i'm in bangkok! i'm at the airport, here on a two hour layover, good thing I found free internet. :P I got lost briefly in this vast airport where they believe that you should walk almost a mile in beteen terminals. but i'm glad i'm here thus far in one piece. It was raining about five minutes ago but then cleared up pretty quickly -it's definitely monsoon season, can feel it in the air. Hopefully the weather will hold up, and my shoes (they already gave me two blisters).

Going to meet the med school gang in Ko Samui - hopefully we'll all get there in one piece, esp one friend whose boards got cancelled on him the day of (and he had a nonrefundable flight to thailand the following day). i hope we all get there in one piece. I can't wait to get there! let my vacation begin~

hopefully you guys who are still studying for the boards or who just finished, BEST OF LUCK - trust your instincts, a lot of stuff you know already, and a lot of stuff came to me as I remembered some of the things they actually taught in class and hadn't studied recently. have faith in the human brain - it works a lot better than you think. ;) and those of you who just finished, live it up! enjoy your time before we all get back to work in a few weeks.

ack, real life in two weeks... i can't believe it. i feel like a native Korean now. :D almost. ooh we had a nice surprise this morning at the airport when I found out you need a visa after 30 days in Korea, and I was considered an "illegal alien". they even have a small room for us, the illegal alien. Thankfully, no one tried to make us offer any bribes and things were cleared up really quickly. I didn't get upgraded this time, j. :( was very disappointed. maybe on the way back. :D

have a great weekend, everyone! i'll check my email when i can - i'm going to a fairly remote area. pray for no tsunamis. :D

the boards were... horrible. seven hours of staring at an old computer screen with a really bad flicker was not fun. BUT IT'S OVER... i've been going out all day, every day since then - met up with g and j, showed them around seoul and even got to drink yogurt soju with them in shin chon for the first time (I've never been there at night, it was CRAZY), went shopping in dongdaemun and found true religion jeans, drank too much yogurt soju, and almost went clubbing. (long story)

met up with more med students today... had a really fun time. decided to stay home tonight to pack - thailand tomorrow!

how do you live in the moment if you have to prepare for tomorrow? or next wednesday, for that matter.

buckling... under... pressure... i think i need a lush bath.

an interesting article in which I generally agree with: talking about how the Republican party ends up alienating the "moderate Christians" and our role in politics.

"But for us [the moderate Christians], the only absolute standard of behavior is the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves....

When we see an opportunity to save our neighbors' lives through stem cell research, we believe that it is our duty to pursue that research, and to oppose legislation that would impede us from doing so.

...Following a Lord who reached out in compassion to all human beings, we oppose amending the Constitution in a way that would humiliate homosexuals.

For us, living the Love Commandment may be at odds with efforts to encapsulate Christianity in a political agenda. We strongly support the separation of church and state, both because that principle is essential to holding together a diverse country, and because the policies of the state always fall short of the demands of faith. Aware that even our most passionate ventures into politics are efforts to carry the treasure of religion in the earthen vessel of government, we proceed in a spirit of humility lacking in our conservative colleagues."

article here.

summer berry cream cake, anyone? 

my dad is telling everyone how the boards are a test to mainly weed out foreign med students - and he thinks I shouldn't study so hard. (He told me yesterday I should study four hours a day, MAX) Now all my cousins and relatives think that this test is really easy, thanks to my dad - yes, an easy eight hour exam. it's a medical licensing exam! So now I have not only my dad telling me not to study, but all my cousins who are telling me not to study as well, and for me to go play with them at Lotte World or water parks or go shopping. so evil!!!

test time is coming up! it seems so far away, which isn't healthy, I still think there's a lot of time. I can't wait until this is over. my original desired test date was on june 17, but the only time slot available was on the 22nd, so I just grabbed it. Man, if I had taken my test on the 17th (which is today) i would have died.

i wonder if i can nap during my breaks during my actual exam...

it's all about the WORDPLAY

jason mraz's new music video! hilarious~ surprising too.

i'm all path-ed out. gonna watch my daily episode of sex and the city starting in about 10 min.

dreaming, if i had a lot of money.

cancelled ice skating for the first time - my teacher said he'll give me a lesson after my test is over. he's so nice, last time he paid for my entrance fee and i didn't realize it til later. he gives off such a gruff persona, but a softie at heart.

i'm scared i'm going to regress in ice skating - i made so much progress. but like my mom said, it's better to forget a step in ice skating than to fail the boards. :P

we went and checked out the testing site today. very sterile, which i guess is a good thing. it's horrible but ppl treat you better if u speak english - i guess i'll have to fake it next week and pretend to only speak english. i looked at the testers scheduled for that day - 99% are taking the TOEFL, and about three or four ppl are taking some off test (PIC? or something like that). No USMLE step 1 test takers. :P hopefully it wasn't a stupid move to take it here in korea.

played tennis with my dad today. my mom's out of town for the next few days, so it's just the two of us. it was fun - I kicked his butt... by making him run around the court my horrible shots. ;) I haven't picked up a tennis racket in two years, and so I totally wore him out b/c he was running after the balls I hit (including one that went over the fence). haha he was exhausted after 30 minutes (so was I). I was improving tho. and then he bought me a banana split afterwards - that was the best part. ;) The last one I ate was probably bought my him, too, years ago.

studying = not productive = probably not surprising

Funny statements on commercial products:

Bag of Fritos:
"You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside"
(The shoplifter special)

Swanson frozen dinners:
"Serving suggestion: Defrost"
(just a suggestion)

Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom of box):
"Do not turn upside down."
(Too late)

Children's Cough Medicine:
"Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this
medication"
(Good idea for most kids)

Sears hairdryer:
"Do not use while sleeping"
(Okay)

Christmas lights:
"For indoor or outdoor use only."
(What's left?)

