Panic Disorder
Our Aobasai, or "Sports Day" was last Wednesday, June 1st, marking the first day of summer. Sports days are pretty popular in Japan. Students compete within their own grade, and each class competes against the other. There's the usual relay races, tug o' war and some sort of capture the flag thing. Then there's the 10 guys get down on their hands and knees and line up next to eachother while the lightest guy in the class runs on top of them. The line has to keep moving towards the finish line, so guys have to get up and go to the other end once the light guy has trampled their back. All these events are just lawsuits waiting to happen. Luckily, in Japan, there's the saying "Shoganai" which translates to "there's nothing you can do" or tough titties.
About 10 girls collapsed that day. They had fallen prey to hyperventilation or, according to a Japanese Teacher of English, (henceforth known as JTE), "Panic Disorder". Apparently they got SO EXCITED about sports day that they couldn't breathe. I don't know about you, but the mere thought of sports day makes me undulate with ecstacy. So I could totally and completely understand my girls' "Panic Disorder". One girl seriously seriously should have been sent to the emergency room. She was like, crying and kicking and breathing like it was her last breath ever. The school nurse took a towel and shoved it over her face all the while smiling and talking to some other teacher. I just stood there dumbfounded. Two thoughts entered my brain: 1) Japanese nurses suck and 2) Japanese girls are weak.
(note the hand and towel smothering the mouth)
I have never, in my life, encountered anyone who suffered from "Panic Disorder" (which, my JTE assures me, is an American phenomenon). The only thing that comes close is an asthma attack and in that case, all those students should have been given inhalers or whatever else you give someone who's having an asthma attack. That reminds me, the youngest daughter in the private lesson that I teach has asthma. She doesn't have an inhaler though, she has some sort of giant machine that you plug in and then put medicine into the mouthpiece and then you inhale.
Dude. Seriously. Welcome to the 21st century.
oops, forgot to do this:
reading: Life, the Universe and Everything. Still.
listening to: the Raveonettes
obsessed with: Love in a Trashcan by the Raveonettes and buying magazines. Dirty magazines.
About 10 girls collapsed that day. They had fallen prey to hyperventilation or, according to a Japanese Teacher of English, (henceforth known as JTE), "Panic Disorder". Apparently they got SO EXCITED about sports day that they couldn't breathe. I don't know about you, but the mere thought of sports day makes me undulate with ecstacy. So I could totally and completely understand my girls' "Panic Disorder". One girl seriously seriously should have been sent to the emergency room. She was like, crying and kicking and breathing like it was her last breath ever. The school nurse took a towel and shoved it over her face all the while smiling and talking to some other teacher. I just stood there dumbfounded. Two thoughts entered my brain: 1) Japanese nurses suck and 2) Japanese girls are weak.
(note the hand and towel smothering the mouth)
I have never, in my life, encountered anyone who suffered from "Panic Disorder" (which, my JTE assures me, is an American phenomenon). The only thing that comes close is an asthma attack and in that case, all those students should have been given inhalers or whatever else you give someone who's having an asthma attack. That reminds me, the youngest daughter in the private lesson that I teach has asthma. She doesn't have an inhaler though, she has some sort of giant machine that you plug in and then put medicine into the mouthpiece and then you inhale.
Dude. Seriously. Welcome to the 21st century.
oops, forgot to do this:
reading: Life, the Universe and Everything. Still.
listening to: the Raveonettes
obsessed with: Love in a Trashcan by the Raveonettes and buying magazines. Dirty magazines.
posted by moneymelon | 08:21
4 Comments:
hahahaha...i just had my sports day today. no "panic disorder" episodes though. japanese girls are really weak....it's just a fucking sports day. chill out!
At my sports day, two girls passed out from running 100 meters. Pansies. No excuse for a bunch of healthy 14-year-old girls to pass out.
nice new blog! I luuuurve blogger. Thanks for putting a sweet action link on. We are going to have some sweet action blogs for all the people who want to write stuff for us because we love writers but are not quite "tech" enough to have some big fancy site with all the postings. We'll let you know when we do it.
Japan sounds cool. so jealous.
diana
co-editor, sweetactionmag.com
thanks diana! sweet action is the awesomest. thank god ya'll have international shipping. keep me posted on new developments!
-jen
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