Thwarted plans everywhere...

There is something to be said about planning ahead. Leave the university in late April, return after holidays, complete the last trimester and the exam term, celebrate the year’s end, return home, get a summer job or an internship with a bit of luck, and then get some well-deserved rest. That’s exactly how I planned half a year of my life. But it would be boring, I guess, if it all worked out the way that I wished it would.

Late in March, I caught a virus infection so strong that I saw more mugs of hot tea, vitamins and various English Coldrex-like concoctions than I did teachers in classes during the last week of the second semester. My diagnosis was so clear to me that I didn’t bother to seek a physician in the UK – honestly, given their reputation, I opted to wait until I could see Czech specialists. I diagnosed myself: flu. I ordered myself two tabs of Paralen per day and bed rest. But when I got back, the flu wouldn’t go away; actually, it started getting worse. And that was the start of a whirlwind of seeing various specialists who soon ran out of ideas on what my malady was. X-rays, ECG, EEG, CT, MRI, biochemical check-up, complementary checks, hospitalization – you name it: I did it all, several times, with fever and insane headaches. By mid-May, I knew I wasn’t going back to the university this year. So, in between visits to doctors, I started working on postponing my exam period. Now, I have to say that Lancaster University was totally supportive in my situation; the paperwork that it required was minimal, and they basically permitted me to postpone everything without problems, more or less. I regularly received e-mails wishing me to get well soon and telling me to not worry about a thing, and that all would be taken care of for me. As I didn’t have to worry about university for a moment, I got back to the whirlwind of seeing doctors. At the end of May – after two months – I was diagnosed with chronic rhinosinusitis, and that was the first time I exhaled with relief. Once you know what the problem is, it’s more or less easy to solve. If you are asking the same question that I asked myself, that is, why reaching my diagnosis took so long, my answer is simple. Early on, I saw an ENT doctor who will remain nameless, and she told me that, as far as ENT was concerned, I was all right. Hence all those checks and visits to specialists. I got back to where I started once I had come full circle; this time, however, I changed the ENT doctor for one who was able to help me. Initially, things looked like I would be treated surgically, but when administered several corticoids, my condition improved so much that I can take the conservative treatment approach for now.

So that’s when I started getting back to my normal life – university, learning, and preparation for the exam term. But again, it would be boring if something didn’t take a left turn, I guess. The university offered me the choice to take my exams here in Prague. Obviously, I was happy about it for several reasons: I won’t have to fly to England, and so I’ll save on my airline tickets, accommodation, food etc. So I gave the university a nod to take care of all that’s needed for me to just be able to go to the British Council in Prague instead of Lancaster in August. Right after that, I got a bill for all the services included in this package. To say that the amount left me breathless is an understatement. The sum of all charges, either on the Czech or English side, amounted to 16,000 crowns in aggregate. I always thought that one-week business trips abroad were for well-heeled execs only. Now I find that the comfort of your home costs more than a one-week trip to England these days. And so I will meet a few students on the campus in August and take my first ever university exams. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

In conclusion, allow me to use this opportunity to voice my thanks to The Kellner Family Foundation for their support to date, both financial and mental, thanks to which I was able to spend this year at an international university.