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.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

How many people are in the news for falling down the stairs Lily?Exactly!! You are a dainty, neat little lady, and with all your exercising and especially running will have a better sense of balance than most. People, even old ducks like me who walk and keep fit are much more able to balance on one leg without falling over. Try singing your way up and down the steps; you could even pretend you are a famous star making a movie; the variations are endless.G.xx

Anonymous said...

Ew, 8-I indeed. Rather you than me. OK, so I was up to my elbows in chicken livers at college, but somehow the idea of them being human livers is more gross. To me, anyway. You have my admiration.

I could say 'you've got guts' but that would be a really bad pun, so I won't.

Anonymous said...

Nagasaki is said to be a slope town. It is said that there are so many slopes there, ownership rate of bicycle is the lowest in Japan.

Maybe I'm wrong, but that geographical feature leads to lots of stairs there, too.