There Must Be Something Going Around

It seems that the Japanese use the phrase "catch a cold" to include any possible kind of illness you can imagine. Headache? Caught a cold. Foot pain? Caught a cold. Ennui? Yep, sounds like a cold to me.

So, when I woke up on Monday morning with a scratchy throat and the sniffles, Miki and Naoko immediately asked, "Did you catch a cold?" I said, no, not a cold, must be the dry air, the second-hand smoke, the constant boozing. Couldn't be a cold.

Flash forward 3 days: It's a cold.

I spent all day Tuesday in the apartment packing and lounging around. I was supposed to go to Kamakura as my last little trip in Japan, but I figured it would be better to catch up on sleep and rest up for my trip to Oz. Wednesday I went into the office to ship the last of my stuff and say my final goodbyes to the good people at the company (the bad ones I just ignored.)

Ami went to the pharmacy with me to help me get some over-the-counter cold remedy. You actually have to ask the pharmacist for it. He recommended this vile tasting powder substance that is supposed to taste like lemons but actually tastes like baby aspirin. He through in a free sample of liquid vitamins. I'm afraid to taste it. It's probably squid-flavored.

Looks suspicious to me.