Bribery and sexual harassment in the university

Couldn't decide if it was influenza or a mild case of food poisoning.

I conked out from 10.00 am to about 3.00 pm yesterday, snoring away, covered up by a blanket.

My body ached, and my stomach felt loose.

I drank cups after cups of powdered green Japanese tea, believing as the Japanese do, that the tea will kill the germs in my body.

I also gulped in a few cups of bitter gourd tea, which I made from the dried leaves of bitter gourd I planted last summer.

Luckily, I managed to recover, albeit very gradually, and attended the first of the series of parties.

This was a university party hosted by the president of the university.

The president started off with an apology of two unfortunate events that just hit the university.

One was the bribery case involving an official from the medical faculty and a medical equipment manufacturer while the other was a sexual harassment case committed by a well-known professor from the education faculty.

Not unique cases at all, as it happen quite commonly elsewhere, but equally regretful, no doubt.

Makes me marvel why screw up a reputation that one has spend almost a lifetime nurturing.

Pocketing some bribery money (in this case, a mere 800,000 yen, or about 8,000 US dollars) will obviously not enrich oneself.

Sexually harassing someone may bring about good feelings for a minute.

But if caught, it is hell all the way.