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Today, a random Penn alum is in town; you both graduated the same year and had a few mutual friends, but unfortunately her face does not trigger a memory of any sort.
But it does not matter.
When she called, you realized that your lives were oddly similar; she’s also travelled and currently lives abroad in a Far East Asian country. And because you are both American, went to the same undergraduate university, and have mutual facebook friends, you were able to have a brutally honest and personal conversation about the virtues and tribulations of life living abroad.
During the course of the conversation, you found yourself revealing things you’ve kept from your MBS classmates. It’s not that you don’t trust them… it’s that most just would not understand your multiple lives, some of which are still shaping you long after their death. Your classmates are not to blame; after all, you can barely make sense of it yourself, and you were there.
The problem with living a dream is that you almost certainly have to live it alone. And in anticipation of getting into your medical school path, you tell yourself you will water the grass as much as possible when you get there. Because true success and loneliness may in fact go hand in hand.
^_^
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Chapter 1... done!
You finished the first chapter of your physiology textbook. It was aptly called, “introduction.” So now you are introduced to the insanity that you’ve signed up for.
You have not been able to take yourself seriously since deciding to undertake this journey, and how could you? What you are trying to do defies the rules of reality. No one you know has done this, no one you know would think about doing this. In fact, in the US, you doubt it would even be possible. But here it is, and you are doing it, and it is making you laugh.
And cry. Physiology is the basically the study of the body and its processes, both chemical and physical. It’s not necessarily hard; it wouldn’t be hard, rather, if you could decipher some of the terms. Some of the words you knew beforehand (arthritis, for example), while some others, are like ‘integumentary’… this refers to skin, apparently. The terms might as well be in Greek for all you can understand.
Actually they are in Greek. And that is the problem. Because not only are you learning about the body, you are learning about the body in Greek. And you no longer need to imagine some of what the internationals are going through at MBS. Yikes.
But you have finished Chapter 1, and that is good.
Even better, this class will not start until the end of July; you’ve stacked your MBS classes to finish in the first half of term. They will start… on Monday!
And it’s nice… because even though the break has been short, next term’s load is light; pursuing this medical pre-requisite has meant not taking an internship; not taking an internship means an extra term to study, which significantly reduces the courseload to something manageable. So while you have no idea if you can succeed in this path you’ve chosen, you’ve at least given yourself the best chance possible.
Ha ha. Time will tell.
^_^
P.S. Speaking of time, the Amazon replacement shipment arrived on Friday. Meaning that since the time of your inquiry, which was on either Monday or Tuesday night, Amazon was able to get a product to you halfway across the world in under a week. And while your blog is being overrun by comments about Amazon.com, you are incredibly impressed by them, and feel that you want to give them positive publicity if possible. You will definitely shop there again.
You have not been able to take yourself seriously since deciding to undertake this journey, and how could you? What you are trying to do defies the rules of reality. No one you know has done this, no one you know would think about doing this. In fact, in the US, you doubt it would even be possible. But here it is, and you are doing it, and it is making you laugh.
And cry. Physiology is the basically the study of the body and its processes, both chemical and physical. It’s not necessarily hard; it wouldn’t be hard, rather, if you could decipher some of the terms. Some of the words you knew beforehand (arthritis, for example), while some others, are like ‘integumentary’… this refers to skin, apparently. The terms might as well be in Greek for all you can understand.
Actually they are in Greek. And that is the problem. Because not only are you learning about the body, you are learning about the body in Greek. And you no longer need to imagine some of what the internationals are going through at MBS. Yikes.
But you have finished Chapter 1, and that is good.
Even better, this class will not start until the end of July; you’ve stacked your MBS classes to finish in the first half of term. They will start… on Monday!
And it’s nice… because even though the break has been short, next term’s load is light; pursuing this medical pre-requisite has meant not taking an internship; not taking an internship means an extra term to study, which significantly reduces the courseload to something manageable. So while you have no idea if you can succeed in this path you’ve chosen, you’ve at least given yourself the best chance possible.
Ha ha. Time will tell.
^_^
P.S. Speaking of time, the Amazon replacement shipment arrived on Friday. Meaning that since the time of your inquiry, which was on either Monday or Tuesday night, Amazon was able to get a product to you halfway across the world in under a week. And while your blog is being overrun by comments about Amazon.com, you are incredibly impressed by them, and feel that you want to give them positive publicity if possible. You will definitely shop there again.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Amazon!
A quick note before bed. Some unabashed and unbiased propaganda for a company whose employees you may never meet.
Before you went to bed last night, you sent Amazon a quick check-up e-mail, to try to make sense of the refund they gave you.
As it turned out, the refund amount was too low; they credited your account, and you effectively received a replacement package, absolutely free, and Amazon picked up the difference in shipping to Australia. All while you were sleeping.
Hats off to a great company. You will definitely shop there again.
