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Thursday, March 31, 2005

yo people! woah can't believe its thursday already..this easter week has just flown by..

I returned from dubbo on late on monday!I had such an incredible experience!!:)I learnt a lot about the aboriginal culture and had an interesting time interacting with the people I got to meet..

There's basically quite high racial tension in dubbo between the whites and the aboriginals..and there's an annual easter fair thats held in dubbo that attempts to bridge that gap..8 of us drove to dubbo from sydney and we volunteered to set up a tent full of kids' activities like face painting, kite-making, crafts, sports etc..its interesting to see how different kids can be..there are many spoilt kids who are so hard to talk to..but also the really sweet ones like one girl who just ran up to me and gave me a hug for no reason.. Some kids talked to us and I learnt how sad their lives have been..they're really patriotic..many asking to have the aboriginal flags painted on their faces and arms..but its also not too good cos I guess they're brought up since young with anger against the whites..

I also got the chance to learn how to throw a boomerang!haha its definitely not as easy as it looks..but so fun:)and I saw a traditional aboriginal dance!they were dressed up in plants and white paint and its pretty cool how all of their dances all have stories behind them:)

I did have a meaningful and different easter this year..dubbo was an incredible experience for me and the I was also surprised by the easter church services on good friday and easter sunday..the church was really nice and new and not at all what I expected..I would have been happy enough attending a simple easter mass of course..so I was really pleasantly surprised by the powerful choir...it was the largest congregation I've seen since coming to sydney.. the chapel at creston is nice, bu I do miss having a large singing congregation at times...

dubbo's a lot more advanced than I expected than I expected it to be..but west dubbo (where all the aboriginal families reside) was definitely poorer in comparison to east dubbo (where all the whites live) :( yeah anyway so the church was really nice and I really enjoyed the masses..the evening mass on saturday was 2 hours long but it didn't feel that long at all..I really enjoyed myself:)

dubbo's a 6 hour journey away..and we spent most of the time sleeping, singing, snacking on junk food, and talking rubbish!yep I did get to know a couple of the creston people better during this trip..it was like a road trip..but a very meaningful one..there was quite a bit of nice scenary to se along the way..lotsa greenery and we passed the blue mountains as well:)oh and a couple of funny parts..There was this night we were craving ice cream..(cos we don't have much time for decent lunches during the day's activties so we're seriously starving by dinner time)..yep so we went to get some late night ice cream after dinner..we were walking along the street and I was so immensely enjoying my ice cream that I walked right into a garbage bin!sigh. haha luckily my ice cream was still intact. oh and while I was face painting some kids asked me if I were from china..they asked me to paint pictures of dragons and to write chinese letters on their arms/face..haha I was trying to translate their names into chinese but not too successful at it..heh but it probably didn't make much of a difference to them I guess..they probably just thought the chinese writing was cool:)

yeah so I really did have a good time..learning about aboriginal culture and also with the people I worked with..it was a short but great experience!:)sigh. now that I'm back at college its back to work. Got a ton of project stuff and assignments due. Bleah. And the college is pretty quiet this week.since all the aussies went home for the hols..lucky people.

Heh but I feel very blessed too this easter season! My easter was really meaningful this year, with the dubbo tripJ plus I received TWO lovely gifts from home this week!I had just returned from school last Thursday when my collegemate thrust a HUGE bunch of flowers into my hands..I was so pleasantly surprised when I read the card:)thank you dear!! They’re still alive and well and make my room smell very nice:)

Easter gift number 2: I received an "Easter care package" from my elder sister and chris on Tuesday!containing some prayers, my favourite pajamas from home, a beautiful notebook and pen, and a really sweet easter cardJ I was so happy!!!

Oh and to people who don’t know the incredible news..I’m gonna be an AUNTIE!!yes my sister is pregnant. Please help me pray for her and to my elder sister: I LOVE YOU!! Take care and I wish so much I could be at home right now.

