest of the day. We enjoyed the cheering part, and a lot of the hospital staff brought their kids along so we got to play with them too. After much hilarity during an MSN conversation with my friend online and after running 10km 2 minutes faster than my previous time (woo!), I had my monthly phone call home. Although one of my brothers and my Mum couldn't be there, I still had a lot of fun talking to two of my siblings and my Dad. There was lots of laughing, initially at the huge time delay between each person finishing a sentence and the other hearing it. Speaking to them made me realise something: I am happy here. Before I was fine, but now I am happy.
I only have a four day week at work this week since it is a national holiday in Japan on Friday. May and I have plans for pretty much every minute of the three-day weekend. I'll talk more about that later though. Oh, one last thing. May informs me that today marks 100 days of our placement remaining here in Nagasaki. That doesn't sound like a lot does it? That's all for now; Got to get back to work.
Friday, 16 November 2007
Hamanosan, my supervisor on Friday afternoons, just handed me and May tickets to see Madame Butterfly tomorrow night. Awesome. I am going to the opera tomorrow, woo! And where better to see Madame Butterfly than in Nagasaki?
We love Hamanosan. She`s become like a mother to us. If we ever have a problem she will be the first person we go to.
We love Hamanosan. She`s become like a mother to us. If we ever have a problem she will be the first person we go to.
Kumamoto
Before I went on the sports trip to Kumamoto, I thought most of my work colleges were caring but serious people. They are hard and committed workers, and the kind of people you would trust with your medical care. Now... let's just say I am looking at them in a different light. Okay, I'll put it this way: They started drinking beer before the bus started moving. Yeah.
May and I were told to meet everyone at the hospital at 12 noon on Saturday and that we would be leaving around one. We were some of the first people to arrive, but by 12:30 all 64 of the other Kumamoto-Goers had also shown up. May and I had been designated to travel on the second bus (of 2) with the baseball and volleyball teams. You have to take into account then, that everything I am about to describe may have been unique to the second bus but I doubt it. I doubt everyone on the first bus was just sitting there reading books while all those on the second... oh, boy. There was lots of beer – as I said, they started that at around ten to one in the afternoon – then they moved onto the wine, and with this, they started the karaoke. It was great, and very funny watching all these people I know as nurses, doctors, surgeons(!) getting tipsy on a coach. Even though May and I weren't drinking, we really soaked up the good atmosphere. It was kind of difficult not to. The Japanese have been stereotyped as scrupulous workers, but I can testify that they are also party maniacs!
The one thing that best sums up the journey I think, is when one of the senior members of staff (who was the main organizer of the trip) stood up and yelled above all the commotion to say that we wouldn't be making any more stops unless someone needed to use the toilet. Then she asked if anyone needed to go and half the bus eagerly raised their hands, shouting, "Me!" in unison. It was such an odd, amusing moment. It felt just like being on a school trip: thirty kids on a bus getting over-excited and needing to use the bathroom every hour.
We arrived in Kumamoto at about 4:30 and it took us another 30 minutes to get to the hotel. We would be staying at the Toyoko Inn and May and I were very pleased to discover that everyone would have their own individual room. We weren't worried about the two of us sharing, but the prospect of sharing with one or more drunk Japanese girls didn't really appeal to us non-drinkers, who just wanted a good nights' sleep. The rooms were small but very nice indeed. We didn't get to spend much time in them though; at 5:30 all of us left and made our way to the ANA Hotel for the opening ceremony, along with all the other teams from around Kyushu.
The opening ceremony was great. There was lots of food, lots of alcohol (and a very happy atmosphere for the sober people to enjoy) and each hospital team did a little performance for the total 850 spectators. There was a recurrent theme in most of these performances: semi-nudity. It was surprising how willing all these committed health care professionals were to make fools of themselves. My hospitals' performance consisted of a well-built pharmacist in a short dress and pink wig, dancing and miming to music with the volleyball team dancing in the background. I laughed the whole way through. I will never look at that pharmacist in the same way ever again.
There are two other Gappers currently on placement in Kyushu, Lucy and Lee-Anna, who are living in Kumamoto, as it happens. We met up with them at the opening ceremony and got to compare notes on our placements and life in Japan in general. We hadn't seen them since we were in Tokyo together back in September. They actually performed in their hospital's dance and were superb. They didn't get naked though, just for the record.
The ceremony wrapped up around 9pm. We headed back to the Toyoko Inn and I went straight to bed, having set my alarm for 5:40. I had to be up so early on Sunday because at 6am everyone was to eat a bento breakfast in their rooms (although I ate mine with May in hers). We all got back on the buses then made our way to the sports complex. It was only then that I remembered, oh yeah we're here for a sports event. (With all the drinking and dancing going on around me I had forgotten). This was an annual sports competition between all the Red Cross hospitals in Kyushu, of which there are many. There are two in Nagasaki alone, mine being the Nagasaki Genbaku and the other being Isahaya. On arrival, May and I tagged on to our relay marathon team because we thought they were heading somewhere where everyone was meeting but they turned out to be walking over the marathon route. We didn't mind though; It was really cold so all the walking kept us warm. We had a good time just chatting with them too. Here they are:
The marathon was due to start at 1pm so the team decided to watch some softball until then. Softball is like baseball, but the balls are bigger and yes, a little softer. Also, girls can play. I think that's the only difference between the two. Isahaya were playing first, so the Genbaku team were all there cheering on their friends. I had never watched a softball game before but I really enjoyed it. It helped having Imamurasan, one of the marathon team (far right in the above photo), there to explain the rules to us. Isahaya won 17 to 8. May thinks it was her cheering that made them win, and I think maybe she is right. You should have seen her, she was yelling like a madwoman. It was her first softball game too but she took to it like a duck to water.
Genbaku weren't playing softball until a little later so May and I had a wonder around. We bumped into Lucy and Lee-Anna, who were working on the staff, and chatted with them for a while. Then we watched a little tennis and some volleyball. We caught the second half of the softball game between Nagasaki Genbaku and Kumamoto. May was cheering like crazy again but we got thrashed. We lost 22 to 0. Yeah, our softball team sucked. It was still fun to watch and we still cheered even when we were clearly going to lose the game. One of the radiologists was watching with us and he kept shouting, "Ii yo!" to our team. It means 'no problem' or 'don't worry about it'. LOL. At this point we were at 20 to 0 and this was the last innings. There's no way we can win and he's shouting, 'no problem'. Now that's a committed fan.
