Marathon Day

At my old secondary school, if you'd asked all the students to run a 7-10 km marathon you would have gotten a lot of absenteeism, some sit-in protesters, several middle fingers and maybe 5 volunteers. In Japan, the same request prompted every student in 1st and 2nd year to run 7-10 km.

The marathon meant that I got to leave my desk for the morning, not that I could really afford to with marking stacking up but still. First off, the teachers watched the students as they lined up in their utterly straight lines on the dirt pitch, in order of HR number of course. Kocho Sensei did what Kocho Sensei does and made what I can only assume was a speech that was both charming and motivational. As usual, he held up several props, this time fans with Kanji written on both sides of them. During this, I milled around on the raised area behind him along with the other teachers, most of whom were wearing tracksuits rather than work clothes. Why did nobody tell me that we were supposed to wear tracksuits?

After the speeches, the students began their warm-up, lead by a particularly stern PE teacher barking instructions into a megaphone. A few teachers even joined in, God bless them. Only one teacher volunteered to run with the students, which goes to show that Japanese people don't enjoy marathons any more than Irish people, and that the school admin are totally hypocritical. Still, I was very glad teachers weren't compelled to run. Could you imagine? I could..

Last year my predecessor ran, fair play to her. Unfortunately, this led to a bunch of awkward conversations, when various people guessed that I might be running. No, I'm 100% unfit. Which sport do I like? Can I say none...ok surfing then. Do high school students in Ireland run marathons? See above.

I couldn't help fondly reminiscing about the last time I tried to run any significant distance. I was 12 years old and it was Sports Day in my primary school. 6th class had to run maybe 200m. My best friend and I refused on principle to participate, but we were forced to. We expressed our discontent by ambling slowly around the course behind our classmates who were actually attempting to run. Fools, we thought, in our rebellious, almost-adolescent state. The spectators had to wait for us to finish before the next race could take place, and we took pleasure in their impatience as we strolled along the home stretch, long after everyone else had finished.

Actually, with 10m to go I sprinted to the line so I didn't come in last. I was a bad friend.

The 1- and 2- nensei boys took off first. They had to run 10 km. I watched from the starting point outside the school as they pushed and shoved each other at the front. Then Kocho-Sensei, standing on an upturned crate, shot the starter gun. No kidding, he actually shot a gun into the air like at the Olympics or something..those nearby covered their ears. The boys accelerated wildly.

5 minutes later, the girls lined up, poised for their 7 km run. They were a lot calmer and took off at a leisurely pace when the gun was fired. After that, it was a case of waiting around. Of course, I could have gone inside and gotten some work done for the 40 mins plus they'd be running for, buy my supervisor had randomly suggested that I help the school nurse. I can never tell whether his suggestions are spur of the moment whims or well thought out, okayed with the Vice Principle kind of things, so I decided to go along with this one.

The nurse is a lovely woman who speaks very little English and greatly over-estimates my Japanese competency. She tried to speak to me a number of times, each in vain. I ended up chatting to a group of 3-nensei students. 3rd years don't have to run the marathon because they're focusing on exams. Despite this, these particular students hung around all morning helping out. It was a good chance to speak to them because I only ever taught 6 3-nenseis and our classes are finished for the year. Like most students at my school, they were totally cringing at having to speak English but surprisingly good at it.

Together we personed (see previous posts for my de-patriachising of English), the injury station. It was a good thing that our biggest challenges were a girl who was tired and a guy whose pre-injured knee was sore (should he even have been running the marathon? I think not...) because I certainly had no idea what I was doing. When the girl arrived, drenched in sweat and collapsed onto the soft floor tiles we'd laid on the concrete, I was pretty concerned about her. She was panting and the 3-nensei students covered her with a blanket. I suppose the problem was to complicated to explain in their second language because they told me she was tired. Then again, she sprang up and left after a few minutes.

When a problem I could have helped with finally came our way I was useless. A student with a bloody ankle in need of cleaning, showed up nonchalantly. I knew where the disinfectant and wipes were, but all I could do was wince grossed-outedly at his wound and murmur 'itai'. The san-nenseis saw to him as I sucked in air through my teeth...eww...

On reaching the finishing line, each student was given a numbered card showing their placing. Afterwards, there was a closing ceremony in the gym at which the first 30 boys and 20 girls received medals and certs. I can only assume that the ratio of boys to girls in the school is 3:2. Don't get me started on the implication that the school comparatively under values girls sporting achievements if this isn't the case...I'm not even going to check.

As usual, we bowed and clapped and were lectured at by various people. I think it went on for about half an hour, ridiculously. I saw that the students had all changed from their PE clothes back into their uniforms for the sake of appearances. It wasn't for classes anyway, because the rest of the day's classes were cancelled. Hurray for the students getting the break they deserved for once!

The whole day served to remind me of Japan's cultural unfamiliarity. Following orders and respect for physical fitness are givens. I have to admit though, that it makes for a healthy nation. In my school, I'd estimate that less than 1% of students are overweight. Compare that to Ireland where around 20% or children are overweight or obese as of 2010. There's a logic to the disparity.

It also makes for some entertaining reactions...

'What did you do in PE in high school?'

'Well...I didn't actually even do PE in high school...'

'Ehhhhhhhhh!'

