the great escape

An Update

It is not often that I update this, but here are some things i've learned in the past few days/weeks/months/years:

1. Second year of med school is the worst. I have never complained so much about something and still felt like I need to complain as I do about second year. But, it does feel like a rite of passage in a way- and that makes me feel priviledged, like I'm joining a secret club. I just wish it didn't involve studying and taking so many tests.

2. Metamucil gives me gas.

3. I'm more open to areas of medicine other than pediatrics. I thought one day how cool it would be to take out gallstones or kidney stones. This came after picking out some earwax. It felt so satisfying to pick out earwax.. I just think how much more liberating it would be to take out stones.

4. He breaks and builds back up. Just surrender and you will be free. Surrendering is not easy.

5. "leading" a bible study is one of the most humbling experiences. So is medical school.

6. After not skiing for 12 years, it's hard. But hanging out with old friends makes all the bruises and edematous limbs worth it.

7. We are called to love differently. I'm still trying to figure out what this means. But here's a great quote by MLK I heard this sunday at church, "Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." 

8. I used to be able to do a few sets of crunches and reap the rewards quickly... these days, I'm still waiting for the results.

9. Maybe he's just not that into you.

10. Here's a favorite quote of mine by Nelson Mandela. "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask oursleves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our prescence automatically liberates others."

until next time...

Hong Kong

I'm in Hong Kong this summer...savoring the last summer I will have. Here are some highlights...

I had dinner the other day with this girl who is my father’s friend’s son’s friend’s daughter. Small.. and confusing world, eh? She’s my age.. and already an intern! I think they go to med school right after high school here. Talk about a bunch of doogie howsers… anyways, her and her friends took me out to eat at this little hole in the wall. They started speaking in Cantonese to the waitress so I had no clue what they were ordering. Ten minutes later, the food arrives and the aroma of freshly cooked rice sizzling in earthen pots, meats tender to perfection, and fried stuff—stimulates my olfactory nerves… and I salivate. In true Chinese style of no manners, we all dig in. I first reach for the only thing I recognize- sizzling rice. Next, I’m eyeing this particular dish-one that no one has really delved into much-  a crisp layer on the outside- some sort of meat on the inside and the very center is hollow. As I put this interestingly chewy piece of food in my mouth, a girl beside me exclaims- hey! Cool, I thought I was the only one who liked pig intestine!
Also included in our delectable meal: frogs legs, chicken neck, oysters, and for dessert- steamed milk.

I’m staying with my uncle, who lives in the university. Apparently, a lot of professors and their families live in universities here. The place is pretty big- especially for hong kong standards- so my uncle has 2 Ph.D. students living with him. Last Sunday, I turn on the faucet to wash my face- and nothing but a small stream of yellow water comes out. Old pipes, I tell myself, not pee. I reach to turn the knob more, and then nothing comes out.  Then one of the students living with my uncle tells me that the whole university has no water because the main pipe has burst. Here’s irony for you- it’s been raining HARD outside for the past week (they call it a typhoon)… so while there’s no water inside, there’s plenty outside! I should take my suimsuit, soap, and shampoo and use nature’s shower.

I told a bunch of people I was going to HK to become an HKsupastar, but was a little disheartened to learn there were 70 million people here...then i learned there aren't 70 million people as I previously thought...there are only 7 million… stardom, here I come! Sike. Actually, I did have a brush with fame.. just not my own. After eating dim sum with the lovely catsiu, we’re waiting outside for the car—then, her cousin tells us the guy that's like 10 feet away is famous! He’s the star of some popular HK show. I have no clue who he is, but get starstruck nonetheless—we ask to take a picture with him (actually, cat asked if he was famous first and he replied with a grunt which we took as yes) and then she faints. Just kidding… I did. HA! He’s no gavin degraw.

Here are some lessons i've learned...

-always ask what you’re eating before you eat it. Yes, this small lesson has resulted in me eating both pig and goose intestine thus far among other “delicacies” and has saved me from eating pig spinal cord. That’s right, folks, pig SPINAL CORD… I saw both dorsal and ventral horns. These people don’t waste any part of the animal! -people here have no sweat glands While my overactive Memphian sweat glands are fully effective as I profusely sweat as soon as my skin is hit by sunlight, my shorts sticking to my skin like glue, sweatmarks questioning my certainty (am I SURE®?), the locals here don’t seem to be phased by the intense heat and humidity…they  wear pants all the time…and not just the light weight pants you may think- they wear jeans too! Also, the layered look is in here, so while I’m just wearing a tank top, they wear the tank top, a little shrug, and another cardigan over that. Incredible! -skirt + typhoon season =  PDU (public display of undies) ah yes, I learned this lesson the hard way. my cousin and his girlfriend were here the past week... we all went shopping one day and all the sudden, a typhoon hit... tons of rain and wind...we were eating at one of those little stands with 3 walls... we get up to pay and face the typhoon- i am armed with my change purse in one hand, my umbrella in the other and all the sudden a big gust of wind blows and my skirt- oh, my cute little stylish black ruffly skirt- flies up and the whole market gets a nice view of my undies. sadly, this didn't just happen once that day... note to self- i am not marilyn monroe. -I love mangoes. Dried, straight from the tree/bush/whatever they grow on, in a cup as a drink… yes, I will never tire of this delicious fruit here.

k this is a mamma of an update. i hope all y'all are doing well. over and out.