greetings from the motherland

I'm in Seoul now and find myself with some peace and quiet for the first time on my entire trip. Plus reliable internet access! I have a million pictures I want to show you, of course, but that'll have to wait until I get home and upload all 700+ of them.

We were first in Beijing for a few days. It's a fascinating city with endless history but also a modern feel. Like Berlin but not quite as much. We went to the Great Wall on a foggy day and couldn't see much but it was still impressive to walk the steep slopes. I always thought the wall itself would be really high but it's not. The Forbidden City was perhaps one of my favorite sights, along with the Summer House or was it called the Summer Palace?

The food in Beijing was fairly good but sometimes I couldn't help but wonder if it was totally sanitary. The bathrooms certainly weren't. I even saw a bathroom that didn't have stalls or DOORS! I'm great at holding it in though so I didn't have to sully myself too much.

Shopping was remarkable in Beijing. Silk, jade and jadeite, pearls, tea. I don't even want to know how much money we spent... but I'm now a proud owner of two pearl necklaces, a jadeite bracelet, and the BEST jasmine tea in the entire world.

I was lucky enough to visit Peking University and meet with a few alternative medicine doctors. I never believed in them very much but this one doctor put three fingers on each of my radial pulses and after a short while said "Do you have stomach problems?" !!!! He was amazing. Totally blew me away. Call me gullible, but they got everything right for everyone in our tour group. Just by feeling our pulses!! What the heck?? So I couldn't help but purchase $1000 worth of herbal medicines for my IBS. I hope it works... If not, then it's an expensive lesson to never believe in alternative medicine again... So stay tuned.

I'll tell stories of Korea later...

going abroad again

I'll be MIA for a few weeks as I travel to Beijing, China and South Korea. I promise to take tons of pictures! I hope the weather stays good and that my IBS stays quiet (somehow I doubt that!). But I look forward to gorging on great food and lots of shopping sprees. Oh, and learning about some historical sites. :)

I just finished reading a couple of books. "Just Checking" is a funny short book about the life of an OCDer. It's frightening and insightful at the same time. I also read Dr. McKersie's "In the Foothills of Medicine" about his work in inner-city Chicago and Nepal. He was my family medicine attending and I have a lot of respect for him. Great read.

I'm currently almost done with "Blink" which is fascinating, though a bit repetitive after a while. I'm bringing with me "Eats Shoots and Leaves," "Atonement," and "Blood Meridian."

Keith and Ellen's Wedding

Saturday, May 13th was Keith and Ellen's Wedding at the Columbus Park Refectory in Oak Park. It was elegant and beautiful. I think they are the Cutest, Best-Looking Couple I know. and I can't imagine them looking more happy than they did on their wedding day.

Even though it was a wedding celebration, it also felt like an early graduation/farewell party because so many of my classmates were there. I'm going to miss these guys. Clearly, we still think we're the #1 Physical Diagnosis Group 11. Keith will be in Oregon, Gaurav will be in Minneapolis, and Ro-Ro will be at Newton-Wellesley but back at the U of C in a year. At least this gives me reason to visit people. You know... because I'll have so much free time!

old navy dog

Old Navy is looking for a new dog mascot. of course we had to enter Britten because he's definitely the cutest dog in the world, in our most objective opinions. but i was checking out the competition yesterday and look what i found. everybody, please meet Brass Monkee of Riverside, PA:

i don't think i really need to comment further, do i? can we say drowned rat having a bad hair day, with creepy overgrown tongue?!?!?



Britten wins hands-down:

video news release

i had a fun day today. i'm co-author on a paper about residency duty hours that's going to be published in Annals of Internal Medicine in june. they've decided to do a video news release based on the article. according to past nielson ratings, it has the potential of reaching millions (50+) of viewers and will be aired on hundreds of local stations across the country. :) i'm very excited.

they mostly interviewed the first-author but they also interviewed me so hopefully i won't be edited out! :) but even if i am, it's still cool that we'll be getting all that publicity. they also took lots of shots of me sleeping in a call room, walking down the hall looking busy, etc. it took forEVER, ~4 hours, for a clip that will probably ultimately be edited down to 2 minutes.

it feels so rewarding to see the work i started as a first-year, finally being published in a big journal! i'll be sure to post the link here when it comes out in June.

irony

I overheard this story from a couple EMS nurses...

A five-year old had to be emergently transported after being hit by an ice-cream truck. The kid weighed 100 pounds!

road rage

here's my story of the worst Road Rage i have ever seen.

on friday, i was driving to see a play at the Steppenwolf, called "Love Lies Bleeding" by Don DeLillo. i was going north on Michigan Ave which has two lanes. there was a bus in the righthand lane and i was in the left lane but behind the bus. there was a large 4x4 blue truck stuck behind the bus, when he tried to pull in right in front of me, causing me to brake and honk. he stopped when he heard my honk and when he probably realized that i was too close for him to be cutting in front of me (or so i hope). but after a brief pause, he decided to be an asshole anyway, and squeezed into the tiny space between me and bus, just to get into my lane. he almost crashed into me. i honked for an entire block bc not only was i mad but he was being a totally reckless and dangerous driver. he gave us the finger, we gave him the finger... and then later on, as i passed him because he was turning right, he had the nerve to roll down his window and try to SPIT on my car!!

Joy tried to call 311 but no one picked up and so it turned over to the 911 dispatcher who could have cared less. what a great and safe city!

mexican food like it's supposed to be

I recently discovered the Taco & Burrito House on Fullerton Ave. It's a stone's throw away from Facets Cinematheque where I went to see a movie during the Latino Film Fest. But getting back to Taco & Burrito House... mmmm. I had a steak burrito (jumbo size) and it was spicy, greasy, and best of all, super super cheap. Highly recommended. (but not every day unless you want a heart attack)

a cold day in may

friday, may 5th. my very last day of medical school. which seems unreal, particularly since graduation is more than a month away. but i just spent 8 hours of my last ER shift waiting around for an emergency call to come in so i can fly on the helicopter. of course, luck would have it that we never got a call. but i still got oriented to the helicopter and got to put on the helmut, sit inside, and look around... it's pretty cool.

as i was walking out of the hospital today, i ran into a future attending of mine. one of my favorite people. "when are you coming to work for me?" he asked. as much as i respect him and love our hospital, i could only think about how my freedom was going to be usurped in 6 weeks. how drastically different my life was going to be. how difficult, frustrating, tiring. yet, i can still muster some excitement and for that i'm grateful.

i'm also grateful because i thought about all the wonderful people i've met since moving to chicago. and all the friends i've had the privilege to meet and know. i would never have been able to survive medical school had it not been for my friends and the joy they bring me. i'm going to miss them. but i also know that they'll always be my friends. there's nothing like the traumatic experience of medical school that could bond a group of people more tightly together. :)

i guess this is it. i'm done. and i'm about to become someone's pediatrician. i don't feel ready at all but i know there are lots of people who will help me through this next phase of Life.

Second Look

I went to The Bongo Room on Sunday for the second time. I figured that at 1:30pm, brunch would be almost over and we wouldn't have to wait too long. WRONG! The wait was quoted to us as being 45 minutes! That place is ridiculous in its popularity. But it's REALLY good.

I had the crab eggs benedict... mmm. The poached eggs were beautiful and fluffy and cooked so that the yolk oozes at just the right consistency. The potatoes were delicious too, unlike at HB, The Hearty Boys. I think The Bongo Room is one of my favorite brunch places, tied with M. Henry.