Everyone had bento for lunch, courtesy of the Kumamoto organizers. I can't even imagine how much 850 bento boxes costs. By then it was almost time for the marathon so May and I headed for the track, where it would start and where all the exchanges would take place. We stopped off at the volleyball courts on the way and watched Nagasaki Genbaku win their quarter-final. Woo! During the marathon May and I came up with the chant, Go Genbaku, Go! which we were very proud of but too shy to use, since we would actually be saying "Go atomic bomb, go!" which we thought may be a little insensitive. Our team did well in the marathon even without our chant, coming 12th out of over twenty.
The closing ceremony started at 3pm after all the games had finished. Nagasaki Genbaku came third in the volleyball competition, but apart from that most events were won by Kumamoto or Fukuoka - two of the largest cities in Kyushu. We finished off with Manzai, where everyone raises their hands and cheers "Manzai!" together. It is kind of like the Japanese version of The Wave, or Mexican Wave as we call it in England. Back to the bus we went, and back to Nagasaki. The return journey was less chaotic than the one on the way. Everyone was so tired. There was plenty of drinking again though :-)
It was so wonderful to see Nagasaki again. I was home! Visiting Kumamoto made me realise how beautiful Nagasaki is. It was great sleeping in my own bed again. At work the following day I was looking at the staff differently. I now know that no matter how serious they are about their jobs, they will party like their is no tomorrow if given the chance.
May trying to keep warm:
May and I were told to meet everyone at the hospital at 12 noon on Saturday and that we would be leaving around one. We were some of the first people to arrive, but by 12:30 all 64 of the other Kumamoto-Goers had also shown up. May and I had been designated to travel on the second bus (of 2) with the baseball and volleyball teams. You have to take into account then, that everything I am about to describe may have been unique to the second bus but I doubt it. I doubt everyone on the first bus was just sitting there reading books while all those on the second... oh, boy. There was lots of beer – as I said, they started that at around ten to one in the afternoon – then they moved onto the wine, and with this, they started the karaoke. It was great, and very funny watching all these people I know as nurses, doctors, surgeons(!) getting tipsy on a coach. Even though May and I weren't drinking, we really soaked up the good atmosphere. It was kind of difficult not to. The Japanese have been stereotyped as scrupulous workers, but I can testify that they are also party maniacs!
The one thing that best sums up the journey I think, is when one of the senior members of staff (who was the main organizer of the trip) stood up and yelled above all the commotion to say that we wouldn't be making any more stops unless someone needed to use the toilet. Then she asked if anyone needed to go and half the bus eagerly raised their hands, shouting, "Me!" in unison. It was such an odd, amusing moment. It felt just like being on a school trip: thirty kids on a bus getting over-excited and needing to use the bathroom every hour.
We arrived in Kumamoto at about 4:30 and it took us another 30 minutes to get to the hotel. We would be staying at the Toyoko Inn and May and I were very pleased to discover that everyone would have their own individual room. We weren't worried about the two of us sharing, but the prospect of sharing with one or more drunk Japanese girls didn't really appeal to us non-drinkers, who just wanted a good nights' sleep. The rooms were small but very nice indeed. We didn't get to spend much time in them though; at 5:30 all of us left and made our way to the ANA Hotel for the opening ceremony, along with all the other teams from around Kyushu.
The opening ceremony was great. There was lots of food, lots of alcohol (and a very happy atmosphere for the sober people to enjoy) and each hospital team did a little performance for the total 850 spectators. There was a recurrent theme in most of these performances: semi-nudity. It was surprising how willing all these committed health care professionals were to make fools of themselves. My hospitals' performance consisted of a well-built pharmacist in a short dress and pink wig, dancing and miming to music with the volleyball team dancing in the background. I laughed the whole way through. I will never look at that pharmacist in the same way ever again.
There are two other Gappers currently on placement in Kyushu, Lucy and Lee-Anna, who are living in Kumamoto, as it happens. We met up with them at the opening ceremony and got to compare notes on our placements and life in Japan in general. We hadn't seen them since we were in Tokyo together back in September. They actually performed in their hospital's dance and were superb. They didn't get naked though, just for the record.
The ceremony wrapped up around 9pm. We headed back to the Toyoko Inn and I went straight to bed, having set my alarm for 5:40. I had to be up so early on Sunday because at 6am everyone was to eat a bento breakfast in their rooms (although I ate mine with May in hers). We all got back on the buses then made our way to the sports complex. It was only then that I remembered, oh yeah we're here for a sports event. (With all the drinking and dancing going on around me I had forgotten). This was an annual sports competition between all the Red Cross hospitals in Kyushu, of which there are many. There are two in Nagasaki alone, mine being the Nagasaki Genbaku and the other being Isahaya. On arrival, May and I tagged on to our relay marathon team because we thought they were heading somewhere where everyone was meeting but they turned out to be walking over the marathon route. We didn't mind though; It was really cold so all the walking kept us warm. We had a good time just chatting with them too. Here they are:
The marathon was due to start at 1pm so the team decided to watch some softball until then. Softball is like baseball, but the balls are bigger and yes, a little softer. Also, girls can play. I think that's the only difference between the two. Isahaya were playing first, so the Genbaku team were all there cheering on their friends. I had never watched a softball game before but I really enjoyed it. It helped having Imamurasan, one of the marathon team (far right in the above photo), there to explain the rules to us. Isahaya won 17 to 8. May thinks it was her cheering that made them win, and I think maybe she is right. You should have seen her, she was yelling like a madwoman. It was her first softball game too but she took to it like a duck to water.
Genbaku weren't playing softball until a little later so May and I had a wonder around. We bumped into Lucy and Lee-Anna, who were working on the staff, and chatted with them for a while. Then we watched a little tennis and some volleyball. We caught the second half of the softball game between Nagasaki Genbaku and Kumamoto. May was cheering like crazy again but we got thrashed. We lost 22 to 0. Yeah, our softball team sucked. It was still fun to watch and we still cheered even when we were clearly going to lose the game. One of the radiologists was watching with us and he kept shouting, "Ii yo!" to our team. It means 'no problem' or 'don't worry about it'. LOL. At this point we were at 20 to 0 and this was the last innings. There's no way we can win and he's shouting, 'no problem'. Now that's a committed fan.
Everyone had bento for lunch, courtesy of the Kumamoto organizers. I can't even imagine how much 850 bento boxes costs. By then it was almost time for the marathon so May and I headed for the track, where it would start and where all the exchanges would take place. We stopped off at the volleyball courts on the way and watched Nagasaki Genbaku win their quarter-final. Woo! During the marathon May and I came up with the chant, Go Genbaku, Go! which we were very proud of but too shy to use, since we would actually be saying "Go atomic bomb, go!" which we thought may be a little insensitive. Our team did well in the marathon even without our chant, coming 12th out of over twenty.
