My Birthday

I’m not a big birthday person.  Most years, I don’t even tell people about it…and it doesn’t help that I turned 28 either.  This year, I decided that I wanted to do something low key and try the fish ‘n chips place close to campus on Hawken Drive, A Salt and Battery.  What a clever name, right? 

So on Friday afternoon, an email was sent out, and it was on…and then came Monday morning…I walked into PBL, and everyone knew it was my birthday via FB.  Ann-Marie bought me a cake, and Jade got me some baking supplies (whoopee! Thanks so much guys!).  Everyone sang to me (majorly embarrassing), but it was really cool.  The chocolate cake was YUMMY too! 

Skip on ahead to the actual dinner—there were 13 of us, and it was SO much fun!  I hadn’t had such an awesome birthday in a really long time.  We had the banquet at A Salt and Battery, and that consisted of chips, calamari, salad, and fish.  You all know how much I love fried food, and even all the cardiovascular lectures couldn’t keep me from digging away at the food.  I have to say that I’ve had better fish, but the chips and calamari were pretty good.  

As we were waiting for our food, Jeff, Darren, and Amy arrived…of course, Amy was carrying this MASSIVE blow up kangaroo that Kat had gotten for me.  It was HILARIOUS!  Seriously, Kev is sitting in the corner of my living room right now, and every time I walk in, I’m still shocked by its presence.  Kev was situated on a table behind ours during dinner, and a family even had to cross the street to take a look at the life-like kangaroo. 

 

After we polished off most of the food, we were all just sitting around having a good time, when all of a sudden, Jeff brought over this amazing chocolate mud cake!  Everyone sang again, and I was at a loss for words.  I didn’t even see Jeff carry in the cake!  But it was amazing and awesome.  So chocolatey!  Hmm…as always before blowing out the candles, I’m supposed to make a wish, right?  Most years, I do, but this year, I couldn’t really think of anything.  I’m completely satisfied with my life, and I’m happy.  I couldn’t ask for a better life.  I just hope that everyone stays safe and healthy.  

Such great memories from that night…and such a great birthday surrounded by friends.  And then of course, there is the online contingent of FB friends and family who all left their well wishes. I miss you all so much!!   Thanks to all for such a wonderful 28^th birthday (though I thank all who say I look a lot younger)! 

Side note:  Two of the first and good friends that I met here in Australia were both accepted into the same Canadian med school this past weekend.  A huge congratulations to the both of them (Kat and Jeff)—you both deserve it!  But you will be missed a lot!  

2.5 weeks until mid-year exams...3 weeks until my parents come...can't wait! 

Happy May!

It's already the second day of May already.  Wow!  Time really does fly.  I love the month of May--spring (or autumn here) is in full bloom, and the weather is just perfect. 

I know that it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted anything, so let me update you on my comings and goings.  Let's see.  This weekend is another long weekend in Australia!  Tomorrow is their Labour Day, so I have an off-day from school.  Yippee!  I love being able to sleep-in for another day of the week.  However, the weekend is a bit dampened by the impending due date of my ethics essay due a week from tomorrow.  I finally have a topic I am happy with, but the writing part has yet to happen.  I started last night and am very slowly progressing through it.  My goal is to finish most of this by this weekend so that during the week, I can revise and do my references section.  Wish me luck! 

Last weekend was another long weekend here in Australia--Anzac Day.  Basically, it's Australia's Memorial and Veterans' Days combined.  I spent last weekend trying to learn about the respiratory system and V/Q ratios.  Not exactly fun, but it's important stuff.  Also, last Friday night was Kat's bday BBQ.  It was really fun, and it's amazing how many people I met from the first year med class.  There are so many of us that I just keep seeing new faces and meeting new people.  But yea, Kat's party was a blast--the most fun I've had in a while!  Then on Sunday, Jeff, Darren, and I watched The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo.  Pretty good movie, though I prefer the book.  Can't wait until my sister lends me the other two books of the trilogy! 

It is here that I must digress a bit and mention my walk to the UQ campus last Sunday.  Usually, when I head to school, I always take the bus, but since it was a holiday weekend, I decided to walk and find out exactly what my route would be.  I didn't get lost (whoo!), and it was during this walk that I finalized my ethics essay topic and knew exactly what I was going to argue.  I love runs and walks! 

This past week, I also got my exam results back.  I did all right--most importantly, I passed.  =)  I did better than I expected, but there's still lots of room for improvement.  But I'm happy since I have had no exposure to any of this anatomy and physiology stuff before.  Not only that, but the last time I actually was in school was 4 years ago...so yea.  And now it's time to start major studying for June exams.  Those will definitely be a lot tougher! 

