Another kind of experience

So far, my experiences in Japan have pretty much all been positive and welcomed... and I guess you could say relatively easy. Easy in the sense that they weren't too hard to deal with. But now I'm experiencing something that is a bit harder to deal with. But I'm supposed to see it in a positive light, see it as another kind of experience here in Japan. At least, that's what my father tells me.

During the training camp in Miyazaki, I collided with a girl, my front tooth hitting her forehead so strongly that my tooth bent backwards. I was able to push it back forwards and didn't think too much of it. But after, drinking and eating was painful and the tooth remained a bit unstable. At my return, I went to see a dentist... who told me my tooth was dead. There is no more circulation from the vein. It was a shock to me. I've always been proud of my nice teeth, which always make the dentists happy during my checkups. To hear that at 20, I already have a dead tooth... was hard to take in. But thankfully, the current treatments are well-developed and accessible. During the next few weeks, I'm scheduled to have three root canal treatments to clean out the tooth to prevent infection. I get to keep my tooth as it is. Because the tooth is dead, the coloring will start to change after a certain amount of time, and so at that time I'll have to look into other treatments.

It's not the end of the world... though it seemed like it a few days ago. My dad is right, it is another kind of experience in Japan. It's not the kind of experience I was hoping for, but at least you can say it's not something many visitors in Japan get the chance to experience. ; )