All right, here is the latest on my toothache...after doing some research of my own, and consulting my uncle online who is a dentist, I believe I was suffering the severe pain of a common wisdom tooth infection called Pericoronitis - a fancy word to describe a tender and inflammed area being attacked by bacteria. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? Without reliving the pain, I will say that it was pretty unreal. After getting fed up with popping ibuprophen (pain killer) and rubbing Oragel on my tooth to try and numb the pain, I decided it was time to make a trip to the dentist. Terrified as I was, something needed to be done. Upon my first visit to the dentist (conveniently located just a block away in my neighborhood; about a 3 minute walk), I sat in the chair and waited for the confirmation of my self-diagnosis - the tooth should be 'extracted' (yanked...pulled...torn...pryed from its socket). If the procedure would be anything like what I am familiar with, this would be of no real concern since I would be 'put under' or anesthetized; however, this was not part of the plan. The dentist told me he would just be applying local freezing. Well, I've never had a tooth removed before, and the fact that I would be conscious while someone removes a tooth from skull was a horrifying thought - my inexperience, paired with a wild imagination left me running for the exit. I was adamant that I would need anesthetic, and was even prepared to go to a hospital to ensure that this be part of the process. The dentist complied and wrote me a prescription, and I would wait a few days to find out when the first available appointment would be.
My resident manager was extremely sweet and helpful throughout this whole time. She walked me to the dentist, translated for me, and made sure that everything would go smoothly. She offered to go see the dentist (Monday) and find out my scheduled appointment at the hospital, but by the time Monday rolled around the intolerable pain led me to accompany her. I wanted to speak with the dentist again and consider my options. Initially I requested a prescription of antibiotics which I thought would surely rid my tooth of the infection (which was responsible for all of the wicked pain). The dentist agreed to write it, but suggested the best thing to do would be to extract the tooth in order to prevent any reoccurence. So there I was, in the office, and back to square one. I managed to collect myself, and quickly asked if he would just remove it (sans anesthesia). My thoughts were: forget the medicine, forget the hospital - just get this tooth out of here. He asked when I would like to have my appointment, and I responded with: "As soon as possible, please!"...sure enough, I was back in the dentist's chair just one hour later.
Okay, now for the good stuff. One thing to note is that I had never seen another dentist apart from my uncle in my entire life, let alone a Japanese dentist. I figure this would have contributed to my tremendous and somewhat irrational anxiety. I was just terrified. Scared the freezing would wear off, or that he wouldn't freeze the root; Scared of hearing the sound effects of ripping a tooth out (regardless of how 'careful' he would be). Sounds of cracking or tearing...eeeek! The good news is, I tend to handle needles fairly well. I must say, this was some of the highest technology I've ever seen! the needle was so thin that I barely felt it at all. In fact, after he administered the injection twice, I had to double check to make sure that was what he was doing, because I literally did not feel it. The needle was held by a neat 'gun' shaped casing that automatically injected the freezing (as opposed to the manual way, which tends to cause feelings of pressure and discomfort). About 6 needles later I was nice and frozen, but still freaking out a little bit - it didn't help when he told me to 'raise my left hand' if I felt any pain...