Alright lunch time!bye and take care everyone!!:) happy easter!!

weibin: satay??haha sadly there's no satay here..the closest thing i know to satay here would be kebabs..minus the satay sauce :P sigh. I miss wanton noodles, beef hor fun, and non-crunchy rice!:(
nad: *applause*haha you're good at aussie slang!!!haha but my fren says only true-blue aussies speak like that..heh have a gd avo dear!!:)
nic: hahaha..I guess great minds think alike:) you and nad having the exact same idea:) another round of *applause* for you!!heh i guess you guys rarely have to use sunnies over in toronto huh?ah well, have a great avo dear!its time for my avo kipper!:)
~me~ at 1:46 PM

Friday, March 25, 2005

Quick update...its been an interesting week at school..I got the chance to talk to a couple of patients at my clinical session at the hospital on monday..We talked to some kidney failure patients as a group..and I was just amazed at how cheerful and optimistic they were even in the face of death. Although diagnosed with chronic illnesses, they still maintained such an upbeat outlook on life and were so happy and eager to talk to us..

On tuesday, I had to carry out an interview with a faculty member as part of an assignment..my interviewee was a physiologist/anaesthetist. I didn't know much initially about the fields but he was a very sweet old man. He told me and my partner about his experiences in his life as an anaesthetist and I was really inspired!I never really thought about specialising in anaesthetia but I'm really interested in it now. ah well, I'm sure I'll find out many other fields of interest in the next 6 years..I've still got a long time to decide:)

Anyway, its easter break now and I'm leaving for Dubbo tmr morning!!Dubbo's this place in the middle of NSW, about 6 hours away from sydney..I'll be helping to plan a camp for the aboriginal kids there!There's apparantly a huge gap between teh whites and the blacks in dubbo. So I guess we'll be trying to bridge that gap. Yep anyway the residents who went last year say it was a really fun and meaningful experience so I'm looking forward to that!:)So I'm leaving tmr and coming back monday..and I'll get to go for good friday and easter day masses in Dubbo:) I've never really celebrated easter this way before.

Oh and some aussie slang I learnt this week.
sanger--sandwich
risolle--giant meatballs
kipper--nap
avo-afternoon
sunnies-sunglasses

Yawn. Gotta go now. Still gotta pack for tmr!Have a great easter everyone!!:)

nicole:heh the hungry jacks is not too bad I guess..their servings are HUGE though!!:)
nad: seriously!domino's is lousy here!most people eat pizza hut:)
~me~ at 1:39 AM

Monday, March 21, 2005

Start of week 4 in Sydney!Just finished my laundry, and I'm blogging before having to work on my interview with a faculty member tomorrow. And today's clinical day!Wonder if we'll do more hands-on stuff today.

It was quite a fun weekend!:)Had the SSA dance party on friday night. The party was along oxford street, which is literally lined with clubs and pubs. The place was small and packed but pretty new. I met a few new interesting people and got to know some old friends better:) I think the general idea of fun here in sydney is drinking, drinking, and more drinking. The people here drink so much and so fast they don't even have time to savour the sensation of being high. They just go straight to the puking stage. Guess cos alcohol's cheaper here..I'm not exactly the partying kind of person but I just wanted to see what sydney night life was like..it was an experience I suppose:)

Anyway, me and my friends left the party at about 4am, cos we were hungry!haha. And I was pretty surprised to see the sydney streets still crowded with people at that time. If I didn't have my watch with me, I would have thought it was only 7 or 8pm at night. We went to a nearby hungry jacks (which is what they call burger king here..and I don't see the purpose in naming them differently in different places) then caught a bus back to campus at 5. Here they have bus services running throughout the entire night, but I suppose they're lower in frequency past midnight. I was kinda surprised to hear that.

I went to gloria's apartment for a short while before heading back to my college at 8am!Was pretty tired by then. Then I took a 3 hour nap before lunch and headed to xiao qi, Alvin, and Jia Wei's apartment for their house-warming party!Their apartment is so super nice. Its the first house in Sydney I've been that really feels like a home. I think my room's cosy but somehow it doesn't quite feel like home yet. I miss simple things like walking around the house barefoot and being able to blast music without having to worry about disturbing others. Anyway, I got to know some of the other Singaporeans better that night..It was pot luck and we also ordered pizza!The pizza hut here is good. So much better than pizza hut in Singapore. The crust is not as thick and bready as the pizza hut back in Singapore. Domino's in Sydney is lousy.

