Entry 2: Private Hell-written 9/21/09

Studying in another country for a year (or even a semester) can build character quickly. When abroad you are taken from your warm, safe home and are suddenly dropped in a country with a different set of cultural and educational values. The first week of my stay in Dundee has been nothing but an exercise in learning how to deal with real world problems and overcoming obstacles over 3,000 miles away from home.

Life Lesson I: Patience is a Virtue

My life lesson began almost as soon as I walked into my room. It was the first night I would be staying in Scotland and I was excited to show off the new room to a couple of my friends. We were planning on going into town to dine at one of the Scottish pubs we had seen when we first got off the bus and were meeting at my Flat before heading out. I had just to lock the key to my door and a night of taking in our new surroundings could begin. However after turning the key to lock I noticed the door didn’t close shut at all and to make things worse, the key was stuck in the tumbler. With a door that could easily be pushed open and my key now embedded in the door like “the sword in the stone” , I knew tonight’s plans were going to have to be put on hold. With that I picked up the phone and dialed maintenance. Dundee has an emergency phone line that is open 24/7 in case something should arise (such as a fire, injury, leak and being locked out). The maintenance crew arrived within 15 minutes and looked at my door; after a couple of minutes of trying to pry it out with a pair of needle nosed pliers, they decided to call the local locksmith. By this point it was 10:30 at night, I had been up for almost 24 hours and had yet to take a shower, I certainly didn’t look or feel ready to take on a pub crawl. However I still had to eagerly await the locksmith and that was torture in the cruelest sense.

Our group also felt the same and we decided to hang around the flat till late before everyone went back to their residences to get a well deserved sleep. I on the other hand continued to stand watch over my broken door like a guard at Buckingham Palace. Finally by 11:30 pm, the locksmith arrived and quickly set about trying to get the key dislodged. It turned out the only logical thing to do was to break the lock completely and remove the key that way. As the situation appeared to get bleaker and bleaker, I attempted to look on the bright side of an otherwise annoying and random event. First of all; I wasn’t locked out of the room, nor locked in, I could still get in or out. Second, the locksmith was pretty friendly and I attempted to pick up some Scottish slang from hearing him curse and try to describe to me why the lock “is all pear shaped”. At a quarter to twelve the lock was finally snapped and my key removed. As he had no exact replacement of the lock, he instead gave me a different lock with a special key before saying that he would “do his best to find a proper replacement for the dodgy one”. I thanked him for his help and finally for the first time since leaving home took well deserved shower and fell asleep; thankful that my door had been fixed and hopefully be the first and last of my problems; but it wasn’t.

Life Lesson II: The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

The next several days passed uneventfully. I went shopping in the “Wellgate” (a large mall to the east of campus on the High Street) in order to get some essentials, socialized at some of the local clubs and pubs in and around campus and bought tickets to see “The Jam”; one of my favorite bands. After a couple of days of doing this, the money I had converted at the airport was wearing thin and it was time to use the new Debit card I ordered from my local bank.

I was at first slightly worried that it might not go through as the bank that issued it only had branches in the mid-Hudson Valley and was not Federal. But noticing the MasterCard emblem and the fact there was a picture of a globe on the background gave me a slight confidence it would go through no problem. I tried to put the pin number in 3 times (thinking I had accidently typed it the wrong each time). On the 4th and last time, I struck out “Invalid Pin: Card Witheld By Bank” flashed the screen; and with that I heard the shredder within the machine swallow my only means of getting money. My heart dropped, my face paled and my knees buckled. Now I was in another country; far from home, with no bank account and only 80 Pound Stirling (roughly $160.00) in my pocket. This wasn’t as simple a problem to fix as my lock; this would require some real coordination between me and my parents.
I called home immediately after my card was swallowed; you can’t even begin to imagine how you have surreal the conversation was; “Hi mom! Oh yeah I’m fine, well actually the reason I’m calling is because my debit card got swallowed!” I was hoping that the “I’m doing well” would negate the latter part of the message, how naïve was I? We had planned for everything months in advance; we got the debit card thinking it could be used overseas and that would be my main means of getting money for travel and essential items, neither my parents nor I expected this to happen. What I got in response was “I’ll get your father”.

