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Hello!
It has been a shamefully long amount of time since I last posted. I think it's about time I do a proper update, including what I got up to in New York.
DAY 1- lots of traveling. Very boring to talk about but I was sustained by my excitement.
DAY 2- went to the UN. Had amazing UN coffee and saw my cousin interpreting at a conference. It was so cool! There were different booths ( a chinese one, a russian one, a french one, a spanish one, an english one and an arabic one) for the interpreters at the back of the conference hall. They worked in pairs, taking turns every half an hour and worked through a weird radio/intercom-type thing. After that I did lots of walking around, which is what you do when in NY. Went down 5th avenue and went into extremely expensive stores and bought nothing. Had a hot dog for lunch. Mm mm. Realised how small Manhattan is when I walked across it without realising. Saw Times Square and was disappointed. It seemed so much bigger and amazing when I was young. Went to the MOMA, very good!
Beyond that I can't really remember what I did on each day. I did some shopping but then decided that this was a decidedly stupid way to spend my limited time and gave up on finding anything cool to bring back. I went down to Greenwich Village, where I used to live and it was so strange. I walked around SOHO and had an absolutely delicious Bangkok curry from the local Thai restaurant I used to frequent. It was so nice. The waiter flirted with me and I felt like such a little girl pretending to be grown up and sophisticated. I went to what used to be our local supermarket and bought nostalgic food. I walked around lots of libraries and went to restaurants on my own. People asked me for directions all the time. I guess I still look like a local. I had Ben & Jerry's ice cream every day, amazing sushi, Shanghai Joe's soup dumplings, Veniero's cheesecake, H&H Bagels, the best pizza on earth and the Soup Nazi's crab bisque (for those of you who watched Seinfeld). I did the touristy Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty Ferry thing and it was very rubbish. I recommend the Staten Island ferry which is free, has no queues and gives you the same views. I went to Ground Zero and had a bit of a cry. It was just a massive hole in the ground and I still remember when I used to go up to the twin towers with my mum. Mostly I just walked around, though.
I saw my friend Devorah and it was so ridiculously emotional. We ran into each others arms when we first met up. It was so odd. It had felt like such a one-sided friendship when we were separated. I didn't really know what our friendship was anymore. It was such a strange feeling to go back to a relationship from such a long time ago and to know that you've been a presence in someones life while you were away. She had a picture of me in her room, which hadn't moved from it's place in five years. We went to the Bodies exhibition with those preserved cadavers and it turned out to be a bit of a medical student hangout. It was pretty cool. I saw her and her beautiful baby at the airport and we said goodbye. We didn't have enough time but it was a good start of something, or maybe an end. I don't know yet. It was such a strange goodbye at the departure gate. I was absolutely surrounded by orthodox Jewish families who seemed to be making a communal pilgrimage to or from New York. It made me laugh!
Since getting back I haven't really done much of anything apart from what seems like an endless revision. It's unbearable and I can't wait until my exams are over in two weeks. All of my flatmates have coupled up and I have resumed my beginning of the year crush on Matt (Dunne for those who want to do some facebook stalking). I am a true fool. Who turns a guy down when he asks her on a date and subsequently has a crush on him for over six months? It's ridiculous! There has to be something wrong with me. I blame my parents!
Speaking of parents, my dad has a central retinal vein occlusion (a thrombus, to you and me) and lost half of the vision in his left eye. This has scared the shit out of me, because they don't know why it happened and it could easily happen again until they do know. Your parents becoming ill has to be one of the scarier things that can happen.
Anyways, it was nice to write to you again, lj. I hope I have a chance to do it more often.
Bye
P.S. When are people meeting up/going back home? I finish exams on the 31st and go home a month after that.
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I'm in New York! I'm so happy. I forgot how nice everyone was here. I spoke to a guy on the plane and that was fun. Strangers are so open with you here. Within about five minutes of me meeting him he was telling me about his wife and how he wanted children but she didn't, his job, what he did at university, etc. Another guy helped me to find my way into Manhattan from the airport (thank goodness!), but he was less talkative. Public transport is so damn cheap here. It cost me $7 for an hour and a half of subway travel. I found a nice Viennese deli close by and the man there was also really friendly. I think Americans respond well to a bit of an English accent.
Last night I spoke to my friend Devorah for an hour and a half. This was the first time we've heard eachother's voices in five years. It was so strange. She told me I sounded very different, very English. She told me about our old friends from school, her baby, her marriage and her degree. I told her about England, the friends I'd made (you!) and my degree. We're meeting up at some point this week and I can't wait!
