There are many things that come with the first days of spring. More sun and less snow. Heavy clothes being lifted from your shoulders and being replaced by lighter ones. Flowers. Singing birds. Yes, the first days of spring can be a particularly beautiful time, all due to the weather. But mind exactly that weather. One day, you may feel like winter is finally over and the next you are reminded that you still live in the Netherlands and wind can be very cold. I got sick because of exactly that constant change between the first warm days and the last cold.

Nobody likes being sick, but I really despise it. Not being able to breath properly through the nose. Almost suffocating multiple times a night because of constant coughing. And severe headaches that prevent me from listening to my sixteen-hour-dose of music a day. And yet, this time I was quite lucky. Because I was by coincidence at my parents’ place when the flu really kicked off, my mom provided medicine, clean sheets and a frequent supply of fruit plates and liquids. Being sick therefore generally sucks, but being sick while at home does not suck as much. Sorry, Nijmegen, I really do love you, but my mom peeled a pineapple for me, so Germany clearly wins.

But even freshly cut pineapples cannot take away the fact that I got really bored, because everything besides napping was too exhausting. During times of sickness, listening to music can become a huge problem. At least for me, because I like my music loud, through my in-ear-headphones and with some movement. But worry no more, if you suffer the same problems. Because I cherished some wisdom about the issue and I am willing to share it with you.

So what did I learn? One: Oasis is the perfect music to listen to while being sick. It’s exciting, but not too exciting. Additionally, the songs are quite long and sometimes repetitive – perfect to comprehend for a tired brain. Two: if you use in-ear-headphones, do not listen too long and turn the volume down. Believe me, I learned this the hard way. And three: even though you really have the urge to dance – don’t. Not even a little. It’s a bad idea. You will take a five hour nap. To summarise: take it slow, even though you’d rather listen to loud, crazy music and dance like a maniac. Sometimes that’s not what you need, sometime’s all you need is a little Oasis to get better.

Every two weeks, Antonia will add the songs she writes about to the Spotify playlist below. This way, she creates a soundtrack to her time in Nijmegen. Click left and right for more songs.

Read Antonia Leise's blogs here