The Itchy and Scratchy Show

I`ve been plagued with really terrible skin lately. Its been getting worse since I got here. It would flare up then die down for a bit then come back worse. First it was a little patch of excema on my elbow, then on the other elbow, then a red itchy rash down both arms, both legs, patches of excema on my back, then the final straw that had me scuttling to the doctor, a huge red rash around me neck. I`d been avoiding going to the doctor because its really expensive and they often don`t speak English. I spent most of the morning working out how to ask about allergies and treatments in Japanese. Stuff like this does wonders for my language skills. I tried to find an English speaking doctor this morning and finally had to give up nearly crying in frustration because I couldn`t figure out where it was - Japanese addresses are impossible to work out because the streets are numbered as they`re allocated. Stuff like that has me just about ready to leap on the first plane home. After work I tried the hospital near my house and they pointed me across the road to a skin clinic. As luck would have it, the doctor there spoke pretty good English and in a mixture of English and Japanese we managed to make ourselves understood. I came away with 4 different kinds of medication (antibiotics, 2 different kinds of anti-allergy medication, and an ointment) so either I will be cured or sprout antlers.
The doctor also said I should avoid eating food with too much chemicals (such as McDonalds, to quote the example he chose) and avoid drinking too much.
Eek.
No more nights like Tuesday where me and Iain drank a bottle of wine with dinner then spent hours sitting in the park talking about anything that came into our heads and drinking another bottle? Although on the plus side that would mean no more days like Wednesday where I dragged myself to my 10 AM language class with a splitting headache and spent the whole day groaning on the sofa and wanting to die.
More on this subject later.