This morning I got up and felt really groggy. I didn’t take my Sudafed. So I get to school about 1040. we are supposed to meet at 11am to go to tsukiji fish market and have sushi for lunch. I get there and I ask how yuka was doing. They said she was ok. They were looking up things to do at Tokyo Disney. There is an ice cream city really close I think and it looks delicious. I showed them shamu at sea world. I asked what they’re favorite character was and naoko said pooh, chinatsu said pooh and stich, and kana said pooh, stich, and ariel. I said that I had seen the little mermaid many times and she said she had a little. i was confused because I wasn’t sure how you could like a character if you hadn’t seen the movie. She said ariel was very pretty. Fair enough.
It was going on 1120 and I was like where is Brandon? He came in around 1130 and the time just passed him by. We (saori, both taka, b, and me ) headed out for tsukiji. Brandon and I had read in our guide books that you couldn’t go to the actual auction but you could see giant fish being carted off. So we were kind of confused that we were going for lunch. We ended up at a restaurant. Not the actual fish market. Um.. ok. We ordered tuna and eel in a rice bowl with miso soup. It was delicious. It came with wasabi and you add soy sauce to the little dish, and poor it over the rice bowl. Very tasty. It came with salmon fish eggs and they tasted better spread out. The only problem is that they are high in cholesterol. Oh well. Taka got another rice bowl and taka got a sushi plater. Saori also got a sushi platter, and this egg yam stuff. It was gross looking. It’s an egg in a jar that has been steamed. It was very runny. She would get a spoonful and it was dripping slime it looked like. Yuck! It was about 1230 and we paid and left. They didn’t think we had enough time so we took a cab minus saori because it only fit 4 people. We got to the hospital and it was 1200 yen. Brandon and I were trying to pay and both taka’s said no and told us to get out of the cab. Takayuki paid. We tried to pay him back and they said no. so they left us at the hospital.
We went down to the locker room and changed and went to meet itou-sensei. We got there and he explained more oncology to us. It’s after lunch and it’s so hot down there. I got very sleepy. He was explaining the cancer regimens to use and at first I thought he was saying resumes. They use folfox and folfiri as well. But they change the regimens from the research. I think they figure out what works best in the hospital and make a new regimen. Then we went upstairs to surgery and it was about oncology. The removal of tumors. Every day. It’s a bunch of crap. I don’t think I would want to do oncology. Not for me. It was about 330 when we went back to the basement and the schedule was over. Cool. We left and went back to keio. We stopped at a convenie and I got an aquarius drink. It tastes like grapefruit juice.
We got back inside and were talking with yoshi about his program. We always notice that he is never in class when the others are. He is doing a focus on research and rheumatoid arthritis. He only needs 9 hours for his major and the others need 22. ahhhhh… they were talking about this green alge guy marokaori? I’m tyring to get an idea of what each person likes. Miho and the others came back and we asked her if anyone was coming with us in the morning. She went and checked with take-san and yes we are going by ourselves. She looked up the trains for us and what time we should meet. We were leaving and I said that Brandon was musukashi-san. Mr. difficult and miho laughed. She’s sweet.
We went down to the cafeteria and got fried potatoes for dinner. It’s like a potato cake with vegetables inside. One was edamame and the other was corn. They were good. And of course it came with rice and miso soup. they went to class and we went to shimbashi to look for the 100 yen store. But to no avail. They advertised for it on two huge signs but it wasn’t there. Great. So we walked around and ended up in the ginza district. Very upscale shops. Gucci, tiffany. Brooks brothers. We found a shop with yukatas (like a kimono) . males were 3900 yen and women’s 4900 yen. If we don’t find better ones in asakusa or ueno we may go back to that store.
We took the train back to daimon and went to mos burger. I got a strawberry shake and b got a green tea iced drink. We just sat down when we saw take-san walking by. Brandon went out and jumped him! It was funny watching his reaction. He came back with Brandon and we were talking about tomorrow. He wanted to make sure we could get to the hospital on time. He said he went to tsukishima with his girlfriend and ate manja. He said he would like to go out to dinner with us one night. Top secret! He’s really funny and nice. We were talking about the slurping with soup and how it’s ok in japan but not in the us. He said that by slurping it showed that you like the meal and enjoyed it. I said that it made sense and he’s like ah ha – it made sense. J he went on his way and we went to a convenie. I found a tiny fiber drink. Only 6g, but it’s something. I get no fiber here. We went on our separate trains and I went to the convenie by the dorm. I can’t help it, I like snacks. I got a chocolate sandwich with no crusts. I was hoping it was peanut butter but no luck. I also got a melon bread. It was really good. I only at a little bit. I still have a strawberry bread that I will eat for breakfast.
I showered and saw maria on the way out. She introduced me to her roommate I think saiko. Sounds like psycho. Kind of funny. But here I am. We still haven’t figured out what to do for Saturday. And I didn’t iron tonight because my clothes are still wet. Oyasumi nasai (good night).
Monday, June 16, 2008
June 11
So we had to get to the university very early this morning. They said 830 then they said 820. I left the dorm at 745 and was going to get there early to use the computer. I got to keio and there is a wall with lights when a professor is in or not. There were 3 lights on. And when I got to the 6th floor, it was darkness. And when I went to the lab it was locked. So from now on I know that no one gets there that early. Ok, so I wait by the elevators. And around 815 yuka comes and she like oh I’m sorry I’m late. No no, you’re fine. We are walking to the lab and she says “where is Brandon?” “I’m sure he is coming.” “didn’t you meet?” “no, we come separate.” We get to the room and she asked about kamakura. I said it was very fun. She said she has never been. She wanted to go but she went to her grandmothers. It’s 820a. “where is Brandon?” I’m sure he is on his way. A few minutes “where is he?” I call and no answer. “we need to leave.” “we need to wait for Brandon.” “toronomon hospital is very strict.” I say nothing. A few minutes. “we need to leave.” “we need to wait for Brandon.” “but we need to leave.” “we have to wait for Brandon.” I call him and he’s at the elevator. “good, because she is trying to leave you.” We walk 5 mintues to hamamatsucho and get on the train. We go to shimbashi and change to the ginza line to toranomon. We are confused as to why we didn’t take the subway. It would be much easier to take asakusa line to ginza. But whatever. We get there with 5 mintues. We go to the locker room to change into our coats and shoes. Then yuka just leaves. I’ll be right back. I said we should go together. We get out in the hallway and she is gone. We almost go into the pharmacy but wait outside. Then we see itou-sensei and say that we have an M1 student, but she must have gone to the bathroom. He gets a call about shimomura (yuka) and he is gone for like 20 minutes. He takes us to the room and I ask about her. He said that it’s ok, she is going back to the university because we don’t need a translator. But then he gets out his dictionary. Umm… ok.
