you know when things don't turn out the way you expect them to? usually every day is so mundane, nothing going on, but then there are certain things that happen that surprise you. i guess that's why people say they don't like surprises.

i think i still do. i can't control these circumstances anyways.

i'm actually excited about starting lab next summer and next year. I'll be a grad student! It's so weird, being a part of that group. In Stanford, we used to call them "those sketchy grad students". Now I'm going to be one. Just don't let me buy clogs... the ultimate lab shoe. I think I'm destined to own a pair tho. Maybe I can get a cute pair.

Things Learned: Keys to Getting Off of Ski Lift Successfully on a Snowboard
(without a stomp pad)

1. Kick the snow off of your board while you're on the lift, esp in the area where your free foot may land.
2. Scooch as far away from your other liftmates as possible (eliminates the possibility of someone, esp yourself, grabbing onto someone else and pulling everyone down into a messy fall).
3. As you're about to get up, put your foot firmly down and gain your balance FIRST, before standing up. It's important to go slow here without panicking.
4. Hope for the best, esp turning or stopping without a stomp pad. Now that's hard.

My success rate at getting off of lifts really increased yesterday - got off about 8 times successfully, only fell once. It was a great day - weather was great, and I boarded all day for $10! It was much better than going to class. :) I'll have to make up for lost time tho, this weekend.

I cut my bangs today, hoping it'll clear my outlook on life.

I think I'm still sick - I still have muscle aches and a cough, and I keep on sleeping four hours at a time during the afternoons. It's almost scary, I just KNOCK out. I wonder if I have some virus? In Micro, we learn about all these blood cultures, sputum cultures, or serology tests to do in times of flu symptoms, but I've *never* had the option of doing that when I've been the sick person. So why learn it? ;)

My dad in action. I rarely get to see him *truly* in his element - usually at home, he's surrounded by his three daughters it's so hard for him to get a word in edgewise. but when you see him at work, i really saw a different side to him. i can only hope that one day, i'll love my job as much as he does. he was born for this. 


A really random thing happened a few days ago. I received an apology from a stranger (or at least, I don't remember him) via email, from this one guy that said he was my mentee (I was a mentor at one time during undergrad). He said he didn't expect me to recognize him or remember him, but recently a friend asked him if there was anything he could change about his past, and he said he wished he had been friendlier to me, because I had always been nice to him. random huh?

a short online chat with my dad:

me: apa, I think I'm gaining weight.
dad: eat less

studying for the USMLE boards has officially started today, with a four hour embryology review. wow, so much of embryology looked foreign. ;) i officially broke in my First Aid book by writing in it for the first time (as AS bluntly commented, it does look really new, even tho I bought it over a year ago).

it was a study day today. went to a prof's house for office hours - it was interesting, she is single and lives a little like a college student except in a much bigger and nicer house. remind me if in ten years, i'm single, to limit myself to one cat.

Food Myths
courtesy of Alton Brown's Good Eats show on "Food Mythsmashers", which I thought was interesting.
(in no particular order, actually in the order which I remember it and think it's impt)

Myth #1: Mushrooms soak up water, so don't wash them.
Answer: wrong. Alton ran some very scientific experiments (as a future PhD student, I was quite impressed with his controls :) and found that even soaking mushrooms in water for 30 minutes showed no difference from washing them under running water for mere seconds. And even then, 4 oz. of mushrooms only absorbed about a tsp of water. And since mushrooms are grown in compost (albeit sanitized, but still, pretty gross), it's probably a good idea to wash your mushrooms and not brush them.

Myth #2: Non-stick pans can kill small birds.
Answer: TRUE. Heated to 500 degrees, a non stick pan gives off fumes that sensitive birds like parrots and canaries can breathe in and die from. Since this experiment has never been done on humans (not intentionally, altho it has been reported that non stick pans can give humans flu-like symptoms), Alton recommends using non stick for medium heat cooking (not for searing or even sauteeing) and never use a nonstick pan, dry, with no food in it.

It's so tough to avoid nonstick. My roomie only owns Le Creuset non-nonstick pans, and it's so hard to use and such a pain to clean. Definitely in terms of convenience, nonstick pans are great - but knowledge is always impt.

feeling a bit sick today. sniff. it's been a short week, but it's felt sooo long. not sure why.

Good luck to Sarah on her dance performance tomorrow!

