Making Plans

 I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Hannah and I are making plans to go to Tokyo in the summer. The musical Sunset Boulevard will be playing for a couple of weeks, and Hannah really wants to see that.

The tickets went on sale last Saturday. Hannah managed to get two good tickets, very expensive but I think worth it. She also managed to book a hotel and flight at a reasonable price. The only problem is that the hotel is about an hour away from the theatre, changing trains many times to get there. I'm glad I'm going with Hannah as I don't know if I could deal with that by myself!

It should be an interesting visit. I haven't been to Tokyo since I arrived in Japan, 35 years ago.  I guess it's changed a lot. I was never really interested in going, big cities always feel the same: too many people, too much noise, and everything always seems to be a lot more expensive.

In Tokyo, many years ago.

We are making plans for the other days we will be there. I really don't want to see all the real touristy places, just the thought of the crowds and the heat and humidity makes me panic!

One area that I've read about is the Tokyo booktown, Jinbocho. There are over 130 bookstores; some sources say there are 200 stores. Of course, most are Japanese bookstores, but there are also foreign bookstores. Most are 2nd handstores, but there are also new bookstores as well, plus some stores that sell rare books.  One store that I saw on YouTube is a cat bookstore, so of course, we want to visit that.

I don't know what else Hannah wants to do. She said that watching the musical is the most important thing for her. She loves museums about education or the Show period, maybe we can find something like that. Then, of course, there is always shopping, more like window shopping!

I have to start training to deal with all the walking and the heat/humidity. 

Is it crazy to make these plans? Maybe. But I know I always put off doing things because of ....many excuses! Not enough money, well, that isn't going to change overnight, but I am working on it. Haven't lost weight, well, I can try, I have a few months. It's going to be hot and humid; that isn't going to change. It'll be hot and humid here as well.

I'm at the time in my life when I realised that time is important. We aren't guaranteed tomorrow. I need to make the most of the time I have now, doing things that I want to do, things that bring joy to my life. 

One reason I'm thinking like this is, is the news of a lady I knew, who passed away a few days ago. She was just 70 years old and had been battling cancer for 5 years. That's so sad, from about my age, she was dealing with cancer, hospital stays, chemo and radiation therapy, constantly not feeling well and not having energy to do things. 

So I'm going to live in the here and now, make crazy plans, spend time with those that I love. Also, take care of myself so I can make the crazy plans come true.

Does anybody else have crazy plans?

Japanese Comfort Food VS English Comfort Food

 Yesterday it was so cold. I think it only got to about 10°C; of course, it felt colder in the house!

I decided to make some comfort food for lunch. Something warming, filling, and just feels right on a cold March day.

I made Butadon, Pork Donburi. 

Donburi is a rice dish in one bowl. Lovely, soft, steamy rice topped with either beef, pork, chicken, pork cutlets or vegetables.

For a pork donburi, I cook onions and thinly sliced pork in dashi, then add the usual flavourings: sugar, soy sauce, mirin (sweet sake), and sake. I like the sauce to be a little bit sweet, so I add more mirin. When David makes it, he adds more soy, just personal taste.

To go with this, I made a pot of miso soup. I love miso soup; it's so easy to make and is a good way of adding a few more vegetables to the meal. My kids say that my soup is more like a stew as I put in so many vegetables!

A small side salad rounded out the meal nicely,

Butadon, miso soup and salad, nice lunch.

I ate a lot at lunch, so I wasn't that hungry in the evening. I remembered that I had a tin of baked beans in the cupboard. In the UK, these are standard food; here in Japan, they are a luxury. One tin costs about 500 yen, almost £3. I bought these beans a couple of months ago, so I decided that beans on toast for dinner would be another comfort food for me. This was more about nostalgia. I love Japanese food, but sometimes I just want something English, something that takes me back to my childhood! Maybe not that healthy, but it hit the spot!

Beans on toast with some sausages and mushrooms.

I'm wondering what comfort foods other people enjoy. Drop me a comment!

The Storage Room

 Is a disaster!