^_^
Before you went to bed last night, you sent Amazon a quick check-up e-mail, to try to make sense of the refund they gave you.
As it turned out, the refund amount was too low; they credited your account, and you effectively received a replacement package, absolutely free, and Amazon picked up the difference in shipping to Australia. All while you were sleeping.
Hats off to a great company. You will definitely shop there again.
^_^
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Public vs. private sector
Ahh, the Navy. You had forgotten some of day to day, just like they said you would. All that remain are the roses.
Usually. Today, you did your annual credit report checkup, and… lo and behold… you owe the US government many thousands of dollars. Your credit score, which you once took pride in, is dissolving, because the US government, instead of mailing a bill to the address you gave them, or checking your US government retirement account for your current address, has decided to hire a collection agency to find you. Why? What money do you owe? You had no idea.
So you called them. It was 2AM when you called, it was 2:45 by the time someone finally picked up the phone. You were awake for this single conversation. His name was Mike, and he immediately asked you for your number.
If only the Melbourne bar scene worked like this.
After the initial pleasantries, he asked for your address, after which he replied, ‘Melbourne, Florida. Does that have an ‘e’ on the end?’
Apparently, the Navy had overpaid you during your service; after you had separated in July, it had taken them over six months to realize this grave mistake, and you are almost to Antarctica by now. Part of you does not think you were overpaid, and the other part of you thinks that even if you were overpaid, you definitely earned your money. You went to war, and besides, their mistake… a year later, it’s your money, right?
Well, maybe not. While this government might be running the most efficient country in the world, this is the same government that bypassed the judicial system by holding and torturing prisoners of war without charging them for war crimes. And while this post should not turn political, this disregard for humanity was a major reason you had decided to leave.
Anyway, after another thirty minutes, the matter was resolved, so you called Sallie Mae to get a voice to answer some of your too-specific school loan questions. You heard at least four messages warning you that, ‘wait times were long due to significantly increased caller volume,’ and the nameless operator even offered to call you back at a specified time so you could get on with your day. After all, the caller volume was high, so the wait time was… between one and three minutes. This is literal; before the standard wait messages were even done playing, they were interrupted by the sound of your call getting through.
At the end of this amazing Q&A with the girl named Megan (who, by the way, knew everything), you were asked to give feedback relating your experience. The fact that they care about what you think is pretty freaking amazing. And Megan was pretty freaking amazing too, so of course you gave her a perfect score. Sallie Mae was really nice to you today.
On the same note, you recently bought a package from Amazon that was defective; after filling out the form, you received an e-mail reply that said, among other things,
“Hello,
I'm sorry there was a problem with your order…
There's no need to return the defective merchandise you received. You're welcome to keep, donate or dispose of it--whichever option is most appropriate and convenient for you. Please note that, as the cost of return shipping is too expensive in this case, there is no need to return the faulty item.
The original payment method was charged $64.97 for the replacement order to expedite it through customs, and I also issued a refund for the original order at the same time.”
And yes, your inbox is flooded with Amazon refunds and payments; you will write Amazon again to confirm that you are not being charged twice for the same purchase. But somehow, you trust these guys.
How can a country with firms this amazing be run by a government so incompetent?
^_^
Usually. Today, you did your annual credit report checkup, and… lo and behold… you owe the US government many thousands of dollars. Your credit score, which you once took pride in, is dissolving, because the US government, instead of mailing a bill to the address you gave them, or checking your US government retirement account for your current address, has decided to hire a collection agency to find you. Why? What money do you owe? You had no idea.
So you called them. It was 2AM when you called, it was 2:45 by the time someone finally picked up the phone. You were awake for this single conversation. His name was Mike, and he immediately asked you for your number.
If only the Melbourne bar scene worked like this.
After the initial pleasantries, he asked for your address, after which he replied, ‘Melbourne, Florida. Does that have an ‘e’ on the end?’
Apparently, the Navy had overpaid you during your service; after you had separated in July, it had taken them over six months to realize this grave mistake, and you are almost to Antarctica by now. Part of you does not think you were overpaid, and the other part of you thinks that even if you were overpaid, you definitely earned your money. You went to war, and besides, their mistake… a year later, it’s your money, right?
Well, maybe not. While this government might be running the most efficient country in the world, this is the same government that bypassed the judicial system by holding and torturing prisoners of war without charging them for war crimes. And while this post should not turn political, this disregard for humanity was a major reason you had decided to leave.
Anyway, after another thirty minutes, the matter was resolved, so you called Sallie Mae to get a voice to answer some of your too-specific school loan questions. You heard at least four messages warning you that, ‘wait times were long due to significantly increased caller volume,’ and the nameless operator even offered to call you back at a specified time so you could get on with your day. After all, the caller volume was high, so the wait time was… between one and three minutes. This is literal; before the standard wait messages were even done playing, they were interrupted by the sound of your call getting through.
