I can't find a picture of me getting sick, so I use my nephew's pics instead... :-)I didn’t have serious health problem during my stay in Japan. Occasionally I catch cold, though, but since I’m very susceptible to cold and get a running nose almost every morning - even during summer - I just consider it a daily routine, not something big enough for consulting a doctor. But this year swine flu spreads and everybody get anxious, that’s why when I got cold symptoms similar to those of the flu, my dormitory manager told me to go to the hospital, just in case.
The hospital was just next to the dormitory (actually, it also belonged to the company), so I just went there with no preparation: no shower, no shaving. I just realized it when I got to the hospital that, given how I looked at that time, people might think I was a suspicious scary stranger :-). But even if I had came normally prepared, I might still have drawn attention, because there’s not so many foreigners around (unlike Tokyo), so I just tried to ignore what people might think and quickly lined up in front of the receptionist to register for an examination.
The receptionist showed me to the general department. There were already quite a number of people there (welcome to the swine flu suspect club! :-) ). I just sat there with my head blank for some time (well, I can’t think clearly when I still sleepy, and catching cold didn’t help at all) then I saw newspapers and magazines rack in the corner. I was about to go and get one of them, when I overheard the conversation of the couple sat across me.
“Look at the boy (boy? :-) – we’ll the lady said ‘ko’ (子)). He’s a foreigner, isn’t he?”
“It looks so. He must be lonely here”
“Well, it’s hard to get sick. It’s even harder if you get sick all alone abroad...”
I looked at them. The couple looked several years younger than my parent. Perhaps they had kid in the same age as me, that’s why they call me ‘boy’. The couple noticed that I was looking, so I smiled at them.
“You were talking about me?”
“Oh, so you can speak Japanese”
And I forgot about the newspaper as we started to chat.
“By the way, where are you from? Portugal?” (This is about the fourth time that people think me of a Hispanic descent :-) ).
“No. I am from Indonesia.”
“Indonesia? Actually I was lived in Srilanka for a year some times ago.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It was quite hard at first, but it’s getting better as I got used to the country. It’s even getting better after I made some friends there. By the way, have you made any friends around here?”
I thought about my colleagues, and because we go out together regularly to have fun, I thought that I could call us friends :-).
“Yes, I think so.”
“Good then. It will be much more fun if you have your friends around, right?”
Well, I’m quite an antisocial person :-), but I think I agree with her that it’s fun to be able to enjoy the company of others. It doesn’t have to be friends, though, even a total strangers like me and the couple can also enjoy the company of each other.
Unfortunately, our conversation should be stopped because the nurse called my name. I went for the examination, and thanks God it was just a normal cold :-). As I left, I waved to the couple, and they waved back. I was really glad the couple didn’t care that I looked like a suspicious person :-) and was willing to have a chat with me. Well, talking with them didn’t make my body feeling well, but it did make my heart feeling well. :-)
Anyway, next time, if you happen to see some harmless cute little lonely stranger (just like me :-) ) sitting all alone, could you give him a favor and hold a conversation with him? He might appreciate your company...
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