Spoke to Granny last Saturday on the phone. Granny, or Mrs J Jeffery, was my father's landlady when he studied in Adelaide 30 years ago and they lived together at St Mary's for a year and a half back then. Granny is now 97 years old and still fit and active!
Dad and i visited her a month and a half back when we first reached Oz. She now stays at a nursing home which imo is like the senior citizens parallel of a uni hostel, full of activities and life. Although she is now partially blind, she is still fit as a fiddle and bursting with life! She was very concerned about me living alone and gave lots of valuable advise like to rather go thirsty than drink something offered by someone dubious and not to eat something just because it is cheap. Wise words indeed!
2 weeks ago she spoke to another of her boarders about getting my phone number so she could chat with me in case i needed someone to talk to. So sweet of her! The boarder emailed my dad, who emailed me her number and i called her. We chatted for 1/2 hour about what i did in school, where i went, what i ate and what food i have in my fridge ect. Granny also told me about her life, like the shopping centres excursions they went on, and how she wants a pair of tartan pants, preferably with vertical stripes of red and background colour of grey (i think).I dont have any pictures of her in my camera, but we took heaps and they are all in Dad's cam. Will post them up with i get them.
Last week:
Monday: The 25 of us in Bach Clinical Science/ BMBS had lunch with Prof Paul Worley, the dean of the medical school. He made all of us share where we were from and what we wanted to do in the future. Many people, like half the class?, wanted to be surgeons! Initially i wanted to say that i was interested in being a neurosurgeon because of how much Marcello inspired me to find out more about the mysterious workings of the human brain, but then Tim beat me to it, and i didn't want to sound so repetitive so i said i was interested in cancer and might be an oncologist. Is oncology even a specialist subject? Because it might just be under the big surgery umbrella... i have no idea! Hope i didn't sound stupid to all the Drs there, lol.
Dr Worley told us that we should enjoy ourselves to the fullest during these 2 years before we really embark on the MBBS part of the course. He got his medical degree from Adelaide Uni, which is 6 years Med all the way straight from high school. He said that when he was in his final years and patients asked him about life and death issues, he didn't have the capacity to answer because he felt he hadn't even experienced 'life' yet.
He also told us that we are very privileged to be part of important/intimate moments in people's lives when they are sick/recovering/pregnant/dying ect. Made me feel really excited and worried about the years to come. I am not naturally an empathetic person (i guess?) and i also have to break the cultural barrier when dealing with patients. Hope i will rise to the challenge in time!
Wednesday:
Went shopping at Marions with Lucy and Parvita! It was a grocery trip that i really needed as i was so low on food i was eating cereals for dinner:S Bought heaps of stuff and thankfully Lucy drove me home:) I really miss getting driven around!!!
Thursday:Kathy's 18th Birthday! The whole bunch of us went to her house to surprise her. Gabby took Kathy out and Grace was at home to supervise us all/ get ready. Cindy, Paul, Julian and i hid behind the sofas, Ram hid behind the kitchen top, Tim hid in the kitchen closet (hahaha!!!) and Shaz, Patrick, Warren, Andy, Shawn hid in the laundry room. It was all so funny and exciting because we had so many false alarms and every time we thought we heard them coming there would be a mad scramble to hide. The reveal moment was perfect though so all worth it. Played Wii Tennis and Mario Kart and reached home at 12.30am.
Had bio practical in the afternoon on Thursday and for every bio prac, a prac report has to be written and handed in the next day 24 hours later. Hence my prac which was from 2-5pm, was due on Friday 5pm. I have a chem prac from 9-12noon and a Health Science workshop from 3-5pm every friday, so essentially i only had 12-3pm on Friday to write my report since Thursday night was spent at Kathy's. Almost ran out of time to complete it, lesson learnt, never underestimate time!
I wrote a draft of one of the 3 questions to be answered when i reached home on Thursday, and delayed till 1pm on Friday before i finally started work after Chem Prac. Finally completed it at like 2.40pm with 20 minutes to spare before Health Science Workshop started at 3pm. The place to hand in the report was in the Biological Sciences building up the hill on the other side of the lake in the main campus while my workshop was held all the way at the bottom of the hill in a separate Stuart campus.
Debated between going late for the workshop or betting that the Workshop will end early (it usually ends 20 minutes early but i'll never know). Anyway, i left my house still debating what to do until a brainwave struck. I ran across the street to Paul's house and got him to hand in the reports for me instead. Life saver! I practically shoved the books (my lab partner, Patrick's book was with me too, because he finished it before Kathy's Party and passed it to me then, hence crucial that it was handed in on time) in his hands and ran off to class.
It's moments like this when i wished Mum and the car was with me, so i can be driven there and back in no time. I always like to work at the margin of time and it usually works great for me because i work better under pressure and i use to always count on mum to fetch me/ simply emailing reports/getting lucky and having extensions ect. Wake-up call to be less reliant and more time conscious!
Saturday and Sunday:
Stayed in on both days to do tutorials/ quizes/ read textbook ect. Felt nerdy but so fulfilling to get work done/ done in advance!
This week:
Monday:
Went Grocery Shopping at Marions Woolworths and met Bookie, my coursemate. Funny timing to meet because i was hugging 3 big leafy Bak Choys and he was looking very lost and pushing his shopping cart. We were both clutching shopping lists. He's from Melbourne and now lives with Josh another coursemate also from Melbourne.
Anyway, it feels reassuring that my coursemates are all in the same situation as me, leaving away from home, having to buy groceries ourselves and cooking/cleaning. Not as if everyone else has lots of time freed from not having to do housekeeping stuff. It is amazing how many people in this course are from interstate, Melbourne, Darwin, NZ ect, i am the only person from 'overseas', but since Adelaide is new to most people too, we are all the same. (i hope!)
