Posts Tagged calling in sick
November 3, 2005 – National Holiday
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on November 3, 2015
This morning I was feeling awful. I tried to get moving but realized that there was no way I was going to work.
NOVA has a phone number to call when you are unable to attend work. If you call before a certain time, there are supposed to be no repercussions for you, other than a day of missed pay. The cutoff time allows NOVA to find a replacement teacher and adjust the schedule accordingly.
Usually calling into the sick number is a short conversation “Hi I am x from branch y. I am sick and can’t go to work today”. They take the info, ask if you need any additional assistance, and the call is over in 30 seconds. Today they made a point of letting me know that it was a national holiday, which would mean a very busy day at the branch. I don’t know if they were trying to make me feel bad about calling in sick, trying to see if I was faking, or just expressing frustration at trying to replace a teacher on a busy day. Regardless, there was no was I was going to work.
June 12, 2005 – Sick day
Posted by Barniferous in Teaching English on June 12, 2015
Today I was sick. Very sick. Unfortunately there is a shortage of teachers at the moment, so taking a sick day is a major inconvenience. Personally I think showing up pale and barfy would have been a bigger inconvenience.
I spent the day sleeping. Blech.
October 17, 2004 – No voice = no work
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Teaching English on October 17, 2014
I woke up with no voice due to the nasty cold that’s making the rounds. For an English teacher, no voice means no teaching.
I spent my day chugging orange juice, sleeping, and playing Playstation.
July 30, 2004 – Birthday aftermath
Posted by Barniferous in Drinking, Uncategorized on August 16, 2014
Yesterday I thought I had a bit too much fun at karaoke. This morning I realized how badly I had overdone it. I was sick in the morning in between birthday phone calls from home. I ended up having to call in sick to work, which is terrible considering that I was out for beer with many of my coworkers the night before. I expect to hear about this later.
(2014 Update) Don’t miss work because of drinking. Also, never miss work because of drinking with your coworkers. That’s just irresponsible.
April 3, 2004 – How to call in sick
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Teaching English on April 3, 2014
Today was a good day for two reasons. The first was that I got to work an early Saturday shift. The early shift runs from 10:00am to 5:40pm, leaving the entire evening free. My usual late shift is a standard 1:00pm to 9:00pm. If there is anything fun happening on a Saturday night, I always show up about 3 hours after it starts.
The second good thing was a fun special topic voice class. Inspired by my recent cold, the topic was when and how to call in sick to work. We ran through new vocabulary for some common medical conditions and had a discussion on which ones would keep you home from work. Fun fact: Japanese people rarely miss work (or English lessons) for illness. We then worked on the dos and don’ts of calling in sick when you aren’t actually sick. Some examples:
- Do have a reason that will make your employer want you to stay home – explosive diarrhea for example
- Do sound sick on the phone
- Don’t make up an illness that should have you in the hospital
- Don’t use your day off to go somewhere public where you will be seen
It was a lot of fun for both myself and the students.
The only bad part about the day was that I was stuck on the smoking floor of the internet cafe. I now completely stink like cigarette smoke.
April 1, 2004 – Sleep, movies, games, sleep and sleep
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan, Movies on April 1, 2014
I was feeling pretty crappy today. I woke up with a massive sinus headache and it felt like my eyeballs were going to explode. I did a very un-Japanese thing by calling in sick. Unlike yesterday, I did not trust the daytime cold medicine to get me through my shift.
To recover, I enjoyed a day of sleep, PS2, sleep, movies (The Tuxedo and Full Metal Jacket) and sleep.
December 20, 2003 – Half price sashimi isn’t always a good idea
Posted by Barniferous in Life in Japan on December 20, 2013
50% discount sticker
At about 1:15am, the half price sashimi rice bowl I ate last night decided that it didn’t want to stay eaten. That began a few very unpleasant hours that I will decide not to share the details about.
I woke up early, decided I still felt terrible, and proceeded to call in sick to NOVA. My reason for not being able to work was “I ate bad half price sashimi and was suffering all night”. Apparently having stomach issues due to sashimi was the most common reason for calling in sick at NOVA. I am not sure if they actually believed me or just thought that I drank too much the night before.
After the call, I spent my day sleeping, playing old video games in my room and then sleeping more. Whee!
Drinking in Japan 
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