We worked on forming an ad-hoc “Plan B” for getting money until I could either set up a bank account with “Clydesdale Bank”; a bank located near the college that offers bank accounts for students at the University or have my parents sign for a new credit and debit card in my name and ship it to me. Luckily for me there was a Western Union station in a consignment shop not too far from campus where I could accept money orders from home. After finding out from Clydesdale that they would be unable to set up an account with me for another several weeks, I chose the latter route of Western Union money transfers; despite the fact they would charge an additional $50.00 for every order I put in. In the mean time, my parents helped set me up with a new debit card and credit card from home, and they would be sending them as soon as they arrived in the mail.

Once again, I re-assessed my situation. I was in a real bind this time; losing all of my money was one of my biggest fears before leaving the United States. Lucky for me I had two of the best parents in the world who I gave my personal information to ahead of time so they could establish a card and account for me. I also still had 80 pounds; 25 of which I spent on a printer so I could forgo paying a print quota at the library and write papers from the comfort of my room. Third; and most important in my mind, I had tickets to see one of my all time favorite rock bands! I had gone through another test of fire and came out unscathed; but I still wasn’t done.

Life Lesson III: Don’t Stop Believing

We’ve all been sick before. Living with several other people in a confined space has a way of spreading all sorts of nasty germs and diseases and we have all done the occasional phone call (or even travel) home where we can imagine ourselves in our warm beds with mom or dad making hot soup to make us feel better. But when living  in another country, you’re physically and mentally bombarded with emotions you never thought you had and “to be homesick” takes on a whole new meaning and relevance.

As my first week in Scotland drew to a close, I was feeling on top of my game. Not only had I survived the flight over, my lock being broken and my debit card getting eaten, I was making many new friends and was taking in the scenery of my new surroundings. Some of my flatmates; as well as Jen however, were going through various stages of getting sick. They all had the same basic symptoms one would expect; cough, sore throat, runny nose etc; but nothing out of the ordinary. I was almost too confident in my immune system as I interacted with my flatmates and Jen without keeping a distance. By Thursday the 10th of September however, I was feeling pretty sick. I was too sick to really get out of my flat and didn’t go out with my friends that night; thinking that rest and the Tylenol Severe Cold I had packed before leaving would do me good and by the weekend I would be much better.
Friday came and I was sicker than usual, worse still I was going out that night to see a punk concert with some of my friends. We got there at 8 pm; as the tickets said but the show didn’t start for another hour and a half. My flatmate Julie was also very ill and could only stay until the end of the first act. I thought of doing the same but I was determined to see the show through and enjoy every minute of it! For the rest of the night I forgot about being sick and head banged the rest of the evening away; it was my high point for the week.

My low point came the next day. I was achy, feverish, sore and tired. Worst of all, the medicine I brought from home wasn’t working and I was ready to give up. Instead I made the most of the situation and wrote in my journal and watched some British Television on “Youtube”. Sunday came and went as I was still sick and in a vain attempt to prove to myself I wasn’t too bad; cleaned my room and bathroom, but in the end I got worse and Monday would bring the first day of class. Most of the week to follow was a blur of head congestion and fatigue. Something had to be done.

Registering for a doctor (or “General Practitioner”) should be one of the first things you should do upon arrival in Dundee. There are several choices for you to pick and all are within distance of your flat. The “Fresher’s” page on the University of Dundee website has a list of Doctors (or “General Practitioner’s”) you can register for (http://www.dundee.ac.uk/freshers2009/living_in_dundee/gp_surgeries.htm).
Using the list, I went to Tay Court Surgery to register. The whole process took only 15 minutes and as long as you are a student with the university they will treat you the same as a citizen of the United Kingdom. Several days after registering I was almost out of medication and I wasn’t feeling any better. Assuming I had a sinus infection, I made an appointment with Tay Court.