Tuesday:
Went to play Badminton with Phyllis in the school hall, played for 2 hours and ended up with a huge blister on my index finger because i was holding the racquet the wrong way, as if i was holding a tt bat. But great fun, feels like tt training all over again which i kind of miss now.
In the morning, Grace gave me half a watermelon in school during chem tutorial!!!
Got such a huge shock, but it was really funny, shared it with Lucy, Rhea (Rhea is German and she taught me some phrases in German but i've forgotten all of it!), Parvita and Holly during one of the breaks.
The whole watermelon/me story started when i told the gang that fruits in Japan are really expensive and watermelons there cost hundreds of dollars. (It's true right? At least that was what i remembered during the IP trip, maybe not the normal watermelons but the black/box shaped ones?) Lol, anyway, i also brought half a watermelon to Paul's house during our very first gathering and i also happen to have a pair of watermelon slippers that they think is really awesome. Emily threw a whole watermelon off the flinders bridge together with the uni hall people just to see it splatter and she made sure i knew of the story. So anyway all these together made them think of me every time they see/eat watermelon. Grace/Kathy/Gabby had watermelon left over in their fridge so they brought it to school for me, really funny and sweet lol!
Yesterday (Thursday):
Li invited me over to Uni Hall to have dinner with her. It was french themed night and there was heaps of food, cirque de solei on the screens (spelling?) and french songs. We all sang Freres Jacques in canon and it was great fun! Had my portrait taken by a french 'artist'. So glad that i got a chance to visit Uni hall, it was so warm and communal. The dining hall was huge and had 10 long tables all packed with people. Whenever the hall master wanted to speak, the teachers(?) uni hall guardians would clink their glasses to ask for attention. It was french themed night because a kitchen staff was going to go to France for 5 weeks and it was a farewell for her. The buffet spread was awesome (though i suspect Marj's is better from what i hear;)), 5 main dishes to choose from, cheese and biscuits selection, ham selection and french fries and green peas for sides. The dessert table was good too, with apple crumbles, jellies, choc cakes and doughnuts. Thanks for the invite Li!
Today:
Good Friday (Public Holiday) Monday is Easter Monday, which is a public holiday too, so i have a 4 day break, followed by lessons on Tuesday to Friday, and then my 2 week Mid-Sem Break! Many people went home for Easter holidays, Kathy, Paul, Li ect. Li is taking a bus back to Mt Gambier, which is a 6 hours bus ride away.
Woke up at 7am naturally because that's my usual waking up time now.(Woohoo, so proud of myself!) Planned to boil some water/open the windows and then go back to sleep but started to do my chem tutorial and write out the reference list for Hlth Sci W5 group assignment till 1pm! I worked for 6 hours straight and when i was done it was barely half the day! Feels good to be up so early! In Sg, i was rarely awake before noon! Great achievement!
Tmr: Going to the Westfield Beach with Lucy then watching DVDs at her place. Sunday: Joy and Andrew invited me to spend Easter with them and their grandchildren. There's going to be easter egg hunting! Sunday night, Easter BBQ at Grace/Gabby's, byo meat and drinks. I have never gone for an Ozzie BBQ before, its like part of the Ozzie culture! Going to buy meat tmr, no idea what to buy! Monday: Potluck with Sg girls at Keishia's place. I told them i will bring Teriyaki chicken just because i have the stir fry recipe base at home. Never tried it before, so they will be my guinea pigs.:S
Now: Having 3 way skype chat with Dad and M1! They are talking about trying the Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk now. It's surely a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Culinary Adventure Time:
Instant noodles with green vege, onions and bacon. Fast meal. I usually cook instant noodles when i am lazy to cook rice. It is faster to wait for water to boil than for the rice to cook. 
Lunch for last Sunday. Canned salmon with rice and Corn and Tomatoes in Tom Yam soup seasoning, tasty!
Nope, thats not my creation. Haha, maybe that'll be mine 6 years later when i graduate though. Ended class at 5pm and went to the refectory(sch canteen) where they were closing for the day and were selling everything cheaper. This box usually cost $7.50A, i got 2 such boxes for $7A! Ate it for dinner for Monday and Tuesday night. Super yummy and packed full of ingredients, pasta, cheese, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicums, chickpeas, onions, beans.
Cooked a huge wok of fried rice, ended up eating it for 3 meals, dinner and 2 lunches. Sliced beans, tomatoes, onions, bacon, canned salmon, rice and egg. Tasted weird... I guess salmon and bacon don't go well together.
Green vege, tomatoes, onions, garlic and sausage.
Frozen pizza, and vege dish (see below)
Looks so professional that i couldn't not post this up. Green vege, tomatoes, onions, garlic in soy sauce and sugar sauce. Actually this is my usual veg, i just added tomatoes so it looks nicer in colour. I can cook this really fast now, the actualy cooking time is only 5 minutes, but preparation time takes much longer. I timed myself today and i actually took 15 minutes to wash the vege. Really worried about pesticide and soil and worms so i wash every stalk of vege individually.
No, not for dinner.Had 'Hugo' over at Joy and Andrew's place for a day and a half. Hugo is a brown short-haired pointer and is 12 years old. He is really old and has some lumps in his legs. Hugo has a really weird bark, like a door-that-needs-oiling, squeaky bark. I sneeked this picture when Joy and Andrew were out. I can draw open my windows on one side of the wall to see the whole of the backyard and this is taken when i was inside my flat. Initially i though Joy and Andrew bought a new dog, and i was really excited about this new addition. I was mostly thinking how i would feel safer at night with a guard dog haha. Felt quite sad when Hugo left after a day:(
Alright, massive post with 2 weeks worth of my life. Mum is coming in 4 days time woohoo! Till next time, ciaoxxx.
