deutsch
english
español
polski
Русский
Lisa's week: The flu hits Lisa’s Week
Did you miss me last week? I have to confess that you were not on my mind as I lay in my sickbed feeling oh so sorry for myself! Yes, I was hit by this horrible, nasty cold/flu that everyone seems to have been affected by at some point in the last few months – either directly or in the family.
I’m rarely sick to be honest. I get a lot of snuffles, which makes sense because I meet a lot of people throughout the week and that’s a lot of germs and bacteria making its way through my lessons. But it tends to stay within the realms of dosing up with some cold remedy and making sure I have a lot of tissues on hand for when the sneezing starts or the nose starts running. In fact, I talked about this type of cold back in November 2016 (find it here). So I was feeling pretty smug to have not succumbed to this year’s infection that has sent so many of my students and their families to their bed. This is a really bad winter cold but it was ok as I was strong enough to fight it. Or so I thought.
However, I woke up one morning feeling rather strange. I had a headache. My throat felt tight. I was struggling to breathe clearly and it all seemed rather ominous. And it was. Within a few hours, I was shaking, my temperature was high and there was the worst pain in my throat.
36 hours later, I dragged myself to my GP (General Practitioner) who took my temperature, gazed down my throat and listened to my lungs using his stethoscope. And then came the bad news. It was this year’s flu virus and as such, there was nothing he could specifically do. Antibiotics wouldn’t help and all he could recommend was ibuprofen for my head and something to help release the cough. Stay in bed, get some rest, drink lots and wait for it to pass.
I went through that phase where you can never imagine being well ever again. The long, almost delirious nights waking up too hot, or too cold, or coughing like it’s an Olympic sport – I’d win gold for sure! I was off work for a week. A week! I can’t remember the last time I was off for so long due to illness – maybe 18 years ago.
So, here we are ten days later and although I’m not 100%, I’m not really ill any more. I’m tired, a bit grumpy and still coughing for England! But I’m so grateful that it didn’t get any worse, that my body seems to have fought back, that I didn’t end up needing antibiotics because it didn’t turn into a bacterial infection and that I’m back at work.
That smug feeling I had that I hadn’t been ill while so many around me had fallen? Yes! I’ll be keeping that in check in future! This year’s winter flu virus certainly had the upper hand round here and I’ll remember that for a long time.
So if you have been, or are, afflicted, you have my sympathy. Get well soon. It’s a horrible thing to go through but the sun is shining outside this morning and I think winter’s days are numbered. Stay fit, look after yourself and better days will come.
What is Lisa's week?
"We’ve (hopefully) been entertaining you so far with the meaning and background of a weekly English idiom and now we’ve decided to expand that a little to give me the chance to share some details that come my way in my daily life as a Business English teacher. I hope to find weekly tidbits of information and experience to tell you about such as British traditions that I (or we) celebrate, or typical mistakes made when speaking English, or even some of the funny things I come across in my daily life. We hope that you’ll enjoy the insight into the life of a Brit in Germany!"
Episode 1: The Queen's 90th birthday
Episode 2: What did you do last Sunday?
Episode 3: What's the best way to answer?
Episode 4: The sound of London
Episode 5: Not just a last resort
Episode 6: Quick tip of the week: advice vs. advise
Episode 10: Quick tip of the week - Are you watching or just looking?
Episode 11: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
Episode 12: Don't forget to take you handy to the public viewing!
Episode 13: Up in the Highlands
Episode 14: Quick tip of the week - "Popular" false friends
Episode 16: Through the tunnel
Episode 18: Quick tip of the week - Rise vs. raise vs. arise
Episode 19: How do you say that?
Episode 22: Can you change a fiver?
Episode 23: Grabbing some "me time"
Episode 24: Typical Mistakes (part 1)
Episode 26: Quip tip of the week - Fell vs. fall etc.
Episode 27: Things that go bump in the night!
Episode 28: Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpower, treason and plot
Episode 29: What's that badge you're wearing?
Episode 31: What are you thankful for?
Episode 32: Where's the larget Christmas Market outside Germany or Austria?
Episode 33: What's behind the door?
Episode 34: The joy of a Christmas cracker!
Episode 35: Does it all fit on the table?
Episode 36: Seeing in the New Year
Episode 37: How are your resolutions going?
Episode 38: Quick tip of the week - "Popular" false friends - part 2
Episode 39: What will the Year of the Rooster mean for you?
Episode 42: I'll have mine with sugar and lemon juice, please!
Episode 43: The joy of golden daffodils
Episode 44: To correct or not to correct, that is the question
Episode 45: The whole world's going green!
Episode 46: Idiom of the week - Raining cats and dogs
Episode 47: The joke's on you!
Episode 48: Left over from the Middle Ages!
Episode 49: More calendar food-based ponderings
Episode 50: We use German words too
Episode 51: Celebrating St George
Episode 52: The perfect start to the day
Episode 53: The tiny apostrophe is actually something big (part 1)
Episode 54: The tiny apostrophe is actually something big (part 2)
Episode 55: The tiny apostrophe is actually something big (part 3)
Episode 56: Holiday season is coming!
Episode 57; ‘Tis the season (of Bank Holidays) – part 1
Episode 58; ‘Tis the season (of Bank Holidays) – part 2
Episode 60: Harry Potter turns 20
Episode 61: Quick Tip of the Week - live, life, live
Episode 62: Oh I do like to be beside the seaside
Episode 63: I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
Episode 64: Stick a stamp on it!
Episode 65: Idiom of the week - Water under the bridge
Episode 66: I say QWERTY, you say QWERTZ
Episode 67: Doing your homework and making mistakes! (Part 1)
Episode 68: Doing your homework and making mistakes! (Part 2)
Episode 69: Joking around in Scotland
Episode 70: The first day of school
Episode 71: Let's go down to the Wiesn!
Episode 72: Celebrating language
Episode 73: It's a Harry thing!
Episode 74: My favourite time of the year
Episode 75: TED-Ideas Worth Spreading
Episode 76: Grinning like a Cheshire cat
Episode 77: Enjoying the downtime
Episode 79: Do you need anything from the Hight Street?
Episode 80: Just another few minutes!
Episode 81: Counting the cards on my shelf.
Episode 82: What sign are you?
Episode 83: Great if you have a sweet tooth
Episode 84: It's an acquired taste!
Episode 85: New Year's Resolutions
Episode 86: Quick Tip of the week - go/come & take/bring
Episode 87: My Luve is Like a Red Red Rose
Episode 88: Once in a blue moon
Episode 89: Learning by Listening - part 1
Episode 90: Learning by Listening - part 2
Episode 91: This is the travel news!
Episode 92: The "Beast from the East" hits Western Europe!
15.03.2018