Sunday, July 17, 2005
Hey guys.
Sorry I've neglected my blog for what seems to be a very long time. It's just that, I don't really have much to report on.
Life is currently: studying for MCAT, bitching about MCAT, researching for Grad + Med school info, studying for Organic Chem, write lab reports, putting report together with Research Advisor, meet Research Advisor, volunteering at the ER, going to Petition meetings, going to CSA Board Meeting, meetings with Dr. Graham for the Symposium, organizing o-week event for Bio-Med majors, nagging Alan for violin practice, taking Alan to violin lessons....
I feel really bad saying no to all sorts of social events, "Sorry James no photos, sorry Bao you can't come over, sorry Pete can't go to Wonderland, sorry Jack no Anime marathon, sorry Jelena can't go to Riverside Park for Canada Day fireworks, sorry Jen can't go Salsa dancing, sorry Tiff I can't go to the Ranch, sorry Brad no drinks tonight, sorry Mom can't go to the beach, sorry sorry sorry…".
And it's going to stay that way at least til the end of Aug 20th.
By now you are probably wondering if I'm in anyway sane or if you need to put on spandex and a cape to save me from my academic hell.
But good news folks, I don't need saving!
I see this summer as training…training for my life as a doctor. I figured that, if I can’t even make it through this semester, how am I going to survive med school? How am I going to survive the emotional stress and the unpredictability working in health care?
In a weird way, I'm actually enjoying taking courses in the summer. The library is never crowded, there are no line ups for anything, I come and go as I please.
Of course, there are bad moments. I consume WAY more coffee than I did in a whole year. I finally managed to fill one of those coffee cards offered by Hospitality. I get pissed off when I fail my MCAT practice tests, because I know I wasn't focusing. But then I tell myself that I got a few of the tricky hard question right, that I just need to keep on working on it...
I know I'm at least two weeks behind in my MCAT prep, but I don't want to sacrifice sleep. I often envy those who are being spoon fed the material in the Princeton Review Prep course. But I remind myself that they are paying $1500 for it and that if I really want to be a doc, I should have the motivation to tackle the entrance exam on my own. Unfortunately, I'm a very slow learner, and it takes me FOREVER to grasp concepts. I wish I have Christa's brilliance so I wouldn’t have to live in the library, I wish I'm as knowledgeable as James in History and Politics so I can come up with amazing essays on my MCAT, I wish I can have Elizabeth's neat handwriting so the MCAT marker wouldn't dock marks for my chicken-scratches...
Although I may not have the best grades or the most brains, I do know what it means to work hard, and what it means to make sacrafices in order to obtain my goals. I know I can still make it if I keep on working at it.
So I just want to thank everyone for putting up with my bitching and complaining about my semester. I really appreciate all you guys being there for me. Please don't take it personally if I keep on saying no to hanging out and social events.
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Sorry I've neglected my blog for what seems to be a very long time. It's just that, I don't really have much to report on.
Life is currently: studying for MCAT, bitching about MCAT, researching for Grad + Med school info, studying for Organic Chem, write lab reports, putting report together with Research Advisor, meet Research Advisor, volunteering at the ER, going to Petition meetings, going to CSA Board Meeting, meetings with Dr. Graham for the Symposium, organizing o-week event for Bio-Med majors, nagging Alan for violin practice, taking Alan to violin lessons....
I feel really bad saying no to all sorts of social events, "Sorry James no photos, sorry Bao you can't come over, sorry Pete can't go to Wonderland, sorry Jack no Anime marathon, sorry Jelena can't go to Riverside Park for Canada Day fireworks, sorry Jen can't go Salsa dancing, sorry Tiff I can't go to the Ranch, sorry Brad no drinks tonight, sorry Mom can't go to the beach, sorry sorry sorry…".
And it's going to stay that way at least til the end of Aug 20th.
By now you are probably wondering if I'm in anyway sane or if you need to put on spandex and a cape to save me from my academic hell.
But good news folks, I don't need saving!
I see this summer as training…training for my life as a doctor. I figured that, if I can’t even make it through this semester, how am I going to survive med school? How am I going to survive the emotional stress and the unpredictability working in health care?
In a weird way, I'm actually enjoying taking courses in the summer. The library is never crowded, there are no line ups for anything, I come and go as I please.
Of course, there are bad moments. I consume WAY more coffee than I did in a whole year. I finally managed to fill one of those coffee cards offered by Hospitality. I get pissed off when I fail my MCAT practice tests, because I know I wasn't focusing. But then I tell myself that I got a few of the tricky hard question right, that I just need to keep on working on it...
I know I'm at least two weeks behind in my MCAT prep, but I don't want to sacrifice sleep. I often envy those who are being spoon fed the material in the Princeton Review Prep course. But I remind myself that they are paying $1500 for it and that if I really want to be a doc, I should have the motivation to tackle the entrance exam on my own. Unfortunately, I'm a very slow learner, and it takes me FOREVER to grasp concepts. I wish I have Christa's brilliance so I wouldn’t have to live in the library, I wish I'm as knowledgeable as James in History and Politics so I can come up with amazing essays on my MCAT, I wish I can have Elizabeth's neat handwriting so the MCAT marker wouldn't dock marks for my chicken-scratches...
