How fortunate I am to be living in an environment that is blessed with such amazing activities. I left America knowing that I would be traveling to a place that is relatively as advanced, if not more in many places. Often, I get bored with normal Westernized culture, which is why I enjoy Asia so much. Being reserved and timid in this city would be doing yourself a disservice. Countless times I find myself saying “ah why not?”. I have no idea when the next time will come where I have the ability to explore Southeast Asia! This does come with a price however, and it caught up to me this week.
I have become relatively accustomed to functioning though extremely exhaustion. A few days ago, I felt my energy reserves plummeting below expected levels. Now, I have never been physically hit by a car before. If I had to be hit by one, I would want it to be a 1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom. A classy car that packs a punch and won’t get a scratch on it from hitting a 150-pound buck (me). I’m getting side tracked. Apologies. I felt like I got hit by a car from this sickness. I usually run at a high temperature regardless of any illness (I’ll get to the word illness in a moment), but I felt as though I could fry an egg sunny side up if I cracked it on my cheek.
When I informed my friend group that I was not feeling very well they asked if I was ill. I’m going to break this word down a little bit here. To Americans, you know how I pronounce this word. My Scottish friends pronounce “ill” like “el”. Thus, with my mind already in a haze, I had to ask them to repeat the sentences roughly 5 times for me to finally understand what they meant. I haven’t studied Spanish in a few years, but when they were asking “are you el(ill)?” I almost responded with “Yes I am a he” (“El” meaning “he”). Needless to say, I needed to rest up a lot that evening to recover.
New topic: Jake being dad at home and abroad.
Those who know my reputation at Linfield, know that everything about me screams dad. There is photographic evidence of me in Starbucks with glasses on, a Patagonia quarter-zip, and the newspaper in hand. Sounds like a normal weekday minus the sunglasses I borrowed from my friend. Besides my choices in fashion, my dad reputation comes from my lack of knowledge of young person lingo. The majority of the time I have to raise my hand and ask “excusez-moi?” as if saying it in French makes me more hip… You get the picture. This takes me to the following story.
The same evening that my fever hit, my friends went out to celebrate one of their birthdays. Not only did I have a class at 08:30 the next morning, but my sickness also kept me from going out with them. After hearing the events that occurred while they were out, I wish my illness did not keep me in that evening. I’ll leave you with one line. Scottish people enjoy their drink. As this does not necessarily appeal to me, you might ask, “why does he wish that he went out with them?”. I probably would have asked the same question. Here’s the thing, let’s just say that at least one head was split open last evening that required stitches. That’s where Jake’s dad reputation was called upon. Literally. I received upwards of 10-15 calls in the “wee hours of the morning” as my friends from Scotland would say. With a decent amount of Nyquil in my system, the face I made bringing my head up to my pillow was the equivalent to most teenager’s faces when they found out that Kylie Jenner had a baby. Pure shock mixed with a little drool? Sounds about right ;).
Without recognizing the number, I didn’t answer. Not that me answering would have benefited the situation at all. I am quite confident that my sentence structure would not have been up to my normal standards. Thankfully, the people that I have surrounded myself with are some of the best in the world. The other American in our group stepped up to the plate and took the responsibility of our injured friend. Couldn’t be prouder of this person! Very refreshing to see such professionalism from those around me.
As week 4 comes to a close, travel opportunities have arisen. My friends and I have booked trips to South Korea and Vietnam during the coming months. Very excited to experience the food cultures of these amazing countries!
Cheers for now,
Jake