The cousin I'm staying with is really nice. She's taking me on an insider's tour of the chambers in the UN headquarters today! It meant I had to get up early and ignore some degree of jetlag, but I don't mind. I don't really know what I'm doing today but it doesn't really matter. This might just be a random walking around day for me. New York is good for that.
Hope you're all well and have lots of fun at Edgar's on Thursday!
Bye
xxx
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Hello everyone!
Just wanted to say bye before I go to New york. I've had a ridiculously stressful day, which has ended in me not doing enough work and also not being completely sure whether they're going to let me get on my plane tomorrow. I guess I'll find out when I'm at the airport! I think it's probably just my brain not quite being able to accept the fact that I'm actually going, after 5 years of thinking about it!
I got the cutest little purple jumper with polka dots for my friend's baby. Baby clothes are just so sweet! I'm so excited. We're meeting on Tuesday.
Hmm...this is a pretty silly post. I think I'm going to go finish packing now.
Buh bye xxx
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Stupid fecking essay! I'm so bored of it! Aaaaargh!
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I'm so excited! 23 days until I go to New York. I have a place to stay now, which is exciting. I'm staying with my cousin once removed who works as an interpreter for the UN. I might actually die of excitement before I get to New York. I'm boring my flatmates to tears about it. I almost feel sorry enough for them to stop. Almost.
It's my birthday in less than two weeks and for some reason my birthdays have become excititing again. I'm a bit sad because two of my friends are celebrating their birthday on my birthday. They both want to go out clubbing and I'd probably prefer to do something else.
I have essays to write and the summer exams are starting to scare me. Tomorrow I have a mock exam on every module I've taken this year and it's going to be depressing to realise how much I've forgotten. Two more weeks and my term will be over.
I had two cups of coffee at around eleven, which was probably a mistake. I purchased an epilator a few weeks ago and have spent a shameful amount of time looking for stray hairs. It's not healthy. I should probably stop writing now and try to sleep.
Miss you all lots
xxx
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I'm in love! This man is absolutely amazing and so fantastically out of my league, I can just enjoy loving him. His name is Brynn Bird, he's a second year and he's running for president of medsoc (and will win). He speaks Spanish and Italian and has started a programme for medical students to do electives where they can work on their medical vocabulary in other languages (I'm so going to do that!). He has a degree in mathematics, used to be an English teacher and now runs the debating society. He's good looking too. His girlfriend is also amazing. She was the lead of the medical school play (she was stunning) and is doing an immunology PhD (i.e. is insanely intelligent) after her medical degree. How can normal people compare?!
*sighs*
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I am so happy! I got firsts in all three of my January exams, including a 100% in my neurology exam. My lovely flatmates got Amy, Emily and me cake and flowers. I'm a bit scared for Emily, who didn't do very well.
I've bought lots of lovely books, including old paperback copies of 'Don Quixote' and 'The Secret Garden'. This also makes me happy. It's been so lovely and sunny for days now. I wasn't even too grumpy when I had lectures from 11 until 9:30 on Monday. I'm spending too much money again, just when I was feeling proud of my thrift this term. Oh well!
Can't wait to see everyone in the Easter holidays. Miss you all. xxx
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Oh dear! I really shouldn't wait so long to update. I have no idea of where to start. It really has been a shamefully long amount of time.
( oh dear! )
Maybe we should arrange a date after Easter for people to come to Birmingham. I don't have my time table for that time, but if people can give me dates where they can come we can come a bit closer to planning something.
Lots of love
xxx
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Sorry it took so long to write. Lots has happened this last week. It's nice to be back at uni but I miss everyone already. I took my exams and think they didn't go to badly. We won't get the results for months, though.
I have a house for next year! I'm living with five other girls (four of my current flatmates and a friend of Amy's)and we signed the contract on Wednesday. It's so exciting and scary. It felt like such a grown up thing to be doing. There were lots of questions we forgot to ask but I think it'll be alright.
On that same day, we had a fantastic lecture on medical epidemiology and evidence-based medicine. This essentially the new ethos that the GMC has adopted in the training of new doctors. The idea is that all of the treatments in clinical practice are based on sound scientific research and evidence that this treatment is the one with the best outcome. It's amazing how medical treatments that make a lot of sense in theory, don't perform well in practice. The examples they gave us were shocking. It's just in the last decade that HRT has undergone rigorous testing to see whether the claims that it decreases cardiovascular problems in elderly women is true. For ages, people thought this kind of research was unethical because it seemed so obviously beneficial. When the research was finally done, it showed that HRT actually increased the likelihood of heart attacks by over 30% and that of strokes by over 40%. There are endless examples of very misguided treatments in medical history, and they're still so ridiculously frequent in doctors that don't stay up to date with new research.