The storage area is a large building that has two floors. Most of the downstairs is for parking cars, especially if there's a typhoon.  Part of the downstairs was changed into an office, but it isn't really usable, too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter. Then there's the upstairs, which is one big room. I've often thought it would be nice to convert it so it could be used for something, but there are massive gaps in the walls and between the walls and the roof. It has become home to many different creatures. This time of year, it's okay, but in the summer, I get very nervous about moving things about because I have no idea what is going to run out.

I haven't been upstairs in months. I think the last time was when Hannah came home to find somethings she was storing here. I went today, and it is a real mess. Part of it is things just being moved around without thought of stacking boxes or throwing out stuff that is not useful. Also, David and Mikey had to move a lot of boxes to get to the chest of drawers that I needed for my room.

This is a little video I took, it might be jumpy in places because I was tripping over stuff!

One of the biggest problems for me is the stairs to the 2nd floor. They are very steep and don't have any handrails at all.  Even when I was younger, I found the stairs challenging; now they are almost impossible. I only go upstairs if there's someone to go with me. I can't carry anything down; the person who goes up with me has to help carry stuff down. Today it was Christopher.

Looking down the stairs, scary.

I took a little video of what was once the office. It needs cleaning out as well. The doors at the end of the video are from the original house, so about 70 years old!

Then there is the outside!

Oh bother!

Christopher moved the branches that were cut down ages ago; he hopes that it'll be dry enough to burn them next week. At least where the branches were looks a lot better.

The branches were dumped here; it looks a lot better.

Looks like my "to-do" list has gotten longer!

Just Sam

 I don't know why, but one of my ginger cats has taken to sleeping in my room.

He knows that he is only allowed on my bed or the windowsill. At the moment, there's a big box in my room that he has claimed. It's a set of drawers for Hannah, so it'll be gone soon!

When David isn't working at night, I ask him to take Sam to his room, but Sam won't settle at all. He has to be on my bed, on me!  

At first, I was annoyed with him; he sleeps in the middle of the bed, and I have to keep pushing him to one side so I can stretch my legs a bit. But somehow it's become comforting. In the evenings when I'm sitting on my bed reading or watching TV, Sam curls up on my lap and starts to purr. That sound actually calms me a lot! Even if I've had a hard day or am feeling a bit down because of the usual worries (too many bills and not enough money, how to get this house fixed, how to......whatever the latest crisis is), the sound of Sam purring, the feel of his soft fur is like a balm to my soul, I stop thinking, I breathe deeply and tell myself that in this moment nothing is bad. I think that is the beauty of cats, only now is important. They don't fuss about next month's bills, about the house being a constant mess because of dust and spider webs; they just are. I need to be more in the moment. I'm always regretting past decisions, things I can't change and worrying about the future and all the "what ifs" out there. My what-ifs get crazy if I let them. The latest one is what if there's a massive earthquake. Why am I wasting time and energy worrying about a natural phenomenon that I can't stop! I can prepare, have water and food on hand, a first aid kit (which I need to check), but other than that, what can I do?

My evening with Sam have really helped me. When he is looking for love and to be played with, I put my book down or turn off the TV and really focus on him; that's when the magic happens. It's just such a relaxing feeling; it has helped me to unwind at the end of the day.

Just a little video of Sam on the box.

Check Up

 Yesterday was my 3-month check-up for diabetes and high blood pressure.

I will admit that the past few months, I haven't been really mindful of my eating. I know that over the Christmas and New Year's there are so many lovely foods that I only buy or make at that time of year, so I gave myself permission to eat. I thought that I would get that out of my system and that by the middle of January, I would go back to eating less carbs and sugars, but that hasn't really happened. I have good days, sometimes two or three days running that I am eating better and doing more exercise, then I'll have a few bad days where I eat the wrong foods. I don't overeat. I get full quickly; once I feel full, I stop eating, which is a new thing for me. I used to be able to eat even when I felt full; now, however, that makes me feel sick, which is a good thing! I also eat very slowly; it can take over 20 minutes to eat a meal, which is also a good thing, except I'm left alone at the table with only the cats to keep me company.

