I came down with a really bad cold today. It started on Saturday as a sore throat, but nothing serious. It started getting worse this morning and once I got to work I could feel my eyes start to swell.
I think I have the weather to blame for my cold. The air feels so sticky because of the humidity. And when it’s not humid, it’s scorching hot. I feel like I’m either in a steamer or an oven.
These days, there isn’t a single day I’m not drenched in sweat. As soon as I get home I immediately run to the bathroom to take a cold shower. After that, I sit by the air conditioner until I feel freezing cold.
So I basically got a case of 냉방병 (naeng-bang byeong), which literally translates to air conditioning sickness. I saw some articles calling it “Air-conditioningitis” but it sounds too silly to actually say it.
Anyway after work, I headed over to the doctor’s office and got some medication prescribed. It was the only local clinic open at that time, but I didn’t really like the doctor. He seemed to be in a big rush, and kept interrupting me when I was trying to tell him what my symptoms were. I was too tired to argue though.
After getting my medicine I went to get dinner. Hot soup tastes the best when you’re sick, so I took this opportunity to get some. I think my dinner made me feel better more than my doctor did.
After dinner it was time to go home. I was already feeling drowsy because of the cold medicine, but I still had a few things I had to do at home. None of them were actual chores, but rather routine rituals.
One of them is my nighttime skin routine. It’s nothing special, but the whole process takes me about twenty minutes. When I want to be extra fancy, I think I can take even up to an hour. It’s my own little way of telling myself that I did a good job today.
After that I started writing my journal (this post), and when I was almost finished, I realized I forgot one little part of my nighttime routine: my Duolingo exercise. After frantically finishing it less than ten minutes before the day was over, I found out today was the 400th day of my learning streak,
I used to hate having a routine or schedule. It made everyday activities seem like an assignment. But nowadays, I enjoy it to some extent. It’s nice to have a checklist even if I fail to follow it. The mere thought of having a routine is comforting.
Plus, without a routine I probably would have never made it through 400 days of German lessons.
So, despite my annoying cold, I don’t think today was too bad.
Gute Nacht und bis später!
Sonagi 
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