So he gives us this paper to read about why hospitals need clinical pharmacist to reduce costs. It’s kinda interesting. And when we are done he asks what we think. We say it’s a good paper and necessary. And that’s it. I was expecting a discussion. Then we go upstairs and check vanc levels for way too long. It’s about 1130 and we are dying. Very sleepy and bored. He says that we are going to lunch with hayashi sensei. He kinda looks like farva from super troopers. But the asian version. And hayashi looks like an American actor but I can’t place him. I asked itou sensei if the M1 student was coming, because they were told to come for lunch. He said oh no don’t worry we called. They don’t seem to want to tell us the whole story.
So we go to the japan tobacco building and eat sushi. I actually ate the orange fish egss. It was ok, probably don’t need to eat it again. I like tuna the best. Something else we had was very chewy. I don’t like chewy or slimy. It was very good. We had miso soup too. Then we walked and saw the American embassy. We also saw hotel kamura. Which was supposed to be this very expensive hotel and it looked pretty busted. Maybe it’s nicer inside. We were almost back to the hospital when we saw starbucks. We went across and I got a dark mocha frap and Brandon got a macha frap. It was delicious. Hayashi was really nice and payed for lunch and starbucks. The coffee here just isn’t sweet enough for me. But the starbucks blend was perfect.
We got back inside and itou sensei had to switch with a pharmacist so they could go eat lunch. He told us to wait in an upstairs room. We called miho to see if kana was coming, because we weren’t sure if she came already. We wanted to make sure that they knew where we were. Then itousensei came and got us. We ended up going with igarashi sensei and ushida sensei to the 13th floor to round with the ict (infectious control) team. All this damn rounding. Really a pain, not sure if it suits. Dr. aroka was really funny. He made the afternoon not so bad. Itou sensei told us earlier that he didn’t drink much and dr aroka said that maybe he liar. HA! And we asked what was on the 14th floor. Oh nothing it is a secret room. J he smiled a lot and made jokes. We finished about 330ish and headed back down to the pharmacy. Itou sensei said that schedule was finished. Yay!
On the way out of the hospital we saw kana coming toward us. We thanked her for coming to get us and she said we needed to come back and explain and be explained to. She asked what happened with Brandon this morning. So everyone knows that he was a little late. We get back to the room and everyone was very interested in what happened. We said we were very confused. They kept saying sorry. Yuka looked unhappy. We explained that they didn’t really tell us much and that’s why we called miho to see if kana was coming. We didn’t want to leave at lunchtime if she supposed to meet us. They said they were sorry, and that hayahsi called matsuyama and said they didn’t need an interpretor. So next two days it is with no one. Great! Next week they only want one extra student and the last one they don’t want any either. Then they said the needed to have a meeting. They let us stay in the room for a while and then saori told us to come with her and she took us to the lab. She gave use some Japanese snacks and asked if we needed to use the computer. They just wanted to talk about us without us being in the room. One of the snacks were kakip. It sounds awful, but it is delicious. It even says so on the package. It’s a cracker with some spicy flavor with peanuts.
Miho comes in and asks if are hungry and we are about to leave when take-san wants to talk with us. He asked what happened to Brandon this morning. Brandon tried to explain that we usually come to the room and sit around for a while before leaving. I don’t think he got it. Then take san explained that they thought the meeting time was the leaving time. And we should have been there on time. I explained that yuka tried to leave Brandon. I think he got it. I hope so.
We went to get our money and we saw that yuka was crying and kana was with her. We left quickly. Brandon didn’t even notice. We went to dinner. It was cold chicken with fat all over it L I ate the miso soup and rice. And miho noticed I didn’t eat my dinner. I said it was hard to eat. We left and came back upstairs. They all had class and they asked if we new how to get back to the lab. Funny. We get back and yuka is still crying, but her and kana leave for class. We work on our project a bit and we see take leaving. He says he has an appointment. Brandon whispered de-to- and he said no no no, with a boy. Uh-huh. We we finished up a bit with our presentation and then left for hamakucho to big camera. We looked around and then left to find ice cream around maori. No luck. We are walking back and end up at shimbashi and find bread with ice cream in the middle. It’s small but tasty. We eat that and keep walking. We find a 100 yen shop but of course it is closed. We then keep walking and we ended up back at hamamatsucho. It took about 25 mintues. But I was tired of walking. I get some more kakep and he gets and protein gel.
Back home. I shower and ask maria to help with laundry. I tell her that she can come over after I shower. We talk for a bit. She speaks Malaysia, thai, Japanese, and now English. That’s really cool.
But time for bed.
So he gives us this paper to read about why hospitals need clinical pharmacist to reduce costs. It’s kinda interesting. And when we are done he asks what we think. We say it’s a good paper and necessary. And that’s it. I was expecting a discussion. Then we go upstairs and check vanc levels for way too long. It’s about 1130 and we are dying. Very sleepy and bored. He says that we are going to lunch with hayashi sensei. He kinda looks like farva from super troopers. But the asian version. And hayashi looks like an American actor but I can’t place him. I asked itou sensei if the M1 student was coming, because they were told to come for lunch. He said oh no don’t worry we called. They don’t seem to want to tell us the whole story.
