so official-looking

Parents' weekend and the MS1 white coat ceremony have come and gone... leaving me with a mess of an apartment to clean, a puffy bloated sense of having eaten way too much on my parents' tab, a lot of catch-up studying to do, and, oh yeah, my white coat. I had requested that my parents bring up my boxes of winter clothes from home, but they decided I needed food more than clothing and packed the car accordingly. Now I will freeze until Thanksgiving, unless my layer of fat from all this food keeps me warm. Things learned this weekend include the following: 1) you will always be a child in your parents' eyes, 2) my parents are surprisingly (or creepily) nosy about other people, and 3) a family of four can go through a single roll of toilet paper with astonishing speed.


This is the Chan clan. Note how normal my height appears in relation to my family... now if only this were true in the real world. I never even think about how small I must appear to others until I see myself in pictures with other (non-family-member) people. Anyway, it was really great to have the whole family together for a weekend. I guess I have been less-than-stellar as of late, and it's nice to have a physical reminder of the people who will always always be there for you. However, I can't lie - having my apartment back to myself is bliss. And I won't have to change the roll of toilet paper as often.

exhaustion

Midterms are over! And I'm alive (just barely). Funny how these things always seem so insignificant in retrospect. Anyway, after an intense 2-3 weeks of straight studying, there was an intense weekend of way too much activity when a weekend of sleep would have sufficed. In fact, the sleep probably would have been much more satisfying. But let us not allow my lame inner 80-year-old self to spoil the fun.

Jo's last 2 weeks in numbers
hours spent studying: infinity
hours spent wasting time online: infinity
cups of coffee: infinity
times that my neighbor blasted music at 7:30am: probably 10
different colors of pens: 4
different colors of self-stick tabs: 4
types of highlighters: 2
boxes of Cheez-Its: 2
human skulls on my kitchen table: 1
emotional breakdowns: 1
workouts: 0
amount of information promptly forgotten: infinity
movies: 3

meals eaten out: infinity
shopping trips: 1

bad haircuts: 1

number of bars: 1

number of drinks: unknown

Pictures may come later if anyone sends them to me. I'm a slacker about documenting my own life in pictures. This skill seems intrinsic to females, but that isn't the way it worked out in my case.

quick kitchen tips #3

I would be lying if I said I had made this recently... but in light of recent exams, I haven't been cooking much of anything at all. Sad, I know. Hello, fast food and high cholesterol. Anyway, just because I don't have time to prepare food doesn't mean I don't have time to think about food.

Guacamole

What you need:
-2 medium/large avocados
-1 lime
-1 onion
-1 tomato
-a clove of garlic
-salt and pepper

What you do:
1. Slice avocados in half and remove pits. Scoop out flesh and chop coarsely.
2. Mince the garlic as finely as you can. Dice a small amount of onion and tomato into pieces that are about 1 square cm. Try to use only the fleshy parts of the tomato, not the goopy seedy parts. You should have maybe 1/4 cup each of onion and tomato (but really, who knows... Use your own judgment, darnit).
3. Toss above ingredients together in a large bowl. It's okay if the avocado gets a little mashed up - just don't let the texture become cement-like. Squeeze in lime juice and add salt/pepper to taste. Careful, it's easy to overdo the lime.
4. Eat with tortilla chips and AMAZE your guests!

This is kind of a cop-out recipe because it requires no cooking, only chopping. But whatever, my family loves when I make this stuff. Also, I apologize for the haphazard descriptions and measurements... although that's actually a pretty accurate depiction of the way I cook anyway.

the walk of shame

At my apartment complex, the soda/candy vending machines are directly outside the fitness room... which happens to have full length windows. So, just in case you didn't already feel bad enough eating/drinking unhealthily, there are fitness buffs there to witness you doing it. It's probably not a good thing that I've long since become immune to the walk of shame. The vending machine one that is, not the college Sunday morning one. Just to clarify.

bad sports analogy

Sometimes life throws you curveballs. The key is to get a good read early on so you're not all surprised at the last second and strike out. Apparently, despite the amount of time and effort I spend thinking and (over)analyzing, I'm not all that great at reading balls. It's always mid-swing by the time I finally realize "Aww... crap." And by then the damage is done.

