This week, it was time again for the meeting of my favorite customer that takes place twice a year. Four days of intense discussions, interesting talks, and also fun, not just for the participating managers, but usually also for us interpreters.

Only this time, both my colleague and I started out with sore throats that over the course of the assignment variously developed into sniffles, stuffy noses, headaches, and coughs. Not exactly debilitating, but enough to shorten the times of trade-offs, because concentrating was just a little harder than usual, and exhaustion at the end of each day. We also got really good at synchronized coughing…

The good thing was that we were not in a booth but a separate room with much more space (and air) where we could open a window – and turn part of the table into a miniature pharmacy with cough drops, cough syrup, tea, and the secret weapon for sore throats of singers and interpreters across Germany: GeloRevoice ® (not affiliated in any way).

We made it through without mishaps, the customer was happy, and the people relying on our interpretation were grateful. As one of them put it during the final feedback, „Thanks to the girls in my ear!“ As you can see in the picture, that in turn made us very happy.

Of course, we did have backup just in case. I also would never just show up to an assignment like that without talking to my colleagues first and getting their opinion. But since both of us felt the same, we knew what the conditions there would be like, and we had worked together the day before, too, we agreed to go ahead as planned.

So overall it was another successful assignment, and now we can hopefully both enjoy the weekend and recover.