Erkaltung

Ever since I have lived in Berlin, I have been going to this doctor (Aerztin). She does not speak English at all so its always a a lot of work in trying to tell her how I feel. I went to her when I had been in Berlin for 3 months, then 6 months and now yesteryday when I went to her, I have lived here for almost a year. Being able to talk to her is the litmus test for my German speaking abilities.

Every time that  I have been to a doctor in my life, I have come back with load full of medicinal drugs that I have had to take day in and day out to get well again. So yesterday when I went to the doctor I was wondering if she would give me Augmentin the anti biotic or some standard paracetamol. But what she did was to tell me a total of three German sayings which I feel I should translate here

“Erkaltung. 3 tage kommst es, 3 tage bleibt es, und 3 tage geht es”
“Cold. For 3 days it comes, for 3 days it stays and another 3 days it leaves”

“Manchmal weniger ist mehr als mehr”
“Sometime, less is more”

She told me that I have the common cold and since it’s a viral infection there is no medicine for it. And that I have to rest it away.So here I am sitting at home since yesterday, bored out of my wits and thinking that getting sick in a foreign country sucks really bad. Makes you miss your mom the most.