September 11, 2003

9/11

I remember.
Almost exactly two years ago my family had a REALLY BAD DAY. My Mom busted into my room early in the morning hysterically screaming about terrorists blowing up the World Trade Center. Immediately we all got up and started watching the reports roll in, showing unbelievably horrifying footage. The same thing must have been happening all over America. How could things be worse...

From a few months before my Dad had been complaining about severe stomach cramps, and he believed it to be caused by stress. Everything he tried seemed to have little effect on easing the pains, which worsened with the passing of time. Refusing to go see a doctor, his last efforts were directed toward seeking out Chinese herbalists that might be able to treat his excrutiating pain (if you know my Dad, you know he would rather recieve a swift kick in the nuts, rather than admit to feeling something as trivial as pain!). I could tell things were wrong because the night before, he walked in the door with his pants unbuttoned, leaning on the bannister, saying "Hi Ad", fighting to keep up the appearance of control and strength. Although he was in great pain, he didn't lash out in anger to vent it. He maintained control of himself to the very very last second (sort of like how he likes to wait past closing time to make his way to the register, only after the Costco employees start getting pissed off about it).
Flash back to about 9:00 in the morning. I am summoned upstairs by Mom calling "Adam, Merin, get up here!". My Dad uttered words that chilled me to the soul, the words I never expected to ever hear him say: "Take me to the hospital!". As he said this my father looked like a dying man. His face was jaundiced, eyes bulged out and bloodshot, jaws clamped down fulll force, sweat pouring out of him. He refused to let us summon an ambulance stating "Its going to take too long to get here!".
So we got him into the QX-4 and I hauled full throttle to Fountain Valley Hospital. The whole time he was screaming "Oh F**k, I want you to SHOOT ME!" and other really frightening things of the same vein. We took him to the emergency entrance, and he tried to quickly and accurately explain his condition to the medical personnel.
M.P.: I'm going tell me where the pain is, Mr?
Dad: DR. Yoshida. The pain is in the LOWER LEFT QUADRANT! I think I need about 20 c.c.s of.....
M.P.: Take it easy sir! Folks(to us), we're going to need you to fill out the proper paperwork and wait over there (the small waiting room).
Luckily, my father lived. It turns out that his gallbladder had exploded and turned gangrenous (I'm guessing that this would be due to gas gangrene, the worst of all types of gangrene I think) almost killing him. In other words, it was ROTTEN! I can't imagine what that would be like: In degrees of pain, it must have been past excruciating.
9/11 was a bad, bad day. But I, unlike almost all other Americans, was slightly relieved at the end of the day. My father was finally getting proper medical treatment, and was in stable condition. I slept that night, and it wasn't until the coming of the following days that the magnitude of the attacks finally kicked me in the head.

Posted by Adam at 10:33 PM | Comments (1)

What Does This Mean???

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Posted by Adam at 09:57 PM | Comments (1)

Little Girl Experiences Umeboshi For The First Time

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Posted by Adam at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

Engrish Lessons!

Lessons are proceeding better than expected, and I have tweaked my lessons to up the game time, introduce a more broad range of cultural content, and reinforce past lessons. This is the culmination of years of observation, cognition, and experimentation: As Hannibal says "I love it when a plan comes together!".
Last night during a private eikaiwa (english conversation class) I learned that Kikuko (the secretary at Yamaga Shogakko) was able to use some English that I taught her four months before. Some of the lessons I have been making deal with trouble shooting in other countries, including: how to protect yourself from scams, what to say in difficult situations, how to find the best places (to eat, shop, party, etc...), how to get around and ask directions, how to give vague answers to dangerous questions, how to get the best prices on stuff, and the use of slang and idioms to name a few. Anyhow Kikuko went to Vietnam two weeks ago, and had a chance to use what I taught her. The maid tried to make her sign a charge sheet stating that she would pay for a TV set that was broken when she was away from her hotel room. Kikuko read the statement, and realized that the maid was trying to pull a fast one, so she busted out with: "I want to talk to your manager!". The maid's bluff called, she quickly said "I'm sorry, there's no problem, let me talk to my manager and I will take care of this" and she was not charged or bothered about it again! I can tell you this much- MY eikaiwa students will not be taken advantage of like your run of the mill Nihonjin! Try and take advantage of them will earn you a "Crazy Fool(in the words of the all mighty B.A. Baracus)! What are you trying to pull? Do you think I'm stupid?!? Whats your name? I want to talk to your boss!". Ah, thats what teaching is all about!

Posted by Adam at 09:48 PM | Comments (1)