Spoons

What a weekend. Not a lot of sleep nor studying, but still a lot of fun. I love three day weekends! A bunch of church people came over, and we ended up playing "Spoons" til 2 am. Man, it's a dangerous game... the first time I played it. I ended up with a bent fingernail and a thumbprint bruise on my leg. Another girl got her face scratched, and SL (a small but strong girl) was tackling people. At one point, SL grabbed all five spoons and started blackmailing me - "are you going to be nice to me?" But then my roomie and I ganged up on her and wrestled away all the spoons. haha. She was bitter that the roommate coalition ruined her blackmail plan. :)

ooh it's beautiful outside today. the sun is back out. yay. To study neuro or not to study?

"God has extremely low expectations"
A quote I found in a book review in the Oprah magazine. I thought it was a funny thought.

I think I have a problem, it's alarming me how much I'm sleeping these days. I just fall asleep and wake up 2.5 hours later. Maybe I have something wrong with my reticular activating system? :P

I did go to ballet class today - probably the most productive thing I did all day today. The teacher used me to demonstrate sissone's. :) I think I strained a muscle tho.

Three day weekend coming up! It's going to be a weekend full of friends - old ones from high school and new recent ones. It should be really fun, hopefully we won't get stuck in the snow at Tahoe. It's been raining for a week, so the snow should be really powdery. Maybe it'll be easier to fall into. ;) I hope I get better at boarding!! It's really exhausting, getting up from falling all the time.
***
In response to a question asked by a reader to the author of "French Women Don't Get Fat", Mireille Guilliano, where the reader asked, "How to win a French woman's heart?"

"Speaking now as a French woman, let me say that since we cultivate joie de vivre showing an appreciation for that is the key. Respect and enhance the enjoyment she derives using her senses in tiny thoughtful ways - some flowers for no reason, a divine piece of chocolate left for her to find with a sweet note. Champagne is great. All the old clichés…they became clichés because they work and are used again and again. And be sure to be open to the pleasure of the senses yourself. American men can be so joylessly pragmatic sometimes and short of spontaneity, delight in the moment. Above all make her laugh, and that applies to all women the world over."

in my defense, in response to jen's blog (since she won't let anyone comment, ahem), i went to bed at 2:30 am last night and was really tired and had to get up to go to Psychiatry class to INTERVIEW a PATIENT at the mental health treatment center. Not to be a patient at the treatment center. It was interesting - saw a person with schizophrenia, must be a horrible disease to have. The patient we had tho, her schizophrenia was drug-induced (drugs caused her brain damage). A big reason not to do drugs.

After psych class, we went to Trader Joe's and picked up some groceries. I am now eating blue corn tamales with green chile and hummus and whole wheat pita bread. yum! I really wish they would open a Trader Joe's here.

Valentine's day was fun - had a potluck dinner with some med school friends, and then some church friends came over and we ended up watching "Strictly Ballroom" and talked til 2:30 am. Interesting conversation, including the classic, "can girls and guys ever be just friends?" My safe answer to that is, it's different for each individual. :) I also got a phone call from an old flame - that was the extent of the romance in my Valentine's day (i.e. not much).

It's raining. So dreary outside.

i love the morning news shows - the Today show, the View, Good Morning America... it's a great way to start the day. The only down side is, it usually takes a lot longer to get ready in the morning if I'm watching. And it's harder to study for my cardio final with the tv on. ;)

SF this weekend! My gift to myself celebrating the end of finals... it'll be a weekend for family. My aunt just had surgery, so I'll stay with her and see how she's doing, and Sarah's coming up so i'll see her. Going to see the SF ballet that night too. really excited! Maybe it'll inspire me to exercise and go to ballet class regularly again.

Missing ice skating. I had a burger at Murder burger yesterday and felt myself gain two pounds (it was *really* good tho). Maybe more than missing ice skating, I'd rather ice skate than study pharm. :P 

Inside "The Rock". My first visit to the Alcatraz, despite the fact that I was born in SF and have been near the bay area for a huge chunk of my life. It was really interesting! We did the audio tour, and there were so many fascinating stories of prison riots, escapes, and prison life. Definitely worth seeing. 

tonight, jen went to see the New York City Ballet and went backstage to say "hi" to a guy we used to dance with, about 15 years ago. eek, I'm that old. Fifteen years ago, Andrew was a little boy about half my height, the little boy that all the girls doted on. He was so cute; he was cast with Jen and I in the Nutcracker "Chinese Tea" and even did a backflip on stage. Now he's this guy that's taller than Jen, a full time dancer with one of the best ballet companies in the world, dancing every night. So amazing... also he was telling Jen about his older brother, Mike, who was our year and used to dance too. I always used to practice lifts with Mike, that was fun. And now, Mike's married with four kids! I couldn't believe it. Again, he's my age. eek. Am I behind, or is Mike ahead? Destiny's a funny thing - we were at the same point in time at one point in our lives, but now our paths are completely divergent.

