Last Friday morning Judy came down with a cold and ended up spending all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday in bed with a fever. I, being the tender, loving, caring boyfriend that I am, faithfully stayed by her side to answer her every beck and call. Of course, that left me unable to do much else, but after putting a new batch of games on my GBA flash card, I was set.

I hadn’t played video games for hours on end since I was nine years old.

After her condition failed to improve by over the weekend, this morning we went to the major hospital near our apartment and tried to see a doctor. We arrived at 8:30 in the morning, and after registering, were told that Judy we would be able to be seen between 10:30 and 11:00. Unfortunately, as was to be expected, Judy didn’t get to see the doctor until after 12:30 — nearly four hours after we arrived. (Even if you have an appointment, the wait usually ends up being between 2 to 3 hours.)

After a brief 5-minute consultation, she was sent to get a blood test (another 30-minute wait) followed by another hour of waiting before being able to see the doctor again discuss the results. In the end, even after additional testing, the doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her and so she was given a bagful of medication (general antibiotics) and told to come back if they didn’t work.

Japan’s medical system is world-renowned, and although the care is generally top-notch (instances of gross malpractice aside), the system is still wrought with inefficiencies like you wouldn’t believe. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to get into it at the moment (nor will I likely ever), so I’ll refer anyone who’s interested in reading more to start with this article.

Anyway, back to continuing my bedside care. . . here’s hoping Judy’ll get better soon!