Was pretty tired yesterday to do anything else other than laze about the college so I stayed in. Went for palm sunday mass in the morning:) But the chapel and congregation at creston is small so I didn't get palms to wave this year :P Ah well, having a small congregation feels different but kind of special at the same time. I get to help put away everything at the end of mass and I see what work goes into the preparation of each mass:)Wow lent's coming to a close. Felt particularly sad yesterday pondering the events of the last month. Not sure exactly why. But thanks to Lionel for cheering me up a bit:)

Anyway, gotta go prepare to leave for my clinical tutorial at St George's now. Have a great week guys!miss all of you:)

nad: heh yep this new system is good. But I guess I'm just not used to it yet cos it's so different compared to what I'm used to. Ah well, once the real work comes in, I'll grow to like this new syllabus better:) miss you dear!:)
3lly-Mae: Thanks for the skin!:)
weibin: haha thankfully NO!!Haha I'd freeze to death. I'm already freezing and its only autumn here.. :)
enping: yep hope all's well for you too:) take care!:)
~me~ at 10:16 AM

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Today is freaking cold. The weather here is so annoying!For the whole of last week, the wind kept coming and it was pretty chilly!So I thought that meant the start of autumn and the end of summer..then the beginning of this week was super hot. So I started wearing skirts and stopped bringing sweaters to class..then this morning I stepped out of my college and ran back in to change into jeans!Plus it was even raining today!:P Crazy Sydney weather. My classmate says its possible to experience all 4 seasons in a day here.

Its been a couple of looong days at school. But the week seems to have flown past. It'll be friday tmr and the end of week 3! then week 4 and easter break!:) feels weird to be having hols so soon after school has started.

Anyway, its been a busy but fun week. The medicine international students dinner was great!the vietnamese restaurant was near Uni of Sydney, about a half hour's bus ride away..the food was so good!there was green papaya salad, spring rolls and rice wraps for starters, then curried chicken noodles, seafood and deep-fried tofu and mushroom squares!!dessert was caramel tofu in sago:) It was the first meal I've had in sydney where I've had decent tasting plain white rice:) The rice at creston college is always either crunchy or too soggy. haha yeah so I enjoyed the food but the company as well..I went with 3 other Singaporean girls but met quite a few other people...it was a medicine faculty international students dinner so a lot of malaysian and asian people there..somehow I felt more comfortable around them..

We were talking about doctor-patient relations in class again today..I think its really good that they teach us about doctor-patient stuff..but sometimes I feel like they concentrate a bit too much on it. But I guess I only feel this way now cos we're still doing foundations..the real work hasn't started to come in yet..and they also teach us to reflect a lot about stuff as well...for example, in the 10 minute presentation I had to do the other day..more then half of the time is allocated to reflections, problems encountered and the thought process. Only a small portion is the information and research stuff. And in the upcoming group project that I'm working on, 15 minutes out of the 30 minute presentation should be alloted to reflections. Yep so they emphasise a lot on reflections here. I guess they're training us to reflect more cos as doctors we should reflect and whether or not our actions were the best course of actions. I think it feels weird now I'm just not used to the learning system here yet. But I guess I'll grow to like it once I get used to it:)

alright gotta get some work done now!tata people!:)
~me~ at 8:50 PM

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Practicals are tiring. And some are boring!like today...haha yesterday was quite fun though...It was about bacteria all around us and on us..we were putting samples from all parts of our body onto agar plates so we'd get a look at the bacteria that would have cultivated there the next practical lesson..My friend kissed the agar plate, while I prepared samples from my armpit, bellybutton and between our toes. yeah and we learnt a bit on microscopes and bacteria in the blood as well..