I was very worried about this check-up. My weight hasn't really changed; it's gone up and down the same half a kilo for the past couple of months, which is amazing considering the amount of junk I've eaten! I thought my A1C would be higher, but it was the same as the last test: 5.7! Also, my blood pressure has gone down; at the doctors it was 102/60. I asked to change the blood pressure meds as part of my gums have become swollen, I don't know if it's a side effect of the one medicine I was taking or if something else is going on! The doctor prescribed a different medicine but told me to come in if my blood pressure goes up or if I have other problems with it. Looks like I'll have to go to the dentist to find out what's happening with my gums! 

I have a new goal: to get under 90kgs by July. Why July? The musical Sunset Boulevard will be playing in Tokyo from July 10th to August 1st. Hannah and I are planning (hoping) to see it. I'm going to start training for walking in the heat. Most summers, I don't do anything or go anywhere because of the heat and humidity. When the extreme heat was just three months of the year, that was alright, now though, most years it's about half the year. I don't want to be stuck in one room for half a year, so I think I need to start preparing for the heat and humidity now, build up my stamina, and find products that will help with the heat, especially with sweating!

This evening I'm going to sit with a notebook and a calendar and make some goals.

Also, I got a new rice cooker. David bought it for me. I think he was fed up with burnt rice. It wasn't expensive, 4,000 yen, about £20. It's so nice to just put the rice in and push a switch. No more watching the pan to make sure it doesn't boil over or burn the rice! 

My new rice cooker

It's very small but does up to 4 cups of rice. It also has a basket to steam foods in, I'll have to try that out sometime.
 

Just Thinking

 Yesterday, when I changed over the chest of drawers, I threw out a few things. Not a lot, about one trash bag full, clothes that were falling to pieces, some that no longer fit, just trash really. But it wasn't easy! For example, I threw out a sweater that I bought about 15 years ago. I've only worn it a couple of times because it's not my style, wide neck, off-the-shoulder type. I got it from a recycle store, so not expensive, no real sentimental feelings toward it either, but I just haven't been able to throw it out!

Why? I can understand keeping things that have sentimental value. I have a couple of things that belonged to my Mom and Hisao, they comfort me and bring back memories. I also have a couple of baby clothes from each of my kids, again, comfort and memories. The same with photos and journals that I keep, I like looking back, remembering things, places I went, people I knew. Now that the kids are adults, I can tell them stories of their childhood. I feel that kind of family history is important!  

Why do I find it hard to throw out things that I don't need, aren't useful and are not even worth keeping? Is it the fear that I won't be able to buy things? Is it the fear of not having things? I know that when I do get the courage to purge myself of unnecessary stuff, I feel a lot better. I feel lighter, more at ease. Getting there, however, is hard. Hannah and David are good at helping me when I need to declutter.

Once I was sorting out the teaching materials I had. I had built up a library of books, CDs and prints. I like that I had a choice of textbooks so I could cater to the students' individual needs, but I always went back to using the same textbook.  I pulled books off the shelves, making two piles: keep or trash. The keep pile was getting very high! Hannah asked why I was keeping certain books, I told her that the grammar points were good or the dialogues were useful. She pointed out that the information was out of date. In one book, it had the question "Who is she/he?" with photos of Princess Diana and Michael Jackson; most kids wouldn't know who they are. Another book had a picture of cassette tapes, asking how many? Again, kids wouldn't know what cassette tapes are. With Hannah's help, I managed to throw out a load of books, making the room look a lot better.

The same with David. Before we moved here, we cleaned out the storage place. I had kept everything that I wasn't using, about 34 years of stuff, from baby clothes to school textbooks and loads of broken gadgets. David would pick up something and ask why are you keeping this. So much trash. It broke my heart, but I realised that the only value was sentiment, not usefulness! I kept a few things, but most were thrown out.

I think I need to learn how to do this by myself. I don't like the feeling of being afraid of letting things go. With spring starting, it's a good chance to go through the things that I have and do another good purge of trash. This house is too small, half the size of the last house. I don't really have space just to keep things. 

