A bit of a rant....

Soooo, in contrast to my previous posts of the good and the odd about DK I am now a bit peeved with this place. After a lovely trip to Paris (which I will post about soon with pics!) I got back to classes and reconnecting with friends in cph right away. The weekend was busy, maybe too busy because between Saturday afternoon and Sunday night a nasty cold set in.

Now, I rarely get sick (I attribute this to my veggie diet) but this cold is a doozy. Since nothing is open here on Sunday I suffered the night and hoped to get some cough medicine, decongestant or something on Monday. Monday was cold cold cold so instead of riding on my bike I decided to walk to the nearby Matas shop. Matas has everything from face wash to vitamins to hand cream so I thought I'd try there first. Well, they had nada, nothing of use. They said to go to the pharmacy.

SO, then I walk a few minutes more to the apotek (pharmacy), which was jam packed and said to heck with that, I would try another one down the road - another 10 min walk. So by the time I reach this apotek its been more than 30 min walking in the freezing cold, and its sprinkling, great! I get there, and its not like Rite-Aid or CVS or Walgreens. Its an actual pharmacy. You take a number and wait until its your turn. I browse the shelves in the meantime and find nothing of use.

Finally number 21 is blinking, and because I don't have super human reaction time they go to 22, ok fine. So after lady 22 is done I say excuse me, and show my number 21. The older lady says, she isn't good with English and sends me to her colleague. In my not-so-sexy (cold induced) -husky voice I ask what can I get over-the-counter for a cold? The guy says I can get paracetamol (basically like aspirin) and nasal spray. That's it. So I ask what about something with psuedophedrin or something to help me sleep? He says sorry anything more requires a precription.

GREAT! So, I buy the stuff, what the heck. And since I am far from home now, I decided to walk home a route that takes me past my doctor's office. I walk in at 12:30 and they say come back and you can see the doctor at 2:25pm. Ok, well, now we are talking. Perhaps this Danish system will be redeemed! Right?

Wrong. I go back at 2:25 sharp, and the doctor says when I walk in her office, have you taken your temperature? I said no, I don't have a thermometer. I tell her I may have a temp and the problem is with my nose and throat.... Then she starts listening to my lungs and does NOT check my temperature. She writes me a prescription for something, I don't know what it is, and sends me on my way. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since when I went there for my annual gynocological exam it felt like I was like getting an oil change done, not much bed-side manner.

SO, back to the apotek, this time to a less crowded one. Turns out I don't have the right insurance to get the medicine cheap, oh well, so throw down more money, and what do I get for it? Nasal spray! Nasal spray? Sheesh I could have bought that anyway without a prescription. I guess the one WITH prescription is stronger maybe because its $20 more, more than twice the price of the other one. As Charlie Brown would say, Good Grief!

I finally get home after 3:30pm, exhausted, sick, $40 poorer, and without what I initially intended to get, which was something to help clear my nose and help me sleep. Overall, an unsuccessful day, not to mention I missed all my classes. Fortunately, I had no class today and am feeling better health wise but not better about the Danish health system!