The closing ceremony started at 3pm after all the games had finished. Nagasaki Genbaku came third in the volleyball competition, but apart from that most events were won by Kumamoto or Fukuoka - two of the largest cities in Kyushu. We finished off with Manzai, where everyone raises their hands and cheers "Manzai!" together. It is kind of like the Japanese version of The Wave, or Mexican Wave as we call it in England. Back to the bus we went, and back to Nagasaki. The return journey was less chaotic than the one on the way. Everyone was so tired. There was plenty of drinking again though :-)
It was so wonderful to see Nagasaki again. I was home! Visiting Kumamoto made me realise how beautiful Nagasaki is. It was great sleeping in my own bed again. At work the following day I was looking at the staff differently. I now know that no matter how serious they are about their jobs, they will party like their is no tomorrow if given the chance.
May trying to keep warm:
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
げか - Surgery
Phew! What a week it has been. My first surgery was awesome, as was the Kumamoto trip, although for drastically different reasons. I'll talk about Kumamoto in a later post, I promise.
So there I was, last Wednesday, the day of my first surgery. I was met by one of the female surgeons who took me into the changing room to get into my surgical scrubs, cap and mask. Even that part was exciting. She then took me through the surgical floor to O.T. 5, where I had a few minutes to just look around in awe at all the cool equipment and medical stuff. Nakashimasan (the vice-president of the hospital, who took May and me to the Viking restaurant back in October) arrived and he told me a bit about the patient: 6 year-old male; blood type AB+; suffering from sleep apnea, difficulties eating/gaining weight, a concave chest and heart problems as a result of this; will undergo tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. Basically, his tonsils and adenoids were so big that he couldn't swallow, that's where most of his medical problems were coming from. This tiny little boy was brought in, obviously pretty scared, but the anaesthetists were great and soon calmed him down. It took quite a long time for him to fully fall asleep though. Nakashimasan explained that they were being particularly careful with the anaesthetic because he was a child.
With the patient under general anaesthetic, the surgeons got to work. The main thing they were worried about was bleeding. They don't use sutures for a tonsillectomy so they have to be certain that they have stopped all the bleeding (using what is essentially a soldering iron) before they wake the patient up. I was a little surprised at how rough they had to be to get the tonsils out. They used a 'snare' (wire loop) and pretty much just pulled them out. From start to finish, it was about 1 hour 30 minutes. That's 90 minutes of pure enthralment from my perspective.
After the little boy was moved out and taken back to his Mum, Nakashimasan gave me a proper tour of the surgical floor. I got to peek inside the other four operating rooms, all of which had surgeries going on in them. I also spent a few minutes observing a skin tumour being removed from a woman's scalp, which was very cool. I wondered how something like that gets noticed though. I mean I could only see it because her head had been shaved. Ordinarily her hair would have covered it, right?
Anyway, we headed back to OT5. A second patient was brought in. Two surgeries in one day – I couldn't believe my luck! This patient was a middle-aged man with a visible tumour in his neck: a tumour of the lymph gland. As you probably would have guessed, he was in surgery to have it removed. The doctors didn't know if it was malignant or not, but regardless, nobody wants a lump the size of a golf ball sticking out of they neck. This second procedure was way cooler than the first. The point at which I realised this was when the surgeons were in the process of cutting out the tumour, tying off blood vessels as they went – something that looked very satisfying to do indeed – and a wonderful gloop of lymph oozed out of it. Imagine really thick cream, but more yellow, and you've got lymph. It was disgusting but so, so interesting. Apparently, this tumour was actually contained within a lymph-filled sack, hence the seepage. Cooool.
The second surgery only took about an hour and after that, alas, I had to leave. I was really tired though, after standing up concentrating for three hours straight. My body was tired, but my mind was buzzing. It really was amazing. It all felt so natural, you know, like it was natural for me to be there. This wasn't just some once-in-a-lifetime experience; I could see myself doing this every day as my job. Ah, I am still so excited about it a week on. I might being going into surgery again this afternoon but Nakashimasan is at a conference so I need to find the female surgeon from last time. I'll let you know as and when I make it back in!
So there I was, last Wednesday, the day of my first surgery. I was met by one of the female surgeons who took me into the changing room to get into my surgical scrubs, cap and mask. Even that part was exciting. She then took me through the surgical floor to O.T. 5, where I had a few minutes to just look around in awe at all the cool equipment and medical stuff. Nakashimasan (the vice-president of the hospital, who took May and me to the Viking restaurant back in October) arrived and he told me a bit about the patient: 6 year-old male; blood type AB+; suffering from sleep apnea, difficulties eating/gaining weight, a concave chest and heart problems as a result of this; will undergo tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. Basically, his tonsils and adenoids were so big that he couldn't swallow, that's where most of his medical problems were coming from. This tiny little boy was brought in, obviously pretty scared, but the anaesthetists were great and soon calmed him down. It took quite a long time for him to fully fall asleep though. Nakashimasan explained that they were being particularly careful with the anaesthetic because he was a child.
With the patient under general anaesthetic, the surgeons got to work. The main thing they were worried about was bleeding. They don't use sutures for a tonsillectomy so they have to be certain that they have stopped all the bleeding (using what is essentially a soldering iron) before they wake the patient up. I was a little surprised at how rough they had to be to get the tonsils out. They used a 'snare' (wire loop) and pretty much just pulled them out. From start to finish, it was about 1 hour 30 minutes. That's 90 minutes of pure enthralment from my perspective.
After the little boy was moved out and taken back to his Mum, Nakashimasan gave me a proper tour of the surgical floor. I got to peek inside the other four operating rooms, all of which had surgeries going on in them. I also spent a few minutes observing a skin tumour being removed from a woman's scalp, which was very cool. I wondered how something like that gets noticed though. I mean I could only see it because her head had been shaved. Ordinarily her hair would have covered it, right?
Anyway, we headed back to OT5. A second patient was brought in. Two surgeries in one day – I couldn't believe my luck! This patient was a middle-aged man with a visible tumour in his neck: a tumour of the lymph gland. As you probably would have guessed, he was in surgery to have it removed. The doctors didn't know if it was malignant or not, but regardless, nobody wants a lump the size of a golf ball sticking out of they neck. This second procedure was way cooler than the first. The point at which I realised this was when the surgeons were in the process of cutting out the tumour, tying off blood vessels as they went – something that looked very satisfying to do indeed – and a wonderful gloop of lymph oozed out of it. Imagine really thick cream, but more yellow, and you've got lymph. It was disgusting but so, so interesting. Apparently, this tumour was actually contained within a lymph-filled sack, hence the seepage. Cooool.