At the end of this amazing Q&A with the girl named Megan (who, by the way, knew everything), you were asked to give feedback relating your experience. The fact that they care about what you think is pretty freaking amazing. And Megan was pretty freaking amazing too, so of course you gave her a perfect score. Sallie Mae was really nice to you today.
On the same note, you recently bought a package from Amazon that was defective; after filling out the form, you received an e-mail reply that said, among other things,
“Hello,
I'm sorry there was a problem with your order…
There's no need to return the defective merchandise you received. You're welcome to keep, donate or dispose of it--whichever option is most appropriate and convenient for you. Please note that, as the cost of return shipping is too expensive in this case, there is no need to return the faulty item.
The original payment method was charged $64.97 for the replacement order to expedite it through customs, and I also issued a refund for the original order at the same time.”
And yes, your inbox is flooded with Amazon refunds and payments; you will write Amazon again to confirm that you are not being charged twice for the same purchase. But somehow, you trust these guys.
How can a country with firms this amazing be run by a government so incompetent?
^_^
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Term 1 is Done
Happy May, happy mothers day!
There’s always an inverse relation between how busy you are and how much you write in your blog. These last two weeks included a show, five finals, and a visit from an old Navy friend; well, not an old friend, per se, because he is still younger than you… and he will continue to be younger than you for as long as you live. In Korea, you would have had to buy him dinner every meal for the rest of your life. Thank God you are not in Korea :)
You hadn’t seen him since you stopped by Thailand on your move down to Melbourne. Before that, you haven’t been in the same region of the world since before you did your tour in Hawaii. 2005, to be exact.
Doesn’t seem like so long ago. Four years have passed in an instant.
So have the past two weeks.
In terms of news, the show itself went well; some of your friends and acquaintances saw a different side of you then they knew existed. Just before you got up there, a few of the first termers mentioned they were looking forward to a song about economics; though they were half-joking, there was enough of an undercurrent of seriousness that you had to laugh at the person you’ve become… instead of the friendly guy, or the crazy hair guy, you are now the studious guy who is perceived as being conceptually aware of what’s going on in school – so much that this perceived knowledge has spilled over into your music, not the other way around.
That is a strange revelation. You have never been this guy before. Before, you were always the guy that was good at math but had so many outside activities that you didn’t really spend enough time to be good at anything else. You liked having hobbies, and you poured your heart and soul into them. You still like having hobbies, but you are having fewer and fewer as time goes on… even if you’ve recently neglected them even more than you’ve neglected your blog.
Anyway. People change, and the jury is still out on whether this change is for better or for worse. Is it better to specialize, or to be well-rounded, without having any real expertise? There is no right answer.
Class starts again on Monday; you have (hopefully) one 12 week class and 2 hyperintensives on the weekends, which should give you more than enough time to sink your teeth into physiology in July. You’ll do what you can to try to make it work, and you are still looking forward to the challenge. It still makes little sense, but you are still 100% sure that this is what you should be doing.
*fingers crossed*
^_^
There’s always an inverse relation between how busy you are and how much you write in your blog. These last two weeks included a show, five finals, and a visit from an old Navy friend; well, not an old friend, per se, because he is still younger than you… and he will continue to be younger than you for as long as you live. In Korea, you would have had to buy him dinner every meal for the rest of your life. Thank God you are not in Korea :)
You hadn’t seen him since you stopped by Thailand on your move down to Melbourne. Before that, you haven’t been in the same region of the world since before you did your tour in Hawaii. 2005, to be exact.
Doesn’t seem like so long ago. Four years have passed in an instant.
So have the past two weeks.
In terms of news, the show itself went well; some of your friends and acquaintances saw a different side of you then they knew existed. Just before you got up there, a few of the first termers mentioned they were looking forward to a song about economics; though they were half-joking, there was enough of an undercurrent of seriousness that you had to laugh at the person you’ve become… instead of the friendly guy, or the crazy hair guy, you are now the studious guy who is perceived as being conceptually aware of what’s going on in school – so much that this perceived knowledge has spilled over into your music, not the other way around.
That is a strange revelation. You have never been this guy before. Before, you were always the guy that was good at math but had so many outside activities that you didn’t really spend enough time to be good at anything else. You liked having hobbies, and you poured your heart and soul into them. You still like having hobbies, but you are having fewer and fewer as time goes on… even if you’ve recently neglected them even more than you’ve neglected your blog.
Anyway. People change, and the jury is still out on whether this change is for better or for worse. Is it better to specialize, or to be well-rounded, without having any real expertise? There is no right answer.
Class starts again on Monday; you have (hopefully) one 12 week class and 2 hyperintensives on the weekends, which should give you more than enough time to sink your teeth into physiology in July. You’ll do what you can to try to make it work, and you are still looking forward to the challenge. It still makes little sense, but you are still 100% sure that this is what you should be doing.
*fingers crossed*
^_^
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