Feb 25, 2017
Fever Fever!
I don't get sick very often. Even when I do, I can work through most things. This is probably due to my obsession with perfect attendance. I loved getting that certificate at the end of every school year that congratulated me for not missing one day. There were times when my mom suggested that I stay home for my birthday, but I would always refuse because the certificate meant more to me than a shopping trip or going to the zoo. #nerd
My desire for this prestige is only quelled by a stomach virus or food poisoning. It's really hard to work or study with your head in the toilet (trust me I've tried). So when I call my Japanese boss and tell him that I can't come in because I am sick, I am truly sick. A normal response would be, "I am sorry you're sick. Get well soon." In Japan, however, my admission of illness is met with, "Yes, but do you have a fever?" It doesn't matter the illness. It doesn't matter that I have just puked up the yakitori that I ate two years ago. No fever = ganbatte. Okay boss, but I might just "ganbatte" all over the floor while doing the Hokey Pokey.
1 Comment
edthethe
on Feb 25
Omg! This! So hard! I'm similar to you, unless I'm nearly dying,I still want go to work. (Contagious things make me stay home though,I don't want others sick) but my second year in Japan, I had whopping cough, pneumonia and the flu, but no fever, so my school had me come in until the whopping cough was confirmed by a doctor. It took two days to get my results back. The school was a bit crazy though. That same year I had broken my spine and they sent me to work the day of the accident.