Juunbi No Syuu 「準備の週」

September is near. It's barely a week before my scheduled business trip. It's quite hard to prepare and pack up a bit earlier since I still don't know what things to bring. I'm torn in between, whether I should bring more business wear than the casuals or the other way around. What are the essentials that ould fit in the 20kg check-in limit? Oh, I just hope I would be able to optimally bring the things I may need for my 90-day stay in Japan.

With regard to my Nihonggo, well I'd say I had improved a bit. At least I've reached a JLPT Level 3 standard now. I do acknowledge that I still need improvement though. We've just crammed the whole 25 lessons of Minna No Nihongo book 2 in about a month and a half. There is more to learn when I get there anyway.

Last week, we just had our medical check-up and I was a bit worried because of my high bp streak last summer. I did check up with a hypertension specialist prior to work and I was given prescription meds. Those meds were supposed to be taken regularly, but ever since I have noticed my bp had normalized, I stubbornly stopped taking pills. I do believe that my hypertension was just a mild case, and my youthfulness would take care of it. No need for pills.

My latest clinical bp measurement was 130/80. A barely passable one, but hey, that's without taking any drug at all. Sometimes, drugs become overrated. We become too dependent on them that sometimes the meds themselves complicate things and confuse our immune system.

Aside from the medical check-up, we were also given flu shots and were subjected to a PPD test. The test was for TB detection. It is a skin test wherein the doctor injects the PPD into the skin and then a blister/bubble forms. The injected part of the skin will then be analyzed and measured after about 48-72 hours. If the blister did not die down or swelling occured, it is an indication that the person MAY be a carrier.

The 2-day wait really made us paranoid because the blister does not just die down immediately. So after the injection, we instinctively checked our forearms(where it was injected) almost every hour, wishing that we would no longer see the dreadful TB indicator. Thankfully after 2 days, I'm a declared negative.

Preparing for the business trip proves to be costly. I've just bought myself a suit; and If we are required to bring more business attires, then I have to buy more of it. Despite spending a lot here, it is rather more practical than buying last minute in Japan because for sure those are going to be way more expensive. I just hope my Greenhills black leather shoes would be able to endure 90 days in Japan. It wouldn't be its first time anyway.