Physical and Spiritual Health in Kanazawa

At 3 morning, on the day of my first semester final, I woke with a start. My left ear felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and beyond the cotton something was trying to burst out. For the next hour I tried to relieve the pain a variety of ways, from q-tips, to water. Although my remedies failed miserably, I did fall back asleep, and when I awoke, the bursting feeling had subsided. I could not hear out of one ear, but I decided to worry about it after my test.
4 hours later, I looked up my symptoms on WebMD, and decided that I had an ear infection. I went to my host mom, asking if she had ear drops. She did not, but said she would look for them when she went grocery shopping. However, the store did not carry ear drops. It turns out, when some feels some serious pain in Japan, they immediately go to the doctor, since the health care system here is inexpensive and inefficient for Japanese patients. She recommended that I go to the hospital the next morning, before my bus to Kyoto.
Naturally, I was worried. I spent hours trying to figure out what to do about insurance, because I imagined a trip to the hospital would be pretty expensive for a Gaijin. With the help of my American parents, I learned that I would have to pay for my treatment up front, and then hope to get reimbursed later. This made me even more nervous. I thought I would be draining a large amount of my bank account the next day, right before my trip.
But my fears were unfounded. I spent a total of an hour and ten minutes at the hospital and the pharmacy. The doctor prescribed to types of antibiotics, ear drops, and pain killers. Including the meds, the visit cost me 70$ and stopped my eardrum from bursting. Now my ear is fine. The pharmacy translated my medications into English, so when I report this to the Yale Health Plan, they'll understand what treatment I received, and might actually reimburse me. Even if they do not reimburse me, 70$ is quite a deal, but if I were a Japanese citizen, this treatment would have cost maybe 10$. I sure do hate the American Health Care System.
This week, I also had an opportunity to heal my spiritual self. A group of students were led to a temple on a hill and did Zazen. It was the most worthwhile cultural activity I have participated in at PII. An Obousan taught us the proper technique, and the we sat in silence for 20 minutes, like our consciousness float towards tranquility. Of course, I never got close to an enlightened, or even blank state. I was to worried about my breathing, my posture, and my numb leg to focus on nothing at all. Nonetheless, I liked the experience very much. If I thought I could wake-up at 4:30 every morning, I might even consider joining a temple for a while.
Besides sitting in silence for a few minutes, life in Japan has become lost in the doldrums. Hopefully the weekend will replenish my enthusiasm, but right now, all I want to do is read Harry Potter.
Next week, a review of The Order of The Phoenix movie. Or maybe something about Japan.