Coughing up 'The Wire'

I’m fighting a cold. It’s not the most glamorous thing to talk about, but if someone were to ask me, “What’s the latest?,” the cough and Korea would be my answers. I started to feel it coming on Wednesday, when I had a sore throat. By Thursday, whatever was in my throat made its way to my lungs and I started coughing a bit. Saturday was the worst day so far and I pretty much coughed constantly throughout the day. It’s a dry cough and its persistence is annoying. My colleague told me I could get a needle that would make everything better, but I’m not really up for that. In fact, I really don’t want to take any medicine at all but I caved over the weekend and bought some cough syrup.

In thinking about how it started and I’ve come to the conclusion that it has something to do with the weather. When the weather changes, I get sick. Not deathly ill, just some sort of cold. Two months ago, when I moved from Shanghai to Yantai, I had a cough for about two weeks while my body adapted to the weather here. For most of February and March, I was good though – no cough or anything. But now, the weather is changing again, in the 40s and 50s for the most part, and the heat is turned off in my building so I have this cough.

This has resulted in me changing my schedule to make it even more vanilla than it usually is. Normally, I’d be out right now, either doing a language exchange at a coffee shop, or eating with friends. But, I’ve decided to sit in bed and study instead. Luckily, this is the time of month where I can watch “The Wire.” That might seem odd so let me explain.

My arrival in Yantai in January coincided with the Chinese New Year and I had a cold. I had a lot of down time and, as a result, started watching this TV show. I found it addictive and tore through 24 episodes in 9 days. It’s embarrassing to say, but it’s the truth. Over the course of nine days, I spent one whole day watching a television show. So, I took myself off it for a month. At the beginning of March, the same thing happened, I started watching it and couldn’t stop. Hence, I took myself off it for another month. It’s the beginning of April so I can watch it again. So, as you read this, there’s a good chance that’s what I’m doing – laying in bed, coughing, and alternating between studying and watching the Wire. Again, not the most glamorous thing, but it’s life. With the Korea trip coming up, I figure the best thing I can do for my body is take it easy.