Don’t Get Bitten by the Winter Bug
In the UK around this time of year, the chances of falling victim to a norovirus (Winter vomiting bug) are always high, and this year there are projections that as many as 200000 people will contract one. It’s ironic then, that having lived my entire life in Britain without having caught one of these highly unpleasant viruses, that I should come to Japan – a country so concerned about hygiene that people will happily don facemasks in the street – and catch one almost as soon as winter arrives. Happily, now I’m over it, but noroviruses can hit the elderly and the very young hard and so are worth exercising cautious over.
I won’t go into too much detail about noroviruses here as frankly, nothing about them is pleasant, but more information, should you desire it, may be found here (English language).
No, the reason I’m discussing noroviruses is to give a little advice to people who may not already be familiar with them on how to avoid contracting one.
The dreaded norovirus
The virus may survive in the environment – that is, outside of a human body – for several days, and as many as a few virus particles entering the body can be enough to make you feel very ill indeed. In fact, even after recovering from a norovirus, a person can still be 'carrying' the virus for some time after, and for this reason infected people are advised that they should remain in quarantine and away from public places for at least 48 hours after recovery.
With the exception of breathing air in an area near to where the virus has been aerosolised (i.e. near where someone has vomited), the only way to contract norovirus is by touching an infected area and subsequently transferring the virus particles to your mouth. For example, touching an infected doorknob without gloves on and subsequently having lunch without washing your hands. Places in which the virus spreads easily are mainly confined to places such as schools and hospitals, but the virus may be present anywhere. Simply washing your hands with soap thoroughly before eating and when you arrive home after work could save you a lot of hassle – this is because soapy water kills the virus effectively.
For those who are interested, chlorine-based cleaning agents are far more effective at killing noroviruses than are alcohol-based agents.
One thing to note, though: please don’t think that every single surface that you touch will be infected with a norovirus as this simply isn’t true. Remember that in 20 years of life in Britain, where far more people catch noroviruses than they do in Japan, I never once became ill and I admit that I was very ignorant about the risks.
Only be vigilant - just in case.
Print This Post
Nihonglish
The year 2008 marks 150 years since the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce, an agreement which signaled the official commencement of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Japan.
Ever since these channels of communications were opened, Japanese and British people alike have often remarked upon the similarities between their two nations – despite the vast distance separating them. As a Briton living in Japan, this is something that I decided to take a first-hand look at for myself.
Perhaps the most obvious trait that the two countries share is geographical; on opposite ends of Eurasia, both are composed of islands that overlook large oceans on one side and comparatively small expanses of water on the other that separate them from the main super-continental landmass.
Such close proximity to oceanic currents induces unique climates in both nations, yet here this particular similarity ends; whereas Japan has four distinct seasons with warm summers and cold winters in most of the country, we Britons often jokingly complain that we have only a single season all year-round.
Certainly, the most compelling similarities are cultural, and incidentally one noteworthy quirk that we seem to share is our ‘island mentalities’.
Just as Japan traditionally sees itself as separate from mainland Asia, so too Britain thinks of itself as detached from mainland Europe. To this day it has refused to give up the pound sterling in favour of the currency of the European Union (the Euro), despite being one of its most prominent members for many years.
Indeed, there are also political likenesses. Both states have constitutional monarchies for governments, and ceremonial heads of state (positions currently held by Queen Elizabeth II and Emperor Akihito) – vestiges of long periods in the past spent as absolute monarchies.
It is arguable, however, that the Japanese of today more actively appreciate this aspect of their history than do their British counterparts, and the existence of an annual Japanese public holiday in commemoration of the incumbent Emperor’s birthday is perhaps the best evidence of this. Monarchs in Britain in fact have two birthdays – an official* and an actual one – and neither is a public holiday for the majority of British citizens (only civil servants are given a ‘privilege day’).
Possibly it is fair to say that one of the few areas where things are wholly different lies in language, something to which multilingual speakers of both English and Japanese frequently attest.
Surely, though there will always be differences between the British and the Japanese in all avenues of life, it would certainly seem that there are undeniable likenesses, too – whether they are political, cultural, historical, or even geographical. But personally, the most interesting ‘British’ traits that I have found I share with the Japanese are too unique and peculiar to be categorised.
They are my very British habit of talking about the weather to avoid discussing what’s really going on inside my head.
And my very British love of a good cup of tea.
Footnote: *For example: though Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21st in 1926, her ‘official’ birthday celebrations are held on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd June of every year. The tradition was initially begun by King Edward VII for purely practical reasons; prior to its inauguration, parades and outdoor celebrations to commemorate the birthdays of monarchs born in winter months were often spoiled due to bad weather!
Print This Post