Free-er

Just had the busiest Easter of my life. Started off with a plan to act out the much-copied skit based on Lifehouse's Everything. This eventually evolved over a month, into a mini-musical with two main characters who sang and mimed rather than acted their way through a storyline that involved the obligatory non-Christian finally realising the meaning of Easter.

We tried our best to stay away from stereotypes; the non-Christian being involved in classic 'bad' behaviour eg drinking, illicit sex, drugs, the lot. The Christian, on the other hand, would typically be a 'good person' and hold a whopping great Bible.

Didn't really work the way we wanted it to...in the end, we settled for a typical picture of a uni student's life (henceforth A)- studying, messing about on his laptop, playing sports, going out pubbing at night, hanging out with a close-knit group of friends, one of whom recently had become a Christian (B).

Songs used were Switchfoot's This Is Your Life (in which A challenges B as to whether she wants to spend the rest of her life trusting blindly in an invisible God) and If Only, written ages ago by Jin for a youth musical back home.

Btw, Jin, everyone who heard the song thought it was very well written.


It was fun, working with a group of 6 to make this work, something which I haven't done in a while.

Easter weekend saw me preparing also to lead on Sunday morning, which was a combined service. A first time for everything, including leading congregations of English and Chinese people into worship, and singing hymns, something I'm very grateful for my Methodist background and all those hours in front of the piano with just Joel on the drums back home!

Easter weekend was completed on Monday, which saw us catching the first day of the North England Easter Conference in Wales, which our church was in charge of organizing. True to form, our preparations for 'teambuilding games' were last minute, but thankfully still worked.

Its hard, I suppose, not to bond, while thinking of integrating movie quotes such as 'You jump, I jump' or 'Luke, I'm your fatherrr' with the Prodigal Son story, or the Jonah story. Considering NEEC this year had people of all ages mixing around in groups, it was great to see them participating equally in everything that went on.


This weekend, just passed my theory driving test, and have taken the rest of the day off. It's like being in the eye of a hurricane, as I'm looking at my list of things to do, and I've crossed off less than half of them.


Btw, my rotations which I've received for my first year as a doctor: Respiratory(most of which I've forgotten), Clinical Pharmacology (sounds scary), Urology and Colorectal Surgery.

*UPDATE: just a bit of fun - Wey Chung uploaded some of the NEEC group parable-cum-movie quotes-sessions up on his blog, if you don't mind a long streaming time:-)

SUPER SCARY

This is it...the movie that scared me when I was still in shorts, that stopped me frequenting beaches, and is probably the reason why I'm such a rubbish swimmer...

Tagged?

Siew Lee, this was supposed to be a 'revenge tag'?

why?

1) What is your favourite movie?
Lord Of The Rings, definitely.The only movie which I was genuinely eager to seemore than once. Helps that I like the book too.

2) Who is your favourite singer?
Don't know many. It used to be Michael W Smith butI think I don't really have a fav one now. Listen to whoever that sounds vaguely interesting.

3) Which song gets you grooving in the morning?
Cornflakes gets me up, coffee keeps me awake. Anything else makes me grumpy.

4) What is your favourite fruit?
Mandarin oranges. Pears when they're just getting soft and sweet. And this fruit which I always eat when I'm back home. I'm not actually sure what its called; its red-purplish and knobbly on the outside, but inside its small seeds surrounded by sweet white flesh which is great just taken out chilled from the fridge.

5) Who is your best friend (excluding your family)?
I can't think of any at the moment, sadly. Which doesn't mean I'm an antisocial monster, just means I have good friends in a number of places and at different times of my life.

6) Name one activity you would like to indulge in, in your free time.
Sleep sounds really good, especially this past week. Otherwise...one only? Right now, it'd be relaxing with a good movie in front of my laptop.

7) When was the last time you laughed so hard till your sides hurt?
Must have been one of the random conversations we had when all of us housemates in Liverpool are together in one room. We tend to have better and more witty conversations then...maybe its because we dont gather together as much as we used to.

