A Bit Longer This Time

Been a week of many interesting events. First event was an eye appointment. Ever since I arrived in Japan, my left eye has been bugging me. In the mirror every morning there was this giant red sun residing within my skull; my eye completely bloodshot and sore. I figured I had an infection. With a translator handy, I went to an optometrist. Not infected, the doctor said, just inflamed. Gave me some eye drops that cleared me up right as rain.

The day after my visit to the optometrist I went to an orthopedic specialist to get my back looked at. My back problem I've had since before Japan, but lately it has really started to poke and stab at me. After two x-rays, the doctor said my spine looked superb, but that I likely had a sprained ligament that would need time to heal. He prescribed some icy-hot patches for me to wear to help soothe the muscles. No bending or stretching in the meantime.

Lo and behold, that weekend I had plans to go to an Aikido seminar, with the intention of doing a great deal of bending and stretching. The timing of my back pains and spasms couldn't have been worse! I did attempt to join in on the seminar on the second day, but much movement beyond normal walking and talking was doing bad things to my back. I ended up watching for the majority of the time, which wasn't very ideal. Still, I saw plenty of interesting things from my perch at the back of the dojo, and I still got to join in on the partying after the seminar. These are the photos I took from that weekend trip, and some from a few days before when I was in Ikebukuro:

Come Monday afternoon, I felt the beginnings of a cold/flu combo. Sure enough, I spent the majority of Tuesday and Wednesday sneezing, coughing, catching my runny nose, and being just plain miserable. No doubt something the children passed on to me. They may look cute, but their hygiene isn't so pretty.

My symptoms have mostly cleared up now, and just in time. This weekend a friend of mine here in Japan is coming down to Tokyo, and we're going to spend Saturday strolling around town and buying things like good little foreigners. The plan is to visit Shibuya and Shinjuku, which should last us the day. If not, there are always plenty of other places to visit.