Big Bad Boil

I have debated whether or not to post about this, but it has been such a big part of my life the past few days that I feel like I should. If for no other reason than to reread it in a few months and remember the story and how far I've come. 

Last December, right before I went home for Christmas, I got my first boil. Gross and slightly embarrassing, I knew nothing about what they were or how I'd acquired one. It was right where my leg met my butt, and over the course of a few days began to cause agonizing pain. I could barely walk, I winced the entire 15 minute bike ride to school, and standing and sitting came to be the most difficult part of my day. I would have gone to the doctor sooner, but being that I'm over here, I wasn't exactly sure where to go nor did I have the vocabulary to get things accomplished. Long story short, Kim and her amazing Japanese came with me, Keima wrote out in my issue in detail, and I made a list of vocab I needed. The visit went smoothly. I got 3 pills, and was set to leave for the US 2 days later, where I would have it looked at there. I did, and it drained, and we were golden.

Then I came back to Japan and some how acquired two new boils in my armpit. Every time I get one, since I'm now becoming a connoisseur, there is always a day where I am just out of commission. One night where I just cry from pain and frustration. Then continue to add hot compresses or whatever, willing it to mature, drain, and re-leave the pressure. The pain will continue for about a week as it slowly drains, though is bearable by then.

Vocabulary.

Last Sunday I got the pleasure of having 2 next to each other at the top of my right armpit. An already painful addition to my body, the sensitive location only magnified the pain. Then there was a rash down my arm, tender to my elbow, I decided I should probably go to the doctor. I did, this time all by myself. I was hoping to get some antibiotics like last time, which worked great, and go home. Instead the doctor decided to lance, as in cut, it. 

"I think maybeee I should cut it," the doctor said as he manhandled my sore.

Without being rude, I mentally willed him to change his mind. 

"Really? We cant just wait a few days and see if it drains?"

"No. I should cut it today."

"Ok. (Damn) Are you going to numb it first?"

"Oh of course," he said, "though the anesthesia doesn't always work. And the injection itself is quite painful."

Awesome.

I watched as he filled a syringe 90% full. I asked in Japanese if he was going to put it all in. He gave me a reluctant yes. I winced. The thing already hurt from the pressure it was putting on my nerves, so yes, please, by all means, shove more liquid in there.

I watched with terror as the doctor received, blades, scissors, forceps and needles from the nurse and took to my delicate pit. I cried, the entire time. I lifted my head once and saw sooo much blood I let out an audible gasp. The doctor told me in perfectly simple, calm English, 

"I think it's better for you not to look."

I laid back down, putting my left hand over my face turning toward the wall. The doctor explained in English that he was taking out the debris, as he called it. I said I understood, and the whole room laughed as I said the word for pus in Japanese. Who knew my Japanese vocabulary would expand medically?!

A nurse came to my feet and held my knees trying to calm me. I tried to focus on her. That was a poor decision. She could see the doctor cut before I felt it and would squeeze my knees in anticipation. Allowing me to know for sure that pain was in store.

Finally, he stuffed the newly enlarged hole with gauze and wrapped my arm. It felt like my arm was on fire. He wrote me a prescription for the 3 pills I'd previously had and set me up with an IV antibiotic before I left. I continued to cry. I could not stop. I tried to take deep breaths, telling myself the worst was for sure over. At least for today. I still had to come back Thursday and Friday.

Drugs.

As the nurses escorted me to the IV room next door, they chuckled telling me in Japanese that I was entering an all Japanese zone, between tears I smiled and told them that was not a problem. One tried to bond with me telling me that she was there in December when I first came in. That was a special moment. She came back and handed me tissues as I tried to calm myself, smiling as I called myself a baby in Japanese. She assured me my tears were validated as she made another cutting motion in the air.

I biked home, lifting my arm off the handle bars in anticipation of bumps in the road.  Now semi hungry, all I wanted was Mac and Cheese. Not exactly prevalent in Japan. Kim had just arrived home from Spain hours before so was coincidently home at 1pm on this Wednesday. I went to say hi and ask how Spain was, trying to distract myself from my throbbing arm. Then she asked what happened. As soon as I opened my mouth I cried. Again.

