It's about that time of year... the time for all to decorate their lawns, put up the lights, and brave the sales. In Japan, you may think that there are no celebrations of the kind, but you'd be wrong. In fact, it seems that the whole city is in celebration mode.

View exhibit A -- This is the side of a building lit up like a reindeer. I didn't notice it at first until Christopher pointed it out to me. And then I thought, how the heck did I not notice that?

To me, that's pretty detailed, but it gets better. Signs everywhere say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. When you walk into department stores, they are playing Christmas carols. Not Japanese Christmas carols, but classic English ones like "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and "Silent Night" and "Jingle Bells." The main train station in the city has a light display on one side. View exhibit B -- This is the side of Nagoya Station. The picture doesn't show it, but Santa pops around the side of the building, in and out of windows and things.

So with all this Christmas cheer, is it really Christmas as usual? No, not really I have to admit. Most individual families don't celebrate, and it's impossible to find a turkey (much less roast one in an oven that I don't have!) or a honey-baked ham. Maybe next year I'll venture out and pick up a roast chicken from the Brasilian meat shop -- I've been told it's delicious. But this year, I imagine Christopher and I will just go down the street to our local take-out sushi place and grab some tekkamaki. Don't feel bad for me though, I was already visited by Santa!!!

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As some of you may know, on day 4 or 5 of being in Japan, I took a spill down a flight of stairs. I injured my left hip, knee and ankle, as they had been wrapped under me as I slid down the stairs. Luckily, I didn't hit my head or anything. I couldn't walk, and after some hobbling my neighbor helped me around. I didn't know he was my neighbor at the time, I thought he was just a very cool Australian. He was working at the time, but he gave me some cold wraps to put on my injuries, and headed back out to work. I couldn't walk, I didn't want to do anything but lay there. Lexie went to a pay phone and called our work, because we were due to start work that day. One of the staff members of my school came out to meet us and took us to the closest hospital. Which just so happened to be one of the newest in the city. I'll walk you through what that was like.


As we approached the hospital it looked like any American hospital might. Then we pulled in, and got out of the taxi. We walked up to the doors, two, made of glass with the auto-open sensor. Pretty normal. We got a wheelchair and then we walked over to registration. We filled out some basic forms. They issue us a card that contains my medical records. Nifty, right? Next, they gave us a wing and a number, like.. A52. So, we went to the A wing, and read the LCD screens there that told us which door to go wait near. In our case, it was the last one on the right. The wait was about 20 minutes, all in all. Then upon one of the many LCD screens, our number appeared. They have this space age looking door for each area that opens when the number is signaled. Ours opened and we moved into the small connecting room. Only, it wasn't a connecting room, it was actually the diagnosis room. They pulled and pushed on my leg, asking me, "Does it hurt now?? How about now?" They decided I needed an x-ray, to ensure things were not broken. So, off to the x-ray ward to wait... I thought.. but again, Japanese efficiency wins. They issued me a number, something like C7. So, they wheeled me to the C wing, and we waited about 5 min, and then they got me in for x-rays. (Same Star Trek-style doors here too.) After the x-rays they took me back to the the A wing. Another 5 minute wait, and I was back in the diagnosis room for a consult. Turns out I didn't break anything, they showed me everything from my x-rays on a 25 inch LCD monitor. The doctor told me I had a bad sprain, and that it would take two weeks to heal. He gave me a crutch and wrapped my leg so tightly I thought he was preparing it for removal.

I didn't go to work that first week at all. I sat at home, no internet or anything, save a small TV that a Japanese friend of ours gave us. I watched enough Japanese TV during that time to last me a few months, as I see it. I took a lot of pain killer, and then after a week of this, I returned to the hospital for my follow up visit. They did some basic, does it hurt when I do this, tests and assured me that I was beginning to heal. I opted to leave the crutch with them, as I was trying to speed my recovery and rehabilitation. By the way, check in for the follow-up consisted of me scanning that card they gave me through an automated patient machine. It spat out a number, something like A44, and I didn't even have to talk to anyone except for the appointment itself.



I still have pain now. Not as much, mind you, but I still ache when I sit still for too long. I can walk now for up to about three hours before it starts plaguing me again. All in all, the recovery is slow, but I'm managing to keep it moving. The name of the hospital is Nagoya Central Hospital, if you follow the link, the site is in Japanese, but if you scroll down you can see some pictures of the doors and stuff.

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The Japanese have an affinity for cooking things on a stick. We've seen veggies on a stick, bread on a stick, random boiled seafood on a stick, and other delightful speared delicacies.


Our second night in Japan, our new Japanese friends took us out to dinner. We were and are very grateful for them, as they are exceptionally nice people. On this night, they took us to a yakitori restaurant (think, chicken parts on a stick). Upon entering, we had to remove our shoes; then we were led into a semi-private eating area that consisted of one table big enough for 4. On either side of the table were privacy curtains to lessen the feeling that there were others also eating at the restaurant. We sat down at the table on large floor pillows, and our legs hung down into a sunken portion of the floor.

We let our friends order for everyone. That certainly wasn't a bad decision. The meal was started with raw veggies that we could dip in a miso paste if desired. Then, out came a salad. This wasn't just any salad. It was a taco salad if I've ever tasted one. It included seasoned meat (possibly beef, possibly chicken), lettuce, cucumber, and tomato. It was delicious. In their first of many attempts to challenge what we will eat, they ordered raw chicken as a "second appetiser." We looked incredulously at each other, at the chicken, then at them. Certainly they were joking. It became clear that they were in fact not joking as they each tried a piece and declared "oishii" (delicious). We explained how we were afraid of salmonella. Apparently, salmonella from raw chicken isn't an issue in Japan. They check the chicken for it. This chicken was 100% salmonella free. Encouraged by their reassurance and not wanting to reject their offer, we both tried the tiniest of pieces. We're still alive. I don't think I'd order it in a restaurant, but it's not the worst thing to try.

Then the varieties of things-on-a-stick started to appear on our table. We had chicken heart (on a stick), chicken thigh (on a stick), chicken gizzard (on a stick), and quail eggs (also on a stick). Overall, the meal was exceptionally good. When we were finished, the chef and our waitress (a friend of theirs) came out to see how we liked it and to see us off. We had had a great time with good food and great company.

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Ok, so not really. But being without easy internet access does put a cramp in our ability to communicate with others. Now, the internet is up and running, so we'll keep updating here.

The trip from California to Japan was long and extremely tiring. Fortunately for us, we were in the masterful piloting hands of Captain Sword. I'm not joking, that was really his name. We both heard it clearly over the airplane PA twice! In addition, I'm sure Captain Sword wanted to take extra special care of us because on our same flight was the internationally known heavy metal band Machine Head. In fact, we stood in line to go to the lavatory right next to them. We landed in Tokyo without incident and went to our next gate. The airport in Tokyo seemed nice, but I'm not sure I can remember anything of the two hours we spent there due to memory loss caused by exhaustion. The flight from Tokyo to Nagoya was short and sweet. We arrived in Nagoya around 8 in the evening, got our bags, went through customs, and made our way to the train.

The airport in Nagoya is built off the bay, so taxis from the airport to the city are expensive. We took the train instead. It takes about 20 minutes or so. Once in the city proper, we took a taxi to our hotel. The hotel was nice. The bathroom was HUGE, if you compare it to an airplane.

At any rate, welcome to our first post from Japan. There will be more, more often.

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