The Headache

“Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” ~William Shakespeare

Feb 26, 2013

All through the night I woke up feeling a bit feverish. I couldn’t explain exactly why, but I just felt really warm. I didn’t have to be to class until 1pm, but the fever and a splitting headache got me up about 10am.

I booted up my computer and did what I had vowed I wouldn’t do: I counted the days until I would be going home. The count came down to: 81 days left in the semester, 92 days until my family arrived, and 106 days until I went home.

It was funny. Two polar opposite thoughts raced through my head. On one had, 106 days just felt too long. I wasn’t sure I was that patient or that determined. Could I makt it through 106 days? On the other hand, 106 days didn’t feel long enough to do all that I still wanted to do.

So I started creating a schedule. I figured if I looked to see when the projects were due for different classes, then I could fill in other dates with possible trips and start to expand my adventure into Europe. As I plugged in due dates, I came to a frustrating discovery.

I am enrolled in 4 classes which meet once a week for 3 hours (International Marketing being the only exception…it is broken up over 2 days of 90 minute sessions.) I am also enrolled in two classes that are referred to as “intensive courses.”  These courses meet only a few times during the semester for entire days, and the credit is earned after the intensive instruction.

Up until now, the meeting schedule for my intensive classes hadn’t been released. When I logged into the system today, I found that it was posted. The one class (International Communications) over lapped with International Marketing, every other Tuesday.

I wasn’t sure what to do. How could I miss every other class and still expect to pass? Not to mention, International Marketing is my only class where attendance is part of the grade.

I jotted down the dates that overlapped in my notebook and decided I would ask my professor about it after class. Taking some Tylenol for my headache, I got up and left for class.

The class turned out to be very interesting. We were broken up into groups and each given a form of marketing to evaluate. Our group, which was made up of two Czech students, a French girl, and myself was given the category of retail sales. We had to evaluate how effective it was at (1) reaching an audience (2) communicating with the customer (3) being reliable (4) accepting feedback and (5) closing a sale.

Since I’ve worked in retail, I shared some of my observations with the group. It turned out that many of them had had retail jobs at some point, and they too had seen some of the same experiences. The frustrating customers, the odd requests, and the roller-coaster ride of self-esteem seemed to be universal in sales across different cultures. I was the only one however who said I enjoyed working in sales and thought the challenge was part of the fun.

After class, I went up to ask Professor Stan (the PhD student) about the absences. He reiterated to me that in order to pass the class I was only allowed 3 absences—this is apparently a university standard. He explained that I should be able to miss 3 sessions of this class, and 1 or 2 from the intensive classes and still pass both of them. It made me feel a little better; still a bit of an uneasy feeling, but a bit better.

As I left class, I ran into Manu. Manu is from India and is starting her master’s work in Marketing while abroad in Prague for the semester. We had met in class the previous week, but she had been sick on and off since then.

“I think I am coming down with a bit of a cold,” I told her. “I’m planning to go back to the dorm and sleep it off tonight.”

“You do not want to get sick,” she said. “Being sick in a foreign place is such a helpless feeling. You don’t know what medications to buy or where to go for help. It is awful. You don’t want to do it!”

“My plan is to stay healthy,” I said, knowing my immune system normally gives out on me at some point each semester. “My roommates have all been sick and I’m hoping I don’t get whatever they have.”

“Eat lots of fruit,” she said. “Your body will make its own antibiotics if you eat fruit.”

I went back to my dorm to rest up. On the way, I stopped into a restaurant for lunch. Their sign on the door advertised that they were famous for their schnitzel. The fact the sign was in English should have tipped me off that it was a bit gimmicky. The “schnitzel” tasted a lot like “shake’n’bake” chicken. It was good, but I’m not sure it was a true cultural experience.

When I got back to the dorm, I talked briefly with my cousin Cheri on Facebook. We swapped travel stories and she told me about an adventure she has coming up. I also saw that my parents were online and decided to Skype with them real quick. It turned out to actually be a bit of a longer conversation, but a needed one.

After we hung up, and I promised to call back later that night to finish the chat, I did get to take a nap. It wasn’t real long—only about an hour—but while I was asleep, the headache went away. It returned as soon as I woke up, along with a face full of congestion.

Tuesday Nights are the Nation2Nation parties, and I messaged Lad’ka to let her know I wasn’t feeling well enough to go. She was sick too and said she was taking a night off. I also messaged with Thibaut from my Czech class. We talked about meeting up tomorrow to discuss traveling outside of the Czech Republic together.

I decided that I wanted some soup for dinner (felt appropriate for a cold) so I went across the street once again to get dinner. Before I did, I checked my receipts to see how much I’d spent eating out these past few nights. I was surprised to see that after five nights, I’d spent about 35USD on dinners. I knew I couldn’t do this for the next three months if I wanted to travel, but it also showed me my money wasn’t wasting away.

They weren’t serving soup tonight at the restaurant (apparently there is not only just a “soup of the day” but “days of the soup.”)  I ordered tortellini instead. It took a while to come—significantly longer than the service had been the past few nights—but when it did, it was worth the wait. The noodles were made by hand, with no two shaped quite the same. They were filled with cheese and served in creamed spinach. It tasted amazing!

As I had been waiting, I’d also been thinking. The same old man was playing the keyboard. I recognized a few of the tunes as “Rock Around the Clock,” The Beatles’ “Yesterday,” and “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady. As I thought about the day, my headache, and the remaining 106 days left, that same small voice—the one I heard on the plane and the one that’s been coaching me since I landed—spoke up.

It said, “You can do this.”

And the funny thing was, I knew it was right. I can do this. Not hearing English out in public isn’t as scary anymore. Grocery shopping and cooking don’t feel as cumbersome anymore. Worrying about scheduling doesn’t seem as important anymore.

Those 106 days don’t feel so long anymore.

I wouldn’t say I’ve hit the acceptance stage of culture shock, but I seemed to be moving through the homesickness pretty well. I can do this. I know that it is going to fly by, and that there will be a million great memories made between now and the time I leave Prague. In fact, the idea of leaving Prague makes me a little disappointed already. I guess I really am starting to like it here.

When I got back to my room, I got a blog post uploaded and then called my parents back. My Dad answered and we talked a lot longer than we’d planned, but it was a very good conversation. By the time we hung up, it was after 2am.

I still had a headache and needed to get up at 7am in the morning, but I decided to take a shower real quick. After I did, I took Manu’s advice and ate an orange…with some ibuprofen just to take the edge off.