...and then things went black...

I've passed out enough times to be able to identify the stages of what happens, and today, after getting hit in the head with a softball, I reached the “black” stage.
Let me back up.
The students are taking midterms this week in the mornings & occasionally the teachers organize a fun, voluntary activity for staff in the afternoon. Yesterday as I was leaving school a non-English speaking teacher said, “Sa-la! Tomorrow...umm...softball, okay? Let's play!” So this afternoon I found myself pitching (!) for our “just-for-fun-we're-not-super-athletic-or-talented” softball game. In the last inning, with zero strike-outs, and too many hits on my pitching record, I tossed the ball to the up-to-bat math teacher. I remember seeing the ball flying toward home plate, but then everything went black, and I wondered why my head hurt so much. Thankfully I stayed upright, but I couldn't understand a word of the Japanese around me or open my eyes. I felt people surrounding me and knew they were asking me questions, but I had to remind myself of the basics, “You're in Japan. You're playing softball with the teachers.” I opened my eyes for a second & saw an English teacher beside me. I said, “I'm dizzy,” and closed my eyes again. The school nurse was in front of me & I think she was asking if I wanted to sit down, but my head was still spinning and I could barely communicate in English, let alone in Japanese. When I opened my eyes again, I felt hot tears running down my dusty cheeks. The nurse guided me to the sidelines for me to sit while she got ice. A teacher who had just come to watch a few minutes of the game came over to sit with me while the nurse got the ice. He kept asking, “Are you okay?” in Japanese, I tried to assure him that I was, but I'm sure I didn't look it: holding my head, drying my tears, waiting for the world to come back into focus.

After sitting with ice on my noggin for awhile, all felt fine and I joined my team for the final bow & congratulations at the end of the game. The teachers all worried about me, the math teacher who hit the ball felt horrible, and the other teachers nicknamed him, “killer man.” Perhaps the name's a bit drastic?

Now I'm safe at home with just the slightest headache. No problem. Tomorrow it'll be back to school as usual, except I'm going out for lunch with the female English teachers, everyone will be laughing about the softball game, and I'll be reassuring everyone that yes, I'm okay!

Oh, as a P.S., I thought I'd have a different story to share about the game...earlier I went to catch a rolling ball, but it bounced out of my glove, hit my chin, and then my forearm. The bruise on my head is covered by my hair, I'm afraid the bruises on my chin and arm will be a lot more visible. Remember the “not-super-athletic-or-talented” part? Yup, that's the truth. And minus the black part, it really was loads of fun.