The second surgery only took about an hour and after that, alas, I had to leave. I was really tired though, after standing up concentrating for three hours straight. My body was tired, but my mind was buzzing. It really was amazing. It all felt so natural, you know, like it was natural for me to be there. This wasn't just some once-in-a-lifetime experience; I could see myself doing this every day as my job. Ah, I am still so excited about it a week on. I might being going into surgery again this afternoon but Nakashimasan is at a conference so I need to find the female surgeon from last time. I'll let you know as and when I make it back in!
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
おどろき- Surprises
Surprise Number One: Today, in approximately twenty-five minutes, I will be watching my first ever surgery!
Surprise Number Two: Over the next four months I will be watching many surgeries, perhaps as many as one per week, and of all different types. My hospital doesn't have a cardiology or neurology department - yes, I did ask! - but it does have an excellent orthopedic department. Do you know how cool an orthopedic surgery is going to be?!
Surprise Number Three: I am going to Kumamoto this weekend, my first trip outside of Nagasaki. There's a Kyushu-wide Red Cross Sports Competition being held there on Sunday, so the hospital is arranging for May and me to travel down there, as well as putting us up in a hotel and providing us with meals. We have to pay ¥5000 for this but, believe me, this is a bargain. Although we're only going to watch, it will be great cheering for the Nagasaki team, as well as getting to know some of the other hospital staff better. Oh, and Lucy and LeeAnna, two of the other Gapper's we met in Tokyo are placed in Kumamoto, so May and I will get to see them again too.
Surprise Number Four: I can't tell anybody this one yet, but for those it will affect - hee hee - it's going to be great.
*
Feeling good.
Surprise Number Two: Over the next four months I will be watching many surgeries, perhaps as many as one per week, and of all different types. My hospital doesn't have a cardiology or neurology department - yes, I did ask! - but it does have an excellent orthopedic department. Do you know how cool an orthopedic surgery is going to be?!
Surprise Number Three: I am going to Kumamoto this weekend, my first trip outside of Nagasaki. There's a Kyushu-wide Red Cross Sports Competition being held there on Sunday, so the hospital is arranging for May and me to travel down there, as well as putting us up in a hotel and providing us with meals. We have to pay ¥5000 for this but, believe me, this is a bargain. Although we're only going to watch, it will be great cheering for the Nagasaki team, as well as getting to know some of the other hospital staff better. Oh, and Lucy and LeeAnna, two of the other Gapper's we met in Tokyo are placed in Kumamoto, so May and I will get to see them again too.
Surprise Number Four: I can't tell anybody this one yet, but for those it will affect - hee hee - it's going to be great.
*
Feeling good.
Monday, 5 November 2007
やっきょく- Pharmacy
At the end of November my timetable at work is due change. I will still spend half of every day in a nurses station, but the departments in which I work for the other half will change for the latter three months of my placement. This means I will no longer go to the beloved Pharmacy on Thursday afternoons or Radiology on Friday afternoons. I feel a little sad about this because I have made some good friends in these departments and I enjoy the work there. On the plus side, I won't have to go to the Medical Matters section first thing on a Monday anymore. No more lugging patient's files the size of encyclopedias for three and a half hours at a time, yay.
When I first discovered that my whole working week was to be transformed so drastically, my instinct was to worry. (What a surprise, *eye roll*). Now though, I am getting quite excited about it. I have various sources of information in the hospital, and in terms of which new departments I can expect to spend half of my week in, overall things look good. I don't want to say too much on this now because I kinda sorta have a few surprises up my sleeve that I don't want to let slip yet. Hee hee. I know something you don't know!
Anyway, I know I have mentioned the Pharmacy a few times as being my favourite department, but I haven't really explained why. Now that I only have four more afternoons there - yikes, is it only four? - it seems about time that I list a few reasons why I like it so much:
1. I'm together with May, so we can chat and I don't have to worry as much about understanding Japanese because she is essentially my interpreter.
2. We get to sit down for the entire time. Believe me, this is a God-send after a hard morning on the nurses stations.
3. Most of what we do involves packaging medications, like this...
...folding leaflets, and occasionally mixing pre-measured medicine. None of this is particularly difficult work, but is occupying enough that we don't get too bored and not too distracting so we can still talk.
4. The staff in the Pharmacy are really friendly and very appreciative of our work. They even make us origami.
5. The staff in the Pharmacy bring us tea and cakes once we have finished all the work.
6. We are allowed to leave early if we finish all the work set. We do this every single week.
So there you go, my work in the Pharmacy in a nutshell.
When I first discovered that my whole working week was to be transformed so drastically, my instinct was to worry. (What a surprise, *eye roll*). Now though, I am getting quite excited about it. I have various sources of information in the hospital, and in terms of which new departments I can expect to spend half of my week in, overall things look good. I don't want to say too much on this now because I kinda sorta have a few surprises up my sleeve that I don't want to let slip yet. Hee hee. I know something you don't know!
Anyway, I know I have mentioned the Pharmacy a few times as being my favourite department, but I haven't really explained why. Now that I only have four more afternoons there - yikes, is it only four? - it seems about time that I list a few reasons why I like it so much:
1. I'm together with May, so we can chat and I don't have to worry as much about understanding Japanese because she is essentially my interpreter.
2. We get to sit down for the entire time. Believe me, this is a God-send after a hard morning on the nurses stations.
3. Most of what we do involves packaging medications, like this...
...folding leaflets, and occasionally mixing pre-measured medicine. None of this is particularly difficult work, but is occupying enough that we don't get too bored and not too distracting so we can still talk.
4. The staff in the Pharmacy are really friendly and very appreciative of our work. They even make us origami.
5. The staff in the Pharmacy bring us tea and cakes once we have finished all the work.
6. We are allowed to leave early if we finish all the work set. We do this every single week.
So there you go, my work in the Pharmacy in a nutshell.
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
2⽉ - Two Months
Well, another month has passed. That's two down, four to go. Looking back, the second month was a bit easier than the first. Perhaps this is because everything is now familiar, perhaps it's because of the babies on 5E. Although, having said that, I seem to have developed new fear during my second month in Japan: stairs. Japanese stairs are really steep and tall (you saw the ones at Suwa-jinja!) and are made of brick, and I'm afraid that if I fall down them I will break my neck and that will be the end of me. I'm even having dreams on this theme. I look forward to nice English, carpeted staircases.