I don't know what to think - which is a little ridiculous, because all I've been doing is thinking, and I always end up right where I started.

*edit*
Biochem exam grades also came back tonight. I am officially sucking at life on all fronts.

nhan is funny

read him here:
nhanvtran.blogspot.com

study memories

So as I find myself these few weeks spending a lot of time (attempting to) study and feeling bad that I have zero attention span, I can't help but remember some noteworthy "study" experiences from the past. Too bad those things don't happen here. My life would instantly become more interesting. I would also instantly flunk out of here.

Sophomore spring:
A and I attempt to cram for orgo the night before the exam. We are obviously not motivated, and yet a pre-med sense of urgency overwhelms us. We finally decide that we need external motivation to make studying fun, so for each practice problem we get right, we reward ourselves with a vodka shot. I think it is unnecessary for me to finish the rest of the story.

Freshman fall:
K and I are cramming for the gen chem final which is scheduled at 8am the next day. At some point in the night it becomes clear that we will need to pull an all-nighter to finish getting through the material. Since "all-nighters" are very rarely true all-nighters and more often consist of "napping at random short intervals throughout the night," we decide that we will switch off on napping/wake duty. K is taking a nap break around 3am, and I am supposed to be on wake duty when I also pass out. We both spontaneously wake around 7:30, and panic ensues. To this day he will not let me live it down.

First year of med school:
The afternoon before the exam, even though I am completely unprepared, I am blogging. This is not a good story.

grocery store fun

A bit about the area of Dallas in which I live: It's a strange mix between homelessness, seedy bars, tattoo parlors, "tanning salons," and a somewhat prominent gay community. The combination added up to a strange experience last night...

On my way out last night, I make a very quick stop at the grocery store to pick up milk. I park my car, I know that I only need one item, so I sort of jog through the parking lot to the front door. Sitting outside the front door are a homeless-looking man and a very flamboyantly dressed man who I assumed to be gay. Anyway, they seem to be engaged in conversation until I jog by, and the homeless guy calls out "Wow, great hair!"

Jo's inner voice

"Did that homeless guy just say 'great hair'??? And why are they randomly hanging out outside a grocery store talking? I am so confused."

Jo

"Um, oh - thanks!" *begins running faster*

Flamboyant Man

"And so bouncy and full!! You go, girl!"

I would like to add that this story has not been exaggerated for comic effect. It was truly one of the top ten most bizarre experiences of my life. Well, I can't think of other specific experiences right now, but this is definitely up there.

In other news, I'm sucking at midterms studying, but I discovered a way to console myself. All of senior year, thesis was a huge black cloud hanging over all of our heads. I challenge any of you to remember the TITLE of your thesis. No easy task, is it? Okay granted, my title was probably more convoluted than most, but I digress. Anyway my excuse to myself is that in a couple of years (heh or even a couple of months) I won't care about these exams anymore, so why beat myself up over it now.

down but not out

I miss college. I miss you guys. The real world (if you can even call this the real world) is kind of kicking my butt right now. Maybe it's just a slump, but sometimes I find myself feeling completely inadequate and more than a little disoriented as to what exactly it is I'm doing here. The slump is partly academic, but it's more getting used to a new lifestyle and starting over with new people, things, and places. Don't get me wrong, new stuff is fun and exciting and all, but once the novelty wears off (which it has a little), I kind of wish I could fast forward a year to reach the comfort zone with people, have a bit of a routine, etc. I don't think I've ever been great with transitions - I'm more of a if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it type and definitely a creature of habit - but the last time I did this was freshman year of college when I had much more energy and was WAY more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Okay sob session is over. Time to be a go-getter.

