Hello! =) I promise I didn't forget about all of you! I know it's been almost a month, but I promise to try to update more frequently from now on!
So yesterday, I took (and passed!!!!) my first real med school exam! So, for those of you who don't know, at Keck, we do four "Foundations of Medicine" during the fall, and and the end of each one we take a big exam. So the first foundations was Genetics, Biochemistry, Microanatomy, and Physiology. Some people have explained med school to me as trying to drink water from a fire hydrant YES IT IS A LOT OF INFORMATION. I think what it feels like for me is to take a full semester courseload, then 1) do it in 6 weeks, and 2) take the final exam for all four classes at the SAME time in the same exam.
Despite the crazy amount of information that's been thrown at me over the past few weeks, I'm really having a great time! Everyone is so awesome & nice (and share their study guides and teach me things I don't understand), Pasadena is amazing, and most importantly, I think each lecturer does a really awesome job of tying in the concepts they are teaching with what diseases can result. I've been working to get away from my undergrad mentality of MEMORIZE EVERYTHING, and having practical examples to associate with things has really helped me understand what I'm learning a lot more. Additionally, the overwhelming amount of support and collaboration that happens here has really made me realize just how cutthroat and competitive Hopkins is. Don't get me wrong, I still love the school, but I feel kind of bad that I've spent the past three years telling the unsuspecting Asian families on my campus tours that Hopkins's academic environment is really not as terrifying as its reputation makes it out to be.
A few noteworthy events since med school started (& pics are on facebook for most events include): White Coat Ceremony, first celebrity sighting (Psy was in the audience at the Dodger v. Giants game - go Giants! ), starting anatomy lab, and starting to see patients at the hospital!
Getting to go to the hospital to see patients, even if it was just to talk to them and start to get their history, is INCREDIBLY rewarding. Every Tuesday morning, we have a course called Introduction to Clinical Medicine, where we go to the hospital to learn how to take a patient history and do physical exams. Since it's only been a few weeks, we start out slowly and pretty much sit and talk to the patients for an hour. My ICM instructor is a third year surgical resident who also is a Keck alum, and he does an awesome job of telling us what is expected out of a patient interview, and teaches us about the types of diseases that our patients have, and he really makes my group feel comfortable about asking him questions, and especially makes me feel a lot less nervous about going to talk to the patient. I'd love to write about my interactions and feelings about my first patient, but I'm not sure if that violates HIPAA (even if I remove all patient identifiers ha!), so I'd rather err on the side of not :/ but trust me, it was amazing, and getting to talk to patients, even if I can't diagnose or treat, or it's not the patient population I ultimately want to work with, really reminds me why I'm here and why I decided to pursue medicine.
Since I haven't posted in so long, I just wanted to blog briefly about a few of the food places I've been to in LA :)
First, the good...
- the taco stand on the corner of Soto St. and Alcazar St.
Every day, these people set up a stand on the corner of Soto & Alcazar, behind Keck Hospital, and sell tacos for $1. It looks incredibly unsanitary and unsafe, but THEY ARE AMAZING. They literally pull the carnitas out of the stew and then put it in your taco, and the sauces are delicous! A few tips - the carnitas & chorizo are probably some of the yummiest & juciest meats I've had, and I was recommended to have the lengua next time, so another one to consider. Also, the man only speaks Spanish (and speaks like a hundred words a minute - trust me, i already tried to practice my conversational Spanish with him), and you'll probably need to get 3-5+ tacos to make a meal.
- 21 Choices Frozen yogurt
It's like coldstone, but with frozen yogurt! The only thing that I don't like about Coldstone is I feel like everything I get is waaaaayyyy too sweet, but I think that 21 Choices does a good job of making delicous creations without giving you that creaminess overload. They even let you taste the creations before you pay for it! But be prepared for a longgg line, especially weekend evenings, since everyone in Pasadena seems to love it!
- BCD Tofu House
I think this is actually a chain that is also in Korea. But anyways, they have like a ton of different kinds of soondobu, so it's great hangover food. Also a plus in K-town, they have a parking lot and it's free!!!
- Ozero Tea & Desserts + Ten Ren
To me (and most people I think), how I judge these places is on their boba - if it's "Q" enough, the sweetness, and if it's freshly cooked (if it's still hot when placed into your drink, the boba will swirl around at the bottom, and when it's cold, it clumps into a mess at the bottom and you'll have problems getting all of it at the end, which is frustrating if your favorite part about the drink is...the boba). But both of these places are great! Ozero has a location in Alhambra and Downtown, and they give it to you in these thick plastic cups, which if you bring back on your next visit, you get a discount! Kind of like the refillable mugs at Starbucks. The only downside is that they run about $5 per cup, I think it's because of the size.
A slightly more affordable option is Ten Ren's Tea Time. Ten Ren (the brand) is actually a pretty big company in Taiwan, and they make pretty much anything that can be made tea flavored - hard boiled eggs, tofu, etc.etc. In the US, the Tea shops I think are franchised out, so the drinks can be a hit or miss. Their drinks are more normal sized, and normal priced - $2.50 per cup. HOWEVER, the store is located near Irvine I think (it's off Euclid St. on the I-5). But it's become my go-to rest place on the way back from San Diego, because I have horrible endurance and need to take a break driving from San Diego to LA. I think there is a store in downtown LA that's by the same owner, so I'll have to check it out at some point!
And, the bad...
- Uncle Yu's Indian Theme Restaurant: http://www.yelp.com/biz/uncle-yus-indian-theme-restaurant-san-gabriel
Sadly, this is the only restaurant that is on my AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COST list because it really was such a negative experience that I can't really think of anywhere else I've been that belongs on the same list as Uncle Yu's. So it's a strange place...it's kind of a pub-like place that serves Taiwanese food, but the waitresses are dressed like taiwanese aborigines/native americans. They wear black tank tops and shorts and these like red/white headbands. They sort of look like aborigines (if you've ever been to taiwan and been to one of those festivals or watched the culture festivals on TV, hopefully you have an idea of what I'm talking about), but they also kind of look like native americans (ex. pocahantas). Either way, whatever interpretations, it felt a little uncomfortably racist to me. ANYWAYS, other than the strange environment, the food was ..meh. We got the stinky tofu, which was ok, although I've had better. A sure sign the stinky tofu was subpar is that when you walk into the restaurant, you can't really smell it, which means that not a lot of people are eating it, so definitely a bad sign if you're looking for authentic Taiwanese food. But the food was reasonable, nothing to outrageously bad, at least. BUT THE SERVICE WAS HORRIBLE. 1. The rice came out last, and 2. we ordered the salt & pepper fried chicken, and it straight up didn't come out until after we cancelled it and asked for the check. I didn't feel as if the waitresses were very friendly, or that organized. Multiple people would come by to ask us if we needed to order, or change our order, or whatever. Therefore, would not come here again, and the search for good Taiwanese place in LA continues....
Anyways, long story short, for all my pre-med friends who are applying this cycle, apply to USC, and when you come interview, I will take you out to awesome LA food and make you fall in love with the school and the city and you will never consider another school every again. =)
Link to Psy at the Dodgers Game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOkBrH8hnXc&feature=related
This is the best clip that I could find, without too much additional footage of the other audience members dancing....
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