On a much brighter note, yesterday I got to handle my first human organs! Woo. Sure, they were from a recent autopsy rather than a live patient, but that actually took the pressure off a little and made me less worried about dropping them on my shoes. My friend in the test dept. just kept on handing me body bits, which I prodded for a while until he handed me the next one. I could tell what some of the organs were but some were completely indistinguishable (they had already been 'autopsied' – cut up). I was playing around with one particular piece of dead person and couldn't figure out what it was, so I asked: the patient's rectum-
8-I
-Right. Okay, I'm just gonna put that one down now. Next? I was quite proud of myself for putting my hands in a jar filled with formaldehyde and all the internal organs of a now ex-patient. I hesitated at first, but then thought, 'hey, when is the next time I'm gonna get the chance to do this?' I answered my own question with, 'probably next year when you start medical school' and decided it was too long to wait. “Hand me the gloves,” I said. The organs were actually less scary once I had touched them. After feeling them they just became rubbery bits of meat rather than parts of a human being, and that was easier for my brain to handle.
Anyway, back to the point of this post. I have passed my two month marker. Next target: Three Months, aka Half Way.
Monday, 29 October 2007
おみやげ - Omiyage
There is a tradition in Japan that if you go away on a trip somewhere, you are expected to bring back gifts for all of your family, friends and co-workers. This had led to the development of many regional omiyage (souvenirs) which usually come in the form of food. I think this is because food items can be bought cheaply and in bulk. I saw, for instance, many of the Japanese passengers on the flight from Heathrow to Tokyo carrying boxes and boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates, presumably for this purpose.
In some of the departments that May and I work in during the course of a week we are given a tea break, and along with ocha we are also offered various omiyage that people have brought back from their domestic travels. We've tried omiyage from Nagoya, Tokyo and a bunch of other places that I now forget. Nagasaki's omiyage is the castella cake, which was originally brought over by the Dutch. It is basically a plain sponge cake, something not all that impressive to a European but to a Japanese person it is quite unusual. When I went to Glover Garden a few weeks ago and they had scores of castella shops lining the sloped streets. Fortunately for May and me, they had plenty of samples on offer of all the different flavours, including chocolate, banana, green tea and cheese. Yum.
Here's the cake that May and I bought from the Fukusaya Castella shop, which is famous in Japan for having the best castella's money can buy. It has been going for nearly 400 years, so I guess they have had plenty of practice. It just happens to be in Hamanomachi, the main shopping district here in Nagasaki. We couldn't resist trying one.
This is a fairly common type of omiyage, a manju. They are cakey on the outside and have a chestnut or sweet soy bean paste or something similar inside. Nagoya is meant to have the best manju, but this I bought from the hospital shop for ¥55.
In some of the departments that May and I work in during the course of a week we are given a tea break, and along with ocha we are also offered various omiyage that people have brought back from their domestic travels. We've tried omiyage from Nagoya, Tokyo and a bunch of other places that I now forget. Nagasaki's omiyage is the castella cake, which was originally brought over by the Dutch. It is basically a plain sponge cake, something not all that impressive to a European but to a Japanese person it is quite unusual. When I went to Glover Garden a few weeks ago and they had scores of castella shops lining the sloped streets. Fortunately for May and me, they had plenty of samples on offer of all the different flavours, including chocolate, banana, green tea and cheese. Yum.
Here's the cake that May and I bought from the Fukusaya Castella shop, which is famous in Japan for having the best castella's money can buy. It has been going for nearly 400 years, so I guess they have had plenty of practice. It just happens to be in Hamanomachi, the main shopping district here in Nagasaki. We couldn't resist trying one.
This is a fairly common type of omiyage, a manju. They are cakey on the outside and have a chestnut or sweet soy bean paste or something similar inside. Nagoya is meant to have the best manju, but this I bought from the hospital shop for ¥55.
Happy Halloween
May and I had been seeing posters all over Nagasaki for the past 6 weeks advertising a two-day 'Halloween Carnival' at the Seiyokan, to be held on October 27th and 28th. Naturally, we wanted to see how the Japanese celebrate Halloween so we went to check it out on Saturday. And this was it:
The “carnival” comprised two witches, a candy-floss machine and three games, one of which was a mini golf course with one hole. Hmm.
The “carnival” comprised two witches, a candy-floss machine and three games, one of which was a mini golf course with one hole. Hmm.
グラバー - Glover Garden
A few weeks ago May and I ventured down to the southern end of Nagasaki to visit the Glover Garden, named after Thomas Glover (1838-1911), who is famed for building the first train line in Japan and establishing the first modern shipyard. The former homes of some of the other pioneering European residents of Nagasaki have also been reassembled in this hillside garden. Well, that's enough of re-wording my travel guide. It was essentially a pretty garden, interspersed with a collection of European-style houses – not very interesting to a European – some ponds filled with carp, and a great view of the harbour. It was nice and all – pleasant, perhaps is a better word – but not all that interesting to me from a historical perspective, which I think was it's aim.
Oh yeah, Madame Butterfly was there too, see:
There was also a room dedicated to her in one of the houses, which had on display her kimono, elaborate hair pieces, fan and bamboo umbrella. Very pretty. I thought it was a nice touch that they had a recording of Madame Butterfly playing in the background.
Check out these guys:
Now what I want to know is did the sculptor see the turtles sitting like this before he made his turtle statue, or did the turtles see the statue in their pond and say to each other, “hey, you know what would be funny...”
You exit the garden via a museum displaying floats from the Kunchi Matsuri, which are even more magnificent close up. After that you have to go down a little sloped street lined with omiyage (souvenir) shops to get to the main road again. Among the castella's (I'll talk more about those later) and your average Japanese souvenirs (fans, chopsticks, pottery) there was also... Scottish shortbread. And to think, I was going to bring that from England as a gift for my Japanese friends here.
*
May spotted some kind of fair from the viewing platform at the top of the garden and it still being early in the day, we decided to go down and take a look after we had finished with Glover. (We were hoping there might be some interesting food opportunities). You'll never guess what it turned out to be... a motorbike rally.
There's a lesson to be learned here: You never know what you might stumble upon while you are out and about in Japan.
Oh yeah, Madame Butterfly was there too, see: 
There was also a room dedicated to her in one of the houses, which had on display her kimono, elaborate hair pieces, fan and bamboo umbrella. Very pretty. I thought it was a nice touch that they had a recording of Madame Butterfly playing in the background.
Check out these guys:
Now what I want to know is did the sculptor see the turtles sitting like this before he made his turtle statue, or did the turtles see the statue in their pond and say to each other, “hey, you know what would be funny...”