"Suntan" and the Japanese Healthcare System

Just over a month ago, I sustained some pretty bad sunburn while surfing (aka lying like a beached whale on my surfboard and plunging headfirst into the water each time I tried to stand up) at Shizunami beach. This is the story of the extremely unpleasant week following..

On the Saturday itself we didn't wear wetsuits because the weather was warm..and who would have known that that came with its own perils? I usually make a habit of lathering myself with sun cream if it's not cloudy out and that fateful day was no exception. My face, arms and neck were completely covered. Of course, I neglected to put any on my legs because I was thinking...sure my legs will be underwater right? Wrong...my legs were on the surfboard. I practically sunbathed on my stomach for 5 hours with no sun cream, and 3 more hours with it after some (wonderful, wonderful) person pointed out that the back of my legs looked sort of red..I guess it could have been even worse!

On the way home I knew that something was up..I had extreme shivers and started feeling sick. At home I covered my legs in after sun and went to bed early. I knew that it was bad sunburn, but I was hoping that it wasn't seriously bad. I'd seen third degree burns from the sun before, with blisters and bandages, so since I couldn't see any blisters I was hoping that it'd be alright.

I woke up, sometime between 12 and 1 and felt super warm and dehydrated. When I went to the kitchen to get a drink the nausea started, awful, head-swimming debilitation. With a lot of difficulty I walked back to my room to get my phone to call for help before I blacked out. I was so uncoordinated that I actually stumbled and smacked my head off my bedside locker. It was like being really, really drunk!

Unsure of who to call I started with my supervisor, whom I felt terrible for waking up! As I lay on my bed the darkness encroaching on the sides of my vision retreated a little so we decided that I didn't need to be taken to the hospital immediately. (Even if I did...how scary would that have been, in an ambulance unable to communicate with the paramedics?) After I hung up, the nausea got worse again so I called my JET neighbour who totally saved the day. Having reassured my parents on the phone, she googled sun stroke and made me an ice-bath. It was a fully blown battle of wills to get me into the bath, but my legs were burning and I was still really sick and confused so I did it.

The recovery was incredibly fast! I was shivering and shaking all over, but suddenly coherent again. That cold water stayed in my bath for the next 48 hours and I got back into it whenever my legs felt too hot. In the meantime, I began sleeping in my aircon room and drinking lots of water. Sunstroke crisis averted!

At school, most of the teachers were pretty amused by my 'suntan', which meant that I couldn't walk properly (the skin at the back of one of my knees had melted together). I've since come to the conclusion that Japanese people very rarely get sunburned, because few of them seemed to have the slightest idea what I meant by the word. They kept referring back to it as bad 'suntan'. At one point, a teacher confided in me that I should look after myself very well because suntan could in fact be like a real burn...at which point I had to stop myself from bursting in to song, someone understood!

Despite their difficulty in understanding my condition, the teachers were amazingly kind and helpful to me during that week and the next. Initially I thought I didn't need a doctor, but having spoken to a VHI nurse in Ireland on the phone, I decided that I did. At this point I'd developed a few blisters on the back of my legs, they were still burning all of the time and it was pretty much impossible to lie down, sit or walk normally. So that Thursday, 5 days after surfing, I applied for my nenkyu, recruited my translator, and prepared for my first encounter with the Japanese Health System.

Two hours later, we were still cuing at the dermatologist. I learnt that there are no G.P.s in Japan. People go straight to specialists. Luckily, it was pretty obvious which one I required, and my teachers were able to recommend a good, nearby one. Having filled out a form (surprise!), we joined the long cue in the waiting room. The receptionists wore surgical masks and each time the door to the doctor's room opened, I could see two nurses with masks, hospital style pull-around curtains and a doctor with (I'm pretty sure) surgical scrubs on. It was pretty damn intimidating!



When my turn finally came, I was probably relieved and terrified in equal measure. In the room I had to take off my trousers (funtimes, my JTE translator was male) and
lie on their table thing. The worst part was not being able to see what they were doing behind me. At first, there were 4 people crowding around, staring at my legs. Then, the nurses were running all over the place applying stuff with cotton buds, prodding and poking etc. At one point, I glanced behind me to see one advancing with a scissors...I was like WTF? No way...

Unfortunately, I had precious little say over what happened. The JTE seemed to translate only a small portion of what was said and the doctor didn't seem happy with my asking questions. Having treated the burn in various mysterious ways, he gave me stuff to put on it and told me to return the next day. He also refused to prescribe aspirin for me because, as he expertly derived from my medical form, aspirin gave me asthma. When I tried to protest we were ushered out of the room...NEXT!

I had to go back twice more, though it would have been more times had I not headed off to Tokyo that weekend and been more available. Instead they weighed me down with medical supplies and instructed me to change the bandages myself twice daily. This turned out to be not only complicated, but pretty painful since the nurses stuck the surgical tape on skin that ripped away when I removed it, ouch/itai!

Fortunately, whatever the dermatologist did worked, because the burn improved, I stopped developing blisters and the skin at the back of my knee magically unstuck itself so that I could walk again. Walking when you haven't been able to for even a short period of time is the most amazing feeling!

The 'suntan' episode was probably my worst JET experience so far, but I survived thanks to quick-thinking friends and wonderful Japanese teachers. Let's just say that I don't care to require the services of the Japanese Healthcare System again any time soon...and always. remember. to wear sun screen.