My work timetable has been arranged so that every fortnight the nursing station I am working on changes. For my first two weeks I was in the 7th floor East wing. Last week I moved to 6E. I was a little apprehensive about the move – new staff, new patients, new expectations – but I was actually pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it went (despite being put on the spot on my first day when I was asked to introduce myself (in Japanese) at the staff meeting they have every morning). I now prefer 6E to 7E. The staff in 7E knew it was my first fortnight on the job, so went kind of easy on me, but I have noticed a gradual increase in responsibility over the past three weeks. Just think where I will be in six months!
My new supervisor on 6E is Yamaguchi-san (Mrs Yamaguchi) and I love her. She's in her mid-fifties and makes up for her small stature (she's about 4'9”) with a really jolly personality. Also, her English is a little better than my Japanese, but not by much, so we're constantly teaching each other new words and phrases in our respective languages. Yes, I think she is the one person I have learned the most Japanese from. She knows I want to improve my Japanese so she lets me shout “Ocha douzo” (lit. “Tea, Please”) into the patients' rooms when we give them their 11am cup of green tea. She and some of the other nurses have started calling me Lily-chan ('Riri-chan'), which is a slightly subordinate but affectionate name. To put it into perspective, children get called '-chan'. Mind you, I am kind of the 'child' on the hospital staff – I am the only one yet to reach 20 years of age, which is an important marker in Japanese culture. So yeah, calling me '-chan' isn't much of a surprise really.
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