Approximately one and a half weeks after arriving in Japan, I fumbled a step while going down a set of stairs and strained my foot and ankle badly. I then waited 3 and a half weeks before going to the hospital for it—partially because it was improving every day that I took it easy, and partly because I was intimidated at the thought of navigating a hospital visit in a new country. Eventually, though, since I was still limping after almost four weeks, I went.
The process was easier than I thought it would be, and if I would have known that, maybe I would have sought out medical attention sooner. (Just to skip ahead, it wasn’t very bad news for my foot, even though I have definitely injured it, and I am still on the mend.) However, I let the tension of the cultural unknown delay my hospital visit. My school, Kansai Gaidai, help to me with scheduling the doctor’s appointment and then finding the hospital shuttle that would take me there. I am very grateful for how helpful they have been.
While at the doctor’s appointment, I was able to converse with the doctor using mostly Japanese, and the overall result of having completed a doctor’s appointment here means that I feel more like I could live here. It’s like a little but significant shift toward me feeling more confident at the idea that Japan could one day be a possible home, even if I’m not sure if I want that yet. Getting used to and comfortable with the small things in a new country is nice and extremely necessary, but encountering and then succeeding, or at least experiencing, the big things is what is helping me feel more secure here. Another example: haircuts. For me, haircuts feel big, and I’ve just scheduled my first haircut appointment in Osaka. I think after getting that done, that’ll be another big thing that shifts me a little bit more toward feeling confident in imagining a long-term life here.