Update on the sewage situation. I had to hide out in the computer room yesterday evening with a lot of other girls from the terrible smell outside in the corridors and main hall!apparantly there was a blockage in the sewage pipes so the plumbers were over here pumping out whatever was stuck inside there..so they're did checks of all the bathrooms along our corridor and basically stunk up the whole place!hopefully it won't happen again. I really hope so.

ok short post but sorry I gotta go now!international med students dinner tonight..Its held at some thai place near the city area..my friend who went last year says the food is good!and we're getting sponsered so I'm paying $12 for a 4-course meal!yep ok.BYE!!!:)

lynn: haha yeah sydney beaches are GREAT!:) er don't think my college allows sleepovers..but come come anyway!maybe when I move into my own apartment next time!yeah you're welcome to join me here whenever you want!!:)
nicole: haha yep don't worry I apply sunblock lotion whenever I head to the beach!:) I also don't wanna get roasted. And I'm still kinda scared when taking a shower!haha I usually let the water run for awhile to make sure it doesn't smell or look funny before I actually step in..
~me~ at 5:08 PM

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Week 3 in Sydney starts tmr!sigh has it only been 2 weeks here?

My weekend was pretty good..went to coogee beach for a bbq organised by SSA (Singapore Students Association) food was not too bad..though the beef was not very chewable and the sausages looked weird..but I had fun!there was volleyball and frisbee!I met some nice, interesting people as well:) I was a bit bored initially but gloria was urging me to mingle so I did and I'm glad I did..don't know why but I felt a bit antisocial at first..The beach was packed!I can understand why I suppose..the weather was perfect tanning weather and the water looked great!There was this woman who was lying on her front in a bikini and she was TANNED. Like practically BLACK. And she was still tanning. I felt like shouting at her, "Hey you tan anymore you're gonna burn up and burst into flames!" People here seriously love the sun too much.

And last night I had a truly disgusting experience. My college-mate Ana, who lives 3 doors down from me was sitting at her desk doing her work when she suddenly smelt somthing really really BAD.she went to her bathroom to investigate and saw the shower floor flooding with brown sewage water!!!eeewwww. The sawage water was coming out of the drain in the shower. Think there's a drainage problem. Haha at the time it was actually quite funny cos she was going around proclaiming "My room smells like shit!" haha literally. I think I would have been pretty upset if it happened to me but she took it in a humourous way. We helped her move some of her stuff from her room to an empty bedroom in the other wing..her room smelt so so awful!!!ugh. We were holding our breaths everytime we entered the room.I was pretty cautious and a bit scared to take a shower after that in my own bathroom..but think mine should be fine..cos her rooom is a renovated one while mine is one of the old ones..think there was a problem when they renovated the place..hope I don't encounter the same problem though.

And I'm happy cos I finally got down to doing some work today!My presentation due tuesday is almost done. But still lots left to do..the creston girls went for a walk along the coast today!It was breathtaking. I realise that the beach is quickly becoming a big part of my life here..it was really beautiful today!We were walking along the cliffs coming down toward the beaches..there are people snorkelling and scuba diving and the water just looked so incredible..there was also this 'swimming pool' which is actually part of the sea..its like a bay area which has been slightly modified so people can swim in it like a giant swimming pool but its really the sea..so nice..I felt like jumping into the water myself..I wish I had brought along my camera..

I am so sleepy and full now..today was a day of good foods!haha Rosa was telling me how there's normally better food on sundays cos its the day of the Lord!Haha. She's so cute. Rosa's this really nice brazilian lady working at creston..she was the one who asked me to play piano for the sunday masses and her mannerisms are just so cute!Anyway, back to food. There was veal with potatoes, this nice corn, peas and minced meat dish for dinner and even wine!Then crossionts for supper. Bleah. Very sleepy now. Sigh I just had a look at my timetable..practicals on monday, tuesday, wednesday and friday! :P

Good night!

weibin: g'day mate!!!:)
JM: haha yeah Krispy Kreme is great!I've never heard of it before coming here though..woah Harrod's must be ex.
gwenda: haha you go to coogee very often?I am a 20 minute walk away from coogee!whew and it was so super HOT that day! :P
cheng: yeah same here!!tues night is $5 movie night..yep and there are weekly travelpasses here in sydney as well..but I don't usually buy them cos I don't travel that often!!
~me~ at 9:46 PM

