My Adventures in Japan: Working in Rehab, Work Beer Party and Final Days at the hospital

A couple weeks ago i was given the opportunity to work in the rehab section of the hospital. I was following around one of the main occupational therapists for a few hours. The first thing he said to me was ' Hello, you can call me Sagari-san, i am 34 and i have one wife. I have 2 daughters and i have worked at the hospital for 2 years'. After telling me all this he then disappeared and i was slightly confused. However he quickly reappeared with his first patient of the day. I cannot remember his name but he was a 73 year old man who had been suffering from lung cancer for 10 years. The treatment he had received had weakened his muscles and he was learning to walk again without assistance. Sagari-san walked with him inbetween two beams from him to hold on to if needed and at the end he would sit in his wheelchair and do feet exercises. The second time round i walked with him and then helped with his feet exercises. The second patient of the day was a lovely woman who had a spinal fracture and was also learning to walk again without assistance however she was further on in her treatment that the previous patient. She was practicing walking up and down the stairs whilst telling me that she was not sad about her health because she had lead a very fun life and she was satisfied. In her younger years she spent her time singing in karaoke bars, drinking and singing and she then sung a song for me. She continued to tell me some things about herself and for the rest of the week every time i walked past her room she would wave. I enjoyed working in rehab a lot, it has probably been my favourite thing i have done in the hospital.

Sagari-san and myself.

On the 2nd we were taken for lunch by the hospital director to a chinese restuarant, the same one we had our first ever meal in Nagasaki with our mentor, Oka-san. However this time i didnt have trouble with the food and we had some delicious sweet and sour pork followed by yummy desserts. Afterwards we headed back to the hospital and received certificates for our volunteer work.

After work we headed to 'The New Nagasaki Hotel' for the annual hospital beer party. I wasn't too sure what to expect but it was a good night! There was probably about 150-200 workers from the hospital there. It was an open bar and pour your own beer accompanied with a huge buffet with everything you could imagine but for some reason i had a bowl of salad!! What is happening to me?! It was quite funny seeing some of the people we have worked with quickly getting really drunk! We were also persuaded to drink some sake, it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be but i still wouldn't chose to drink it!

My final week at the hospital went by pretty fast, i spent two mornings working in the nursery and one afternoon in the kitchen. It was quite sad saying goodbye to all the kids! They go mad for bubbles so i bought them some giant bubble blowers and on my last day we played outside with them. When i was leaving all the kids insisted on shouting 'BYE BYE' and trying to kiss me. On the friday, we spent the afternoon going round all of the wards we have worked in and saying bye to the healthcare assistants we have shadowed. It was quite sad saying goodbye to them as they were so lovely.