My Dad and I travelled down to Reading on Thursday for a briefing by G.A.P. and although it was possibly the worst train journey we have ever been on and the most over-priced hotel we have ever stayed in (it was £65 per night per person, but you could probably find the same quality of rooms in a hotel charging £20 a night), it was still worth going. If nothing else, it was a real jump start. I'm now devoting most of my time to Japan stuff, mainly the language at the moment, and now the excitement is overriding the fear and panic.
Before I went on the briefing day in Reading I was really worried about how I was ever going to manage with only a 23kg luggage allowance. I kept thinking, 23kg for six months... I don't think so. Now I'm thinking I won't even go near that limit. I debated for a long time over whether I should get a rucksack or a suitcase, especially given that I will be doing at least three weeks of in-country travelling. What clinched it was my Dad filling up my brother's 45 litre rucksack with the heaviest things he could find and then seeing how it felt when I put it on.... I worked up a sweat just standing still whilst wearing it! I could barely walk the couple of metres across my bedroom so there was no way I would be able to haul a rucksack of similar size and weight up and down Japan's mountains. So I chose to get a suitcase. Apparently there's a well-established system in Japan where people send their luggage on ahead of them and then just travel with a small piece of hand luggage, so that solves the issue of a suitcase being awkward to transport.
Another thing I found out at the briefing: I may be placed to work on the hospital pharmacy for a couple of weeks and if I am I will be required to read prescriptions and medicine labels, which will be predominantly if not entirely in hiragana and katakana. There goes my focusing-on-conversational-Japanese plan – right out the window. I am taking this news in my stride however, and have already learned about half the hiragana “alphabet”. I have been told also that it is not particularly important to know thousands of kanji, which is a huge relief. I had best get my hiragana and katakana perfect though, since I am told I will be handing out medications directly to patients. Lots of potential for things to go wrong there.
Anyway, that's all I have to report for now. I'll leave you with a picture of the new receptionist at Aizu Central Hospital in Aizu-Wakamatsu city:
1 comment:
Crikey. That's a lot of responsibility - they're assuming a lot, expecting you to read Japanese.
Presumably you can get a daysack, like my pink gym bag, for everyday use? If you like mine, I'll get you one the same (or different if you prefer) as an early birthday pressy.
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