Saturday, March 12, 2005

hello guys!sorry its been awhile since my last post..this week just seemed to fly by!!thats good I guess. My first week seemed to crawl by. Hopefully that means I'm settling in more. I dunno. I slept at 3 am last night cos I was up in the computer room half-msning, half-working-on-a-project and half-talking-to-my-college-friend. We were talking about the problems we had with our college and life back home. Ling's really nice. She's chinese-malaysian but lived in Melbourne all her life, but her aussie accent is stronger than any of the other aussies:)

My week was pretty packed..with most of my school days ending at about 4pm..and it suddenly feels like I've got a ton of work!It's work in the form of presentations and group projects, but still work. I was given an oral presentation assignment yesterday thats due next tuesday!There goes my sunday.

Anyway, my clinic day on monday was pretty cool!I didn't actually get to speak with any patients..it being the first session..we mainly did intros and had a tour of the hospitals..we got our security ID tags and asked our clinical turor a lot of questions..yep so we didn't actually do clinical rounds yet but its gotten me geared up for more I guess. St george's is very new and nice!Its a lot bigger and renovated than I expected and the facilities are pretty neat. St George's is a little more than an hour away and I learnt how to take the train!transport is confusing here. And so expensive!It costs AUD$3 for a single train trip there. And I still have to pay for the bus ride to the train station. Luckily I have a permanant travelling companion there so it doesn't feel too long. The train station felt pretty dodgy. Mio and Ling told me its pretty common to be approached by druggies or beggars.

Then on tuesday was anatomy prac!My first experience with a cadaver. My nose was stinging a bit from the chemicals at the lab. It wasn't scary cos it didn't even look like a human body. It was all brown and stringy and decolourised. Pretty interesting..we got to touch the different veins and ribs and bones..but the tutor was spewing out all these cheem terms!!in the span of 3 hours, she went through the entire human body in detail (well not THAT detailed..guess there's definitely a lot MORE to learn but it was basically a recollection of all the O level and A level stuff) My brain felt quite exhuasted. It was a good lesson though.

Wednesday was a relatively short school day so I went with my scenario group mates to watch a movie!My first movie in Sydney. Tickets here are cheaper than I thought. They're usually $7 but we had 2-for-1 coupons so I paid $3.50 to watch Bride and Prejudice!The theatre's just up the street from UNSW and pretty new. Big comfy seats and we practically had the whole theatre to ourselves. Nice:) And the movie was really entertaining:)

I'm supposed to be working on my oral presentation now. Haha Ling was scolding me for even attempting to do work on a friday night..the college girls originally planned a girls' night out tonight but that was before we realised there's NOWHERE to go on friday nights. All the shops are closed. How depressing. So we ended up walking to "Crispy Cream", this nearby donut shop for $1 donuts!I am so stuffed.

Tomorrow's the Singaporean bbq at Coogee Beach. I find it weird how they have bbqs at midday. They love the sun too much here. And here are a couple of aussie slangs I learnt tonight..
1) Maccers is MacDonalds.
2) Boardies are the board shorts people wear to swim.
Yawn. Better get started on my work. I miss you guys!take care everyone :)

yahui: haha sure!what do you want to know about skydiving?
cheng: cheng!haha yeah just gimme a call if you're bored:) haha I miss home. Wish I could be more like you. And its getting COLD here!yeah the nights are pretty chilly. But the sun still feels strong even though its cold! :P
lynn: I miss you too:) *hug*
gwenda: haha glad to see you're enjoying sydney as well!bondi's nice ya?lotsa nice stuff and the sales are pretty decent:)
clot: haha doc clot dear you are SLOW. Yes I'm in sydney. UNSW!They offered me a place at the last minute. miss ya too!!:)
nolly: thank you nolly:) Yep I hope it'll get better with time..guess its just natural for me to be feeling this way now..
~me~ at 2:02 AM

Monday, March 07, 2005

Sigh. I miss home so so much. I kept thinking yesterday how I'd usually be spending my sunday with my family back home.