Naturally, the second he clamped on to my tooth, my hand shot up. "You felt pain?" he asked, in a mildly surprised tone. I realized I was being a tad ridiculous, but I really didn't feel ready to go through with it - there was no turning back - so I said "well...uh...no...uhm...not really, but I think it might not be frozen enough? is everything frozen? did you get the root? my jaw? everything??"...of course he assured me it would be fine, and that I needed to relax my "mind and body" (which is easier said than done my friend). My last words were then, "uh..ok....I'm scared" (in the tone of a six year old girl). He said "don't be scared, you will feel pressure, but no pain...no pain". I felt fingers grip the chair as I braced myself for my first tooth extraction. He calmed me down in these soothing words, "wiggle, wiggle, wiggle...wiggle, wiggle, wiggle" - it was adorable, and after about six or seven "wiggles" it was out! and I didn't even hear it. I was so relieved. Piece of cake. About 20 minutes later, it was time for me to head to work at A&F. I was less than pleased with the fact that I wasn't granted the shift off, but I managed to make it on time and through the shift nonetheless. The freezing wore off quickly though, just before boarding the train. It was brutal. but I popped my prescribed pain killer and dealt with it. I think I may have just gotten a little bit tougher. While the whole experience was a painful and rather stressful ordeal the outcome was the best I could have hoped for. No more tooth...just a great story to tell. AND...I can officially say... that a part of me will always be in Japan. ("I left my heart, and a tooth in Tokyo")
Now on a lighter note...yesterday I attended class for the first time in a while, and had quite the humorous incident on the way. As anyone who has been to Japan (Tokyo in particular) could tell you, the trains are always on time. Efficiency and punctuality are key, if not fundamental aspects of life in Tokyo. The train stations are certainly a primary element of Tokyo's infamous fast pace environment (which some might find overwhelming, stressful, and hard to deal with; while others think it exciting and thrive on the energy - maybe tourists). Overall, I have my ups and downs at the station. I love people watching as millions breeze by, definitely an overload of visual stimuli - but it can be entertaining. Other times however, there is no question that the train station is perhaps the worst place to be on your way to/from school, anytime at rush hour or simply anytime you're tired or irritated.
At the train stations in Tokyo you will find that everyone has got somewhere to go (quickly and efficiently), millions of people walking with a purpose. Getting through a train station is like partaking in a sport, not just because of the workout (i.e. physical demand of getting up and down the stairs, or constant need to dodge people, and running when you're late)...but also because of the competitive sort of mentality, where every individual (the weak, the strong, the young and the elderly) fends for themselves. You certainly won't find chivalry in the train station. The goal is quite obviously to make it on the train (a bonus might be catching it on time, or 'the right time' i.e. in between rush hours, and of course getting on the right train, and off at the right stop). A good sign that you may not make the train, is when you hear the little jingle that plays just a few seconds before the doors close. At this point, people generally choose to wait, or run for it (in a 'fight or flight' instant). The doors do have sensors of some sort in case they close on someone, but the sensors aren't all that strong, and they will give you a bit of a squeeze before re-opening.
How do I know this? ....well, Wednesday afternoon, I heard the jingle, was in relatively close proximity to the train, nearly late for class and decided to run for it. As I leapt between the closing doors, I didn't manage to fully clear the threshold and...they closed on me. There I was wedged between the doors that had a grip on both of my shoulders, and for a second (which felt like 10 minutes) I was lodged there for everyone to get a good look and laugh (but the Japanese are very respectful, enough to surpress their laughter). I might add, times like these are generally easier to handle in company, where I could laugh with a friend and potentially distract myself from the humiliation of what just happened. Regardless, I would defintiely label this as an embarrassing moment. All I could do was react by bursting out in laughter (alone), which really only drew more attention to a 'crazy foreigner' - one that recently upgraded from just a 'crazy forgeigner' to a 'crazy and stupid foreigner'. Oh, and when I say I laughed, it wasn't a brief chuckle. For the majority of the train ride all I could do was envision how (ridiculous) I must have looked in that moment, and replayed it in my mind over and over again...laughing aloud...by myself...on the train. It was great. One comforting thought is that it must happen all the time, I can't say I didn't expect my time to come. In any case, let's just hope that was the first and last time.
Those are the top 'blog worthy' stories for the moment. In other news, I worked an opening shift today, which means getting up at 6am to leave by 7am and be at the store for 8am. I already gave a lengthy job description, but I may have neglected to adequately describe the booming music, of catchy upbeat songs that play in an hour and fifteen minute long cycle for my ears to enjoy...over...and over...and over (each song at least 6 times). And what better way to get songs stuck in your head?! so my friends...I will leave you with this:
CLICK --> http://jp.abercrombie.com/anf/lifestyles/flash/af_radio/af_radio.html
(remember to turn your volume up full blast in order to get the right effect)
ENJOY!
love. xoxo
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