So we go to the japan tobacco building and eat sushi. I actually ate the orange fish egss. It was ok, probably don’t need to eat it again. I like tuna the best. Something else we had was very chewy. I don’t like chewy or slimy. It was very good. We had miso soup too. Then we walked and saw the American embassy. We also saw hotel kamura. Which was supposed to be this very expensive hotel and it looked pretty busted. Maybe it’s nicer inside. We were almost back to the hospital when we saw starbucks. We went across and I got a dark mocha frap and Brandon got a macha frap. It was delicious. Hayashi was really nice and payed for lunch and starbucks. The coffee here just isn’t sweet enough for me. But the starbucks blend was perfect.
We got back inside and itou sensei had to switch with a pharmacist so they could go eat lunch. He told us to wait in an upstairs room. We called miho to see if kana was coming, because we weren’t sure if she came already. We wanted to make sure that they knew where we were. Then itousensei came and got us. We ended up going with igarashi sensei and ushida sensei to the 13th floor to round with the ict (infectious control) team. All this damn rounding. Really a pain, not sure if it suits. Dr. aroka was really funny. He made the afternoon not so bad. Itou sensei told us earlier that he didn’t drink much and dr aroka said that maybe he liar. HA! And we asked what was on the 14th floor. Oh nothing it is a secret room. J he smiled a lot and made jokes. We finished about 330ish and headed back down to the pharmacy. Itou sensei said that schedule was finished. Yay!
On the way out of the hospital we saw kana coming toward us. We thanked her for coming to get us and she said we needed to come back and explain and be explained to. She asked what happened with Brandon this morning. So everyone knows that he was a little late. We get back to the room and everyone was very interested in what happened. We said we were very confused. They kept saying sorry. Yuka looked unhappy. We explained that they didn’t really tell us much and that’s why we called miho to see if kana was coming. We didn’t want to leave at lunchtime if she supposed to meet us. They said they were sorry, and that hayahsi called matsuyama and said they didn’t need an interpretor. So next two days it is with no one. Great! Next week they only want one extra student and the last one they don’t want any either. Then they said the needed to have a meeting. They let us stay in the room for a while and then saori told us to come with her and she took us to the lab. She gave use some Japanese snacks and asked if we needed to use the computer. They just wanted to talk about us without us being in the room. One of the snacks were kakip. It sounds awful, but it is delicious. It even says so on the package. It’s a cracker with some spicy flavor with peanuts.
Miho comes in and asks if are hungry and we are about to leave when take-san wants to talk with us. He asked what happened to Brandon this morning. Brandon tried to explain that we usually come to the room and sit around for a while before leaving. I don’t think he got it. Then take san explained that they thought the meeting time was the leaving time. And we should have been there on time. I explained that yuka tried to leave Brandon. I think he got it. I hope so.
We went to get our money and we saw that yuka was crying and kana was with her. We left quickly. Brandon didn’t even notice. We went to dinner. It was cold chicken with fat all over it L I ate the miso soup and rice. And miho noticed I didn’t eat my dinner. I said it was hard to eat. We left and came back upstairs. They all had class and they asked if we new how to get back to the lab. Funny. We get back and yuka is still crying, but her and kana leave for class. We work on our project a bit and we see take leaving. He says he has an appointment. Brandon whispered de-to- and he said no no no, with a boy. Uh-huh. We we finished up a bit with our presentation and then left for hamakucho to big camera. We looked around and then left to find ice cream around maori. No luck. We are walking back and end up at shimbashi and find bread with ice cream in the middle. It’s small but tasty. We eat that and keep walking. We find a 100 yen shop but of course it is closed. We then keep walking and we ended up back at hamamatsucho. It took about 25 mintues. But I was tired of walking. I get some more kakep and he gets and protein gel.
Back home. I shower and ask maria to help with laundry. I tell her that she can come over after I shower. We talk for a bit. She speaks Malaysia, thai, Japanese, and now English. That’s really cool.
But time for bed.
June 10
So I woke up today and got ready. i decided to not use mascara today because I thought maybe it wouldn’t run down my face as much. It was less, but maybe it’s the eyeliner. Eh. I went to the train and on the way out of daimon station I was standing behind saori-san. We walked and talked and she asked if the boy in the picture was my boyfriend. I said yes and she was like, ohhh very handsome. Many of the students have said so.
I just got news that clayton got injured at camp. This is not good. He’s not being treated yet because the marines lost his records. Great.
I get to school and we wait around for a while and we go to lunch at a yogozanzu restaurant. We took off our shoes when we walked in and I ordered some fish. You pay before you eat at some restaurants. We sat down on these little stools. Yoshi, macura, yumi, naoko, mari, yoko, b, and me. When my food came it was fried fish. It was ok, but I felt really greasy afterwards. They didn’t say it was fried. That’s why I didn’t get the chicken.
We left and macura, b, and me walked to toranomon hospital. It took about 30 minutes to walk there. We changed into sneakers and lab coats. It was super hot again in the hospital. We met ushida-sensei and rounded with hematology. It was basically a lot of standing around. We went to the bone marrow transplantation floor and oncology. There was a nice doctor who was translating a little and telling us what was going on. But it was hot and I can’t think or concentrate in such heat. And my running shoes were not made to just stand around in, they are for impact. I mean really. I see people wearing jeans and beat up sandles with their feet hanging out. Why can’t I wear my nice shoes? Because they might make too much noise. And if they are unclean, so? People walk in and out of the hospital with dirty shoes. Oh well. We got done about 330 and they let us go. Thank good ness.
We walked back to the university and on the way we went to a convenie so macura could tell Brandon what an energy drink said. I got a little coffee. There is not enough sugar in any of the coffee drinks. We got back and played ping pong with taka, chinatsu, saori, furu, hiroto, hori, and yoshi. We came back up to the room and taka-san was telling us about odaiba. I’m excited to go. Then we went to dinner at the cafeteria. It was fried fish and squid. I was not really into fried again because I had it for lunch, but it was actually good. Not as greasy as the restaurant. Me and taka got soft cream. They have a little machine that pushes it out of a cup onto the cone. It’s really cool.
We went back upstairs and it was time to go home. I asked if Brandon wanted to work on our presentation and he said no. so we left and on the way to the elevator we saw take-san. He said he learned on watching tv “that’s all for today.” J I really like him, he is really nice. I told him why something makes sense. I think English is very blah, but we have phrases that are sometimes hard to explain.