I spent my saturday with Gloria..we went to Bondi Junction!A very big shopping centre/street. I had a good time talking to her. She's one of the few people I've been able to really talk to since coming here. :) I kept her company while she bought her groceries for the week..and went to visit her apartment!Haha I gave her few helpful tips while she attempted to cook pasta for dinner!It was pretty yummy and we felt pretty accomplished!Her apartment's quite comfortable and cosy and I had had a good time with her that day. I think its pretty cool the way we met. We were in the same chem engineering class in NUS and we both dropped out to come to UNSW for medicine.

My sister called me from sydney airport on saturday night. She was on her way home from New Zealand and was transiting at sydney for a couple of hours!I hadn't heard from her since before I left Singapore so I was so glad to hear her voice again:) Her honeymoon sounded amazing!She actually went SKYDIVING. So cool!I'd love the chance to do that but don't know if I'd actually have the guts to go through with it once I'm actually up there. Plus she went horseback riding on the actual horses that were in the LOTR movies!So exciting:)Haha it doesn't sound like a typical relaxing honeymoon but it sounded like such an experience:)

And yesterday I finally saw sydney city. I went with a few of the creston girls to the city to shop!Saw A LOT of nice stuff. Unfortunately everything was also VERY expensive. Well if you're lucky there are some decent items on sale. And the city is huge. So many streets and intersections..the transport system here is pretty complicated in comparison to Singapore's. It wasn't really a shopping trip..more of a tour of the city for me..the city's relatively quiet on sundays..by 5pm the crowd thins out and it starts to feel a bit depressing. There were lots of nice buildings and sights, and at least I now know my way to the city.

Came back to college by 6pm for dinner..and I was really happy to receive a phone call after dinner from my family!The whole family was gathered around the phone back home. Even buster recognised my voice (I think) through the receiver. My sister said he went quiet and wagged his tail when I called his name through the receiver. I miss everyone back home so much. (Sorry I think I'd said that a zillion times already..apologies to everyone for having to listen to my whining) I felt like I had so much more to say to them and I was so sad after I hung up. Lionel called me a little later that night which cheered me up. Sigh but I always feel so sad after I put down the phone.

Ok I think I've whined enough. I've gotta go change and get ready to leave for St George's Hospital!My first clinical session today. Take care everyone!I miss you loads!

weibin: heylo!thanks:) Life here hasn't been bad, but I miss home a lot..heh but thanks!:)
nicole: haha yep I haven't started on my interview assignment yet..soon soon!heh ya it just feels weird slacking now..oh well, I'll enjoy this slack period as much as I can!:)thanks dear!
yahui: thanks!:) Yep I'm settling in gradually..can't believe its been only one week!:P Oh and I hope you don't miss your daddy too much! :P
~me~ at 1:19 PM

Friday, March 04, 2005

Its been a long day. Lectures from 9-12pm then practical and more lectures in the afternoon. Yawn. Wanted to take a nap before dinner but decided there wasn't enough time for a decent nap so I decided to blog instead.

School's weird. The new course structure at UNSW is such that the first 8 weeks are only an introduction to the entire 6-year course. So basically there's hardly any work and lots of free time. It feels weird cos the students from other faculties in my college already have heaps of work while all the year-one med students are slacking and lazing about at night. Haha I guess I could probably read ahead. Once I get my textbooks sent over from Singapore. There are assignments due though. But none of them involve hard-core traditional mugging. I've an assignment due in week 4 that requires us to record an interview. They apparantly want to see our level of communication skills.

Practical was kind of interesting. The equipment and techniques are pretty posh compared to what I used to do in JC. But it was a bit long and stuffy in the lab. I was probably just a bit tired. School hours are long these days but it feels weird not having stuff to study. Haha I probably shouldn't complain too much. Free time is good. And I can hardly believe its the weekend!I can't believe I've only been here a little more than a week. Its felt like eons since I left home. I miss home so much.