Coming back to this weekend now, on Friday, I went to watch Iron Man 2 with a whole bunch of classmates.  I didn't really want to watch it as I wasn't a huge fan of the first Iron Man, but I gave in...it turned out to be rather good, this second movie--much better than the first! Yesterday morning, I met up with my mentor assigned to me by the Australian Medical Association.  Dr. Solley is an allergist, and he's really nice!  Hopefully I can shadow him during clinic some time. 

Last bit of news--this week, I found out that I will not be able to complete my elective in the UK. Boohoo.  The school decided two months after the fact that the Ochsner cohort will not be allowed to go abroad and must stay in Australia for our elective.  LAME.  I am particularly upset with this as I have spent a lot of time and effort setting up housing and also looking for doctors/hospitals willing to take me on.  I have friends who have had their electives approved already; some have even paid a deposit to secure their spot!  But what's new?  This whole UQ/Ochsner set-up is not really well organized, and you can never trust what they tell you.  I can deal with all the day to day stuff of attending classes and pracs, going to PBLs, and even taking exams.  I can deal with spending a lot of time reading textbooks and learning things on my own.  However, I'm really fed up with the UQ/Ochsner administrative crap.  We're paying $20K more than all of the other foreign students here--for what, we're not really sure since the SOM can't give us a clear, straight answer.  We were told that we could do our first year elective anywhere since we cannot for our 4th year elective and also must come back Australia for a 4th year rotation.  But two months after everyone's started looking or have confirmed spots, guess what?  They tell us that we're not allowed to go overseas.  It's a whole bunch of BS.  I treasure this opportunity to be able to study medicine in Australia.  I really do.  But UQ/Ochsner really needs to get their act together. 

So yes, after my ranting and raving, I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend and a wonderful week ahead!  6 weeks and counting before I get a two week holiday!! 

Post-Exam Weekend

So, I finally had my first written exam on Friday afternoon.  All I'll say is that it was a fair exam with nothing too ridiculous on it.  Most definitely not the most difficult exam I've ever taken, so yea.  And boy, am I glad it's over! 

Over Easter break, my schedule consisted of waking up daily at around 7-8am, studying, and taking a nap, more studying, and then going to bed at night.  Of course, I ate in between and did some random stuff, but for the most part, it was a pretty strict and regimented study schedule.  Then last week, before the exam, it was more reviewing and then memorizing all the details.  But it's over, and I've been sleeping a LOT this weekend! 

I have a lot to catch you guys up on--let's see. 

1. My parents are coming in June to visit me during my break!  They've booked their flights already, and I'm in the process of planning our itinerary when they get here.  So far, I've booked tickets to Sydney and Melbourne, so we get to travel around Australia!  SO excited!  In the beginning, I was more excited to go to Sydney, but now, I think I'm more looking forward to Melbourne because it's the food capital of Australia!  The Queen Victoria Market looks amazing, and I plan on spending at least 1/2 a day there gorging on ridiculous amounts of good food! Can't wait to see my parents!

2. I've finally started looking for doctors in the UK.  If any of you know any, please let me know.  I found one doctor at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (I've always wanted to work there), but she doesn't do enough clinical work for me to follow her.  However, she did forward my enquiry to an administrator who deals with students, and he has said that the HTD would love to have me except he needs to check with the management team of doctors before he can promise anything.  At least it's a start, right? 

3. Ethics Essay - I have an ethics essay due in 3 weeks.  Haven't started freaking out yet, but I'm sure that will descend upon me soon.  I'm not so much worried about writing the essay as I am doing the research.  I've always found it hard to find good sources and then extracting the information that I need from them.  But it'll get done. 

4. I've been cooking a lot more.  On the weekends, I usually make something for the rest of the week.  Today, I will be making a vegetable curry!  Yummy!  I always find it fun and stress-relieving to cook, and you'll always find me doing it more during exam times.

5. Thanks to the yarn from Ampy, I have made a koozie for my new water bottle.  I've also started making a crochet hooks holder.  So much fun! 

6. Teamwork in Action - We have this assignment where we have to work with first year students from all the other allied health fields.  Basically, it entails us to pick a charity and then either do a fundraiser or somehow help the charity out.  My TIA group has pretty much been MIA since we met for the first time a while back.  But finally, we had an in-person meeting on Friday after my exam, and we're getting somewhere.  We're thinking of doing a sausage sizzle to raise money...we've picked a foundation, but we still need to get approval first before planning everything else can be underway.  This should be fun!

That's about it, I think.  Back to studying now for A&P, and then it's off to Sunny Bank for dim sum with some friends this afternoon!  It'll be interesting to see how good the food will be...will keep you guys updated!  Hope you guys have a great weekend!