The Clinic

After the visit to Obaachan's, we went to see my host father's clinic. It is closed on Saturday afternoons so I got a full tour. As in all Japanese buildings, there was a place to remove shoes in the entrance, and then several shelves full of the indoor slippers. Inside was the reception desk and waiting area, an exam room, a room that looked like a typical hospital room, the nurses room, and then a small kitchen and storage area in the very back. It all appeared very similar to an American clinic, except that the pillows on the beds were replaced with small rectangular blocks which did not look like nice head rests.
The Japanese tend to make a huge production out of the smallest injury or ailment. Apparently this room is only for giving shots. I find this hard to believe.


After the tour, I helped my host mom tend to the garden in front. In Japan, everything has to be very visually pleasing, which is why we uprooted all of the plants that looked slightly wilted and replaced them with new healthy plants. It's amusing to see the Japanese try to find the right balance of "not being wasteful" and yet "making everything look nice."