On Thursday, I was supposed to have done my first venepuncture with my GP, but her son had chickenpox and she found out her mother had had a stroke and there wasn't much time left for us to try and practise taking blood. The practice I work with is pretty depressing. We were speaking to patients and tried to get their histories. It was amazingly difficult to get patients to tell you what you needed to know. When you ask a question, you tend to assume that the patient is going to now what you want from them. It's so easy to be misunderstood (especially when you have to talk about bowel problems)!
On Friday, I became aquainted with my professor for the digestive system. Her lectures are so painfully boring it's going to be a real challenge to maintain a level of consciousness that wouldn't measure as a coma on the Glasgow scale.
That's all I have to bore you with this week.
Farewell, and I will see you in Manchester!
P.S. When is Manchester happening again? Edgar- bring my book!
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I've made a possible diagnosis of a dominant genetic disease in my family! My maternal grandfather, my mother and I have it. It's called von Willebrand disease. The type 1 form I think we have is only a mild blood clotting disorder. It does explain the nosebleeds, though. Is it strange to be really excited?
Okay, that's the most interesting thing that's happened to me since we last met. Being at home all day is so dull. I might still be around on Wednesday, so it would be nice to meet people. What's the plan, because I'm going out to lunch with my mum but am otherwise free.
Bye for now.
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Yay, end of year meme, stolen from Bryn.
( I'm so bored )
Good bye then
xxxxx
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Hello everyone!
I hope everyone had a good Christmas and a lovely entry into the new year. I think Christmas passed me by this year. It didn't feel very special at all, especially with no money and little time, it was hard to get into the holiday spirit. Belgium has been endlessly boring. It rains so much here! My brother and I arrived on the same day as one of my uncles and his children. It was very chaotic but mostly nice.
I forgot what my father's family was like after not seeing any of them for a year. I have been told I could lose weight almost every day ("Do you think that third chocolate is a good idea, Hannah?"). Another lovely comment from my uncle was, "I never realised how asymmetrical your face was". I think working in the fashion industry gives someone a warped idea of what actual human being should look like. There are also the endless enquiries as to whether I'd found a boyfriend yet. Argh! Apart from the daily battering of my self-esteem, we have really not done much of anything. There has been the occasional, mud-filled and rain-soaked walk and we have played many board games. The basement has flooded three times, and thanks to my dad's old-fashioned views on gender roles, my brother was the one who had to help him dig a hole in the garden to try and find out what was wrong. it still hasn't been sorted out, so until then, we can't have full showers or uzse too much water generally.
For New Years I got quite pleasantly drunk on champagne. This was mildly embarrassing as I was still aware of the fact that I was the only one who was drunk. We were originally going to go to a party, but my little brother Jan was throwing up all day and we couldn't go. Instead, we stayed in and watched TV. It was dull but okay.
I'm coming back on the third and was wondering, do people want to meet up before going back to uni?
Alles liebe aus Belgien un bis bald!
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I'm so sorry I haven't posted in so long. I intended to do so earlier this week, but the crappiness of the last seven days has overwhelmed me.
On Monday, I went to the ball organised by my halls. It was awful. Everyone ate lots of bad food, got so drunk on cheap wine and cried/had sex/kissed someone they shouldn't have/threw up for the rest of the night. The music was bad, and I just don't think I was drunk enough to derive enjoyment from the night.
On Tuesday, I missed a meeting with a tutor because I went to the wrong room. He was NOT happy!
On Wednesday, I missed my first lecture on law and ethics. The epidemiology, psychology, sociology, ethics and law departments of the med school are very unimpressed by the lack of attendance to the humanities-based classes by medical students. The sub-dean of the medical school will be attending the lessons next week, and they are starting to take a register.
On Thursday, I had the day off apart from one session where I was going to the prosectorium to see my first dissected body. I ate no breakfast and ran there after getting up too late. This was a mistake! I was so faint I had to leave the room.
On Friday, I had to do a presentation that was worth 15% of my mark for a module. At the end of the presentation, our professor said he was disappointed with our class because 'we could do better'. I had worked my arse off for that presentation!
Yesterday, I went house-hunting with my flatmates. It was very cold. I think we found a place after about 5 hours. We all have to put down a deposit of about £400. I have no money! Stress! Argh! I've done no Christmas shopping and no work!
Enough ranting, I think. See you all soon!
xxxx
P.S. My dad is coming to the awards evening, which is kind of exciting. It should be interesting to see how my parents will get on after not being in the same country for many years!
P.P.S. Pinochet is dead!
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Watch the clips of Calder's Circus on youtube. They are so good!