I can do this! I'll just have to remind myself every day!

A photo of the mountains from the other morning. It's been raining all day today, which is good as the winter has been very dry and the reservoirs were getting low!

Misty mountains.

A New Chest Of Drawers

 Did I mention that the chest of drawers in my bedroom stopped opening? About a month ago, the bottom three drawers got stuck. David managed to get them out, but they wouldn't go back in. So two of the drawers have sat near the door to my room. The cats liked to get in the top one!

Sam is in my drawer.

Maybe I could have coped with the drawers that were left, but they were getting harder and harder to open. The other day, it took 20 minutes to open one drawer. 

My old chest of drawers.

I remembered that there are two nice sets of drawers in the storage room. I asked David to check them out, which he did. One was still good, the other one was not really useful, with very shallow drawers and smelled a bit musty. 

Today, David said that he and Mikey could bring the good set of drawers down. I'm glad I have these muscle men to help me out; there's no way I could have gotten the drawers down the very steep stairs in the storage place.

While I was making lunch, they got the drawers down and gave them a good cleaning. I thought that just changing clothes from one set of drawers to another would take a few minutes. I didn't anticipate David's help.

The top part of the old drawers I had some books, I always seem to have more books than anything else. I had put them up there to keep them away from the cats.  The new set of drawers doesn't have a cupboard space on top, so what to do with the books?

David opened the closet that I have and decided to reorganise it, to make space for my books. Great idea. The only problem was that the closet had become a dumping ground for clean laundry! Weeks of laundry that nobody had claimed was just shoved in there.

David pulled out a lot of the laundry, some of the boxes and files that were in there. Let's just say my room was a disaster!

Disaster!

Hannah called while we were doing this. I couldn't find my phone! I sent her these photos. She understood why I didn't answer!

Even though I hadn't planned to do this today, I'm glad we did. I managed to fill up a big bag of trash, things that I'm just hanging onto for the sake of hanging onto them. I found things that I thought were lost, some tops that should fit me now. Also, moving the old drawers revealed mould that had been growing behind them. David wiped the walls down with bleach. There is still a lot to do, but we made a good start!

My new drawers

The teddy bear is Hannah's. I don't know why it's in my room.

The baskets on the floor are clothes that belong to Christopher and Mikey; they'll have to put them away later, plus two baskets of stuff I'm throwing out!

I think today was a good start to March!

February

 I don't really like February. The weather is usually very cold, sometimes we even get snow. The excitement of the new year has worn off, and the energy of spring hasn't really started.

I spent most of February making plans. I really want to start an English school here. I tried to clean out the tatami room and tried to fix the fusuma doors. The vinyl flooring cover is too small so I'll have to try to wash the carpet; at least it's good exercise. Get the entrance, inside and outside cleaned again. I think it's time to start making lists for March!

I didn't really study Japanese during February; I will need to do that in March. I think I need to make a schedule and stick to it.

Also, my diet didn't really restart after stopping over the holidays! My weight hasn't gone up, but it hasn't gone down either. I guess staying the same is alright! No choice!

The highlight of the month was the trip to Fukuoka Art Museum. I really enjoyed that day out. Just getting out of the house and seeing somewhere different really helps. 

My plans for March are to get the room for teaching set up, sort out the teaching materials and put out leaflets. April starts the new school year, so it's a good chance to get students.

I'm going to start pilates, I want to do everyday but not very confident about Tuesday and Wednesday when I'm out most of the day. Go back to eating less carbs and hopefully drop some weight.

Clean the garden a bit more, maybe plant something, but haven't decided what as yet. 

At the end of March, I have a 3-day, 2-night trip with Hannah. We are going to Mojiko and Shimonoseki. Both places have a lot of historical sites to visit. 

Let's hope March will be a good month.

A few more photos from our trip to Fukuoka.

Some kind of event, but I don't know what, the music was good!

Near the museum, maybe a former prime minister.

The massive tori gate

NHK studios

Weather

 I'm amazed at how the weather affects me.