We left and went to Shinjuku to look around. I took some cool night pictures of the buildings all lit up. We found a 100yen store but it was closed. We went to don-ki and I bought a little umbrella. We also saw the hello kitty store again and I bought a little notepad. Cute little red riding hood kitty. J
We got back on the train after walking for a while and we ending up going the wrong way. I should have gotten off and turned around and Brandon stayed. I didn’t realize till later. So when we got to morishita I got off and went the other way two stops. I got off to switch and I ended up at street level. I had to walk 200 m to the next station and get the asakusa line. Annoying! Then when I got there I was on the wrong side and the train I needed came. Great. I walked around and waited 8 mintes for my train. I got to my station around 1030p. immediately took a shower because I hate having to wait. It’s easier to beat the rush. I’m amazed I still end up spending over 25 dollars a day in food and train fare. I’m over budget :/ maybe i’ll get it under control. Eeeeee.
I just got news that clayton got injured at camp. This is not good. He’s not being treated yet because the marines lost his records. Great.
I get to school and we wait around for a while and we go to lunch at a yogozanzu restaurant. We took off our shoes when we walked in and I ordered some fish. You pay before you eat at some restaurants. We sat down on these little stools. Yoshi, macura, yumi, naoko, mari, yoko, b, and me. When my food came it was fried fish. It was ok, but I felt really greasy afterwards. They didn’t say it was fried. That’s why I didn’t get the chicken.
We left and macura, b, and me walked to toranomon hospital. It took about 30 minutes to walk there. We changed into sneakers and lab coats. It was super hot again in the hospital. We met ushida-sensei and rounded with hematology. It was basically a lot of standing around. We went to the bone marrow transplantation floor and oncology. There was a nice doctor who was translating a little and telling us what was going on. But it was hot and I can’t think or concentrate in such heat. And my running shoes were not made to just stand around in, they are for impact. I mean really. I see people wearing jeans and beat up sandles with their feet hanging out. Why can’t I wear my nice shoes? Because they might make too much noise. And if they are unclean, so? People walk in and out of the hospital with dirty shoes. Oh well. We got done about 330 and they let us go. Thank good ness.
We walked back to the university and on the way we went to a convenie so macura could tell Brandon what an energy drink said. I got a little coffee. There is not enough sugar in any of the coffee drinks. We got back and played ping pong with taka, chinatsu, saori, furu, hiroto, hori, and yoshi. We came back up to the room and taka-san was telling us about odaiba. I’m excited to go. Then we went to dinner at the cafeteria. It was fried fish and squid. I was not really into fried again because I had it for lunch, but it was actually good. Not as greasy as the restaurant. Me and taka got soft cream. They have a little machine that pushes it out of a cup onto the cone. It’s really cool.
We went back upstairs and it was time to go home. I asked if Brandon wanted to work on our presentation and he said no. so we left and on the way to the elevator we saw take-san. He said he learned on watching tv “that’s all for today.” J I really like him, he is really nice. I told him why something makes sense. I think English is very blah, but we have phrases that are sometimes hard to explain.
We left and went to Shinjuku to look around. I took some cool night pictures of the buildings all lit up. We found a 100yen store but it was closed. We went to don-ki and I bought a little umbrella. We also saw the hello kitty store again and I bought a little notepad. Cute little red riding hood kitty. J
We got back on the train after walking for a while and we ending up going the wrong way. I should have gotten off and turned around and Brandon stayed. I didn’t realize till later. So when we got to morishita I got off and went the other way two stops. I got off to switch and I ended up at street level. I had to walk 200 m to the next station and get the asakusa line. Annoying! Then when I got there I was on the wrong side and the train I needed came. Great. I walked around and waited 8 mintes for my train. I got to my station around 1030p. immediately took a shower because I hate having to wait. It’s easier to beat the rush. I’m amazed I still end up spending over 25 dollars a day in food and train fare. I’m over budget :/ maybe i’ll get it under control. Eeeeee.
June 9
So last night I was brushing my teeth and I saw maria and she gave me these sweets from Kyoto. She said that phon brought them back. I asked if I made a mistake and she said no. she thought I was asleep because she didn’t hear my door open and close. Funny.
I woke up late this morning. I was going to try and be at school at 10am to use the computer, but I didn’t wake up until 930 and I got to the station around 1030. I got to school at 1045a. I used the computer and checked my email. I posted my blogs from the last few days. i went back to the M1 room and saw Brandon was already there. Chinatsu offered a cute toy because she’s very good at the claw and had all these toys. I picked out a really cute mickey.
Before I forget, if anyone wants some asian smut, let me know. They sell it at every convenie.
Me, b, chinatsu, and miho went to masala kitchen, Indian spice magic. It was delicious. Curry chicken with nan. We order chai tea for after and when it came it was more like milk tea. That’s ok. I put two packs of sugar in and I was good to go. We headed off for toranomon station and the hospital.
We get there and itou-sensei was very nice to us. But we found out that they made a mistake with our schedule. We were told to be at school every morning at 11am for lunch and then be at the hospital by 1pm. But he thought we were supposed to be there at 9am. That’s crap. What are they going to do with us? Whatever. I keep thinking about what macura said, “take japan one day at a time.” It’s good advice. I’ll be flexible. Ok. He called his boss and he called matsuyama sensei. On Wednesday and Friday we need to be at the hospital at 9am. So I’ll need to be at the university at 815 am, which means I’ll have to wake up at like 7am. Great!
Every time we said a Japanese word he wrote it down. It was very funny. He showed us around until it was time for NST (nutrition support team) was rounding. He said meeting so I was thinking a conference room. But it was rounds. The bad thing was that it was really humid today and it was hot in the hospital. We had to stand around while we went to a couple of floors and they talked about the therapy and what to do. But we couldn’t understand and chinatsu and miho were not close enough to hear what was going on. So it was kind of miserable. We also had to switch into long lab coats, which we didn’t understand why. I liked keio university better, is seemed more personable. And they clearly marked pharmacists and doctors. I liked that. Around 4pm we went back to the basement and itou-sensei walked us through vancomycin tdm. It’s pretty standard, but they use an excel spreadsheet with formulas that were written by the hospital staff, not an actual computer program.
