Household remedies

   This week I got another cold. I used to get colds on a regular basis in college, but once I graduated they became more infrequent. Now they're back.
    I went to the drug store looking for something like Nyquil, to be confronted with this:

   Reading through a bunch of labels in Japanese looking for katakana-ized drug names that I barely remember in English was not something I was up to. Plus, some of them had pictures of ginger on them and looked more old-timey than I could trust. So I texted my friend, who informed me that the only way to get good cold meds in Japan is to go to the hospital. None of the drugs at the store were claiming to help you sleep, but apparently a doctor will prescribe you something similar to Nyquil.
   Nyquil itself and some other over the counter US drugs are illegal in Japan. I forget the exact ingredient that makes them illegal, but I think it's the one that helps you sleep. In fact, a month before when I asked a man at the pharmacy where I could find the sleep aids or even some Melatonin, he looked around for a minute before informing me, "I don't think we have anything like that." So maybe sleep-inducing drugs are more closely regulated here.

   I didn't have the energy to go to the hospital just to get cold medecine, so instead I drank a pint of orange juice, ate some spicy ramen, and slept for 12 hours. 

   

   Problem solved. 

   People seem very ready to tell you to go to the hospital here. A few weeks ago when I felt sick at work, my coworkers told me to go. I've heard other people receive this advice, too, usually over pretty minor symptoms like nausea or a cough. I suppose this is because national health care makes it a lot cheaper to drop in for minor illnesses. According to the Book of Knowledge, Japanese people visit the hospital four times as often as Americans do. I can only assume it must be a less harrowing experience here. Personally, unless I'm not sure the illness will pass on its own, I'd rather curl up in the fetal position and try to pass out, instead of trekking all the way to a hospital where I have to be coherent and alert.

      Hopefully I'll never find out how going to a hospital in Japan is, but it would make for an interesting experience.