I don't know if it's because of my age or because of this house. When it's very hot or very cold, I have a hard time moving about this house because the only room I can keep cool or warm is my room!

This week, the weather has been strange. Sunday and Monday, it was like spring, warm, sunny weather. Monday, it got up to 22°C. Tuesday and Wednesday was back to winter weather, not getting over 10°C. Thursday saw rain starting, which has continued through today!

My mood and energy levels have followed the same pattern, Sunday and Monday, happy, cleaning, thinking about decluttering again, and moving furniture. Tuesday and Wednesday back to hibernation mode, a bit grumpy because I was cold and my big toe hurt! Yesterday was sheer determination to get the tatami room sorted to start teaching. Today, totally miserable with headaches and, of course, allergies have kicked in. 

When either Christopher or David don't have work, I try to get bigger jobs done around the house. They have more strength and energy than I do! That's one of the reasons I pushed to do the tatami room yesterday, because David didn't have work the night before. Tomorrow, Christopher doesn't have work, so I plan to do some outside work (if the rain stops) and tidy the storage room.

 I have to push next month to really get the room ready to start teaching. It's about 80% done. I would love to get some nice bookshelves, but that might have to wait! David is planning to put out leaflets from next month. I hope by April we will have a few students here, we really need to make money to do this house, no more mopping in bed!

I have a plan. Can I stick to it?

I think the cats have a good life!

Lounge around all day, the only thing they have to do is look cute!

DIY....

 Isn't as easy as it looks!

The other week, we bought some paper to replace the covering on the fusuma doors. These are the doors to the room we will use for teaching, the doors that the cats have destroyed. 

Fusuma doors

These doors are really bad; they were already bad before the cats got to them, but now they're even worse.

I thought it would just be a case of taking off the ripped part and putting on the new paper, but of course, it wasn't that easy.  David took the one door down, got the new paper, and then realised that there were some tools we needed. 

We ran out to the store where we had bought the paper, Nafco. I love this store, so many wonderful products for the home and garden, but no money to buy everything I want.

We found the tools alright, and we bought a new light for the room as well.

The old light.

The new light

Makes a lot of difference in the room, a lot brighter!

We also got lucky with a floor covering that I've been looking for. At the moment, we have an old green carpet over the tatami mats. That carpet is about 60 years old and, like me, is showing its age. I've tried to clean it, but it just doesn't look good. While we were in the store, we found a sale for a vinyl floor mat that will be a lot easier to keep clean! Once we have it laid, I'll take some photos. I'm really happy about that, as I was stressing about the old carpet!

When we got back, we had another go at changing the fusuma paper. I say we, but David did most of the work, with some help from the cats!

Frodo is making sure David is doing it tight

The edge of the door has a frame. That frame has to come off to put the new paper on. The frame was held in place with these long, thin nails. It took ages to get the frame off.

 

David finally got the frame off, took over 30 minutes. Putting the new paper on wasn't easy either! We ended up with all wrinkles on it. David said it matched my face!

Wrinkly door.

The paper isn't that expensive, and now that David knows what to do, he can try again! Or we could hire someone who knows what they are doing!

I had a lovely surprise yesterday. I received a package from a friend, a really lovely book on pilates!

My new book

I never thought of doing pilates, but just looking through this book, I think there are some exercises I can start with, as I get better, I can try some of the more difficult ones.

I've known this lady for years; she was one of the first foreigners I met here. Every day, she sends videos about exercise or healthy living. I try some of the exercises, and the videos on healthy living give me a lot to think about!

I'm glad that we are making some progress on the one room. It gives me hope that we can make this house nice and more livable!

Exhausted

 I know my health isn't great, but the past few weeks I've been a lot more tired than usual.

Just one day out has left me feeling extremely low for the whole week. I know the added stress of Dad being in the hospital hasn't helped, but surely I shouldn't be this bad!

I've been trying to figure out what is wrong, but I have no idea. I'm trying to lose weight again, so I try not to have carbs in the morning and evening, for those meals I focus on low fat protien and vegetables. I'm craving sweets like crazy, but there's nowhere I can walk to buy anything. The only time we have any snacks in the house is when Hannah visits. If I want something sweet, I have to make something! This week I made a Victoria Sponge, but I only had one very small slice!