But things were looking up. She amazingly happened to have a box of the ever famous Mac and Cheese, and kindly offered to make it for us for lunch. Full fat. I was all for it. After lunch I was able to take my prescription, one of which being a pain killer. I could feel it kicking in. I took a nap and lost myself in television on my computer.

Flowers from my lovely neighbor Liv.

Battle Wound.

Just a few hours later, I felt SO much better. My arm wasn't on fire and since he took out a ton of debris, the pressure was mostly gone. I was able to do some laundry, and dishes that had been neglected. The teachers at work emailed to check on me.  I told them in summary what I had done. Since it was a form of a procedure, I was encouraged to stay home and rest. 

Fine by me.

I slept in on the rainy Thursday, then syran wrapped my arm to shower. Called my family, then hopped on my bike to head back to the doctors. I had no idea if more cutting was involved and I mentally prepared myself as I parked my bike and handed over my insurance card. The nurse who had tried to be my buddy the previous day, was thrilled to see me smiling. I watched the tools she handed the doctor, analyzing the damage each could do. I almost leaped off the table for joy when I realized it was just a gauze change. I winced a little as the gauze came out and went back in, but nothing compared to the previous day. I got another antibiotic IV and was pretty much giddy the rest of the visit.

Tick Tock.
Bored and so excited there was no more slicing!

Friday I went to work half day, and back to the doctors, which is just across the street. Another gauze change, IV, and hang out sesh with my new nurse friends. This time no gauze went back in the wound. We're making progress!
Before the gauze went back on, I told them that my mom was a nurse and wanted a picture of the opening. Not a total lie, but I did want to send her one. Lucky lady. They said of course that was ok. In the two seconds it took for me to take the pic, I could hear that information traveling throughout the floor, no doubt the entire ward now knows my mother is a nurse.

BFF.

IV Fun.

Since I wasn't in tears and was all smiles this visit, the doctor told me that he once had visited San Francisco, taking BART and visiting UCSF. He then informed me that the word gauze comes from the Gaza Strip in Israel. Random but very cool. I had no idea.

I am all smiles and back to normal now. Having a dinner with a friend tonight and attending a Calvin Harris concert tomorrow night after a morning gauze change.

This weekend is shaping up nicely!

Lanced, 

KBoil

[The Latest]

Must Read: Japan One Year On...from The Sun. AMAZING PICTURES!

Google Search: Boils.

Tune: Crash Your Party By Karmin.

Accomplishment: A solo doctors visit.
Obsessions: Chocolate rice crispy treats.

30 Days of Photo Fun: The Second 10

See the first 10 here.

Day 11: Something Blue.
Fuzzy Christmas socks from Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Bob.

Day 12: Sunset.
Mt. Fuji and Sky Tree Tower from the roof of our city hall.

Day 13: Yourself With 13 Things. 
In front of my closet with my English/Japanese index
cards that decorate my house.

Day 14: Eyes.
This one was not as easy as I thought it would be. 

Day 15: Silhouette.
Bike silhouette at night. 

Day 16: Long Exposure.
Shibuya Crossing, those are people walking across the street.
Cool huh?!

Day 17: Technology.
Sticker Seat Warmer
Bet you didn't expect that one.

Day 18: Your Shoes.
Some of my Kutsus.

Day 19: Something Orange.
This little orange marker smiles at me, from my desk, everyday.

Day 20: Bokeh.
I had to look up what it meant, but its basically
the aesthetic quality of the blur
in a photo.

20 of 30, 

Kate

Books and Wine

This past Sunday, Debs, Kris and I set out on a little adventure of our own. Debs had gotten an email about the most beautiful bookstores in the world, and there happened to be one in Tokyo, not far from where we were sipping coffee. We opted for a walk rather than a single stop train trip. Iphone in hand, we arrived 20 minutes later in darling Daikanyama. Walked past tons of cute shops and a surprising amount of Italian restaurants. Then we found Tsutaya.   

