Having a medical check-up in Japan…

I found out on Tuesday night that I had to go for a medical check-up this morning.  It’s something the company pays for and we are obliged to do, as far as I can make out.  I think pretty much everyone, everywhere in Japan is having medicals at the moment!

I’ve never been for a medical before, though.  Not even in England.  So it was quite an experience!

I was lucky enough to have a colleague come with me to check me in and translate a little.  But she was having her own medical check-up too, so she wasn’t there all the time.  Which, naturally, resulted in a few mishaps…

My first adventure was peeing in a cup.  As soon as we got there, we were ushered towards two toilet cubicles. My colleague gave me a paper cup (the kind you get in a vending machine) and wrote my name on it in katakana.  I then had to go and pee, and place the cup in a little hatch behind a door.  It was kind of like a food hatch.  Very efficient, but slightly strange! And no lid for the cup, or anything!

After a little wait, I was called in to see the male doctor.  I assume he was a doctor, and not a nurse.  He spoke to me in Japanese, and I had to say “wakarimasen” (I don’t understand), so he tried out his best, high school English on me.  He took my blood pressure and declared “normal”.  And he even managed to get out “any symptoms?”, to which I dutifully replied “iie” (no).  He also did some kind of hearing test, which I think perhaps I failed simply because I didn’t understand what I had to do!  I think I was supposed to press the button every time I heard a sound, but I didn’t realise this at first.  They probably have me down as deaf now!

Next, I was taken to the x-ray room.  I knew I would be having an x-ray, but no one told me what they were x-raying.  Anyway, the nurse put me behind a curtain and gave me a blue hospital gown.  She said lots of Japanese, and I again said “wakarimasen”.  She giggled nervously.  She didn’t seem to have a word of English inside her, so she repeated the essentials with actions.  She swooped her arm in my general direction and said lots of things, one of which was “zenbu”.  Well, I know this word, and I know it means “everything”, so I assumed she was telling me to take off my clothes for the x-ray.  So, double checking, I repeated “zenbu?” and indicated to my bra strap – hoping she would guess that my enquiry was “underwear too?”.  She nodded, and drew the curtain.  Ok, I thought, just get it over with.

Well, when she drew the curtain again, she looked a little surprised, and indicated that I should put my shoes and socks back on.  How strange, I thought, that in this country of taking off your shoes, I should have to wear them for an x-ray.  Well, having checked later in the day with my colleague, apparently I wasn’t actually supposed to take off ALL my clothes!  Only my top-half.  It was a chest x-ray.  Ah well.  I bet that gave them a giggle for a while!

After that, came the height and weight checks.  I had to stand on the height checker, all the while the nurse just kept saying “takai, takai…” (tall, tall…).  I guess I did tower over her a bit!  The weight check was a lot less painful than I had anticipated.  My friend had told me to listen out for the phrase “chotto metabol” (I’m not sure of the spelling, but it means “a little over weight”).  Well, I didn’t hear it, so at least the nurse was polite enough to keep her mouth shut!

Finally, came the eye examination.  This was a little odd, as I was wearing my contact lenses at the time (which my colleague told her) and she asked me what my eye strength was and I didn’t know.  But, still, she persisted and took me into the room for an eye test.  I had (rather foolishly) assumed that everyone used the ABC chart for eye tests.  It hadn’t even occurred to me that they would use anything else!  How very narrow-minded of me!  Of course, a Japanese eye test uses hiragana (as well as these little symbols, for kids – and stupid foreigners like myself).

It looked like this:

The nurse asked me (in Japanese) if I could read hiragana.  I said it should be ok.  But she also used the other symbols – just in case, I suppose.  Anyway, I learnt later that when kids who can’t yet read hiragana use this chart, they make the shapes in the air with their hands, but when adults use it they say “hidari” (left) or “migi” (right).  Well, I was happily waving my arms about!  I didn’t know what I was supposed to do!  haha!

And that was it.  We got our medical insurance cards back and went to work.  I asked my colleague if I would be given some kind of report on my health after this, and she said ‘probably not’.  We both assumed they would just tell us if there was something really wrong.

So, another Japanese experience to add to my list!  Every day I learn a little more… 😉