So, today's gonna be an update on my eyes... or what used to be them. It doesn't look like I have Jabba the Hut sitting on top of my eyes anymore with all the folds in my eyelids, but because of all the wiping, and drying, and whatever, I sort of look like a raccoon now. Jabba or raccoon? I dunno which looks worse. All the folds made it hard on me... but apparently, everybody thinks it looks worse now. Looks like I'm gonna go to the hospital tomorrow to get it checked out. Oh boy. My first adventure to the hospital in Japan. They'll probably won't speak in conversational Japanese, and so, to start I won't understand most of what they're saying. But that's not my biggest concern.
Back at Berkeley, I almost finished a public policy minor. One class away. Because of that I think I'm the biggest slacker (or idiot) in the world. Anyway, one of the public policy classes i took was devoted entirely to health care. And we compared the US system (go capitalism) to other systems around the world. Japan was one of them. I don't remember a whole lot of specifics about Japan's health care system but i remember coming away from the class wondering what Japan policy makers were thinking. I mean if you think the FDA takes forever to pass drugs through... here in Japan, the Japanese equivalent of the FDA is yet to make Tylenol over-the-counter. Acetaminophen still remains prescription. Don't tell any Japanese people, but I've got a stash of Tylenol in my bathroom. Illegal drugs! Doesn't really matter. I don't think the police station has a narcotics department. Or a homicide department for that matter.
Anyway, add in the "horror stories" we read in class about ALL the paper work, ALL the bureaucracy, the LONG waiting time for an exam room, the SHORT time seeing an actual doctor, sometimes not getting a private exam room, and I think it's nuts. This is all before I even step into one. We shall soon see if everything I learned about Japan's health care is true.