personal ad

PMS (Procrastinating Med Student) seeks MAN (Motivated Anal-retentive Nerd) with whom to share the long lonely nights of biochem and anatomy studying. My study-avoidance strategies include cooking, eating, TV, naps, reading useless websites, and long walks on the beach. Your job is to ensure that none of the above take place until midterms are over. Well okay, I'm allowed to eat.

e-mail if interested.

sociological thoughts

"[Ivy League admissions directors] are in the luxury-brand-management business, and “The Chosen,” in the end, is a testament to just how well the brand managers in Cambridge, New Haven, and Princeton have done their job in the past seventy-five years."

"In the nineteen-eighties, when Harvard was accused of enforcing a secret quota on Asian admissions, its defense was that once you adjusted for the preferences given to the children of alumni and for the preferences given to athletes, Asians really weren’t being discriminated against. But you could sense Harvard’s exasperation that the issue was being raised at all. If Harvard had too many Asians, it wouldn’t be Harvard, just as Harvard wouldn’t be Harvard with too many Jews or pansies or parlor pinks or shy types or short people with big ears."

-Malcolm Gladwell, from a recent New Yorker article about Ivy League admissions
http://www.newyorker.com/critics/atlarge/articles/051010crat_atlarge

While on some level I wish I felt indignant and felt the need to disagree with this elitist portrayal of The Great Institutions that are the Ivy League... I can't because I don't feel that way. Whether or not we want to acknowledge it, much of the exclusive Ivy image revolves around the stereotypical old money prep-school WASP-y athlete a la F. Scott Fitzgerald's era. All you have to do to see living, breathing proof is show up at the 50th or older Princeton reunion. [as an aside: If the Ivy League DID base admissions on academic credentials alone, wouldn't you expect the Ivy League schools to have a reputation/atmosphere equivalent to MIT or CalTech? The fact that they don't shows that other forces are at play here...]

The craziest thing is, I love and romanticize the aforementioned stereotypical image - despite the fact that I would never have been a part of that, 1) because I am Asian, and 2) because I am female. At the risk of sounding sexist/racist/un-PC all at once, there is no doubt in my mind that the first Jewish admit, the first African-American admit, the first female admit, the first low-income admit, etc. all were (reasonably understandable) fodder for shock and outrage among alumni. Obviously everyone adjusted to the times and came out fine, but it seems the "problem" (I use this word loosely) now threatening the stereotypical Ivy image is the risk of those minorities becoming too much of a presence on campus, and possibly overpowering the presence of the legacy admits. Of course I am grateful for the continually changing face of the Ivy League, for to it I owe my admission and education; but at the same time I can't help but mourn the dying blue blood image of an era I have admittedly only imagined.

In a weird hypocritical way, I am enamored of the stereotypical old Ivy League of which I could never have become part, while simultaneously recognizing the merits of homogenization (on racial and social income level grounds) of an elite academic institution. All I'm saying is, it's a Good Thing that many people (and in particular Dean Malkiel at Princeton) support equalization and diversification of the Ivy League and want to attract more scientists/minorities/low-income applicants/insert non-stereotypical applicant here. But at the same time I don't see why it's such a bad thing that older alumni and others want to preserve the classic preppy image of the Ivy League, even if that means admitting athletes and legacies on a preferential basis. Come on, where do you think all of Princeton's money comes from, anyway? I am not a sociologist, and this is a controversial subject to begin with, so don't shoot me. In any case, what do I know, I'm just a lowly first year med student with no marketable skills.

p.s. Professor Howard Taylor would have a field day with this New Yorker article.

quick kitchen tips #2

More food thoughts from yours truly - I had this for dinner yesterday with some sauteed broccoli and rice. In an ideal world I would eat well all the time, but after getting home late today, dinner was Cheez-its and Keebler chocolate chip cookies. It sounds sad and gross, but if you eat enough junk food you actually WILL feel full.