Being a bookaholic herself, Debs let out a squeal as we walked in. It was validated. To say the place was beautiful would be an understatement. 

We looked at books, magazines, maps, photos, pens, stationary, dvds and cds for hours. Finally deciding that we should probably eat dinner and make our way home. We tried to eat in what was essentially a wine bar, in the book store, but it was too crowded. We walked for bit before opting to look in a rustic, Italian looking grocery store where we were pleased to find a reasonably priced restaurant.

Eataly.

Wine. Bread & Olive Oil. Cheese & Salami. Gorgonzola Pasta.
It was an amazing dinner.

2 Spoons.
She gave me two spoons.
She thought I was going to share my gelato.
She thought wrong.

Carbo Loaded,
Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World...from Flavorwire.

Google Search: Sandwiches in Tokyo

Tune: Ass Back Home By Gym Class Heros.

Accomplishment: A clean house.
Obsessions: My Gorgonzola pasta from Eataly. Yes, I'm still thinking about it.

Ireland for Dinner

After receiving my invitation a few weeks ago, I finally was ready to head out to dinner. Layering a new chunky sweater over a summer dress and leggings, I grabbed my tiara and sash and headed to one of the most unique places I have dined, probably ever. I met a friend at the train station, he led the walk as we may our way to the Irish Ambassador to Japan's residence for dinner. The dinner was to the thank the people that planned last year's first ever pageant, and annual St. Patrick's Day parade in Tokyo, though last year we swapped the parade for a record setting earthquake. 

We arrived at dinner and the mingling instantly began. I saw so many friendly faces that I hadn't seen in nearly a year. I gave out meshi left and right, collecting about 30 business cards myself. We chatted about how great this year's parade was going to be, with all the proceeds going toward the disaster regions that still need our support. It had been announced a few days earlier, that since I never got to full-fill my duty as Parade Queen last year, I would get to do it this year. There is not going to be another pageant this year, and 2012 is essentially going to be a do-over from last year. 

I can't wait!

The Flags
European Union, Ireland, Japan

Irish Network Japan

After choosing between wine, Baileys and Guinness for a beverage starter, we all turned our attention to the podium as His Excellency John Neary gave a welcome speech. He thanked us all for coming, doing his best to mention the many organizations that were there by name. Even mentioning mine! His accent turned my last name from Bo-han to Bo-wen, the way it's pronounced in its native Ireland. I smiled. There was a muffled oh! from the audience and a few looks around as people looked for the queen in the room. The man next to me who I'd been chatting with nudged me. I smiled again.

H.E. John Neary

Then it was time to eat! The 200 or so of us lined up for one of the best meals I'd had in a while. I piled my plate high, with amazing cheese, lasagna, salmon, salad and Irish soda bread.

Dinner.

Magic.

During dinner one of the guys explained he was a magician and wanted to perform some magic tricks for/with us. He had me write my name on the queen card, because it's only appropriate...

Making it appear and disappear so quick I could barely keep up. I was duly impressed. 

Queen's Card.

The ever charming, Dane.

H.E. John Neary & Queen Kate.

Irish, 

Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: Chocolate Advertisements in the 20th and 21st Centuries ...from Slate

Google Search: Guam

Tune: Stronger By Kelly Clarkson.

Accomplishment: A clean inbox.
Obsessions: Bacon, thanks to Costco.

The Norm for Me, A Chuckle for You, 2

As soon as you come to Japan and speak English to any native Japanese speaker, you'll learn real fast that there are a few letters from the English alphabet that cause problems for native Japanese speakers. Fluency and intelligence have nothing to do with it, there's just something about these sounds that cause trouble for many Japanese speaking English.

Differentiating between B and V is quite the challenge, resulting in such interesting new words as...

bocabulary

feber

neber

balintines day

trabel

ober

 convenience stores nation wide called combinis

Differentiating between L and R is even more difficult. Resulting in many words that, for all intents and purposes, become interchangeable. For example...

glass/grass

bling/bring

led/red

play/pray

fly/fry

light/right

lice/rice

clap/crap

The kids are often eating lice for breakfast, praying soccer, studying engrish and crapping their hands.