You exit the garden via a museum displaying floats from the Kunchi Matsuri, which are even more magnificent close up. After that you have to go down a little sloped street lined with omiyage (souvenir) shops to get to the main road again. Among the castella's (I'll talk more about those later) and your average Japanese souvenirs (fans, chopsticks, pottery) there was also... Scottish shortbread. And to think, I was going to bring that from England as a gift for my Japanese friends here.
*
May spotted some kind of fair from the viewing platform at the top of the garden and it still being early in the day, we decided to go down and take a look after we had finished with Glover. (We were hoping there might be some interesting food opportunities). You'll never guess what it turned out to be... a motorbike rally.
There's a lesson to be learned here: You never know what you might stumble upon while you are out and about in Japan.
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Engrish
Here are a few photos of some Engrish I have come across so far in Japan.
This was taking at my local video rental store, You-ing.
"Our fantasy and amusement park, that gives a wonderful smile anda deep impression to you, who have been crazy for cinema, music and good culture"... Hmm. You can see what they're trying to say.
*
This I took while I was on the tram (the tram system in Nagasaki being easier/quicker/cheaper than the buses, and therefore all I use to get around).
A man was carrying this bag. You can't see but it has a picture of a puppy on the side of it, which, admittedly, results in it making a little more sense.
*
I took this while I was at the Kunchi Matsuri a few weeks ago.
You heard the child, rock and move on!
*
This I think is actually pretty clever. Champon is a regional dish here in Nagasaki, consisting of noodles in a rich broth, with seafood, meat and vegetables on top.
Queen would be proud of the Japanese right now.
This was taking at my local video rental store, You-ing.
"Our fantasy and amusement park, that gives a wonderful smile anda deep impression to you, who have been crazy for cinema, music and good culture"... Hmm. You can see what they're trying to say.
*
This I took while I was on the tram (the tram system in Nagasaki being easier/quicker/cheaper than the buses, and therefore all I use to get around).
A man was carrying this bag. You can't see but it has a picture of a puppy on the side of it, which, admittedly, results in it making a little more sense.
*
I took this while I was at the Kunchi Matsuri a few weeks ago.
You heard the child, rock and move on!
*
This I think is actually pretty clever. Champon is a regional dish here in Nagasaki, consisting of noodles in a rich broth, with seafood, meat and vegetables on top.
Queen would be proud of the Japanese right now.
Monday, 22 October 2007
Suwajinja
I have been unbelievably busy this past week or so. I'm just about getting enough rest, but I have had practically no time to write anything substantial for this blog - sorry. Hopefully, this quick post will keep you all occupied until I find some time to write a real post.
May and I went to Suwajinja Shinto shrine on Saturday. Much to our dismay however, we had to climb the Tallest Set of Stairs in the World (see above) to get to it. This photo wasn't even taken from the bottom, but part way up.
The great ascent was worth it though; The view was amazing.
The shrine itself wasn't half bad either.
And we found an old-fashioned well to play with while we were there. Yay.
*
After the shrine we headed to the Fukusaya Castellla Shop, which has been making and selling castella cakes since 1624. We split the cost of the smallest one they did and had it for dessert after our first attempt at home-made okonomiyaki, which I have to say was a remarkable success.
May and I went to Suwajinja Shinto shrine on Saturday. Much to our dismay however, we had to climb the Tallest Set of Stairs in the World (see above) to get to it. This photo wasn't even taken from the bottom, but part way up.
The great ascent was worth it though; The view was amazing.
The shrine itself wasn't half bad either.
And we found an old-fashioned well to play with while we were there. Yay.
*
After the shrine we headed to the Fukusaya Castellla Shop, which has been making and selling castella cakes since 1624. We split the cost of the smallest one they did and had it for dessert after our first attempt at home-made okonomiyaki, which I have to say was a remarkable success.
Friday, 19 October 2007
イングランドの デザード – English Desserts
Whenever people here have asked me what English food is like, I have often been stumped for examples. What actually is English food? I try and think about the sort of stuff we eat on a daily basis in England, and most of it isn't English - pasta, curry, pizza etc. I end up naming various desserts, starting with scones because the Japanese seem to like those. And dairy, lots of dairy. Aside from that, I can only think of hot pots and casseroles and things like that, which are all really difficult to explain in Japanese.
Anyway, this has led me to want to a) learn more about true English cuisine, and b) learn how to cook. If for no other reason, I want to return the hospitality I have received here by sharing some of the cuisine from my own country with a few of the people I have met. May and I are therefore arranging for Marikosan (and possibly Namisan) to go over to May's apartment one evening and she will cook a traditional Korean main course for the four of us, while I will make an English dessert. I have decided on Apple Crumble, since that is the easiest thing for me to make with the facilities I have in my room. Plus, it only requires four ingredients, so it will be quite cheap to make even for four people. (I was especially pleased with the 1kg bag of flour I got for ¥105 / £0.45).
Yesterday evening I did a test-run and it went very well considering I don't have a sieve, a set of scales or an oven. I aired the flour as best I could with a fork, measured the ingredients by eye/ using a cup, and cooked it in the microwave/oven thing that I do have in my possession. (I'm not actually entirely sure what it is... it heats things up and turns things brown on top, but It is definitely not a microwave or an oven as I know them). I think I am going to serve the crumble with ice-cream; obtaining custard in Nagasaki would be nothing short of a miracle.
Anyway, this has led me to want to a) learn more about true English cuisine, and b) learn how to cook. If for no other reason, I want to return the hospitality I have received here by sharing some of the cuisine from my own country with a few of the people I have met. May and I are therefore arranging for Marikosan (and possibly Namisan) to go over to May's apartment one evening and she will cook a traditional Korean main course for the four of us, while I will make an English dessert. I have decided on Apple Crumble, since that is the easiest thing for me to make with the facilities I have in my room. Plus, it only requires four ingredients, so it will be quite cheap to make even for four people. (I was especially pleased with the 1kg bag of flour I got for ¥105 / £0.45).
Yesterday evening I did a test-run and it went very well considering I don't have a sieve, a set of scales or an oven. I aired the flour as best I could with a fork, measured the ingredients by eye/ using a cup, and cooked it in the microwave/oven thing that I do have in my possession. (I'm not actually entirely sure what it is... it heats things up and turns things brown on top, but It is definitely not a microwave or an oven as I know them). I think I am going to serve the crumble with ice-cream; obtaining custard in Nagasaki would be nothing short of a miracle.