Baked Salmon

What you need:
-a fillet of salmon
-olive oil
-fresh garlic
-salt and pepper
-dill (optional)

What you do:
1. Line a baking pan with some aluminum foil. This makes cleanup 10x easier.
2. Place the salmon, skin side down, on the foil. Sprinkle the top with chopped garlic, salt, and pepper. Add some dill if you have that.
3. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the fillet.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 min. I personally like the salmon to be fork-flakeable but still slightly translucent at the thickest part of the cut.

quick kitchen tips #1

As I begin to figure out general kitchen dos/don'ts and quick recipes to feed my insatiable hunger, it occurred to me that others may find this knowledge useful as well. I don't have a huge repertoire or anything (most of my cooking technique revolves around stir-fry), but here goes anyway. Since I have presumed to call this post "#1," implying a series to come, I might as well start off with the morning coffee.

Super-Easy Faux Cappuccino (sans mess and cappuccino machine)

What you need:
-ground coffee
-milk/creamer
-Cool Whip

What you do:
1. Brew coffee as usual in coffeemaker. You may choose to brew it stronger to more closely resemble espresso.
2. Stir in milk or desired creamer of choice. I highly recommend International Delight brand - so many flavors! Like French Vanilla and Hazelnut!
3. Add a dollop or two of Cool Whip and stir it around until it dissolves into a thick foam on the top. I actually prefer this to Starbucks now, which is a good thing considering my meager student budget.

tighty whities

Anatomy lab is easily one of the most amusing things about med school thus far. Sure, it's a great learning experience, with the wielding of the scalpel and the probing of the cadaver and whatnot; but that, my friends, is not the source of the hilarity of which I speak. Oh no. My amusement is much, much more juvenile. Allow me to explain.

We are required to wear scrubs to anatomy lab. This seems to serve two purposes: first, respect for the donors' bodies by being all, you know, medical; and second, since the odor of formalin sinks into clothing/hair/skin, no one wants to ruin perfectly good street clothes. Also, the fat globules from cadavers leave oily stains... and boy, does "Fatty Patty" have a lot of fat.

Okay, so we wear scrubs. Big deal, right? Well, we also each have a carrel (really just an individual desk within a set of conjoined classrooms) with locked drawers/shelves where we can study or store our books, scrubs, stash of granola bars, etc. Most people tend to change into their scrubs right there in the carrels just before lab. Also not a big deal - TO NORMAL PEOPLE!! To me the blatant display of grown men in tighty whities is just plain funny, which, now that I think about it, is not entirely unlike my fondness for fart humor.

So there you have it. Anatomy = changing into scrubs = witnessing tighty-whitie-clad males = hilarity! And no, I don't feel bad about laughing because hey, the girls change out in the open too, and you KNOW the guys are stealing glances.

time flies

The weekend has passed, and Nhan's visit has come to an end. After being apart for so long, it's funny how you stop actively realizing how much you miss someone until they visit and leave again. By now, the distance is status quo and it hardly ever bothers me. But tonight I cried at the airport. Yes, I'm a baby, now shut up about it.

Other than that, we had a relaxing weekend hanging out, swimming, watching movies, and other quiet activities that you might attribute to a middle-aged couple as opposed to young sprightly early-20-somethings. The truth is out - we're lame. However, we did break in my 6-for-$3 set of Ikea wine glasses. It was also a great weekend gastronomically speaking. The excitement of seeing Nhan spilled over into my other great love - food. Over the course of the weekend, I made a fresh strawberry pie with a graham cracker crust and whipped cream (well okay, Cool Whip), oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, walnut chocolate chip cookies, breakfast fajitas, spaghetti and meatballs with meat sauce, and grilled pork skewers with sauteed spinach. Oh and we went out for sushi. And had 2 boxes of Cheez-its besides.

Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone to culinary school instead.