Victoria Sponge

I'm still trying to exercise, this week the weather has been nice, so I've been walking around the garden, doing a few things out there, but not as much as I should do!

I'm on meds for high blood pressure, but my readings are low, maybe too low. This morning was 102/70. Maybe I need to change my blood pressure meds. 

Maybe this feeling of exhaustion is more mental and has to do with all the stress I feel. I try to write down things at night before I go to bed, making lists, writing my journal, anything to get the thoughts out of my head. Some nights it works and I can fall asleep alright, but I still don't sleep all night. Some nights, I toss and turn thinking about things. Most nights, I sleep about 3 hours, then wake up and have a hard time falling back to sleep. Sunday night/Monday morning was awful! I fell asleep about midnight, woke up at 1 am, then didn't sleep until 4:30 am. My alarm went off at 5am! About one and a half hours of sleep! Thankfully, most nights aren't that bad.

One thing I need to get out of the habit of doing is reading on my Kindle late at night. I think the blue screen doesn't help. Maybe I should switch my late-night reading to real books; I still have plenty, keep my Kindle for earlier in the day! Also, I should turn the TV off earlier.

I'll try that for the rest of this month and see if it helps. I need to build better sleep habits, stop dozing in the day, stay up when I get up would help as well. I hope that as the weather gets a bit warmer, it will be easier to stay awake after 5am! Try to keep active during the day so I can sleep at night! 

I have an appointment on March 3rd to see my doctor about my diabetes and high blood pressure, maybe ask to change my meds. There's so much I want to do, but I never have enough energy. Is this part of ageing or just me being tired?

The Japanese Emperor's Birthday

Today is another public holiday, it's the Emperor's birthday.  It's known as Tenno Tanjobi (天皇誕生日). It's a celebration to honour Emperor Naruhito.

The Emperor's Birthday is one of the few times people can enter the inner grounds of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Visitors gather to wave flags and listen to the Emperor deliver greetings from the palace balcony.

The holiday is tied to the reigning emperor; the date changes when a new emperor ascends to the throne. When Emperor Naruhito succeeded Emperor Akihito in 2019, the holiday moved from December 23rd to February 23rd. I liked having December 23rd as a national holiday, an extra day to celebrate Christmas.

When Emperor Naruhito ascended to the throne, not only did the official birthday holiday change, but the era changed.

Japan uses the Western (Gregorian) calendar and the traditional Japanese era system, known as gengo (元号) or wareki (和暦). In this system, each emperor's reign defines a new era. The first year of an era is called gan-nen(元年), followed by year 2, 3, etc. We are now in Reiwa 8. This system is used on government forms, driver's licenses, tax documents, and even some business paperwork. At the hospital I go to, I'm asked to verify my ID by stating my date of birth, which is Showa 37, 1962. The problem is that I never remember it! I had to look up the year to make sure I got it right!

Recent eras are Showa (1926-1989), Heisei (1989-2019), and now Reiwa (2019-present).

A few years ago, I visited a museum that had these jars displayed.

The left hand one says the last air of the Heisei era, the right hand one says the first air of the Reiwa period.

Even though most people use the Western calendar today, the era calendar remains culturally significant today. The system connects modern Japan with centuries of tradition. It reminds people that each era marks a new chapter in the nation's story.

Just Another This And That Post

 My brother has been updating me on Dad's situation.

The first update was at 11am, Japan time, which was 12 hours after the fall. Dad was sitting up waiting for results from blood tests and X-rays.  At 9:30 the same evening, they had moved Dad to an Acute Medical Unit (AMU). At least there, he had a bed; he was waiting on a cardiologist to see him. This morning at 8:30 am, he was moved to post-trauma care for cardiology. In between all these moves, they have lost Dad's phone!