Schedule was over for the day and we went back to the university. on the way to the station they told us that we need to bring sneakers with us to the hospital to switch into. What???? That sounds retarded. Our normal shoes make too much noise. And we asked if we could wear the sneakers on the way to the hospital. But that would be dirty. I asked if I could wear my crocs and those are too casual. Wtf, mate? Whatever.
we went to dinner at the cafeteria. Taka, yoshi, yoko, kana, naoko, and b. I had the fish with miso soup. taka wanted us to tell him about American music. I started playing some things on my phone. We went back upstairs and started working on our presentation. I asked take if we should call him take-san or take-sensei and he said it was my choice, but I said I didn’t want to be rude and he said take-san was good. Then I asked about the long lab coats. And he said he heard. He offered me his. And then Brandon tried on kazu’s. he came to kaiden zushi, and has a mad comb over. Kazu’s was a girls coat, because itou-sensei was telling me about it. So I got that coat. Brandon tried on take-san’s and it was a bit small. It was really funny. I told him not to break it and take-san was like nooooo! Hehehe. He’s really nice to us. I like him.
He asked how old we thought he was and I said 27. he said we saw my store earlier. Ice cream. He is 31, like baskin robbins! Very funny.
He said It was a secret but he doesn’t really like to do animal research. But he said there was nothing that could be done. He has too. The Japanese is shoganai. He also told us about matanai. Recycling. He also said what to say when someone leaves work or school. Otsukare. And the person leaving says osakini shiturei shimasu – I’m sorry for leaving early. He’s really nice!
Matsuyama sensei came in and talked with us about kamakura. He’s kinda weird sometimes. We left and because it was so early we walked around for about an hour. And when I got to the station I realized my feet hurt. I got back to the dorm and showered. Marion came over and we talked for a while and she taught me some more Japanese words. I’m getting there, really slowly!
I woke up late this morning. I was going to try and be at school at 10am to use the computer, but I didn’t wake up until 930 and I got to the station around 1030. I got to school at 1045a. I used the computer and checked my email. I posted my blogs from the last few days. i went back to the M1 room and saw Brandon was already there. Chinatsu offered a cute toy because she’s very good at the claw and had all these toys. I picked out a really cute mickey.
Before I forget, if anyone wants some asian smut, let me know. They sell it at every convenie.
Me, b, chinatsu, and miho went to masala kitchen, Indian spice magic. It was delicious. Curry chicken with nan. We order chai tea for after and when it came it was more like milk tea. That’s ok. I put two packs of sugar in and I was good to go. We headed off for toranomon station and the hospital.
We get there and itou-sensei was very nice to us. But we found out that they made a mistake with our schedule. We were told to be at school every morning at 11am for lunch and then be at the hospital by 1pm. But he thought we were supposed to be there at 9am. That’s crap. What are they going to do with us? Whatever. I keep thinking about what macura said, “take japan one day at a time.” It’s good advice. I’ll be flexible. Ok. He called his boss and he called matsuyama sensei. On Wednesday and Friday we need to be at the hospital at 9am. So I’ll need to be at the university at 815 am, which means I’ll have to wake up at like 7am. Great!
Every time we said a Japanese word he wrote it down. It was very funny. He showed us around until it was time for NST (nutrition support team) was rounding. He said meeting so I was thinking a conference room. But it was rounds. The bad thing was that it was really humid today and it was hot in the hospital. We had to stand around while we went to a couple of floors and they talked about the therapy and what to do. But we couldn’t understand and chinatsu and miho were not close enough to hear what was going on. So it was kind of miserable. We also had to switch into long lab coats, which we didn’t understand why. I liked keio university better, is seemed more personable. And they clearly marked pharmacists and doctors. I liked that. Around 4pm we went back to the basement and itou-sensei walked us through vancomycin tdm. It’s pretty standard, but they use an excel spreadsheet with formulas that were written by the hospital staff, not an actual computer program.
Schedule was over for the day and we went back to the university. on the way to the station they told us that we need to bring sneakers with us to the hospital to switch into. What???? That sounds retarded. Our normal shoes make too much noise. And we asked if we could wear the sneakers on the way to the hospital. But that would be dirty. I asked if I could wear my crocs and those are too casual. Wtf, mate? Whatever.
we went to dinner at the cafeteria. Taka, yoshi, yoko, kana, naoko, and b. I had the fish with miso soup. taka wanted us to tell him about American music. I started playing some things on my phone. We went back upstairs and started working on our presentation. I asked take if we should call him take-san or take-sensei and he said it was my choice, but I said I didn’t want to be rude and he said take-san was good. Then I asked about the long lab coats. And he said he heard. He offered me his. And then Brandon tried on kazu’s. he came to kaiden zushi, and has a mad comb over. Kazu’s was a girls coat, because itou-sensei was telling me about it. So I got that coat. Brandon tried on take-san’s and it was a bit small. It was really funny. I told him not to break it and take-san was like nooooo! Hehehe. He’s really nice to us. I like him.
He asked how old we thought he was and I said 27. he said we saw my store earlier. Ice cream. He is 31, like baskin robbins! Very funny.
He said It was a secret but he doesn’t really like to do animal research. But he said there was nothing that could be done. He has too. The Japanese is shoganai. He also told us about matanai. Recycling. He also said what to say when someone leaves work or school. Otsukare. And the person leaving says osakini shiturei shimasu – I’m sorry for leaving early. He’s really nice!
Matsuyama sensei came in and talked with us about kamakura. He’s kinda weird sometimes. We left and because it was so early we walked around for about an hour. And when I got to the station I realized my feet hurt. I got back to the dorm and showered. Marion came over and we talked for a while and she taught me some more Japanese words. I’m getting there, really slowly!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
june 8
Today I woke up at 910am with a start. I forgot to set my alarm to go off on Sunday, it was still set to Saturday. I was dreaming about being chased by a tiger. I went down to the lobby at 930 with coffee and cake in hand. I met naoko and we started heading toward shinagawa station. I was drinking my coffee, and when we got to the station I ate the cake. It was not cinnamon like I thought. It was more bready than I thought and it was buttery swirled around. So I will not buy again. Naoko told me that dark green is mi-do-ri, like a midori sour, and that yellow was ki-ro, and light green is a mix of the two, ki-mi-do-ri.
