Japanese with anime voice: episode1
Hello everyone. I’m Sachi. This is my first podcast. Yay! This is a memorable first one. Thank you so much for listening from this time. I’m very happy. I will try to make this an enjoyable podcast for everyone who is studying Japanese, so please keep in touch with me from now on.
The other day I caught a cold. Just as I was about to start this podcast, I caught a cold, and from about two weeks ago Wednesday, I thought something was wrong with my throat. I suspected it might be a cold, and sure enough, I got a fever and was down with it most of last weekend. That’s why my voice is still not in perfect condition. I still have a nasal sound, and my voice is sometimes hoarse. I have always had a nasal voice, so people who know my voice might wonder what the difference is. For me, it is different. But it’s okay, because it’s still an anime voice.
I don’t want to rely on hospitals or medicine as much as possible. I don’t go to the hospital when I feel sick or catch a cold, I don’t take medicine, and I don’t like the idea of taking medicine to fix it. I had an interesting conversation with an American friend the other day about how I spend my time when I catch a cold, so I thought I’d share it with you in this podcast. I would like to share with you 6 ways I spend my time when I have a cold.
- No.1. drink a ochoko of atsukan and take a bath.
- No.2. Drink water with OS1 or Pocari.
- No.3. Eat rice.
- No.4. Gargle with ume vinegar or green tea.
- No.5. To relieve fever, pass stools.
- No.6. Think about fun things.
I will explain one by one.
No.1. drink a ochoko of atsukan and take a bath.
Atsukan is a sake cup used to heat sake. Ochoko is a small cup used to drink sake. When you drink atsukan, your body gets very warm. If you take a bath in that state, you sweat more easily. This helps to genetsu. Genetsu means to brings down fever. In the past, it was often said among the Japanese that one should not take a bath when catching a cold. However, according to recent medical evidence, colds are caused by cold germs, so it is a myth that after getting out of the bath you catch a cold because your body gets cold. Rather, it is better to warm yourself by taking a bath.
No.2. Drink water with OS1 or Pocari.
OS1 means oral rehydration solution. I’m not good at English, so some of you may not have listen it, but try googling ‘OS1’. I don’t know what does mean about “1”. Pocari means Pocari Sweat. If you drink only water, you will not have enough salt, which may cause dehydration. So you should drink a salty drink. OS1 Otsukaseiyaku is recommended. Because it tastes better than other companies. Pocari Sweat is a little too sweet for me. I recommend it to those who like sweet.
No.3. Eat rice.
Even if you are not hungry, try to eat even a little. Eating is the key to life, and if you don’t eat something, you will lose the drive to move your body and your physical strength will deteriorate rapidly. When I have a high fever, I sometimes have no appetite, but I still try to eat as much as possible. Make it easy to digest. Porridge or soup is a good choice. Soups with ginger would be even more effective.
No.4. Gargle with ume vinegar or green tea.
Umezu is vinegar made from plums. Gargle medicine doesn’t taste good, does it? I guess this is a statement that shows how much I dislike medicines so much. With ume vinegar and green tea, there is no problem if you swallow them while gargling. Ume vinegar and green tea have bactericidal properties, so they are good for gargling.
No.5. To relieve fever, pass stools.
Fever is said to be an inflammation of the intestines. The intestines are filled with bad bacteria. By defecating, the bad bacteria are also expelled and the intestinal inflammation subsides, thus reducing the fever. Fructooligosaccharide is effective when there is no bowel movement. I have experienced many times that defecation brings down fever.
No.6. Think about fun things.
This is what I recommend most. There is a Japanese saying that illness begins with the mind. In my experience, this is true: when I was about 20 years old, I was hospitalized. I had a sudden fever that started around Christmas, and even though I bathed and did other things, the fever did not go down at all. I finally resorted to the hospital. When I got to the hospital, I had a fever of 40 degrees Celsius and was immediately hospitalized. Now that I think about it, I was hospitalized without remembering the name of the disease or knowing the cause. I was in the hospital for five days! The doctor told me that I could not leave the hospital until the fever came down. It was the end of the year at the time, and I wanted to avoid spending the new year in the hospital at all costs. I really wanted to get my fever down and get out of the hospital before the New Year. At that time, I remembered the saying that sickness starts with the mind, and I just thought of fun things to do. Then the fever really went down and I was able to leave the hospital on New Year’s Eve.
I was in the same situation with this cold. I Skype with an American friend every week, and I love her very much. I want to see her every week without fail. I want to see her except on days when she has other plans. I cannot allow myself to not be able to see her because of my own schedule, much less my lack of health care. Looking forward to seeing my friend, the physical lassitude and headache went away and I managed to meet her for an hour via Skype. The fever was still there, however. Positive feelings definitely make the body feel better.
This is how I usually spend my time when I catch a cold. However, it is dangerous to use only one’s own judgment, so please be careful.
However, I think you know your own body better than anyone else, so if it is just a cold, I think it is possible to heal it spontaneously. It seems that the common cold is cured in about one week to ten days without relying on medicines.
When you have a partner and family, there is a sense of urgency to get treatment as soon as possible. I also live with my partner and I don’t want to bother him.
Still, I think that having a fever and cough means that something bad is being expelled from the body. I don’t think it is better to stop them with medicine.
I’m not saying which is better, but whether you go to the hospital, take medicine, or choose to heal naturally, whichever you choose, I think a positive attitude is the best way to make you feel better!
