Well, I’ve been sick these past few days. I almost got to have a free ride in an ambulance! Let me explain…
If you read my last blog entry, then you know I went on a business trip to Osaka. If you’ve been watching the news, you also know that there have been many cases of the swine flu in Osaka. I was in Osaka on Friday, and I caught the last bullet train back to Tokyo Friday night. I was fine Saturday morning, and I even went to my Japanese class. However, that evening I began to feel sick. I took my temperature and it was 37.9 degrees Celsius (100.2 degrees Fahrenheit). I thought to myself, “Osaka… fever… swine flu… omigosh*!” Then I thought of the crowded train on the way home.
Oooh, they look angry!**
How many people did I infect?! I hope none of my nice teachers in my Japanese class get sick…
My wife told me that we didn’t have to call the “swine flu hotline” unless my temperature went above 38 degrees. Well, Sunday afternoon, my temperature rose to 38.2 degrees. We called the hotline, and they told us that they would send an ambulance the next day, but not to worry because the ride would be free. I thought that they’d take me to the hospital where people with masks and rubber gloves would do all kinds of tests. I even thought that maybe I’d be put into a glass room and tests would be done with remote control robotic arms. Okay, so I have an overactive imagination.
In a way, it was all a little bit exciting. After all, a FREE ambulance ride! However, the next morning, my temperature dropped to normal again, and since I never developed a cough or sore throat, they concluded over the phone that it was not the swine flu. So, I didn’t get the free ride in the ambulance. I was a little disappointed because I was planning on taking some exciting pictures in the ambulance to post here on my blog. Oh well…
*omigosh: That’s a fast way of saying “Oh, my gosh!” or the Japanese exclamation of “Eeeeh!”
** The picture was actually not taken in Japan by me, but was retrieved from the following website: http://www.danielbowen.com/
(I just thought it was funny.)