Brandon and miho arrived and we headed to the train to go to kita-kamakura. It takes 55 min to get there. And when we did there was only one exit gate. It took about 5 minutes. We started walking toward meigetsu-in temple. We first stopped in this little house that was an art gallery kinda. Yoh shomei museum. I bought a postcard of a little humming elephant. It was really cute. Meigetsu-in has many beautiful hydrangeas, a stone garden. We walked around for a bit and took pictures. Then we went to eat lunch at a noodle restaurant. I wanted to eat hot udon with yam, but got cold udon with egg on top. It was ok, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering udon again. I’d rather have soba.
Next we went to kencho-ji temple. It was very near to the high school. It had a really cool dragon mural painted on the ceiling in one of the buildings. There are buckets to throw coins in for donation and prayer. There are different ways to show respect and it tells you to clap or bow so many times.
Next was talking the train to hase line to get a snack and see big Buddha. We ate at ovale, a non-japanese style sweet shop. Miho got crème brulee, I got Madeline cake with brulee cream, Brandon got chiffon cake and naoko got macha cake. They were all delicious. We left and were walking down the street and we passed by a kimono shop. The one outside was very cute and miho and naoko asked how much they were. Miho said that they could range and that I could wait to go to asaksa and ueno. They might not be that great of quality but they would be cheaper. So we go inside and we say that I would like to spend only 10000 yen on the robe. She pulled out things that were too busy or too plain. I didn’t really like the color. Then they asked what I liked and I said I liked the one outside. It was light blue with little birds on it. Simple. So we go outside and she says that that is the only one. Can I have this one. Yes. She thought that maybe it was too small, so I try it on, and it’s ok! The hard part was picking the obi. I thought maybe a simple brown one, but it was too dark. There was a blue striped, and orange, and magenta. The magenta turned out to be the best. The kimono was 6000 yen and obi was 4200 but she gave me a really great deal and cut down the price because it had been outside and got faded. I was very excited!
The only problem was that we had to run to big Buddha. We got to the train station at 530p. big Buddha closes at 6pm. The train came and when we got off, we started running. It was supposed to take 12 minutes walking. We got there at 545pm and it was worth the hustle and bustle. It was really amazing! Just wow! It was very cool! We took many pictures and then went to the gift shop. I got a little Buddha statue and a post card. We walked back to kamakura and ate dinner at a little shop. We went there to get this chicken rice omlet but because we got there late, there was only one left. Brandon got it and I got tofu soup with rice. It wasn’t that great, but I had sauce to put on it, so ok. We left and there was a cookie shop underneath. Very popular in kamakura. Shaped like a dove. I bought one for us to share but it wasn’t anything that great. Shrug. We took the train home and walked back to the dorm. maria was supposed to come over to talk, but maybe we didn’t communicate correctly. Hopefully I will see her tomorrow.
Brandon and miho arrived and we headed to the train to go to kita-kamakura. It takes 55 min to get there. And when we did there was only one exit gate. It took about 5 minutes. We started walking toward meigetsu-in temple. We first stopped in this little house that was an art gallery kinda. Yoh shomei museum. I bought a postcard of a little humming elephant. It was really cute. Meigetsu-in has many beautiful hydrangeas, a stone garden. We walked around for a bit and took pictures. Then we went to eat lunch at a noodle restaurant. I wanted to eat hot udon with yam, but got cold udon with egg on top. It was ok, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering udon again. I’d rather have soba.
Next we went to kencho-ji temple. It was very near to the high school. It had a really cool dragon mural painted on the ceiling in one of the buildings. There are buckets to throw coins in for donation and prayer. There are different ways to show respect and it tells you to clap or bow so many times.
Next was talking the train to hase line to get a snack and see big Buddha. We ate at ovale, a non-japanese style sweet shop. Miho got crème brulee, I got Madeline cake with brulee cream, Brandon got chiffon cake and naoko got macha cake. They were all delicious. We left and were walking down the street and we passed by a kimono shop. The one outside was very cute and miho and naoko asked how much they were. Miho said that they could range and that I could wait to go to asaksa and ueno. They might not be that great of quality but they would be cheaper. So we go inside and we say that I would like to spend only 10000 yen on the robe. She pulled out things that were too busy or too plain. I didn’t really like the color. Then they asked what I liked and I said I liked the one outside. It was light blue with little birds on it. Simple. So we go outside and she says that that is the only one. Can I have this one. Yes. She thought that maybe it was too small, so I try it on, and it’s ok! The hard part was picking the obi. I thought maybe a simple brown one, but it was too dark. There was a blue striped, and orange, and magenta. The magenta turned out to be the best. The kimono was 6000 yen and obi was 4200 but she gave me a really great deal and cut down the price because it had been outside and got faded. I was very excited!
The only problem was that we had to run to big Buddha. We got to the train station at 530p. big Buddha closes at 6pm. The train came and when we got off, we started running. It was supposed to take 12 minutes walking. We got there at 545pm and it was worth the hustle and bustle. It was really amazing! Just wow! It was very cool! We took many pictures and then went to the gift shop. I got a little Buddha statue and a post card. We walked back to kamakura and ate dinner at a little shop. We went there to get this chicken rice omlet but because we got there late, there was only one left. Brandon got it and I got tofu soup with rice. It wasn’t that great, but I had sauce to put on it, so ok. We left and there was a cookie shop underneath. Very popular in kamakura. Shaped like a dove. I bought one for us to share but it wasn’t anything that great. Shrug. We took the train home and walked back to the dorm. maria was supposed to come over to talk, but maybe we didn’t communicate correctly. Hopefully I will see her tomorrow.
june 7
So I got up around 9am. I got ready quickly because I was supposed to meet Brandon at the roppongi station at 10am. I was walking toward the station when I saw naoko going to the convenie (convenience store), but I didn’t say hi. I went to the station and the train came. I got on and took a seat and I got tapped on the shoulder to get out. The train was closed and the one across the way was being used. I got to roppongi and waited, then realized that we were coming from opposite directions. Brandon found me and we went to donki. On the way there we saw many foreigners. A white guy approached us and tried to get us to pay for a ticket in to a bar for an after party. We said no thank you and he said well if you pay 1000 yen you get a stamp and can come back anytime and get a free drink. We were like no thank you, we don’t think we’ll be back in the area. This donki was a lot less quiet than the others. It had 6 floors of stuff. Costumes, household products, cds, dvds, grocery, toys, electronics. I got a ds pen and game holder. And Brandon got a watch for his dad. It was time to head back.
