When it Rains, it Pours

I'm not feeling too good right now. Something was bugging my ankle last Wednesday night, but I just brushed it off as soreness after a workout. The next day, I was hurting to walk. Again, a little muscle pain is normal so I just figured take a little time off. A week later, not feeling much better. This morning I finally went to the doctor and had it professionally diagnosed. He said I ruptured one of the tendons in my ankle and put it in a cast. Hopefully it'll come off in three weeks and that will be the end of it. Of course, sports injuries never really go away and who knows how long it could take to really heal, if ever. Oppositely, Japanese doctors are notorious for overstating severity and over-dispensing treatment, so it could just be a few days and no problem.

Even the best-case scenario is pretty grim, unfortunately. I'll be out of training for a good month, which sucks everything out of my trip home for the batizado. I've been looking forward to this for months, and have been working hard on a ton of new moves to show off. I was hoping to impress everyone back in Gainesville with my new cord and game, since the last time I went back I had been off a few weeks and played horribly. Now I may well not be able to do anything but watch.


Luckily, work isn't a big deal. I'm still on spring vacation til next week, when I start again at the kindergartens. Teaching kids will mean some playing and moving, but the other teachers will understand that I'll be keeping it easy. I've also got the Kinki University job on Mondays, good thing that doesn't require any movement (really, just sit there for like 6 hours). No sick days used, no money lost.

As for the money, it wasn't that expensive. About $100 for X-rays (totally unnecessary, I think), the diagnosis, and cast. I have some sports insurance from my gym, but only about $15 a day if I go to the hospital more than five days. My mission now is to get in there 5 times in 2 weeks for check-ups. It'll be pretty slow around here with no classes, so I think I can do it.

The lesson I should be learning here is that every cloud has a silver lining. The time off will give me the chance to work on my capoeira music and to try making some flyers for my new classes. I can still stretch, do push-ups and sit-ups, and teach my gym classes orally. Teaching through speach instead of demonstation will improve my Japanese as well.

Looking on the bright side has been my theme for the last two days. Monday I started at Kinki. I had been told to come in at 9:45, but when I got there, the schedule said 9:30. Not a big deal, only 10 minutes late and no one was there anyway.

Tuesday I again suffered from lack of confirmations. I thought I was to be starting at the kindergarten that morning, so I got up bright and early and made my hour plus commute out into the countryside. Upon arrival, I found locked gates and an empty school. There was still the possibility of afternoon classes, so I figured it wouldn't be wise to head home just then. I sent an e-mail to the employment acency asking what the schedule was and decided I would kill a couple hours out in the sticks. The school is near a pretty nice temple, so I figured I'd check it out. About half-way there, I got a call from my employer telling me classes don't start for another week. The weather was good, it was still early, I was awake and dressed, why not make something of the day? I hit the temple, which was beautiful with the spring flowers in bloom, then hung around the nearby park until the afternoon. It was great, had brought lunch with me, so I could sit in the park and do my own little hanami (flower viewing picnic). There were tons of people there; old folks sleeping on the grass, families eating lunch, kids playing in the playground, high schoolers getting drunk. It really shows you the kind of small-town social harmony this country is so proud of, no one was bothering anyone and everyone was having a great time. Even though I was tired and injured, it was still a damn fine day.