Dealing with a Practitioner in the UK is slightly different than dealing with a US doctor. For instance there is a certain protocol that must be followed. When I called Thursday (September 17) to see a doctor; I had to give my contact information and had to wait for the nurse to contact me when she got through the previous calls. When she did call, I told her my symptoms after which she told me since they were “flu like”, I was to go through a special back entrance to the office so as to not contaminate other patients and practitioners and I was to arrive at 5:25. The outbreak of Swine Flu in the United Kingdom has caused General Practioners and hospitals to adopt this policy and it is common practice to have two separate entranceways. After arriving at the rear entrance, I was greeted by a nurse wearing full scrubs and a face mask; who pointed out which room to use. The room was a typical of one you would see at your neighborhood doctors, but as I was being treated as someone with Swine Flu, the room was covered in protective paper and I was given a mask. The doctor followed soon after and checked my throat and sinus area; giving me the “head punch” test to see if it hurt. Turns out I didn’t have Swine Flu but an a bad sinus infection; although the doctor was never convinced in the first place that I had Swine Flu at all. He jotted down a prescription for anti-biotic and told me to hurry as all the stores close at 6:00 pm. The whole checkup took 5 minutes and did not cost anything. The only thing I would pay for would be the medication which came out to 4 pounds (8 US dollars).

There are several pharmacies in Dundee, but the one most people go to is Boots, which is like a CVS or Walgreen’s. Whereas most pharmacists close before 5:30, Boots is open till 6 and I was able to get the prescription filled with no hassle. Boots also offers coupons and discounts on its items and is the cheapest to get medication.

I finally made it back to my flat, medication in hand and secluded myself for the next several days. That night I was able to talk to my parents for the first time since getting sick. The first week away from home was easy for me as I was so engrossed with my new surroundings and socializing, I even made the statement that “I could live here if I wanted”. Being sick made me realize at this point that I wished to be home in my bed surrounded by family; and the hulusitory nightmares and feverish symptoms did not help me settle into Scottish life any better. Hearing my mother’s voice over the phone made me miss home even more and there was nothing more I wanted (and I’m not afraid to admit this) was a hug from her. We talked for an hour about my day and what happened to me that week. We had communicated through e-mail once a day and talked on Skype or on the phone several times a week but this time was different. This time I really missed home.

It was at this point I realized how lucky I was to have made such good friends. All of my flat mates helped me in their own way to get me on the mend. Julie, Sydney and Lauren made dinner or did my grocery shopping and Jen checked me every day and fixed dinner as well. What void was missing from home still existed, but had shrunk because of the hard work and patience of my friends. I really couldn’t have been able to get through that week without them.

As of today (September 21), I am feeling much better and ready to continue with my courses. I also received my credit and debit cards today as well and am now financially prepared to travel and take care of unexpected problems. What I’ve learned in the first week and a half towers over anything I picked up in school. I asked in my application to Dundee that I wished to learn just as much about myself as I wanted to learn about the past. What did I learn exactly? First of all, I learned I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. I (with a little help) solved all of my problems and more importantly, solved them in a country I had never set foot on before. If I can do it in Scotland, I can certainly do it in the United States. Another lesson I learned: everything gets fixed, it’s just a matter of how. If you find yourself in a similar situation at home or abroad, remember to think positively and be patient. Being angry and frustrated solves nothing whereas a cool head and even temper will. Finally; and most importantly, never lose touch with home. An e-mail a day or a talking on Skype or the phone for a minimum of an hour with friends and family will help ease you into your new life abroad. Talking to someone from home will help add normality to your routine and home won’t seem so far away.
I learned a lot in my first week and a half abroad and I doubt that this will be the end of it. But as things are for the moment, I am planning a few trips, aspiring to meet my professor’s highest expectations and enjoying every day I wake up to a new day filled with endless possibilities.