Exhibit A: My Grocery Store
In case you bought any deep flied food
that doesn't have a bar code.

I hardly even notice these minor errors anymore. Most of the time, from context, I can figure out what the person is trying to say, I just roll with it and move on.

Except for last Friday.

I was at a rather posh dinner, which only adds to the humor, and was talking to a lovely Japanese man, fluent in English. His pronunciation was amazing, and his English was so good that I realized I could multitask while we chatted. I continued to add lasagna to my plate as he told me about this group he was in. I listened politely, nodding along. Then he started to tell me about the erection the group was having. I spun around and had to consciously de-furrow my brow so as not to insult him as he was still chatting away.

“Yes, next year were planning to hold an erection. As the erection comes up (I almost dropped my plate) we are planning on holding a dinner to try to talk to people about voting. Ya, I can't wait till the erection of a new president of our group! ” 

Sounds like a fun group. I wonder if that erection will be public or private...

With Rove,
Kate

P.S. Read the first, The Norm for Me, A Chuckle for You, here.

[The Latest]

Must Read: Can I Get On the Mormon Do Not Baptize List?...from Slate

Google Search: Amazon Japan, puzzles

Tune: Better Together By Jack Johnson.

Accomplishment: Attempting a new recipe.
Obsessions: Goldfish crackers, thanks to the foreign good store.

Shreddin the Pow Pow! Translation: I Went Snowboarding

This past weekend I was able to cross another thing off my bucket list. Snowboarding! A friend of a friend had organized a group trip to Hakuba Mountain in Nagano. You may have heard of Nagano back in 1998 when it hosted a little something called the Olympics. 

I had been skiing, but never snowboarding, though had always wanted to try it. Deborah and Kris had yet to try snowboarding as well so we banned together, signed up, and pledged to hold each others hands through the learning process, promising not to laugh too hard when we tumbled face first into the snow. 

We boarded the overnight bus with 17 other soon to be friends and settled in for the 6 hour drive. We arrived to our snowy lodge, and Hakuba quickly became, the place with the most snow I had ever seen. It covered every nook and cranny, twice. It was layered on the tree branches and was waist deep along the streets. It was beautiful, cold, stunning, intimidating and mesmerizing all in one.

  

Groggy and hungover, we dropped our stuff off at the lodge then hopped back on the bus to head to a conbini to grab breakfast.

Then it was back to the lodge to layer up, mentally prepare ourselves, and walk the 10 minutes to the mountain. We rented gear and bought our lift tickets. Saw that there was a Subway and Haagen Dazs for lunch and told ourselves we had that to look forward to.

Mental Preparedness.

Bringin Sexy Back.

Today's Activity.
Note how many snowboarders are on the ground. Not a promising start.

 In a nutshell, here is how my Saturday went...

AM

-got our gear, got to the mountain, all the while trying my best to convince debs and kris that they were going to be able to get off the lift.
-received approximately 3.75 minutes of instruction from experienced snowboarders in our group before they ushered us onto the lift.
-i fiddled with my pants. i had borrowed a spare pair from one of the guys in our group and they were a few sizes too big. i looked like i had just robbed a bank, and not so discretely stuffed the loot in my pants.
-we approached the ski lift. debs started to stress.
-debs and kris made it off the lift beautifully. i did a belly flop and knocked the wind out of myself.
-we were ushered off the lift to the mountain and given approximately 2.33 more minutes of instruction.
-i decided i was ready to try.
-in one smooth movement, i stood then fell.
-stood...fell
-stood...fell.
-watched the expeienced guys from our group glide gracefully down the moutain and tried to replicate them, instead, i stood then fell
-stood..exhaled...fell.
-stood...fell...cussed.
-stood, scooted...fell
-watched debs stand and fall.
-watched kris stand and fall.
-stood...fell...looked up at how much snow was in the branches overhead.
-laid in the snow, looking at how far it was to the bottom of the mountain and wondered how socially inappropriate it would be if i used my board as a sled.
-stood..fell..cursed the little kids zipping around me.
-stood, managed to go for a few feet but couldn't quite steer, ended up off-roading.
-cussed.
-undid my bindings, picked up my board and hiked back up to the designated snowboarding zone.
-in the two hours before lunch i made it down the mountain a whopping twice, 75% of that time was on my ass.
-i had gotten separated from everyone, and could feel my face burning. i was already mad at the mountain so after finally making it to the bottom i took off my board and headed to the gift shop to buy chocolate and sunscreen. i was starting to feel better.
-found some other friends and ate lunch. for two hours. i needed some energy back and needed it to be fun again.
-kris finally convinced me to grab my stuff and head back to the mountain.

