June 20th

Today was the last day at kawakita hospital. I woke up late and had to get ready in 20 minutes. Amazingly enough, I got it done. Toon and I left at 830 and went to university. we left soon after with chinatsu. She said that yesterday when kaga sensei was lecturing, she introduced kana, but she wanted chinatsu to come with us today. Kaga sensei told the whole class that chinatsu came to the hospital on Monday and Wednesday and will come on Friday. Oh my! We met Brandon at hamamatsucho and were off.

We all needed something to drink and I got some coffee at asagaya station. We got to the hospital and first thing we talked about narcotic medications. They only lock up narcotics. They consider most stimulants as narcotics. The only “stimulants” are selegiline. Interesting. We tried to explain the class system in the united states. Then we talked about diabetes education. Pharmacists in japan are not allowed to counsel the technique of giving a subq insulin shot. They can only counsel on the actual medication and side effects. Weird! And chinatsu checked her blood glucose for the first time.

Then it was time for lunch. We went with ueda san and kawai san and I got curry. Yum! We went back for the meeting and were waiting for it to start. Then kaga sensei came in and announced to everyone that we could go to the back. she was talking to chinatsu and then I said ima (now)? And everyone laughed. So we gathered our things and left for the bank. On the way we found getta (wooden shoes) for Brandon. Then we went to the bank. It took entirely too long to exchange the money. Everyone thinks I speak Japanese. We had to get back by 2pm to go to the rehabilitation center.

We get back and had to wait for 30 minutes. We left for the center and we rode in a van that was going there to drop something off. I showed kaga sensei my prescription bottle. It’s very different than in japan. They put everything in a bag. We got there and toured the facility. The also have a garden on the top floor and cool road for practice. They even have a tatami room. I asked what the purpose was and most people are old and like the old style. But most can’t bend down that far and you cant use a chair so it is mostly used as staff meeting room. Funny!

So we got back down to the lobby and had coffee and pudding. Kaga sensei bought everything again. She wanted a caramel pudding and Brandon and I took the only two. She tried to trade with Brandon and he almost had a fit. So then she saw that I had it and I said dozou (please you take it). And she did. We switched. No problem. We talked about writing prescriptions and ccp. Then it was time to leave and we had to take a taxi. But you can only put 4 people in a taxi so we needed two. We waited for about 10 minutes and kaga sensei had to give chinatsu money for the taxi. Kaga sensei and toon rode in the first one. We were laughing so hard because we were worried about toon! She would be left alone with kaga sensei and she would only talk in Japanese. The pharmacist we came to visit told chinatsu that everyone thinks she is very energetic with such a high voice. She is very eccentric. Her facial expressions are hilarious. We caught the next cab and headed back. we were laughing the whole time. Poor toon. We got back and they were not back yet. We said that toon was held hostage. And chinatsu didn’t know, so we looked it up in the jisho (dictionary). She couldn’t stop laughing once she read what it was! She said she was being held hostage because she must say thank you to kaga sensei. And Brandon said we were held hostage everyday. About 5 minutes later, we heard her in the hallway. We saw her and then saw toon trailing behind. Kaga sensei walks so fast! She put us in the library to work on our presentation. Chinatsu had to go back to class L

Before I forget. Oneday we were supposed to get a lecture with saito san. Kaga sensei couldn’t find her and she walked up behind another girl and looked in her face and was like “saito?” but it wasn’t her and she kept walking in search. hilarious! She is too funny.

So we fiddled on the internet and then the pharmacists starting coming into the library. I helped the guy set up the screen projector. And then Brandon and I presented. I think it was ok, nothing special. I showed everyone my prescription bottle. They were all intrigued. In japan you can’t have more than 2 refills. You must return to the doctor. But here it is free to go to the doctor. Then toon gave her presentation. I thought it was much better done than ours. But shikatanai.

We took a picture with the whole pharmacy and then gave kaga sensei her presents. The keychain and cookies. Then we walked out with kaga sensei and then Brandon realized that he left his wallet. What? I couldn’t believe that he left it. And then we were almost to the station and I told him he forgot his getta, because he put them in the corner of the break room. So he and matsuyama sensei ran, and I mean ran back to get them. We ate at an Italian restaurant in asagaya station. Spiga genma. Matsuyama sensei asked if I drank beer and I said yes. It’s kinda fun to drink with a professor. I know it’s not really that special. But I think it’s cool. We had some salad and Brandon and I ordered linguine chicken with pumpkin. It was really good. We were about to leave and I asked for a picture of all of us. Then we headed out for the station. Matsuyama sensei rode with us until Shinjuku. We got back to hamamatsucho and it was too late to go back to university. we stopped at the family mart so Brandon could get macha and I got some yogurt and fiber.

Back home. I took my shower and then toon came in after me. Naoko was in there too. She stopped to talk to both of us on her way out. We are meeting at 1030a to leave for asakusa. I want to find getta. A fan, a cord to tie my obi, and the under shirt, and socks. I finally wrote out all of my pictures in my notebook. I need to remember these things!

Oyasumi nasai!