Super-drugs!

Working in such a large school with so many children around, it’s no surprise that germs spread like wild fire.  Add to this the fact that Vietnamese adults also seem incapable of covering their mouths when they cough or sneeze and it’s little wonder that the teachers are constantly battling bugs.  Between the kids in the class with their 10 dinky digits thrust up their nostrils at every opportune moment (usually just before they try to hold you hand) and parents waiting outside in the corridors, you’d need a force field to fend off all the little nasties (germs that is, not children!)

 

Having suffered from a fair few bouts of the common cold upon my arrival here in November, my body seems to have accepted and dare I say it embraced the change in climate; high levels of polluted, humid air and basic hygiene standards that the city throws at you.  Between the street food and young learners my immune system should be impenetrable now: I’m convinced when I return to the UK I’ll be invincible!

 

Or so I thought… until last week.  The first sign came when a couple of my colleagues sat at their desks armed with enough tablets and potions to turn Merlin himself green with envy.  When this happens, you can be fairly sure the air conditioning (inadequate as it is at times) will work well enough to evenly distribute these germs all around the staff room.  And yes, there we have it – you have a small epidemic on your hands: literally!  If you happen to escape the germs, you’ll probably be asked to cover lessons for teachers who have called in sick, which then leads to exhaustion and subsequent sick days for yourself: it’s a catch 22.  Anyway, I digress: a sleepless night later, having woken up on the hour every hour and being seemingly incapable of inhaling through my nostrils, it was going to be a very long weekend.

 

Getting back to the title of this post; I’m not referring to the well known British health and beauty retailer, but the powerful substances available over the counter in all of ‘Nam’s chemists.  And so it was to be a shorter weekend than I had first thought.  After going to two different chemists (whose staff spoke adequate English), I walk away with some super strength stuff – which I first ‘Google’ before swallowing!

 

Not content with my own research skills, I hand the packet to a colleague in work the next day.  As far as prescription (and trippy) ‘medicines’ go, he knows more than most and is seen as something of a walking medical dictionary.  He confirms they’re safe to take and informs me I can also double up the dose or pick ’n’ mix with some other tablets a friend has kindly donated.  What the hell, it’s a weekend, I’m teaching for 8 hours today alone – let’s try a cocktail of them!  Teamed with a strong frappuccino, large mars bar for a hit of glucose and my herbal nasal inhaler the rest of the weekend flew by!

 

So what other delights can you buy over the counter here, I hear you ask.  The short answer – anything you have the nerve to ask for.  Valium is a common one: given out on an ‘ask no questions and I’ll tell you no lies’ basis.  They want your money after all, not your life story.

 

A xx