Monday, 15 October 2007
Okonomiyaki
This is what I had for lunch last Tuesday after going to the Kunchi Matsuri. Okonomiyaki translates as 'as you like' or 'whatever you like' and this refers to the vast choice of ingredients that you can pick and choose from. It is kind of a mixture between pancake and pizza, so like pizza toppings, you choose ingredients for this too. It is also known as 'Japanese Pizza' for this reason. This is probably one of my favourite food finds so far. What is funny is that when I first saw it advertised in restaurant windows etc. I thought 'ew, that looks horrible'. In my defence, they advertise the ingredients here, not the finished product, like this:
This is because you cook it yourself at the restaurant. The table has a sunken hot-plate in the middle of it, so you receive your order simply as ingredients in a bowl. You mix it all up yourself, pour it onto the hot-plate and let it cook. Then you decorate it liberally with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and dried bonito. It was all very novel, but aside from that it was absolutely delicious.
(Kimura-san's is the one on the far right, May's on the near right and mine is the one on the left)
I thought if you make it yourself anyway in restaurants, I may as well try making it myself at home in a frying pan. I went online and found a few good recipes, which I thought I would share with you. You could easily try this at home if you felt so inclined:
Ingredients
Essentials:
1 cup flour
1 egg
¾ cup dashi or water
1/8 - 1/4 cabbage
Optional:
beansprouts
mushrooms
peas
sweetcorn
onion
tuna
squid
prawns
chicken
beef
or anything else you can think of!
Sauces:
Okonomiyaki sauce (or I suppose tomato ketchup or brown sauce would do)
mayonnaise
dried bonito flakes
Method
1. Shred or finely chop the cabbage.
2. Mix the water, flour, eggs and shredded cabbage together.
3. Cut your chosen additional ingredients into small, dice-sized pieces and add to the base.
4. Bung it all in a well-oiled frying pan and cook on a low heat, checking the underside regularly to see if it is turning brown.
5. Flip the whole think like a pancake. As with pancakes, it is always best not to drop it on the floor at this point.
6. Cook until the underside is golden-brown.
7. Decorate as you like with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and dried bonito. In this case, it is better to have too much than too little.
8. Cut into slices (like a pizza) and serve while hot. Enjoy.
Easy, or what? There you have it: your first Japanese pizza.
This is because you cook it yourself at the restaurant. The table has a sunken hot-plate in the middle of it, so you receive your order simply as ingredients in a bowl. You mix it all up yourself, pour it onto the hot-plate and let it cook. Then you decorate it liberally with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and dried bonito. It was all very novel, but aside from that it was absolutely delicious.
(Kimura-san's is the one on the far right, May's on the near right and mine is the one on the left)
I thought if you make it yourself anyway in restaurants, I may as well try making it myself at home in a frying pan. I went online and found a few good recipes, which I thought I would share with you. You could easily try this at home if you felt so inclined:
Ingredients
Essentials:
1 cup flour
1 egg
¾ cup dashi or water
1/8 - 1/4 cabbage
Optional:
beansprouts
mushrooms
peas
sweetcorn
onion
tuna
squid
prawns
chicken
beef
or anything else you can think of!
Sauces:
Okonomiyaki sauce (or I suppose tomato ketchup or brown sauce would do)
mayonnaise
dried bonito flakes
Method
1. Shred or finely chop the cabbage.
2. Mix the water, flour, eggs and shredded cabbage together.
3. Cut your chosen additional ingredients into small, dice-sized pieces and add to the base.
4. Bung it all in a well-oiled frying pan and cook on a low heat, checking the underside regularly to see if it is turning brown.
5. Flip the whole think like a pancake. As with pancakes, it is always best not to drop it on the floor at this point.
6. Cook until the underside is golden-brown.
7. Decorate as you like with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and dried bonito. In this case, it is better to have too much than too little.
8. Cut into slices (like a pizza) and serve while hot. Enjoy.
Easy, or what? There you have it: your first Japanese pizza.
Nagasaki Kunchi Matsuri
From the 7th -9th October each year Nagasaki celebrates the Kunchi Matsuri (festival), and has done so for more than 370 years. It celebrates the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, which is meant to a lucky day. The name “Kunchi' comes from the Japanese for “ninth day”, “ku nichi”. There are festivities on all three days and in various places around the city, notably at the Suwa-jinja Shinto shrine and at Otabisho, which is outside the You-Me-Seito department store that I have already come to know and love.
I found a website that gave a very informative description of the festival, but I have lost the address so I will repeat some of it here:
The first Kunchi festival took place in 1634 as part of the central government's campaign against Christianity. It is to give thanks for the harvest, but it also coincides with a period when the gods are said to leave their own shrines for a kind of annual conference. Kunchi festivals are held in many parts of Japan, but Nagasaki's Kunchi is recognised as one of the three great festivals of the Japanese year and attracts visitors from all over the country. At the festival a number of machi (districts of the city) are selected to perform.
The performance normally has three parts. First is the parading of the machi's kasaboko, a huge ceremonial umbrella, bearing the symbols of the machi. Next is the parading of a huge wooden boat on wheels, which is usually occupied by children playing drums and cymbals. Finally, there is a performance of some sort, sometimes involving the boat, but usually a dance.
Nagasaki's Kunchi is distinguished by two features, apart from the enormous effort of preparation which goes into it. Firstly, there is a variety of dances, which came to the city with people who were brought to the city to repopulate it after the Shimabara massacre of 1638. Secondly, there is the incorporation of Dutch and Chinese elements into the performances, which has occurred during its long history.
I saw the festivities at Otabisho on Tuesday morning, which started at 7am. There are seven different performances that make up the whole festival, each performed by a different machi and each lasting between 30-40 minutes. So yeah, it was a long morning.
Kohjiya Machi – The kawafune (Riverboat dance). The large, wooden boat is pulled along by a group of men, and rotated (in one direction only), which excites the crowd greatly. There was lots of yelling, cheering and clapping - no chance at all of anyone still being half-asleep by this point. The carp mounted on the roof of the float represent the carp in the Nakashima river which runs alongside the town.
Kohzen Machi – The Hon-Odori (Japanese dance). This was the first time I got to see/hear shamisen live, and it was wonderful. I also got to see geisha – yay. It started raining at the beginning of this dance, but that wasn't going to stop anyone. It's a good thing that geisha make-up practically has to be chiselled off to be removed.
Gin-ya Machi – The Shachi-daiko (Fish and Drums dance). This was just amazing. It was possibly my favourite of the performances. The taiko drummers were awesome; the sound reverberated through my chest the whole time. Add onto that the phenomenal displays of men heaving, pulling, throwing and catching a giant wooden float and you got yourself a performance that made me more glad than ever to be in Japan.
