I had the best day that I’ve had in a while yesterday. Things just kind of came together perfectly, and I walked away from yesterday feeling like a champ! 
I did feel quite anxious about yesterday. It was my health check up day. (Japanese employers are required by law to provide all of their full time employees with a comprehensive health check annually. This includes vision and hearing tests, blood pressure test, EKG, blood work, urine and stool analysis, lung X-ray, abdominal exam, and a personal one-on-one with a doctor. Imagine how much all of this would cost if we were in the States!!!! 
) Every time I get my blood drawn, get a shot, or anything else that involves blood, needles, or pain at a doctor’s office, I tend to pass out. It’s not that I’m a weenie…..it’s just how my body operates. I get over-anxious, the air to my brain cuts off, and then the lights go out. 
Last year I passed out at my health check in a room full of Japanese employees, and I had to be drug out of the room by two nurses. EMBARRASSING!!
My health check wasn’t until the afternoon, so I had all morning at my elementary school. I told my vice principal, principal, and JTE that I would have to leave early to go to the health check that day, and they all said that it was fine. My first class of the day was my 6th graders. I walked up to the classroom and waltzed in all excited like normal. My 6th graders aren’t my favorite class at the elementary school, and there are quite a few little punks in there. When I walked in, the jerks of the class shouted things like “See you! Bye-bye!” I pretended not to hear them and said “Good morning! Hello!” However, even the good students looked confused and were politely pointing me out of the classroom. One kid near the front of the class pointed at the daily schedule, and sure enough, English was slotted for 5th period instead of the normal 2nd period. I was confused, but I waved bye to the kids and went back to the teacher’s room. The 6th grade teacher was there, and I asked him about class. He said something like, “Yes, it’s during 5th period today. Sorry.” I told him that I wouldn’t be there because I had to go to my health check.
Therefore, I had a free period. Woo-hoo! I took the opportunity to plan and organize more for the Yunomae Halloween Festival that Ian and I are planning for the kids of Yunomae. My second class of the day was my 4th graders. I love them! I went up to the English room, prepared things, and waited for the kids to arrive. 10:30 came and went, but not one 4th grader came to the English room. Disappointed, I walked to the 4th grade classroom. There were only two students in there, so I asked them if they had English class today. They both shook their heads. Confused, I went back down to the teacher’s room. The 4th grade teacher was in there, and he speaks nearly perfect English. I asked him about English class today. He said, “Oh! I’m sorry. Right now it’s science class. How about this afternoon? Can we have English then?” I told him about my health check up. He apologized multiple times for the fact that there would be no English class, but I told him that it was fine and that I’d just do the lesson the next time I’m scheduled to have 4th grade. (I didn’t think about it until later, but I think the reason for the whacked out schedule was that the sports festival was canceled on Sunday due to the typhoon. It was moved to Tuesday instead, and I feel like all of the teachers were scrambling to make up the lessons they didn’t have on Tuesday.)
So…..another free period to work on Halloween Festival things! My supervisor had stopped by earlier that morning and given the flyers advertising this event to my vice principal. My vice principal told me in a hybrid Japanese/English conversation that there was an afternoon meeting later, and he would give all of the teachers the flyers and allow them to hand them out to the students. Hurray!
My last class before I had to leave was 5th grade. I like my 5th graders. There are a few punks in the class, but overwhelmingly, the kids are great. That class was the only normal class of the day. I went up there as scheduled, and class started as scheduled. Before class started, some of the girls came up to me for hugs, tickles, and high fives. One girl gave me a big hug and said “Dai suki,” which means “I really like.” I said, “Dai suki nani?” (What do you like?”) She paused, looked at me slightly confused, and said, “Dai suki sensei.” (I really like you!) It’s things like that that just make my heart melt…… I stayed in that class for a total of twenty minutes before I had to leave. The teacher told the kids to tell me bye, and she continued on with the lesson. Melissa’s total teaching time for Wednesday: twenty minutes. LOL.
I stopped by my house for a QUICK lunch before heading to the BOE. I literally ate my lunch over the kitchen sink, brushed my teeth, and was out the door. 
My supervisor, two other ladies who work at the town office, and I drove to the hospital in Taragi for the health check. I was familiar with the process, and instead of flopping around like an awkward foreigner, I was just as fluid in my movements as the other Japanese employees also having health checks. This year, the order of the screening were: weight and height, vision test, blood pressure test, and then the DREADED blood work test. When I had the one-on-one with the doctor later on, he told me that everything came back normal except for my blood pressure. He said that it was a little elevated. I knew exactly why!! As the nurse was taking my blood pressure, I was trying to relax, but all I could think about was BLOOD WORK NEXT. BLOOD WORK NEXT. SHE’S GOING TO STICK A NEEDLE IN MY ARM AND DRAW BLOOD. I’M GOING TO PASS OUT AND MAKE A FOOL OF MYSELF. CALM DOWN, MELISSA. RELAX. IT’S NO BIG DEAL. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! BLOOD WORK NEXT. ……….so it’s no real surprise to me that my blood pressure was elevated. I warned both my supervisor and nurse who took my blood that it was very likely that I might pass out.
Here’s the good news: I DIDN’T PASS OUT!!! For possibly the first time in my life that I’ve had blood work done or given a shot, I didn’t pass out! Hurray! Okay….confession. I probably would have had it not been for the circumstances. It never hits me until I stand up. After the blood work or shot, I stand up, and suddenly I get ridiculously hot and sweaty, an overwhelming muffled ringing plagues my ears, and I get tunnel vision until the tunnel fades to blackness. As I stood up yesterday, I was feeling fine. As I was walking to the next station, the ringing in my ears started, and I was feeling a little light headed. Luckily for me, the next station was an EKG, so I got to lay down! I really feel like that was my saving grace!
As I previously mentioned, after all of the tests were completed and the results of the blood, urine, and stool samples came back, I had a meeting with the doctor. He was very nice, spoke English well, and explained to me that everything came back normal. Not only did I not pass out, I got a clean bill of health! Sweet!
Once we got back to Yunomae, I went back to the elementary school. I was there for a grand total of fifteen minutes before the afternoon meeting began. It was really boring for me since it was conducted in Japanese. As long as I don’t make any noise, they don’t mind if I work on something else during meetings, so I continued to work on organizational stuff for the Halloween Festival. At the very, very end of the meeting, the vice principal told the teachers about the flyers and asked them to hand them out to their students. All of the teachers nodded their heads, and there was this universal “Wow, that’s an awesome idea” vibe floating around the room. The 4th grade teacher came over to me and said, “Melissa-sensei, that’s a good idea. Thank you for doing this!” I walked out of school yesterday feeling like a rock star!
All-in-all, my day was amazing! I had so many good things happen to me, and I seriously felt like I was on top of the world. Woot!
No comments:
Post a Comment