My brain's desire not to go somewhere it does not want to that is...
4 days before my trip to Korea I got a bad fever which reached 39.9 degrees couple of days before the trip. The doctor diagnosed me with pneumonia and I had to cancel my flight. It's been more than 3 weeks now and I am still recovering.
Interesting that before the trip I was so upset that I was being forced to go to a conference that I did not want to visit, I was talking about faking to be sick and missing my flight. It seems somewhere in my brain, some neurons took this suggestion too seriously and allowed my body to be overrun by lung-loving microbes.
When I called the agency to cancel my flight the agent warned me that the university would not cover the cancellation fees. I did not take her seriously at the time, I thought "when they see the diagnosis that I have pneumonia, surely they would be grateful that I canceled the ticket and reduced their costs." Well Agent = 1 - Me = 0. When my supervisor sent an email to the accounting about how to proceed with the cancellation payments. The response was that the university does not cover cancellation fees. When my supervisor explained that I was seriously sick, the response was ??? (in japanese that is!) Everywhere I went I was reminded that people in Japan do not have sick leave, and it is my fault for getting sick not the university's. Even when I asked the doctor to give me a letter explaining that I have to be absent from work, he could not understand what I was asking for!
In the end I did not go to the Korean conference but it cost me weeks of no achievements and 180 euros. Oh, and 3 X-rays and a CT! I might mutate into a super-hero anytime now, I just need a US citizenship.