We get to keio and it’s a ghost town. Chinatsu and take are in the lab and no one else. We wait about 5-10 minutes and then we hear all this talking in the hallway. There are like 8 girls in the hallway. Everyone came to school on a Saturday. Crazy. Take, chinatsu, b, and me head out toward Tokyo tower. Yay! We get there and see younger noppon brother and take a picture with him. We head inside and go eat lunch. I got hot soba with rice. And beef. I like soba. Then we went back down stairs to buy our ticket. We get to the top and the view is amazing. Tokyo is a crazy town. There is so much stuff everywhere. Buildings everywhere. We go to the gift shop and I get a kitai strap of the noppon brothers, some postcards. We go downstairs and I find a mega amount of hello kitty kitai straps. I pick out three I like. We go to the roof area then go outside. We see older noppon brother wearing a yokata. We take pictures with him.
Then we go to zojoji temple and inside we pay 200 yen for a fortune. Brandon and take did not like they’re fortune so they tied it up to the board. Then we went to the little shop to get a sweet treat of dumplings. They have the red bean inside. They were good. The other more chewy one was bad! Not tasty. Then we see some gangoru people. Overtanned and think they are too cool for school. We head back to school.
Yoshi, saori, chinatsu, kana, naoko, b, and me then head to karaoke. Brandon sang usher, phantom of the opera, and john legend. I sang fergalicious and a whole new world. J they sang a couple of Japanese songs that I knew. Then we left to go find yoko at the 711. saori and chinatsu had to leave and we headed to the train to go to tsukishima. We went to go eat manja. It’s where you cook on a hot plate in the center of the table. The first one was tuna, then ebi (shrimp), okanomiake, and yaki soba. It was delicious. It was very hot though. Then we headed back to the train and Brandon went in on direction and we in an another. They walked me to my line on asaksa. They are very sweet.
I went to the convenie on the way home to buy yogurt and coffee. I got home around 1030 and maria knocked on my door. She gave me coconut pocky. Which was very tasty. And then she asked if we could speak in English to help her learn better. I said ok. She came in and I learned that she born in Thailand and after she graduated high school she learned how to speak Japanese and came here for university. She said she speaks Japanese everyday but she can’t speak English very well. She is going back to Thailand after she graduates from university. we are going to talk every night. I will gladly help. She said she would help with my Japanese J
We get to keio and it’s a ghost town. Chinatsu and take are in the lab and no one else. We wait about 5-10 minutes and then we hear all this talking in the hallway. There are like 8 girls in the hallway. Everyone came to school on a Saturday. Crazy. Take, chinatsu, b, and me head out toward Tokyo tower. Yay! We get there and see younger noppon brother and take a picture with him. We head inside and go eat lunch. I got hot soba with rice. And beef. I like soba. Then we went back down stairs to buy our ticket. We get to the top and the view is amazing. Tokyo is a crazy town. There is so much stuff everywhere. Buildings everywhere. We go to the gift shop and I get a kitai strap of the noppon brothers, some postcards. We go downstairs and I find a mega amount of hello kitty kitai straps. I pick out three I like. We go to the roof area then go outside. We see older noppon brother wearing a yokata. We take pictures with him.
Then we go to zojoji temple and inside we pay 200 yen for a fortune. Brandon and take did not like they’re fortune so they tied it up to the board. Then we went to the little shop to get a sweet treat of dumplings. They have the red bean inside. They were good. The other more chewy one was bad! Not tasty. Then we see some gangoru people. Overtanned and think they are too cool for school. We head back to school.
Yoshi, saori, chinatsu, kana, naoko, b, and me then head to karaoke. Brandon sang usher, phantom of the opera, and john legend. I sang fergalicious and a whole new world. J they sang a couple of Japanese songs that I knew. Then we left to go find yoko at the 711. saori and chinatsu had to leave and we headed to the train to go to tsukishima. We went to go eat manja. It’s where you cook on a hot plate in the center of the table. The first one was tuna, then ebi (shrimp), okanomiake, and yaki soba. It was delicious. It was very hot though. Then we headed back to the train and Brandon went in on direction and we in an another. They walked me to my line on asaksa. They are very sweet.
I went to the convenie on the way home to buy yogurt and coffee. I got home around 1030 and maria knocked on my door. She gave me coconut pocky. Which was very tasty. And then she asked if we could speak in English to help her learn better. I said ok. She came in and I learned that she born in Thailand and after she graduated high school she learned how to speak Japanese and came here for university. She said she speaks Japanese everyday but she can’t speak English very well. She is going back to Thailand after she graduates from university. we are going to talk every night. I will gladly help. She said she would help with my Japanese J
june 6
I got up around 730 and got ready and caught the train. I got to keio by 845am. I like catching the less crowded train. I went into the lab and was trying to organize. Matsuyama sensei came up to me and asked how I like miki pharmacy. I said we didn’t go yet. Ohhhooh. Well ok. Brandon arrived and we were off. Takesan said we would meet yoko at the station. She is an grade 4 pharmacy student. Take told us that it was top secret that he has a girlfriend. J very funny. Yoko came and we went toward the miki pharmacy. There were several miki pharmacies on the street with Tokyo joshii dai hospital (women’s hosp). turned out we were at the wrong pharmacy. We got directions and went to the right one. It was in a huge type of mall. There are medical clinics on the one of the floors including doctors, eyes, dental. They all get their prescriptions at the miki pharmacy. We met a lady and she introduced us to another pharmacist that studied abroad in Canada. She was very nice. She told us that when a pt comes they put their rx into a scanner to stamp the time and take a number. They must wait in line for their number and it will appear on a huge monitor. The receptionists take the rx and input it into the computer and answer phones. They have a little otc section but that person that runs that counter is not a pharmacist. once the rx is in the computer one pharmacist will get the medicine and others will check it. A medical/medication hx is taken and kept up with. They also do a soap note for each rx. They have their own packaging machine for one dose each. It can package on pill or many. They also divide the pill by the time the pt is supposed to take it. Good idea. They do powders. They don’t really have pharmacy products, they just take from stock jar and put in a small jar. It gets checked with a hanko and then sent out the window. The pharmacist that is counseling will call the number of the rx and they must counsel. Some drugs are easier to prepare than others so sometimes a pt will get skipped. They do not call the number, just the pt name, because they don’t want the person skipped to know. But somehow the pt always knows and gets mad. Rx can be “called ahead” with a fax. They are worked on faster because they do not have a number. They complete the filling and wait for the pt to bring in the original rx. You can also leave your rx for the next day. They also have an oxygen bar that is free for 10 minutes. The pharmacy does about 300 rx per day and wait time is 45-1hr sometimes. We talked about how warfarin is a anarrwo therapeutic index drug and they only have 0.5 1mg and 5 mg strength on warfarin.
