6/20-6/23 and Back injury

6/20
Today Sam, Tiana, Sarah Sugarman, and myself went to downtown Kanazawa to do some shopping! Jackie was going to come with us, too, but she was feeling a bit sick so she stayed home. :( It was quite and adventure finding our way down there. Asked a few people for information about the taxi/train/bus and settled on the bus which ended up working perfectly. We got there and went straight to 109! We wandered the entire building which was full of clothes, accessories, and food! It was exciting and we even saw some real, live lolita! <3 In the basement there was a thrift store of 50's clothes and memorabilia. I bought an antique key that was made in Fitchburg, MA. XD

After 109 it was time to find Tatamachi dori, the fashion street that is said to have an anime shop. We wandered down the main street and I spent way too much money in a UFO catcher arcade where there was more lolita.

After asking a couple, we finally found Tatamachi dori and it was like another world where that world is a heaven of shopping and beautiful people. X3 We found the anime store and proceeded to freak out. It was not one, but TWO anime stores stuffed to the brim with figurines and all other sorts of anime memorabilia. My camera unfortunately died early into the trip, but there were so many things I wanted! LOVELY figurines. There was also an amazing BJD store up there. Very expensive, of course. The one anime shop had a crap ton of eva stuff. I am very happy to be here in the middle of the Eva revival. <3 There were bracelets (nice metal ones), shot glasses, pins (nice tack ones), cell phone stickers and covers, EVERYTHIIIING! There was also a wonderful Touhou corner with some figurines I've never seen before. <3 And a manga section full of screen tones, paper, pens, etc. And even costumes! I was definitely hyperventilating when I left the store. I saw an ad for an umbrella that looks like Saber's (Fate/Stay Night) sword! Right next to the anime shops was a crepe store. *_* And down stairs....it only got better. Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Angelic Pretty, Innocent World and even more that I don't remember!!!

It was amazing touching things I had only seen online before! Most shops did not allow touching though and all did not allow photographs. Signs everywhere that looked like no smoking signs but with cameras. Sarah Sugarman tried on a beautiful cream JSK from BTSSB and we even got Sam into an Alice and the Pirates aristocratic vest/coat. She loved it, btw. ;D Exciting!!

We wandered and headed to the bus just as it started pouring.

I made spaghetti for dinner and went to Jackie's to see how she was doing only to find her very sick. ;____;

6/21
Jackie was quite sick today as well.

Went to Communication class and it was much better than it has been. A lot of chit chat with the teacher. She's very nice and looooves roombas.

I came back for lunch and had pizza and talked to Teague which was wonderful <3 <3

We had no afternoon classes today which was very nice. I practised drawing in my sketch book and actually didn't do too bad. Then I went to manga club at around 4:30.

There, I showed them my sketches. The president told me that today I needed to start my page for their new doujin. I asked if I could use one of the better drawings I did (Reimu). He said yes and I proceeded to trace it twice. Once out of my sketch book, and second onto manga paper. It came out great. :D He said I would ink the next day and tone it Wednesday for the deadline Friday. Woooo!! Then I was pretty much ignored for the rest of the time which was nice because it means I'm "part of the club" now, I feel. I could do what I wanted.

I left around 7:30 and hung out with Jackie the rest of the night before going to bed, I think.

6/22
Jackie was still sick today T___T We're all worried. I think it was either today or yesterday she went to the actual hospital. T_T; They said she just had a cold, but she was miserable and I felt really bad.

I tried to print out my field notes in the morning and no matter what I tried it didn't work. >< Anger!!

In culture class, our sensei was hung over. It made the class a little boring. Most people fell asleep it seems. I was very tired, also.

At lunch I had katsudon which was a bad idea because the raw egg turned my stomach. :( After that, in JST, was talked about our fieldtrip the next day, had a quiz (AUGH I didn't study the kanji!), and did stuff with new vocab.

After class I went to manga club and inked my page. I used a "ji pen" which is a nib pen and a high tech (small ball point) pen to ink it. Lots of "waaah ii kanji desu ne" thrown around but it's probably cause I was trying really hard and a beginner. >_> Then I chatted with the president for a bit and showed him rhythm heaven which was hilarious. He left, then I left an hour later.

I got home and chilled out and blah blah blah. I did laundry and found moulin rouge (in english) on TV.

6/23
Today sucked. This morning I checked on Jackie and she was feeling much better but still not okay enough to go on the field trip which was to another college campus, a temple, and the origami museum.

After checking on her, I went to the metal stairs that was closest, not noticing that it had just rained and that they were soaked. I took one step and proceeded to slam down in the stairs, tail bone first and then slide down the metal stairs to the next platform. That pain ran up through my entire spine and in the moment I was terrified that I had broken part of my back. I struggled/writhed on the platform and just thought "Get on your back, lie down on your back." So I lied down on my back in a puddle and proceeded to writhe in pain, gripping unconsciously at the metal bars on the side of the stairwell. I remember being in a stupid amount of pain. It was hard to get out the groans that felt necessary to make. I worried about no one finding me since there was, of course, an all day field trip that involved everyone living in the apartments except for Jackie who was sick. I heard someone call up to me "What happened? Who are you? Are you okay?" I tried to answer best I could and was finally found by an unfamiliar Japanese looking face. She asked me what happened and how I was. I struggled not to cry and she helped me sit up then stand up.

At this point I was still in a lot of pain, but mostly better except for my tail bone and part of my left side. I felt I could still go on the field trip and I didn't wanna miss anything. So I went to my apartment to change while the sensei waited for me and exploded into tears. I didn't even know why, but it happened. I changed quickly, splashed water on my face, and took the elevator to the sensei's apartment. She got some pain killer and something she forgot. Now, I hurt just standing and told her I didn't think I could make it today, but just resting was probably best. She convinced me to go to the clinic, though, since it's free.

We met a lady from OIP and she was getting other students. We then met with Fudano, the head lady, and she was concerned but despite the fact that I was trying really hard not to cry again, I smiled and bowed painfully and seemed okay. I was dropped off into the hands of Kayo who took me to the clinic. There, I explained my problem and the nurse pushed on my back and asked if it hurt. It didn't, since it wasn't embarrassingly low enough to be on my tail bone. So she left and I heard her tell Kayo in Japanese that it wasn't anything. ><;;; I feel like everyone except the teacher who found me thinks I was faking to stay home with Jackie. Curse my pride!! The nurse put on a "cold pack" Which was a soft sticky cloth. They said it was cold and lasted 8 hours. Um... The second after she put it on, I didn't feel anything and have all but forgotten I even have it on. e_e

I told Kayo that if I hurt tomorrow I would go to the hospital for x-rays. I went to Jackie's then and cried some more while explaining what happened. We lied down most of the day and watched lots of Doctor Who. I made some spaghetti for myself and took a nap for a few hours. At 5, after everyone was back from the field trip, Jackie and I went to manga club so I could tone my page and she could watch. I explained what happened and that I couldn't stay long and they said I could go home and I could do it tomorrow.

Upon return we watched more Doctor Who. Know I'm in the lounge on my back and still in pain, but just less. It hurts to sit and it hurts to lie down right on my tail bone. *sigh*

-Sara