PM

-slightly more refreshed we hiked up the hill to the lift and surprisingly, gracefully made it off the lift.

-we decided to take videos of each other.

-i took kris' iphone and snuggled it inside my hat in my jacket pocket. so in case i did tumble face first i wouldn't break his phone.

-i went first and shocked myself when i successfully made it part way down the mountain, stopping to turn and film kris.

-gave him a thumbs up and watched him stand and fall no less than three times before successfully gliding down the mountain. 

-i stopped the video when he landed on his ass.

-i again shocked myself when i successfully stood, and glided down the mountain, even able to avoid a person in front of me. i was snowboarding!

-then i fell face first.

-met up with kris at the bottom of the mountain where we chatted about how ''good'' we had just become. 

-we went down the mountain a few more times. 

-i made it down twice without falling!!!

-it was just becoming fun, and then it was time to go.
-we got Haagen Dazs ice cream, ordering in Japanese from a white girl. that was weird.
-found debs, returned our gear and walked home.
-when we got home, we were asked if we knew why everyone else was late. we did not.
-they then informed us that one of the girls in our group had fallen about 50 meters from the bottom of the mountain, on her last run, and had broken her arm.
-she arrived back a few hours later with her arm casted and in a sling. poor thing.
-we showered, took a dip in the onsen to soothe our sore muscles.
-the 20 of us had nabe, a japanese type of soup, for dinner.
-then it was a quick change of clothes and a drive to a near by lodge/club, where it was 90% foreigners, 10% japanese people. i completely forgot i was in japan as i talked to a few australians who had flown over for the snow.
-kris, debs and i opted not to hit the mountain on sunday. we were so exhausted, and sore in places i didn't even know existed.

We got a great nights rest, and Sunday was spent eating, onsen-ing, and napping before loading up the bus again. First stopping at an amazing burger place, then heading back to Tokyo.

                      

                       

Sunday Morning Walk.

Back in the Day.

Potential Murder Weapons?

Romantic Brownie Scarfing.

It was such an amazing weekend and I'm already looking into where and when I can go again.

Sore,
Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: I'm Not Ok With Chris Brown Performing at the Grammy's and I'm Not Sure Why You Are...from Oh No They Didn't. 

Google Search: Valentine's Day

Tune: Domino By Jessie J.

Accomplishment: Attempting a new recipe.
Obsessions: Olivia's homemade chocolate rice crispy treats, snowboarding

Heart Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! While this unique little holiday can cause quite a bit of mixed feelings, it is still special nonetheless. Whether you consider the holiday, holy or Hallmark, it happens to be one of my favorites. I love the colors, the hearts, the meaning behind it all. And yes, of course it is that much more special if you have someone to go to dinner with or receive flowers from, but no matter what team your on, couples or singles, it's still a day to tell the people around you that you love and appreciate them.

I spent last night snuggled under my kotatsu with tea and TV, safe from the rain, and took a second to send some love to those in my life. 

with love,
Kate

[The Latest]

Must Read: Valentines Day in Japan...from my blog. 

Google Search: Mark Feuerstein

Tune: Ok Go By Needing/Getting ...watch the linked video. AMAZING.

Accomplishment: Making v-day cards by hand that I'm proud of.
Obsessions: Royal Pains TV show, chocolate covered coffee beans