An interesting surgery and some interesting sights of the past few weeks, part 1.

Just a quick warning.. this is going to be a long blog!!
So i haven't quite managed to update my blog in a few weeks and i have been rather busy so im not quite sure where to start. I will probably split the last few weeks adventures into two blogs, to make it easier to write and read! The heat in Nagasaki recently has been unreal, sometimes it is just wayy to hot to be outside and there is still a lack of air conditioning in the wards so work is a struggle sometimes. However i only have two more weeks left working in the hospital as this coming week is when i shall be working at summer camp in Hokkaido. I cannot believe how fast it has went. Its crazyy! Although i am looking forward to having some free time in Nagasaki before i leave and also excited for my trips to Kagoshima and Tokyo before flying home.

A few weeks back we watched another surgery, this time it was a hysterectomy which was a rather strange one to see. The entire womb was removed alongside one of the ovaries. We only caught the last part of the operation as it was a long procedure. Afterwards one of the doctors called us over to put gloves on and let us touch what had been removed. I must admit it was extremely strange and i want be doing anything like that again in a hurry! Since then we have watched another lung surgery but unfortunately i had no idea what was going on in that one. Sometimes i have no idea how they know what they are doing, it all looks the same on the screen and they just seem to hack away wherever they feel like it! 

A couple sundays ago i decided that i was going to take myself a walk down by the station and see if i could find anything interesting. I wandered along some backstreets which were rather interesting and eventually came across the entrance to the Memorial to the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan. In the 1500's a mixture of 26 Japanese and Western people were executed for preaching about Christianity. I do not know too much about the background to this other than in the late 1500's Christianity was banned in Japan and those who preached it were rounded up from various cities in Japan and were executed in Japan.

After I had visited the site of the 26 martyrs I followed some signs for the Fukusai Temple which I had previously caught a glimpse of from our Ikebana teachers apartment . The shrine is shape like a turtle with a woman standing on its back. It is rather huge and interesting to look at and it had a small beautiful garden but i didn’t spend much time at the temple there wasn’t a lot to see inside. Afterwards I decided to go a trek up the hill which was a lot more work than I first thought. It was about 30degrees and I had silly flip flop sandals on which are not ideal for climbing up steep hills! However I trekked on through a graveyard and I was rewarded with a beautiful view of down town Nagasaki. I am definitely going to miss the beautiful mountainous backdrop of Nagasaki when I return to Dumfries.

The following week we travelled to Tokyo on the Friday for a meeting with the red cross about the summer camp we are volunteering at. It was a shame to only be in Tokyo for the day but it was great seeing some of the other volunteers and hearing about their placements. We also found a lot out about the summer camp. There are three main islands of Japan, Kyushu ( the southern one where Nagasaki is), Honshuu  where Tokyo,  Kyoto etc are and then the most northern one, Hokkaido where summer camp is. It is set in a ski resort called Rusutsu Resort and it looks gorgeous in winter however I don’t think there will be any snow at this time of year. I am looking forward to some cooler weather! The summer camp is for children from the Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi regions which were deeply affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The children who will be visiting the summer camp may have lost family, their homes, moved schools, living in temporary fabricated housing and can no longer play outside often due to radiation problems.. The summer camp gives them a chance to release some stress with children who are in the same position as them. It gives them a chance to have fun in an area where they do not have to worry. I leave for Hokkaido on Sunday 21^st, first flying to Tokyo from Nagasaki very early in the morning then from Tokyo to Sapporo and catching a bus to the resort. I will be there for 4 nights and 5 days and im super excited. Once I return I will write a blog all about it.