An awkward game of charades

I'm giggling to myself as I write this even though I feel like crap. Every year around this time of the fall, I get this horrendous disease that starts as a barky cough and ends up lasting at least a month because it gets into my chest and becomes a secondary infection. It never fails. So, last year, the good nurses and doctors at Whistler (Denison's medical team, I use these terms somewhat loosely, I love the counseling center but the actual health center is somewhat lacking as their solution to all problems is, you must be pregnant or here have some antibiotics) BUT ANYWAY, they recommended that at the first signs of this illness, I bombard it with Mucinex. Now, being the genius that I am, I figured perhaps I wouldn't become ill in Japan and didn't bring Mucinex. So, yesterday I came down with a cough and this morning sure enough I feel as though someone is sitting on my chest. The disease is in full swing and we have no expectorants, oh crap. So mom looks up some different active expectorant ingredients, we make a list and head down to the local store to check out the drug section. Unfortunately all of them are completely in Japanese and no one would come near us in this store because they knew we only spoke English. We had to go to Yokohama station to find new cables for our computers to watch DVDs, so we took the subway there and found a more professional looking pharmacy. Here's where things get interesting. I felt so floopy and cruddy by then that I was determined not to leave this place without some form of medication. Unfortunately, the two young men working there spoke about one or two words of english between the two of them. So mom and I go over to the cough and cold section and look confused for about 5 minutes until one of the guys comes up and says something in Japanese. I asked if he spoke english, he says not really. Great, here we go. Picture if you will.....first, I say 'expectorant,' no comprende, hmmmmm. Now I try to motion chest cough, this is not going well. Lots of hand waving, gesturing, and trying to portray the words "phlegm in my chest that needs to be broken up," I can't help but laugh at it. In the end, he calls someone, speaks to them in a lot of Japanese, and hands us a box. We thank him and get in line. Then a young woman who works there appears and she doesn't speak english either, but she has a cell phone with a translator, YIPPEE!!! I spell expectorant and she gets down two boxes and we begin another game of charades where she tries to portray that one has a decongestant while the other doesn't. Very odd. Somehow, mom got it. Now, I'm medicated (after asking the lady downstairs to translate the box and instructions and she even had to consult someone on the translation of the word phlegm) and hoping this will be effective enough. I have no dignity, but at least I have a sense of humor, heeheehee.....cough cough....