A lot of people told me that medicine sold in Japan is ususally weaker than medicine in America. Whether this is because Japanese people tend to consume fewer chemicals and thus have a lower tolerance, or because American people tend to have more body mass (that is, "fat") and require a higher dose, I'm not sure. And honestly, I really couldn't tell you if it's true or not. I can't read Japanese well enough to buy medicine in the first place, so I haven't actually checked.

But one thing that is definitely stronger here is whatever is in the mosquitoes. I got a couple of bites and there's something in them that my system has no idea what to do with. They swelled up like purple-red easter eggs, itch like hell, and haven't gone down after four days. And bugs here don't respect the traditional no-bite zones.

Like the eyelid.

Yeah, one of the little bastards zapped me just over my right eye while I was taking a nap. I woke up and couldn't open my eye for half an hour. I'm lucky that no one at work felt they knew me well enough to ask who belted me.