Although I may not have the best grades or the most brains, I do know what it means to work hard, and what it means to make sacrafices in order to obtain my goals. I know I can still make it if I keep on working at it.
So I just want to thank everyone for putting up with my bitching and complaining about my semester. I really appreciate all you guys being there for me. Please don't take it personally if I keep on saying no to hanging out and social events.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Expect the unexpected...twice.
Okay, so I got up this morning and went to water my garden, or rather, the garden my folks left in my care (along with the house and the car, I'm not complaining). Just as I was about to open the patio door, I heard a noise. I thought that a neighbour was about to start his lawnmower because it's a buzzing sound. Then I realized that the source of this sound is coming from inside my house. It's the flapping of wings...something is trapped in my fireplace.
A small brown bird (about the size of a small noisy miner bird), is staring at me from inside the dark, dusty fireplace. It's relatively calm (or exhausted, which ever). My first thought was..."em...what do I do? If Christa were here, what would she do?" I remembered the guy in the pet store getting her zebra finch by trying to catch it inside the bird cage. I tried just that, except the bird managed to slip by my hand and got out into the house.
Oh crap the windows.
I forgot how many windows this house had but it was a hell of a lot (skylights too). The bird flew to my kitchen window, flapped around, then to my dinning room. I tried to open all the doors in hopes that it would just fly out. But I didn't make it to the patio door in time and all I heard was a "smack" and caught a glimpse a bird droping onto the floor.
Not good.
It's not moving, its head is at a weird angle. But it's still alive and very much stunned.
I picked the poor thing up, took it outside, placed it on the grass and left it there hoping it would come around.
It did.
In about five minutes it was on its claws, with its head in upright position (the neck is not broken, *sigh of relief*).
After about twenty minutes, the bird is still there where I left it. I'm sure the bird is aware of its environment since it's responding to the calls of other birds, but it's not flying. I wondered its wings are damaged somehow, so I wondered over.
It flew. Okay, so I guess it's alright.
That was quite an interesting morning, I thought.
Two hours later, I went around the house watering my indoor plants, and heard the noise again.
AGAIN?
I was hoping that it wasn't the same bird, because no bird should be stupid enough to fall down a chimney twice the same day. When I peered into the fireplace, I could hear the wings flapping but I couldn't see a bird. This one is obviously freaking out and was still trying desparately to fly back up the chimney. After a while, I heard it come down. *looks inside* What's funny is that it's certainly the same type of bird, not sure if it's the same one.
Again, I tried to catch it, but with no prevail. The bird got out into my house and immediately flew up to the skylights. I opened all the doors then chased the bird away from the skylights with a broom. This one is very much freaking out, its movements are sporadic, its beak is wide open in defence mode. After a few more rounds banging into windows in my house, it finally got out the front door.
Let's hope there will be no more birds trapped in my fireplace today.
|
A small brown bird (about the size of a small noisy miner bird), is staring at me from inside the dark, dusty fireplace. It's relatively calm (or exhausted, which ever). My first thought was..."em...what do I do? If Christa were here, what would she do?" I remembered the guy in the pet store getting her zebra finch by trying to catch it inside the bird cage. I tried just that, except the bird managed to slip by my hand and got out into the house.
Oh crap the windows.
I forgot how many windows this house had but it was a hell of a lot (skylights too). The bird flew to my kitchen window, flapped around, then to my dinning room. I tried to open all the doors in hopes that it would just fly out. But I didn't make it to the patio door in time and all I heard was a "smack" and caught a glimpse a bird droping onto the floor.
Not good.
It's not moving, its head is at a weird angle. But it's still alive and very much stunned.
I picked the poor thing up, took it outside, placed it on the grass and left it there hoping it would come around.
It did.
In about five minutes it was on its claws, with its head in upright position (the neck is not broken, *sigh of relief*).
After about twenty minutes, the bird is still there where I left it. I'm sure the bird is aware of its environment since it's responding to the calls of other birds, but it's not flying. I wondered its wings are damaged somehow, so I wondered over.
It flew. Okay, so I guess it's alright.
That was quite an interesting morning, I thought.
Two hours later, I went around the house watering my indoor plants, and heard the noise again.
AGAIN?
I was hoping that it wasn't the same bird, because no bird should be stupid enough to fall down a chimney twice the same day. When I peered into the fireplace, I could hear the wings flapping but I couldn't see a bird. This one is obviously freaking out and was still trying desparately to fly back up the chimney. After a while, I heard it come down. *looks inside* What's funny is that it's certainly the same type of bird, not sure if it's the same one.
Again, I tried to catch it, but with no prevail. The bird got out into my house and immediately flew up to the skylights. I opened all the doors then chased the bird away from the skylights with a broom. This one is very much freaking out, its movements are sporadic, its beak is wide open in defence mode. After a few more rounds banging into windows in my house, it finally got out the front door.
Let's hope there will be no more birds trapped in my fireplace today.