Yahata Machi – The Yumiya Hachiman Iwaibune/ Kenbu (celebration Boat/ Sword Dance). I was surprised to see only women doing the sword dance. They were obviously very skilled with their samurai swords and they gave an impressive, if a little intimidating, display of female strength. The celebration boat was pretty good too:
Manzai Machi – A Hon-dori (Japanese Dance). The music took a step or two up beat with the beginning of this performance, so that the sound of the Shamisen was now combined with more modern music. This really got the crowd going, with a lot of people joining in with the singing and dancing. It was awfully fun to simply watch too.
Nishihamono Machi – The Jabune (Dragon Boat). The dragon boat is apparently the largest object used in the festival, although they all looked similarly large to me. This boat is meant to represent the ship which brought Princess Anio to Nagasaki to marry Soutaro Araki, a wealthy trader. As you can see, unfortunately some of it had to be covered in clear plastic sheeting to protect it from the now heavy rain. The crowd (me included) got quite a shock when 'smoke' (water vapour) shot out of the dragon's mouth!
Gotoh Machi - Jaodori (Dragon Dance). Ah yes, the dragon dance. Some years there is a 'child dragon' but this year there was just an 'adult dragon', which I have to be honest was a slight relief because I was really tired by this point and my enthusiasm for the crowd's near-deafening cheers had dwindled somewhat. It was a fantastic performance, don't get me wrong. The performers aim for speed and height in this dance, when the leader guides the dragon in various directions with - what I can only describe as - a golden, spinning ball on the end of a staff (sorry, I don't know the name of it).
Kasaboko: Each machi's performance begins with a kasaboko, which is huge, parasol-like object. It carries a placard with the machi's name on it, as well as decorations on top, and a veil draped all around the sides. One man carries the 130-150 kg float on his shoulders, and to make things that little bit more difficult, the veil prevents him from seeing where he is going, so another person guides him with a flag. The carrier dances and spins in a circle, again, with much encouragement from the crowd. All very impressive.
If anybody is thinking of visiting Nagasaki and is unsure of when to do so, come at the beginning of October! This has been one of the highlights of Japan so far for me I feel privileged to have seen it all live, something that many Japanese don't even get the chance to enjoy.
I found a website that gave a very informative description of the festival, but I have lost the address so I will repeat some of it here:
The first Kunchi festival took place in 1634 as part of the central government's campaign against Christianity. It is to give thanks for the harvest, but it also coincides with a period when the gods are said to leave their own shrines for a kind of annual conference. Kunchi festivals are held in many parts of Japan, but Nagasaki's Kunchi is recognised as one of the three great festivals of the Japanese year and attracts visitors from all over the country. At the festival a number of machi (districts of the city) are selected to perform.
The performance normally has three parts. First is the parading of the machi's kasaboko, a huge ceremonial umbrella, bearing the symbols of the machi. Next is the parading of a huge wooden boat on wheels, which is usually occupied by children playing drums and cymbals. Finally, there is a performance of some sort, sometimes involving the boat, but usually a dance.
Nagasaki's Kunchi is distinguished by two features, apart from the enormous effort of preparation which goes into it. Firstly, there is a variety of dances, which came to the city with people who were brought to the city to repopulate it after the Shimabara massacre of 1638. Secondly, there is the incorporation of Dutch and Chinese elements into the performances, which has occurred during its long history.
I saw the festivities at Otabisho on Tuesday morning, which started at 7am. There are seven different performances that make up the whole festival, each performed by a different machi and each lasting between 30-40 minutes. So yeah, it was a long morning.
Kohjiya Machi – The kawafune (Riverboat dance). The large, wooden boat is pulled along by a group of men, and rotated (in one direction only), which excites the crowd greatly. There was lots of yelling, cheering and clapping - no chance at all of anyone still being half-asleep by this point. The carp mounted on the roof of the float represent the carp in the Nakashima river which runs alongside the town.
Kohzen Machi – The Hon-Odori (Japanese dance). This was the first time I got to see/hear shamisen live, and it was wonderful. I also got to see geisha – yay. It started raining at the beginning of this dance, but that wasn't going to stop anyone. It's a good thing that geisha make-up practically has to be chiselled off to be removed.
Gin-ya Machi – The Shachi-daiko (Fish and Drums dance). This was just amazing. It was possibly my favourite of the performances. The taiko drummers were awesome; the sound reverberated through my chest the whole time. Add onto that the phenomenal displays of men heaving, pulling, throwing and catching a giant wooden float and you got yourself a performance that made me more glad than ever to be in Japan.
Yahata Machi – The Yumiya Hachiman Iwaibune/ Kenbu (celebration Boat/ Sword Dance). I was surprised to see only women doing the sword dance. They were obviously very skilled with their samurai swords and they gave an impressive, if a little intimidating, display of female strength. The celebration boat was pretty good too:
Manzai Machi – A Hon-dori (Japanese Dance). The music took a step or two up beat with the beginning of this performance, so that the sound of the Shamisen was now combined with more modern music. This really got the crowd going, with a lot of people joining in with the singing and dancing. It was awfully fun to simply watch too.
Nishihamono Machi – The Jabune (Dragon Boat). The dragon boat is apparently the largest object used in the festival, although they all looked similarly large to me. This boat is meant to represent the ship which brought Princess Anio to Nagasaki to marry Soutaro Araki, a wealthy trader. As you can see, unfortunately some of it had to be covered in clear plastic sheeting to protect it from the now heavy rain. The crowd (me included) got quite a shock when 'smoke' (water vapour) shot out of the dragon's mouth!
Gotoh Machi - Jaodori (Dragon Dance). Ah yes, the dragon dance. Some years there is a 'child dragon' but this year there was just an 'adult dragon', which I have to be honest was a slight relief because I was really tired by this point and my enthusiasm for the crowd's near-deafening cheers had dwindled somewhat. It was a fantastic performance, don't get me wrong. The performers aim for speed and height in this dance, when the leader guides the dragon in various directions with - what I can only describe as - a golden, spinning ball on the end of a staff (sorry, I don't know the name of it).
Kasaboko: Each machi's performance begins with a kasaboko, which is huge, parasol-like object. It carries a placard with the machi's name on it, as well as decorations on top, and a veil draped all around the sides. One man carries the 130-150 kg float on his shoulders, and to make things that little bit more difficult, the veil prevents him from seeing where he is going, so another person guides him with a flag. The carrier dances and spins in a circle, again, with much encouragement from the crowd. All very impressive.
If anybody is thinking of visiting Nagasaki and is unsure of when to do so, come at the beginning of October! This has been one of the highlights of Japan so far for me I feel privileged to have seen it all live, something that many Japanese don't even get the chance to enjoy.
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