8.) Do you recall your last dream?
Not the specifics. It wasn't a pleasant dream I recall, and involved death and dying(not me but someone else) in a weird sort of way. Was quite glad when I woke up.

9) What is your all-time favourite hobby?
Reading. Though I haven't done much of it recently.

10) When was your last holiday without the children?
When I get children I'll tell you. My last holiday was probably Christmas back home in Malaysia. Next one: Madrid!

Choices

This week I submitted my choices for programmes that I would like to do during my 1st year as a doctor.

A decision I had to make was whether to choose the more traditional general medical/surgical rotations or whether to plump for the infectious diseases/paeds/upper GI rotation. My big worry was that I wouldn't have enough general medical experience had I gone down that road, however I was curious enough to consider it seriously as I had always had a sneaking interest in ID.

Speaking to various docs, and hearing from different people, I decided against it eventually, and decided on rotations that I hoped would give the widest range of experience. Diabetes, geriatric medicine and haematology were the only ones I ruled out.

Time will tell which rotations I finally end up with.


I also did for the first time, a formal hour's teaching with 2nd year med students.

I really think the guys/girls whom i had knew way more than I knew back then. How many 2nd years would know to test stroke patients for Factor 5 Leiden? It became more of a interactive discussion session on stroke (which was the topic I was given), and I brought them to see a patient so they could practice their exam skills. I hope I didn't go wrong anywhere, but I think it was fair to say they were checking on me all the time....one girl had her text book open most of the time:-)


Easter is fast approaching ....what with the outreach, and NEEC and my theory driving test after, I'll be the busiest I've been for the whole year.

Looking forward to a holiday in Spain for my next reflection week...time to start saving!

We officially graduate on Friday 4th of July!

So I'll be able to make it for grad ball on the 28th of June, then down to London to welcome the Parents!

Things are falling into place...

**

"Where your treasure is, there your heart is also...not the other way around"

Onward!

Have been looking for this video by John Reuben for a while.

A busy week ahead, where I have to learn Microsoft Excel, read up for a teaching session on Wed, get a speaker for student fellowship next Friday, hear from various fellowship leaders (hopefully) re NEEC '08 all while juggling my rotation work and an audit on mortality rates post-endoscopy, which is why I'm learning Excel in the first place.

Joseph tmrw - I'm expecting great things!

"The best way to kill wisdom is to keep talking."

Ate a large pizza for lunch and I'm still full.

My room is feeling cold, but i'm sure its not just me.

**

I have a list of things to buy once i start working, not sure how much thought was put into it:
- food processor
- desktop computer
- keyboard (not the computer kind)

I'm sure there was more, but these are all i can think of for now.

Alternatively, I could spend my money on:
- paying council taxes, bills
- getting insane amounts of insurance
- registering with every other medical organization
- setting aside for exams/courses

What I really should be spending money on, in light of the future:
- Stocks and bonds
- Swiss bank account
- anywhere that'll beat the current inflation rate should i leave the country in future as i probably will have to do in light of the crazy regulations they keep putting up every now and again.

I really do need some form of economic accountability - that definitely needs sorting out.

**

Programme choices are here at last, along with a note for accomodation as a foundation year 1 doctor. GBP 352 a month....wonder what that includes. works out to about GBP 90 a week....sigh. Still, I'd be near the hospital.

**

Want to go watch the All-England Badminton Championships but cash flow dictates I should focus on things nearer my heart.

**

I was at a friend of a friend's memorial service yesterday. Held in a Catholic church, close to a 100 medical students of all years attended. It was a first for me: seeing yearmates in a church setting, and seeing how death and remembering those that had passed on brought people together albeit briefly.

A quartet sang 'Run' by Snowpatrol. Slideshows of his time spent in the hockey team, on stage and as a hospital partner were shown. I wonder if anyone else was struck by a sense of their own mortality that night.

**

No disclaimer needed I trust.

Opportunities abound, they just need grabbing.

"For a self-proclaimed dreamer, you are incredibly inward-looking and hard to wake."