Shounai (荘内小学校) revisited + things I've wanted to write about

Hello! Ready to head on out with me? Well then, come on in!

Today: Went to Shounai (荘内) elementary school again. ALWAYS a great time and I feel the kids get a LOT out of my visits! It's always a little strange to feel like I'm some kind of celebrity (trust me, I know I'm nothing special - I'm just a regular fella from Canada working as an ALT), but the kids at this school REALLY get excited when I come and, whether I deserve it or not, I totally enjoy their excitement! Kids from various classes and grades come to the teachers' office to say 'Hello' or they hang out near classrooms when I'm talking with other kids at lunch or after a class has finished. So, thank you, Shounai! いつもお世話になりました。 Thank you for being good to me and taking care of me.

Hi to Taniguchi-sensei (谷口先生)! You are always very nice to me and make sure things go well at the school. I really appreciate all of your help. どうもありがとうございました。

Back there on Wednesday this week... Yeah!

So... I wanted to talk about some other things and I will knock them off now...

Last week I went to get a hair cut (a 'trim' as we say because it wasn't a dramatic change but was meant to make it give me a 'neater' appearance for work and to help shape it while it's growing in a bit... I'm sorry, Japan, but the really short, businessman-style haircut just doesn't work for me. I've gotta still be ME). Long story short, a friend of my Lady told us about a place in Okayama city (岡山市) that she thought was good, so we tried it out. The place is called Detch (デッチ) and you can check it out here.

Also last week: Couldn't breathe well, especially after a run on Sunday (I think it was Sunday), and it got worse, to the point that I went to bed Monday night wheezing and coughing and having very shallow breaths, which made sleeping almost impossible. Rough night. Tuesday morning wasn't good, so I decided to go to the hospital (which I never do, so this was a big step for me, even if I just end up feeling guilty about having to miss work, although I have to use one of my vacation days to spend hours at a hospital). Again, to keep the story short, I had some tests done and it turns out that I have bronchial asthma which, strangely, I had when I was a young lad and, which I also quickly got rid of as a kid by being super athletic, playing just about every sport that was available to play.

Now, after 20-25 years, I suddenly have it again, even though I have a healthy diet, am not overweight, and exercise regularly, including running 5-10k two or three times a week. Of course, the summer heat and humidity here in Okayama just crushed me - more than any summer anywhere has crushed me before and I was often indoors with only aircon (i.e. no fresh air). And, the running stopped almost completely because... well, can YOU run even 5K in 38-degree + humidity weather?! Huh? Didn't think so. More on asthma here at the WebMD blog.

Now I have a 'puffer' again and have had to use it about twice a day to breathe easily (one more time before running to make that happen... of course, I did realize that, amazingly, when I can breathe deeply, more oxygen gets to my muscles and I don't get tired, allowing me to run faster and longer... this is how people with completely healthy lungs feel, I guess, heh?). On top of this, my blood test showed that I still have high blood pressure and hypercholesterolemia, which is absurd for a healthy person of my age. It showed up on a blood test a few years ago, in Toronto, and it's still here now.

Eating well, exercising... this hasn't helped. Looks like I could end up on one of those nasty medications soon, just to keep me from developing heart disease (more here). Of course, there are bad hearts in males on both sides of my family, so I've always wondered what would happen with me. The high blood pressure is a problem and stress could be a factor in that. But what do I know about stress, right?... Don't get me started on my stress (you don't have enough time to read about that).

Well, there were a couple other things I meant to mention but I think I have to call it quits for tonight. Besides, when I write, I spill, so you have more than enough to deal with here already! Still have to talk about the cool Thai/Indian restaurant.

Culture Festival (文化祭) at the high school tomorrow (初めてです - my first time)... am hoping the food will be good because I'm not bringing a bento-lunch (弁当)! And, of course, I am the anchor for the teachers' team in the 12-person 100m relay race on Sports Day this Thursday. A quick puff, puff and we're off!... Just for the record, I run long-distance and am not qualified to be the anchor for a sprint, but I figure I have to do it because I am the 'foreigner' (have I mentioned we don't like to be called that?) and it's probably supposed to be funny for everyone but me.

I'm out...
----------------
Played while I posted: Continental Divide - Ten Years To Settle Arguments And Things
via FoxyTunes