I'm honestly shocked at how awful the situation is in the UK for medical care. I've seen the headlines, but I  know that headlines are many times are exaggerations, just take the worst case and make it look like it's the norm. But maybe there is some truth in the situation with the National Health Service. Maybe it's time to really look at the whole institution and start again. Maybe looking at countries that have good health services and see what can be adapted to the UK.  When the NHS started, just after the war, it really helped those who were poor to have access to doctors and hospitals. Before, only those who were wealthy could afford health care. It looks like it's back to that situation again: those with money can go private, everyone else has to struggle through an underfunded and understaffed institution.

I really hope Dad will be alright! It's so hard being here, but I have no way to get to the UK. Also, I'm not sure what I could do there! I'm glad that my brother is taking care!

Here we are dealing with dentists! Both Christopher and David have had problems with their teeth! Christopher is having a root canal done; it takes at least 7 to 8 appointments to get it finished. David had a tooth extracted last Tuesday; he's been in pain with it since then!  Today's lunch was curry, nothing hard, but he couldn't eat properly! He called the dentist, who told him to come in right away! It looks like the cavity was infected. They gave him a local anaesthetic and cleaned out the area. He came back with pain meds and antibiotics. David said that he was glad that he lived in Japan, at least he didn't have to wait to see the dentist!

David being dsft with the cats!

Even though it's still February, the weather is very nice, more like spring.

We have a load of blossoms on the front of the property. I think they are plum blossoms.

These photos are from last week, but they still look good today!

Very beautiful.

I decided to go out for a bit; the garden really needs doing, and I seem to have the most free time! I picked up some of the trash that was lying around. I got Christopher to move some of the branches that had been cut down! Hopefully, we can burn some of them next week!

I really have to go out every day, just do a bit at a time! I hope the nice weather continues, but the forecast is for rain next week!

England's National Health Service

When I arrived in Japan in the early 1990s, I was surprised to find out that health care wasn't free.

Part of that was my own naive thinking. Even though I had spent some time in the USA, where health care is very expensive, I had never really thought about paying for health care in Japan.

Between the two extremes of the USA system, where if you don't have good insurance, getting sick or injured can put you in debt and the free services in England, I've found the system in Japan is a good middle ground.

We pay into the national health insurance. The amount that you have to pay depends on your income. At the moment, my income is very low, about 20,000 yen a month, £100, so I pay 2,000 yen, £10 pounds a month. At the hospital or dentist, I have to pay 30% of the bill.

A few times when the bill has been more than I can pay, I've talked to the accounts office and set up a monthly payment. I did this when my mother-in-law was in the hospital for almost a year. When I was given the bill, I told them that I couldn't pay and asked for help.

The services here are good and quick. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I joined an online support group based in the UK. There are support groups here, but I didn't think I could communicate or ask questions in Japanese. Within a month, I had been diagnosed, had a lot of tests done, had my teeth checked, had a mastectomy and was back home. One lady in that group was diagnosed at the same time and was still waiting for follow-up tests! This was pre Covid.

The reason I'm writing this and why this is on my mind is that my Dad called last night, at about 11 pm, Japan time.

He had fallen down while he was out shopping. One staff member in a building society ( similar to a bank, but is owned by the customers, not shareholders, they deal with loans and mortgages) saw him, and helped him into the shop where he could wait for the ambulance to arrive. My Dad didn't have his hearing aid, so the lady was relaying the information to the paramedics. When she had finished doing that she spoke to me, telling me that she hadn't seen my Dad fall but had found him on the floor. She then said that the paramedics would arrive in about an hour!

I was shocked; this isn't a remote area, and it's not in the middle of nowhere. The nearest hospital with an A&E (accident and emergency room) is a 20-minute drive away, with sirens and lights, making it about 10 minutes away.

After I finished talking to Dad, I called my brother and asked him to check on Dad. My brother doesn't live near, but nearer than me, at least in the same country. I told him about the one-hour wait, he said that it is quick; sometimes you can wait anywhere from 4 to 8 hours.  I'm wondering what if it's a fatal injury, a heart attack or stroke, do you still need to wait for hours to get help?

We live in the middle of nowhere, the nearest hospital is over half an hour's drive away, but when David collapsed, an ambulance arrived within 10 minutes. 

