No, I don't have swine flu!

As far as I know, there has been not a single confirmed case of swine flu in Japan, and yet if you've been following this blog, it should probably come as no surprise to you that the country is flipping out. I'm sick of every Japanese person asking me if I have swine flu, and I'm sick of them asking if my family and friends have it.

One of the mothers at the temple told me this week that her sister and nephew recently returned from a 10-day California vacation. Apparently all passengers at Narita had to submit to a 3-hour medical exam--perhaps understandable. But the clincher: the nine year-old nephew is, by government decree, under quarantine in his house for ten full days and is not allowed to return to his public school until the government approves it.

The final straw may have come yesterday on the train when I had a conversation with a man sitting across from me that went like this:
"Are you a foreigner?"
"Ummmmmm, yes."
"Where are you from?" [I'm so sick of hearing this anytime I'm anywhere in public.]
"America."
"Do you have swine flu?"
"Ummmmmm, no."
"I'm not so sure about that."

And with that, he got up and walked away from me, to the opposite end of the train. I wish I would have told him I did have swine flu. Or at least sneezed on the bastard.