Also reminds me of another old time friend... a high school friend and I played the flute together and we were really similar - aside from other similarities, we both played the flute, and we both had exactly the same SAT score. She went onto college though, majoring in flute, and our paths diverged then. The funny thing is, 8 years later, we're back in the same city, studying almost the same thing (she's studying veterinary medicine). Weird how our paths diverged then merged again.

This picture was taken by Nate's partner, Fernando Bengoechea, who still remains missing in the tsunami. 

Nate Berkus, a tsunami survivor. On the Oprah show today. Nate's story and the other survivors' stories really brought the tragedy to life.
 

jet lag - i feel so out of it these days. this quote made me do a double take:

"The future is now here.
(But now here is nowhere to someone who’s cross-eyed)"
-Jason Mraz, in his journal

the tsunami really is everywhere on the news and on the internet, huh? it's so easy to be numb (like jet-lag numb) to the disasterous consequences of it, but the importance and severity of this event only hit me when I found out that Nate Berkus (an interior designer for Oprah, being the big Oprah fan that I am) was in the middle of it. By reading his personal story and a real account of what happened there, really brought it home for me. And in case you've been off the planet or in a plane like I have, here's his story told in the point of view of a 20 year old girl who met Nate in the midst of the tsunami.

"It was pitch black by 7pm, although we did have the light from the full moon. We took some bed sheets from the house and placed them in the field. There were 10 of us, and Nate. Nate’s partner Fernando was missing. He was on his own and asked if he could spend his time with us as he liked being in a big family. So he joined us on our sheets. The suspense that night was awful. None of us slept as we could hear the waves crashing onto the beach over and over again. The sound brought back all the terrible memories of the day. To distract ourselves we talked to Nate about his job, He’s famous in America and does a show with Oprah Winfrey. He has interviewed every single 'A' list celebrity. By the way, Brad Pitt is a pothead and has bad skin, Julia Roberts is down to earth, had no entourage and doesn’t wear much make-up and Renee Zelweiger is a bit odd. The list could go on.
...
We found out Daddy had gone straight to hospital because his leg was extremely painful. He later had to have surgery as it was badly infected. It went from a small cut to a potential amputation within 2 days. That’s how quickly infection spread out there. When I arrived in hospital I saw Nate. It was so nice to see his positive, smiley face. Especially in a hospital filled with the injured and dead. It was mayhem there. Nate still hadn’t heard anything about Fernando. We were in beds next to each other and he chatted to me whilst my wounds were literally scrubbed by the doctors- so painful. I then had a head x-ray, which showed nothing was broken. Mummy started feeling faint at the hospital and couldn’t stand up. So she and Daddy stayed whilst Nate, Laura, Guy and I were taken to the refugee house. There we were given clothes and food by Sri Lankans. There was also a chance for the no so injured to have a shower. In the evening, our group of 30 or so tourists, some of whom had become very close friends, were all split up. That was the last we saw of Adrian, Dave, the Wooley’s and Nate."

That girl's website is here.

A CNN report:

""We were completely devastated yesterday morning," Nate Berkus told CNN. "There was absolutely no warning."

Berkus, a regular contributor to "The Oprah Winfrey Show," said he and a friend were sleeping in a beachfront cottage at Arugam Bay on Sri Lanka's eastern coast when he heard a loud noise and the roof was ripped off.

Berkus, 33, said they were swept into the sea along with debris, animals and other people.

The two grabbed a telephone pole, he said, but lost their grips when a second large wave hit. Berkus told CNN that he climbed onto the roof of a home; his friend was missing.

Berkus said he and about 50 other survivors -- tourists and locals -- spent the rest of the night in a field, but were without water and food. Many of the group were injured, including a pregnant woman who had broken ribs, he said.

Members of the Sri Lankan army had taken a few of the injured away in helicopters, he said, and told the rest of the group that other helicopters would arrive at sunrise.

"It's just been utter devastation. Bodies everywhere," Berkus said. "I'm very scraped up, but luckily I'm OK ... against that kind of force of nature, there was nothing any of us could do."

Berkus said that lost everything he had with him.