After the tour, we went to the restaurant next door. I had tuna, which turned out to be the neck of the tuna. It was really good. Then we went off to the other pharmacy. On the way we found a bank so I could exchange my travelor’s checks. Then we went to the other miki pharmacy that works with Chinese herbal medication. It was really cool. They had some awesome smelling cinnamon. A doctor will write down the ingredients and the pharmacist with grab the medicine, and another will check to make sure it is right. They measure, and then put in a machine that will package individual tea bags. They steep the tea. The amt of water and boiling is very important for the effectiveness of the medicine. It was really cool. Pts must have a rx from the pharmacist. they cannot just buy it it was interesting to know that they stock ephedra. They said it was too make you sweat.
Then we went to a diner upstairs to rest and have a drink. I hald calpus, which was really good. We talked a bit and headed for the train. The leader left us and we went off to find Brandon a new bag. On the way we saw otc pharmacies. Sad, but they must have a pharmacist because 3 otc medicine, asa, acetaminophen? And ibuprofen?. It is jam packed with stuff. And one was even outside on the street hawking his ware and trying to get people in the pharmacy. We went to a men’s store and looked for bags. Brandon really didn’t like any so we walked on and found don-ki. It is a discount? Place packed with items. It was so loud that it was hard to think. Brandon found a nice bag and I found some stockings.
Then we went to the Tokyo metropolitan center . we went to the 45 floor in 55seconds. I could feel the pressure in my ears. It was really cool to see the city from that high. I was amazing. So many buildings and houses, everything. I found some really cool stuff but didn’t want to buy anything yet. We left and headed for sushi. We went to a rolling sushi bar. It was very delicious. Then other miho and kezu met us. It was very tasty. Then we left and headed back to daimon. Take got confused but I knew we were going the right. Me and Brandon got some ice cream at mcdonalds. It was about 930 then. My curfew really sucks. It’s a pain in the ass. There is not enough time to go anywhere. So we went to the 711 to find some calpis and to no avail. I got some snacks and we went outside to find the don-ki in roppongi. And take walked up behind us. Then we went home.
We told take, yoko, miho, and kezu that we thought Japanese people were very polite and not rude. They said it was a virture. Very important to Japanese people. Then Brandon explained that Japanese are like shrimp sushi. Shrimp on the outside and wasabi on the inside. They understood. And said I like you on the outside, but maybe on so-so on the inside. Japanese culture. But everyone has been so nice to us! It is great here. I just wish my bed was softer.
After the tour, we went to the restaurant next door. I had tuna, which turned out to be the neck of the tuna. It was really good. Then we went off to the other pharmacy. On the way we found a bank so I could exchange my travelor’s checks. Then we went to the other miki pharmacy that works with Chinese herbal medication. It was really cool. They had some awesome smelling cinnamon. A doctor will write down the ingredients and the pharmacist with grab the medicine, and another will check to make sure it is right. They measure, and then put in a machine that will package individual tea bags. They steep the tea. The amt of water and boiling is very important for the effectiveness of the medicine. It was really cool. Pts must have a rx from the pharmacist. they cannot just buy it it was interesting to know that they stock ephedra. They said it was too make you sweat.
Then we went to a diner upstairs to rest and have a drink. I hald calpus, which was really good. We talked a bit and headed for the train. The leader left us and we went off to find Brandon a new bag. On the way we saw otc pharmacies. Sad, but they must have a pharmacist because 3 otc medicine, asa, acetaminophen? And ibuprofen?. It is jam packed with stuff. And one was even outside on the street hawking his ware and trying to get people in the pharmacy. We went to a men’s store and looked for bags. Brandon really didn’t like any so we walked on and found don-ki. It is a discount? Place packed with items. It was so loud that it was hard to think. Brandon found a nice bag and I found some stockings.
Then we went to the Tokyo metropolitan center . we went to the 45 floor in 55seconds. I could feel the pressure in my ears. It was really cool to see the city from that high. I was amazing. So many buildings and houses, everything. I found some really cool stuff but didn’t want to buy anything yet. We left and headed for sushi. We went to a rolling sushi bar. It was very delicious. Then other miho and kezu met us. It was very tasty. Then we left and headed back to daimon. Take got confused but I knew we were going the right. Me and Brandon got some ice cream at mcdonalds. It was about 930 then. My curfew really sucks. It’s a pain in the ass. There is not enough time to go anywhere. So we went to the 711 to find some calpis and to no avail. I got some snacks and we went outside to find the don-ki in roppongi. And take walked up behind us. Then we went home.
We told take, yoko, miho, and kezu that we thought Japanese people were very polite and not rude. They said it was a virture. Very important to Japanese people. Then Brandon explained that Japanese are like shrimp sushi. Shrimp on the outside and wasabi on the inside. They understood. And said I like you on the outside, but maybe on so-so on the inside. Japanese culture. But everyone has been so nice to us! It is great here. I just wish my bed was softer.
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