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| 2006-12-02 20:49 |
| New York! |
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I have no money! My mom didn't pay my rent for December so I had to pay for it. On Thursday I did the most impulsive thing of my life. After attending a People & Planets meeting with my flatmate Amy, I went to the travel agency on campus. Without knowing when I wanted to leave or really what I was doing, I booked a ticket to go to New York. I'm going in Easter for 8 days! It's going to be very strange.
Medical school is still crazy. I met my tutor group this week. It's composed of two tutors (a professor and a consultant) and about five sudents from each year. The people are very cool. I think we're going out for a meal soon. There's a German Christmas market in Birmingham and an ice skating rink, which should be quite fun. Next week I'm going to the prosectorium and will see my first dissected body.
See you all soon!
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I'm sorry I haven't posted but facebook has sucked up the little bit of life I had left after my medical school responsibilities.
Last weekend was lovely. Claire, Carmelle and Alice came for visit. It was very cold. We shopped around the Bullring and found the German Christmas market. The pretzels with butter were great. My main conclusions after this weekend were:
Ben & Jerry's waffles are amazing (especially with Chocolate Therapy ice cream. Mmmmm!)
Blue nail varnish does not suit me
Radio blog club is a great invention
Curry stains stuff a most horrid fluorescent yellow colour
In the winter, decorate your garden fence with buckets to add colour and remind you of the summer (fantastic tip from 'Pick Me Up')
Lambrini is great!
Since then, literally nothing has happened. I saw the third Lord of the Rings film with my flatmates and made some great pancakes. I had some very interesting lectures on genetics and don't understand what an assay is, despite having attended a lecture on the subject for an hour.
On Friday, I will be going to see the medical school play "Anything Goes" which is quite exciting. Okay, that's all I have for now. I think I will wait until I actually have something to say next time I post.
Goodbye!
xxxx
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I guess this meeting thing has fallen apart a bit, with not a single person coming for sure apart from Carmelle (who I hope is still coming). Can people tell me if they are coming, and if they are, when.
I know Bryn, Edgar, Marie, and Christine are definitely not coming. Haven't heard anything from Tara or Kam. Hope Alice is coming. Don't know what Claire has decided on.
Now, I understand why people haven't been/ won't be able to come but this is an exceptionally poor show. It feels like Harriet's birthday party all over again. I guess I will see most of you at the awards ceremony.
Your (slightly disappointed) friend
P.S. I passed my exam! I got a B, which considering my miserable lack of work is very good.
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Hello LJ!
I'm sorry I haven't updated recently. Uni is going well, although I think I may have failed my first medical school exam today. At least everyone else found it hard. I don't really want to think about it anymore, but I don't even know when I get my results. Multiple choice questions are really hard at medical school!
I think I love my flatmate Amy (yes, the Evangelical christian). Her cooking is a bit strange at times, but she's a foodie. This is very nice when you are mostly surrounded by people whose diet consists of chips, beans and ready meals. She has a band and plays the violin. She's also a huge fan of Pete Doherty, which I can't quite understand, but she's cool. She wears really strange stuff and kinda manages to pull it off.
I went home over the weekend and it was weird. I'm finding it a bit harder to talk to my mum. I think she's missed me quite a bit. My parents are fighting about who gets me and my brother for Christmas. I will spend Christmas with my mum and New Year's with my dad. I think my brother has a girlfriend, which is very strange. My mum fed me lots of food and it was nice. I found myself wanting to go back to university , though. Staying close to family members is much harder when you don't live with them. I miss my family at university but don't feel completely part of it when I'm back at home. This is very confusing. It was hard knowing what home was before, now it's basically impossible. I am destined to miss people wherever I go and feel out of place.
Can't wait to see people this weekend! please come if you can. We can go to the Jewellery Quarter and the Bullring, and eat curry. You can meet all my flatmates and see the campus. It'll be so fun.
Bye
xxxx
P.S. EDGAR! If you are coming, please bring the book I left in your flat if you can. It's called 'Newton's Madness: further tales of clinical neurology'. Thank you!
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To clear stuff up:
It is definitely happening. Everyone is welcome. On Friday I don't finish lectures until 6 but people are welcome to come at any time. People can also come on Saturday if that's better for them. To get here, take a train from Birmingham New Street to the University station and call me when you get there. My mobile should be in working order in the next few days (with the same number). I must go now, as I have to revise for my exam tomorrow. EEEEK!
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What's the plan for Friday? I have booked a train ticket that takes me to London at about 21:30. Is that okay? How long are people staying? I leave Sunday evening. Are there any plans established yet for non-Dresden Dolls people? Should I bring a sleeping bag?
Sorry for all the questions.
See you soon!
xxxxx
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happy
giddy
curious