"I'm sitting here with nothing -- no passport, no money, no anything, in shorts that somebody gave me ... the bottom line is, we desperately need help here."
"

article here.

a comic that was featured on NPR, called "Same Difference", written by Derek Kim. Pretty funny.  


back in rainy nor cal. we had a long layover in Japan at the narita airport, and it actually ended up being really interesting. I wanted to eat udon in Japan, so we did... i also bought a shiseido sunscreen, some grape mints, and a green tea kit kat. really interesting! not sure when i'm going to eat the green tea kit kat. :)

class from 11 til 5 pm on Monday! *faint* ah, definitely back to reality now.

tomorrow's my last full day in korea. kinda sad, but i'm trying to think of the last few weeks as a really nice Christmas gift. it's raining in nor Cal too. blah.

ice skating was so fun today... yesterday was really strenuous, but today was just really fun, trying to perfect my jumps (actually just one jump - the most basic jump that has no name b/c it's so simple :) and spins. I did three revolutions on a spin today! hehe my teacher told my sis that I should pay for lunch b/c of my success with doing three spins (it's a korean thing, paying for lunch for your friends when you have good fortune. kinda like spreading the luck and happiness around.) too bad I couldn't repeat the three-turn-spin though. tomorrow's my last day of skating! i kinda wanted to go to Lotte World to the indoor ice rink tonight, but everyone's starting to get sick, so I thought I should take it easy.

My new favorite fashion brand: Fiorucci. Too bad there are no stores in the US, but they have the cutest clothes. Kind of like a European Betsey Johnson.

Color of the moment: kelly green

Korean band of the moment: JinuSean (usually not a huge fan of Korean music, but Jinusean's hip hop is infectious and fun)

My plans for my last day in Korea: ice skating, seeing my baby cousin, going to our favorite ice cream store Red Mango, and packing.

an interesting article... a little shocking to see it in numbers, quantified.

Brainy women face handicap in marriage stakes: British survey
(Article here)

LONDON (AFP) - A high IQ is a hindrance for women wanting to get married while it is an asset for men, according to a study by four British universities published in The Sunday Times newspaper.

The study found the likelihood of marriage increased by 35 percent for boys for each 16-point increase in IQ.

But for girls, there is a 40-percent drop for each 16-point rise, according to the survey by the universities of Aberdeen, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow.


The study is based on the IQs of 900 men and women between their 10th and 40th birthdays.


"Women in their late 30s who have gone for careers after the first flush of university and who are among the brightest of their generation are finding that men are just not interesting enough," said psychologist and professor at Nottingham University Paul Brown in The Sunday Times.


Claire Rayner, writer and broadcaster, said in the article that intelligent men often prefered a less brainy partner.


"A chap with a high IQ is going to get a demanding job that is going to take up a lot of his energy and time. In many ways he wants a woman who is an old-fashioned wife and looks after the home, a copy of his mum in a way."

Happy New Year's, everyone! We celebrated the new year's in style this year (for the first time?) at an official party at the newest, trendiest hotel in town, arguably in all of Asia. A new six-star W Hotel was just recently built in Seoul at Walker Hill, and it seemed like all of Seoul's socialites were there, esp the English-speaking ones. So strange how a lot of English-speaking gyo po's were there, incl us. A fortunate (for me :) turn of events allowed my lil sister to be with us, delaying her departure flight for one more day - at the airport, as they parked the car so that she could depart, she accidentally slammed the door on her finger and unfortunately, the door stayed closed while she yelled bloody murder. After a trip to the ER tho, she seemed fine and even partied with us last night.

Anyways, W Hotel was really cool - one of Jen's friends had rented a suite for Dec. 31 - Jan 1, in a room that costs 2,000,000 won (which is equivalent to $2,000 a night!!?!). The hotel was so exclusive - they were completely controlling who was entering the hotel and who was leaving, but as long as you spoke English, they let you do anything you wanted. So crazy, but it was really trendy with a red and white theme, a completely circular bed, a red jacuzzi bath, a plasma tv, and a beautiful view of the Han River. We partied American-style - due to the large number of international kids and met some interesting guys. It actually ended up being a lot of fun, and we rang in the new year's with style.

After that crazy late night, we kind of chilled all day today, doing my usual - eating and sleeping. I am eating way too much - I can't eat like this back in the states, I'm only eating like this b/c I'm ice skating every day. Except for today.

At any rate, I can't believe it's 2005! Happy New Year's, everyone!