Japanese food processor:
"Not to be used for the other use."
(I gotta admit, I'm curious)

Sainsbury's peanuts:
"Warning: contains nuts."

American Airlines packet of nuts:
"Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts."
(Step 3: Fly Delta)

Child's Superman costume:
"Wearing of the garment does not enable you to fly."
(Lawyers wrote that one)

Outside the Forbidden City

Outside the Forbidden City
Originally uploaded by jochang621.

in the morning glow.

doing everything to procrastinate studying. looked briefly thru my beijing pics - i had such a blast.

much better than doing physio. my studying schedule has shifted back another day. ok back to studying. for reals.

feeling better

after i ice skate. i'm always a little iffy before i go - i'm tired, there's so much to do... but it's always refreshing to take a break and sweat a little bit. my jumps are getting better... not much else is. :P

stuyding my microcards on the subway have been really productive. :P not sure why. maybe it helps to have someone read over my shoulder intrusively.

bought my ticket to thailand!! i'm so excited, gonna hang with a few of my classmates.

Memory

I remember when I was younger, someone told me that if you read something once, you'll retain about 40% of it. Then the second time you read something, you'll retain 90% of it. I think I'm living proof that's not true.

Too much to memorize. My brain is going to implode, while the previously learned stuff is trickling into disappearance. We'll all pull out ok, right?

Korean tv

Pros:

• No commercials! During the show, at least... they save all the commercials and play them all at the end of the show, so there's like 20-30 minutes of commercials after each show. It's so weird tho, when Oprah's like, "we'll do this... after the break" and then it comes on right away. It's great. ;)
  
• All the older American TV shows are on - Apprentice season 1, all the American Idols... but more than that, Jamie Oliver is on the Food Channel like 3-4 times a day. He's only playing in the early early morning hours in the US (he's been on for a long time, I suppose) but I love it~ his food looks soooo yummy, with fresh basil and fruits and vegetables.
  

BIG con:

• Very distracting from my studying!!
  

Going to study with my cousin in the university area of Seoul today. Hoping that a change of scene will help me study. It's also the area where Ehwa University is, the top girls' school in Korea, who are known for their fashionable and pretty girls. Feeling a little bit of pressure to blend in. ;) It should be fun.

my studying schedule for the next few weeks:

1 day immuno
1 day micro
1 day behavior
1 day biostats
4 days physio
6 days pathology

then review for the remaining days. an idealistic schedule, let's hope it works. test is coming up!

went to a fairly distant cousin's baby's first birthday party yesterday (my distant cousin is the baby's dad). i never knew i had so many relatives - i basically was an object of curiosity, the "tall american medical school girl" that they'd only heard about (since I live so far away). it was a little odd. i think people aren't sure what to do with me b/c they're not sure about how well I can speak korean. it wasn't too bad, a few of my cousins that i knew well came so that made it fun. the baby was really adorable, he was nice enough to let me hold him without crying. ;)

talking to the baby's mom, and then falling asleep with his nose squished. 

sean's drooling on my shoulder 

my cutie pie cousin. she's gotten so big. she was fooling around so much during dinner and exasperating her mom. I wasn't helping by cracking up.  


Buried deep in my histology syllabus: (yes, I can't believe I'm digging thru my histo syllabus, looking for information on the vestibulocochlar system)

"The cochlea responds to vibrations created by sound waves striking the ear drum. The device responds to vibrations ranging from deep bass to very high pitched sounds..... At least until age 40, or the completion of 4 Led Zepplin concerts, whichever comes first. Thereafter the response range narrows from a low of 3,100 to a high of 3,104. Coincidentally, this is precisely the range in which your spouse does NOT speak, but exactly the range at which most microwaves, dishwashers, washing machines, vacuums, teenagers, and furnace fans operate. Note this. It will explain a great deal as you age."

i felt like all the signs today were telling me not to go ice skating today. I hadn't slept much (started stressing out after I saw that my current studying schedule wouldn't allow me to finish studying before taking the boards), it was raining and thundering and the wind was blowing really really hard, and my mom was tempting me to stay at home. To top it off, I missed the shuttle bus so had to hail a taxi. Man, missing the shuttle bus was almost too much, but my teacher was waiting and I had already spent so much time getting there, so I went. All in all, I was really glad I went - I had a really good time today. I felt like I was working off my stress by repeating and working on my jumps, over and over. It felt really good, my endorphins were running high. I really needed that.

Exercise increases BDNF in your brain (a neurotrophic brain factor). So while studying for the boards, I think it's a good idea to exercise - it makes me smarter. ;) That's my excuse for going twice a week.

The Altar Boyz CD in the mail came today, with five autographs written out to me - I love it!