Tuesday, June 26, 2007

How do you say..."My kidney has revolted and wants to kill me" in Japanese?

Wow...it's been over a month since I last wrote.

Two weeks ago (to the day, actually) a small stone decided to make a PAINFUL announcement that it had taken up residence in my kidney. Said kidney stone resulted in a few other health complications, 7 or 8 doctor visits over the course of 5 days and a week off of work.

The experience of being SO sick in a SUCH a foreign country is something I'll never forget. Aside from the fact that, even with a translator, I had an near impossible time explaining/understanding what was going on...it's just that when you're feeling that low, you want (need?) everything to be familiar, comfortable, usual. But EVERYTHING was different, right down to how the nurse took my temperature (under my arm, in case you were about to get any ideas). I would have given anything for some awful hospital food or a hospital bracelet that can't be removed.

Luckily, I am surrounded with amazing co-workers, a saint-like boss and a miriad of loved ones who all took care of me by taking on some of my classes, driving me REPEATEDLY to the hopsital, dropping off food and drinks and videos, checking up on me via texts and phone calls or just stopping by to cheer me up. I, for one, am in awe of how completely God has taken care of me.

Anyway, I am on the mend and haven't felt any pain in several days. And so...life goes on:

Japan's rainy season is in full swing. The air is - quite literally - damp. And when it's not raining, the whole world looks like...a smoke-filled bar. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen.

Parent observations are also in full swing. I love my kids so I'm not too stressed about having their parents join the class. It's just that sometimes the kids act up BECAUSE their parents are there which can definitely cause me stress.

My one year anniversary in Japan is less than a month away. Creepy.

I miss you.

I think that about says it for now. Many things are happening in the next few weeks and I'll have lots to write about...

And now, for what you've all been waiting for. In answer to last month's quiz:

Answer: 20 years old

No lie.

<3

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Although I knew about your bad experience, I had wondered how you coped, aside from all the discomfort, with not having English speaking doctors and nurses!It surely must have been awful. Thanks for telling us how you got through it and God Bless all those who helped you so much.
As for rain, we had the grand daddy of all rainstorms here a couple of days ago -- almost 4 inches of rain in just 45 minutes! Even the new sewers couldn't handle it that quickly so many basements flooded -- including ours! Sooo glad that you are feeling good again.
Please take care. Love, Gramma

Anonymous said...

awesome blog, do you have twitter or facebook? i will bookmark this page thanks. peace maria

Anonymous said...

I really like your blog and i really appreciate the excellent quality content you are posting here for free for your online readers. thanks peace klara.

Anonymous said...

This is the coolest website and stories that i have ever read…its useful for me as im a lecturer and always motivate my students with these publised stories…thank you …and waiting for plenty more…

Anonymous said...

I have been searching for this information and finally found it. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Wish you best luck for the current and next year!There's always room for more thing.

Anonymous said...

Cool post…can you tell me where Overlay.TV showed up on that list? We were trying, but also trying not to be spammy…

Anonymous said...

Great post Jeff. Can't be more excited to see where you guys end up another 12 months from now.

Anonymous said...

great site! I am supporting it!! Will definitely come back again – having you rss feeds also,

Anonymous said...

The proper files were still web web. I thought it was strange, and even after changing the group as your instructions said, there was no change in how this displayed in both putty and filezilla. However, I tested uploading to my blog and it worked like a charm! I am not sure what is going on with the group thing, but somehow it must have worked. I’m curious as to what the deal is with that. In any case, Thank you so much!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful article, a bunch of high-quality material. I’m going to point out to my girlftriend and ask them the things they think.

Anonymous said...

I love it! Could perhaps be a tad more polished, but it’s far better than what we use at the moment, nonetheless

Anonymous said...

Thank you. This works like a dream!

Anonymous said...

Many thanks for the article. I will have a link back to this information from our fresh blog. Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

Excellent article and easy to understand explanation. How do I go about getting permission to post part of the article in my upcoming news letter? Giving proper credit to you the author and link to the site would not be a problem.

Anonymous said...

Hello, I have browsed most of your posts. This post is probably where I got the most useful information for my research. Thanks for posting, maybe we can see more on this.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for developing this website. The stories here are worth reading many times over in order to refresh us time and time again to do good and positive things and inspire or influence others to do the same.

Anonymous said...

Only want to say your article is as tonishing. The clearness in your post is simply spectacular and i can take for granted you are an expert on this field. Well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with succeeding post. Thanks a million and please keep up the ac complished work.

Anonymous said...

Hi i am so pleased I found your blog, I really found you by mistake, while I was searching Yahoo for something else, At Any Rate I am here now and would just like to say thank you for a wonderful blog posting and a all round intriguing blog (I also love the theme/design), I do not have time to read it all at the right now but I have bookmarked it and also added your RSS feeds.

Anonymous said...

I love it! Could perhaps be a tad more polished, but it’s far better than what we use at the moment, nonetheless

Anonymous said...

That is very helpful. It presented me a number of ideas and I’ll be placing them on my blog eventually. I’m bookmarking your website and I’ll be back. Thank you again!

Anonymous said...

The proper files were still web web. I thought it was strange, and even after changing the group as your instructions said, there was no change in how this displayed in both putty and filezilla. However, I tested uploading to my blog and it worked like a charm! I am not sure what is going on with the group thing, but somehow it must have worked. I’m curious as to what the deal is with that. In any case, Thank you so much!

Anonymous said...

Hello, I discovered your blog in a new directory of blogs. I dont know how your blog came up. Your weblog looks good. Have a good day.

Anonymous said...

I think it would be FABULOUS!