Keep Calm and Carry On

Week 3 has been insane. insane!  Medical school is very intense. They just throw you into it expecting you to remember every detail about action potentials, embryological folding, and anatomy. I never did anatomy people, never did it so I'm sorry if I have no idea what the hell the mid-saggital plane is or where the tibial medial surface is.  I'm venting, because I can't vent to my classmates, they probably know all this. Probably not, but I'm so used to being in this vortex of not talking about school from my undergrad, I just can't express my insecurities out loud. Then you're the stupid one who doesn't know anything! Dahh My science friends understand what Im talking about, you know who you are! Anyways, I've spent most of the weekend studying, because I think I may actually fail out then owe CIBC all this money and have no way to pay them back cause I never actually graduated. LOL Alright...I'm exaggerating, however, I'm still pretty freaked.  Four hour lectures in a room with 400 plus people can be pretty overwhelming, especially when they whip through 5 chapters of embryology in 1 hour. Thats like 3 straight days of reading without sleep. I have 8 hours of lecture a day, do the math. I know I sound ridiculous complaining about being in a program that I've waiting 3 years to start, but its very different on the other side. Its go time now. I still realise how very lucky I am to be here and would not go back to Newfoundland for a million dollars to apply to MUN again, but still, Im adjusting, so there! Anyways, on top of all this crazy school business my poor little tiny fritter face was dealing with being shipped for countless hours in a crate,across the world (THE WORLD PEOPLE), and dealing with stranger after stranger and needle after needle.  I know, she's a dog and she'll survive, but she is my everything. I love that dog beyond a reasonable amount, and other dog lovers will agree with me; they are actually apart of your family and they are better than humans because they love unconditionally and don't expect anything in return. I like her more than I like most people. So I was completely freaking this week, not on the outside, on the inside, I'm good at that.  I had to stay up late to connect with the people responsible for transporting her, then run to school and listen about things I have completely forgotten from undergrad then run back home to try to reconnect and see how she is doing. It was tiring. On top of all this Sally finally lands in Australia and the quarantine station wouldn't give me an update until late in the day. After I called numerous times, then they closed, for the weekend, and I never got to talk to anyone.... I still haven't heard anything about her, no confirmation that she is even there! I was freaking, but I got through it, like I do with most things. That's what I love about me, I freak out all the time about stuff but I always get through it.  I can work very well under pressure, not everyone can. Thats why I'm going to be a good doctor. Because working under pressure is apart of my daily life!  :)

Anyways, still loving Australia and all that it is. Today I was walking down the road and had something hit me on the head. I looked up and saw these two parrots (that were every colour in the rainbow) in a palm tree. It was amazing, I tried to take a picture of them but the sun was too bright. What a shame, the sun, too bright. Certainly didn't have the sun being too much a problem while trying to photograph tropical parrots back home. No sir. No sun. No parrots. LOL What hit me on the head was seeds or something that they were eating at the time.  Love Australia. The lady bugs have lots of spots. Did I mention that already? I'm trying to upload pictures on this thing, but I went a bought a stupid mac (which I happen to love) and I can't upload anything!! Anyways, I'll work on that for ya and post the picture of the crazy lady bug with a cazillion spots!

This week I celebrated my 25th birthday. It was my first birthday away from home. But it was awesome! My roomies made me a cake and bought me a gift certificate to get my nails done!  Love!  Wes got me a new school bag and also bought me an ice-cream cake! I had a facetime birthday party with mom and sister, it was fun!  Laurissa made me a personalized calendar which made my life complete. It has all the important dates in there and also a picture of someone I love for each month! Thank you sister! :) Mom gave me a really touching card and we are going to have a spa day when she gets here at the end of February. Dad gave me some cash to help with tuition, which was amazing! I hope every birthday is as good as that one!

I kinda feel old though, because the average age in my class is 22 years, I'm pretty sure. When I was telling my classmates how old I was they did the whole taken back look and said, "Oh I didn't know you were that old!" Boo!  I'm the youngest in my family and I'm not used to this, I demand a recount! Anyways, despite bing old and grey I had some kids over from school. There was about 40 of us here! It was awesome and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun!  I hope I get to make some really close friends while Im here, ones that I can take back to NL with me! :) LOL The thing about trying to make new friends is how much it makes you appreciate the ones you have back home. It makes you reflect on why you have the friends you do and what makes them so incredibly amazing. I miss my friends and don't think I'll ever find people to replace the friendships I have today. Ever. No matter who I meet, I would never replace them anyways! :)

A friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have.

Erica