Thursday, November 21, 2013

Realizing That Living Alone is Not Easy!

Many times I tell myself that I'm better off alone. That I don't need to be judged by the people around me. That I'd do great if I have my own place to mess up on my own and no one to tell me I did not do it right.

It's my life and I should determine what makes me happy, right?

Well, I always hear that cheesy old phrase "no man's an island" every time I want to be alone. Sure, we need people to communicate with, to enrich our lives, blah blah blah. But! More importantly, it's because we just can't do everything by ourselves. We're just not that capable.

For example, I speak okay-ish Japanese. People understand me most of the time and I understand them half the time. It's enough to get me through the day. But when it comes to telling the dentist I've got a cavity that needs a better filling that that white stuff you keep shoving into it and it drops out right after having porridge for dinner (4 hours after you've had it fixed) is just not doing me a favour. Every visit to your clinic is costing me money a student with loans cannot spend.

And I can't convey myself well enough to tell the dentist that! What's worse, I can't understand if the dentist is telling me what I need to know. They're always in a hurry and I always feel rushed but when I want to ask them something they answer me so fast I don't understand and they keep sending me on my way more confused than before I asked my question. It's like they want me to keep coming back over and over until I've paid them sufficiently for a holiday they had planned next month. (Fine, that sounds unfair. But I'm still paying too much for what seems like nothing.)

Okay, I digressed. A lot. (These thoughts have been brewing for a long while I didn't realize I had all these pent up feelings.)

The point of mentioning the dentist was actually because there are things that we are just not capable of doing. Like, speaking fluently enough to communicate your thoughts and having your teeth fixed the way you want them to be. (Properly.)

That said, I need a new dentist in Japan! Any recommendations welcome!