At 11am, Japan time, my brother sent me a message saying that Dad was waiting for X-rays and blood tests. That's 12 hours since the accident! I can't imagine waiting that long!

I struggle with being in Japan, basically language and culture barriers, some of which are in my mind and not real. But after this, I'm glad to be here, at least the health service here is quick and thorough. There are long waiting times in bigger hospitals, but not 12 hours! The longest I've had to wait was about 3 hours. 

I've seen news articles about the problems with the NHS, but I always thought they were exaggerated, but maybe not!

I'm waiting to see how my Dad is, why he fell, this is the second time this year. I guess at 88 these things are going to happen, but it's a worry!

Dad, nine years ago!

Last Part of Of Our Trip

 I didn't have a chance to write yesterday, just very busy with classes!

After Burger King, we got the bus back to Tenjin Station.  Hannah wanted to go to Bookoff, a recycle bookstore, near the station. She is always looking for books to help with her study and research. 

As always, Google Maps and reality were different.  The few-minute walk from the bus stop to Bookoff was more like 15 minutes. One problem was the crowds, just so many people, plus it started to rain. A lot of people with umbrellas meant dodging around or getting hit by an umbrella, also there were a few people riding bikes on the pavement! I got hit twice by bikes!

I am really impressed by the street art in this area. We cut through an arcade to get to Bookoff. There were some interesting statues. The arcade reminded me of the UK.

Hippos

I don't know what this is, but it's interesting.

The arcade

Then there's a cubed tree, Hannah said it's a LEGO tree!

Cubed tree.

We finally got to Bookoff. I was tired and hot. Outside was very cold, but inside was hot. Fortunately, there was a bench near the entrance, I sat there and had some water. Christopher and Hannah went to have a look around.  Hannah found a few books that she bought; I'm not sure what Christopher bought.

After that, we were all rather tired, a bit wet and cold. It was time to head back home. 

We made our way back to the station. There are only 2 platforms, so finding the right one was easy! We usually use the JR train, which goes to Hakata Station, which has 14 platforms, including the Shinkansen platforms. Where we usually get lost!

We used the local train to get back. We could get seats! 

We got back to Kurume but had just missed the bus. We had an hour to wait, but I was too tired to walk around anymore, so we went to Mr Donuts to get a little something!

A little treat!

We got back home about 7 o'clock. 

I had a great day, but it was a lot of walking for me, over 10,000 steps!

I'm looking forward to more adventures like this! I just need more money to make them happen!

A Trip To Fukuoka Art Museum (Part 3)

 I asked Hannah to find a place for lunch before we went on Saturday. I know that trying to find a place when we are out ends up with a lot more walking! She found a Burger King nearby. Plus a Cat Bookshop. Of course, we had to check out the Cat Bookshop.

To get to the bookshop, we had to meander through a nice little neighbourhood, full of quaint houses, little shops and cafes.

There weren't many cars, but a lot of foot traffic.

One of the little alleyways.

A cafe.

A Turkish cafe.

A sign for the Cat Bookshop

The alleyway where the bookshop is.

The Cat Bookshop.

On the wall outside the bookshop.

We couldn't take photos inside, which is a shame. I was surprised at the number of books available on cats. Most were in Japanese, a few English ones and a couple of them in other European languages. I guess cats are popular worldwide.

Christopher bought me a book. I'll post about it later.

After the Cat Bookshop, we walked another 10 minutes to find Burger King. 

This sign was on the door.

Funny!

Burger King was packed. It was lunch time, and it looked like there were a lot of orders for the Uber Eats delivery service. 

We had to wait for about 20 minutes, which I was very happy about, a chance to sit down for a bit!

Lunch

I had a simple set, Christopher and Hannah had a bigger set meal. Not only a burger and fries, but chicken nuggets and apple pie as well!

While we were waiting for our meal, Hannah showed me what she had bought at the museum.

How to write hieroglyphics and a soft toy

After lunch, we went back to the station to do some shopping. I'll try to write that up over the next couple of days. I have to make lunch now!