Chinese whispers

'Tis the season for sneezes, sniffles and infectious diseases. As I get older, I seem to become ill more easily. I've definitely had to take more sick days over the last 18 months than I ever did in the first 25 years of my life. Having never taken a painkiller at all until I was 25, I've certainly made up for it since.

My resident symptoms are usually a sore throat, after which the inflammation seemingly spreads to my ear canals before camping out there for a few days, sometimes accompanied by a banked campfire of mild fever. However, the main point of this post is not to complain and try to garner sympathy, but rather to muse on the relationship between vocal chords, languages, and throat infections.

Why? When my recurring throat infection reappears for an encore, enlisting nose blocking-mucous for extra effect, I find my voice becomes a little harsher and it's harder to speak more loudly. Interestingly, this is more of a problem when speaking Cantonese than when speaking English, whilst my Mandarin just becomes rather more nasal. When speaking Cantonese, I find it more of an effort to enunciate clearly and tend to whisper. English is less difficult, maybe it's because it is a less tonal-dependent language and so having a blocked nose is less of an impediment? Perhaps it's due to the different phonation of the languages, and how the vocal chords are able to oscillate whilst inflammed? Strangely though, I find Cantonese softer on the ears and requiring less concentration to understand when my ears are affected. This is rather inconvenient, as it means that it's easier for me to speak English, but less difficult to understand Cantonese. Maybe there is a non-tonal language that doesn't have many harsh tones and simple grammar that I could learn? Of course that would involve gaining a new social circle with whom I could use it.

A more practical solution would be to carry a writing pad and stylus with me at all times.


Photo credit: Taken from www.nottingham.ac.uk Microbiology departmental webpage

They're after your blood

It's true. They are. They're quite up-front about it as well, and ask for your blood without any qualms.

But it's alright, because 'they' are actually the National Blood Service, the blood-bank from which the NHS and private hospitals in the UK are supplied. I've never thought about it, but there must be fewer volunteers to donate blood at this time of year, when so many people are on holiday or occupied with looking after the kids whilst school is out. In addition, people who go on vacation in places where there's a risk of malaria, sleeping sickness, or other blood-borne diseases, are automatically excluded from the pool (or blood-bath?) of potential donors for a period of time. If you've visited the US of A or Canada, you're asked not to give blood until at least a month after you've returned to this side of the Atlantic. It's good to know how careful they are about blood collection, but that means they're a bit short right now.

That they're a bit desperate is evident as I've had two letters, one e-mail and a sms message asking me to book an appointment (I'm a regular, so they have my details on database). The only reason I hadn't was because I couldn't get through on the hotline! I have now, so I have an appointment with a needle, a pressure cuff, and an empty bag next week (shiver).

One of my friend's sisters had an operation, a kidney transplant, last month, and she needed blood transfusions for that. I wonder if what I give will be enough to 'cover' that? Probably not.

It's not so bad giving blood really, though I still get a bit nervous about it. But, being a student, the free biscuits and drinks you get after (not to mention a stunning, highly fashionable, sticker to decorate your t-shirt and engineer sympathy) are enough of a lure. Like my friend says, I'm a cheap date ;P But if that's not enough of a lure, surely the fact that you're helping to save lives is?