Alright dinnertime!:)

lynn: hello dear!!thanks for the offer..I'll get notes from you if I need to..haha but school's still slack so far :P oh and yep I'll set up a photo blog soon!I can't post pics on my blog cos I'm using the coms in the common room. No internet in the rooms :P
qi: hey!got my mail?miss you!
~me~ at 8:57 PM

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

hey guys!!haha I'm really happy cos I went on msn for the first time since coming here last night:) It felt good talking to familiar pple once more.

I was the only one up at 1am, all alone in the computer room..but oh so happy!yawn. Don't think I can stay up late too many nights though. Was pretty sleepy today in class. We had a "communication tutorial" this afternoon where the doctor was teaching us how to basically communicate with patients. Apparantly, when talking to patients we can't ask simply, "Why?" Too open-ended and if not asked properly it sounds rude and abrupt. Hmm.

Today wasn't too bad. I got to know a few people from my sharing sessions a bit better. Its interesting cos everyone comes from very different backgrounds and its cool to hear about the different way people have lived their lives. Its only just occured to me how vast and diverse our world is. Sigh. But nothing still beats home. I miss home so so much.

The weather is especially chilly today. The wind was so so strong!Think summer is coming to a close. Heh good. Cos that means I'll be able to put the winter clothing I originally bought for tasmania to good use:) And I'm really happy cos I just did a load of laundry so now I have nice clean clothes to wear again!Plus dinner tonight was fantastic. Roasted potatoes, honey-pepper chicken, creamed cauliflower and over-baked pumpkin :) Sometimes the smallest things can make a person oh so happy.

Miss all of you guys!

qi:yep I will soon!I sent mom some photos..go see them!and check your mail!
deb: DEBRA!!!haha yes I'm still here. and I miss all of you so much!! :P
ning: thanks dear! Yep clicking is hard. But maybe its just cos I'm missing home so so much. sigh. haha and yea creston really takes care of me. Dinner tonight was scrumptious:)
nic: haha thanks but its hard NOT to think about home..Yea but I guess hopefully it'll get better soon.. :)
~me~ at 9:47 PM

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Hello peeps!Sigh. I miss home.

Anyway, today's my second day of school and I'm between classes..School so far has been ok, mostly introductory lectures to the course and program. We haven't really started lessons yet. We were assigned clinical hospitals for attachments yesterday and I got sent to St George's, a hospital that's about an hour away by bus/train. First session is next monday. Qt exciting. But we haven't started any real lessons yet so far..I'll be having a "scenario group session" in an hour's time..not too sure what that's about..yeah and creston's REALLY convenient..its literally just across the road. about 2 minutes away from medicine faculty:) Not too sure about what activities I'll join yet..haven't really had time to take a good look at all the clubs..I will soon though.

Creston is really taking care of me. they provide packed lunches for days when I don't have time to come back for lunch (typical lunch is a sandwich, meusli bar and a piece of fruit)..and the food is really not too bad. There's lagsanea and rice and pasta and pizza and even apple pie/ice-cream for dessert) I'm learning some aussie customs/slangs as well. For example, I learnt that they don't just wear swim suits to go swimming, but its normal to also wear shorts over their swimsuits into the water. And for supper last night, we had this snack called "fairybread", where they spread butter over bread and splash rainbow sprinkles all over them. There actually are quite a few senior girls here..but they're not snobby at all..all very nice people..but I just don't really mesh/click with them at times I guess..

Orientation here in Sydney is different..cos there's a lot of stuff to see in Sydney. We had a picnic at the national park on sunday, overlooking the sea and cliffs and the beach. We went swimming in the lagoon and people were jumping off the cliffs into the water way down below. Weather was great:)

Anyway, I shall try to set up a photo blog since I can't upload photos onto my blog using the computer in my college common room. And very sad. I can't MSN!!!Cos I'm using the new beta version and the computers here are using the old versions. And we're not allowed to download new programs and install them. Sigh. I miss home!!

Ok sorry gotta go now!lunch time!:)miss all of ya:)
~me~ at 2:24 PM