Day 19: October 5

Today we got to see a place we had hoped to leave Japan WITHOUT seeing: the inside of a Japanese pediatrician's office. All weekend long the boys continued to cough and drip, and when Archer developed a fever on Monday we decided to just go for it and take them in. An extremely helpful woman who works for the University met us at our apartment and took us in a taxi to the clinic. She checked us in and helped me fill in all the paperwork. Without her, a simple question like, "Is the child a boy or girl?" would have been unanswerable as all of the paperwork was in Japanese characters.

The waiting room felt similar to those in the States. Toys, books, pamphlets for parents to read. Both Archer and Malcolm played with the trucks while we waited. Then we shuffled back in our slippers to see the doctor. [Joe notes: This whole "change into slippers someone else was wearing five minutes ago" thing is just a huge racket for companies that make athlete's foot medicine.] Once we left the waiting room, things began to look a bit more foreign.

There were no rooms, only spaces curtained off for different purposes. From what we could tell, the doctor (a kindly older man) simply sat in one stool by a desk of medical implements and the children were brought in to him. First Archer was examined. A nose culture determined that he had RSV [Respiratory Syncytial Virus], so the doctor recommended we check Malcolm, too. So back outside to the waiting room while I filled out a second set of papers. Then we shuffled back again (and shuffling is really what you do because you are wearing the slippers that the office has provided for you) and he checked Malcolm.

The boys were given some medicine to take 3 times a day for 4 days to help with the mucus buildup they've been experiencing. The medicine is a powder in little pre-measured packets. I asked if I should mix it with water or juice and the pharmacist said, "Yes. Water, Juice, or even sprinkle on rice." Then our translator said, "Oh no, I am terribly sorry. They said do not put it on rice because then maybe the boys will not like rice so much anymore." Gasp! So it's all right for them to detest orange juice for the rest of their lives, but not rice. No, no never!

In political news: Obama! The election results were on television here pretty much all day long. The major stations all interrupted their broadcasts to show Obama speaking in Grant Park. However, all the stations are dubbed over in Japanese, so we couldn't hear what he was saying. We have met several Obama supporters since we arrived, and everyone we've met seems well informed about American politics. I wish we could say the same about Japanese politics. It is hard to imagine the Regis and Kelly show being suspended so that the results of a Japanese election could be reported.