August 2014
Great Wall, China
The week preceding this story was one of the few vacations Japan seems to tolerate. During that time I took a much-needed eight-day trip to China. It was one of the most exhilarating, dynamic trips of my life, with two of my best friends. We explored many famous sites, ate a lot of different foods, hung out in all kinds of cool, weird, or historic districts, and I felt like I conquered China itself. But on the last day, after a heavy meal at a famous duck restaurant, China fought back. I returned to Japan at the end of the week, with my digestive system in tatters.
I knew asking for a day off was akin to asking my boss to let me punch her in the face. And I knew the company rejected criticism on all fronts.
So I stumbled through the week, gray in the face, taking bathroom breaks between each lesson. But no matter how much water I drank, I steadily approached full dehydration going into Saturday.
The Japanese are a very serious people.