ABCs of me

Okay, I've been in Germany for an entire week and haven't posted anything about it. I promise you I will very soon (once I get more of this inprocessing/house hunting/moving stuff done). My other excuse is that my internet access is very sparce (I have to go to this cyber cafe or the library to access it.)

Anyway, I was reading my friend, Lynn's blog, and got tagged to complete this "ABCs of me" survey. So here goes!

a. attached or single? Single (feel free to send NICE single guys my way)
b. best friend? my sister but this is a very difficult question to answer
c. cake or pie? yes (I'm with you here, Lynn!)
d. day of choice? probably Friday
e. essential items? icecream, chocolate, Starbucks mocha, my laptop
f. favorite color(s)? probably purple, but I like a lot of
g. gummy bears or worms? worms (eating a bear just seems wrong!)
h. hometown? Naperville, IL
i. favorite indulgence? refer to 'e' above
j. january or july? January (I love the snow!)
k. kids? nope (unless a goddaughter counts)
l. life isn't complete without? God
m. marriage date? N/A
n. number of brothers or sisters? 1 sister
o. oranges or apples? either
q. quotes? "Anything is possible." "Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all right, it's not the end." "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, thru prayer and petition, w/ thanksgiving, present your requestions to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ."
r. reasons to smile? Friends, Zoloft boucing ball commercials, beautiful days, an unexpected gift or treat
s. season of choice? autumn or winter
t. tag 5 people: ugh, I don't know five people who haven't been tagged already, so if you want to do this, enjoy!
u. unknown fact about me...hummm, I can't think of anything that would surprise people right now
v. vacation of choice? Strange as it may sound, I really want to go to Antarctica some time. I'd also like to go to Italy and Russia.
w. worst habit? perseverating on things (overthinking things)
x. xray or ultrasound? huh, don't really understand this question, but I'll go w/ xray b/c that whole having your bladder full but not being allowed to pee doesn't seem very enjoyable!
y. your favorite food? chocolate and ice cream!
z. zodiac sign? sagittarius, although I don't really even know what this is!

I promise I'll send stuff about Germany later!

Poking Fun at Poker

Disclaimer: Sorry to all you die-hard poker fans. You can stop reading now if you so desire.

I feel it necessary to recount a story about poker and ask for opinions on the events surrounding this. My father has a bunch of friends (guys) that he plays poker with every other Wednesday night. The game moves from house to house so each guy hosts the game about once every two months. Last night was my father's turn to host the game.

I discovered early in the day that this did not simply mean that there would be a bunch of guys playing poker at my parents' house that night. It meant instead that we (my mother and I) were required to vacate the house from 6:30pm to 10:30pm, or at the very least, stay in the two back bedrooms so we would not interrupt the game occurring in the dining room. Mind you that this meant that the computers in the house were off-limits (my parents don't have wireless internet) because to access the computers requires either passing thru the dining room and being in earshot of the game or being along the pathway from the dining room to the main bathroom.

Further annoying me, I discovered that up until a couple of months ago, the wives would often cook dinner for the men and then have to vacate (or at least seclude themselves in) the house. Now, the host only provides snacks and dessert.

Am I the only one who thinks this is a little disrespectful? I have no problem with the male bonding time. Heaven knows I need my female bonding time. My problem is with making the rest of the family either prisoners in their own home or forcing them flee the premises (We went to Panera Bread.). My father stated that the men don't like the women around because they feel bad about cursing and telling off-color jokes. I can understand this; however, if a person is worried that someone is going to be offended by what he is saying, he has two equitable solutions.
1. Don't tell the jokes (or having a discussion with the person who is likely to be offended if you don't think the subject matter is actually offensive)
2. Go somewhere where the people who will be offended aren't going to be (i.e. basement, garage, rent a room at the golf club house, etc)

It just doesn't seem that the appropriate solution is to kick out those who live in the house (I'm speaking for my mother and the other wives b/c I realize that I don't live here technically) and may be offended by the jokes/language. This just really doesn't seem fair! (yes, yes, I know, 'life isn't fair')

Okay, so that's my soapbox for the day. I know I'm taking this to the extreme, but it's annoying me. So let me know what your thoughts are!

Pay Phones

Yes, I know the title of this post is strange but so is the topic. I realized today how dependent we have become on cell phones. I left the house to go to a hair cut appointment only to discover that I couldn't find the place. I needed to call the place or call my mother to get better directions; however, I didn't have a cell phone (my one from Korea doesn't work in America and my one from America no longer has a plan b/c I have been in Korea for the last year).

This left me needing to find a pay phone. If you haven't looked for a pay phone recently, try it. It's not as easy as it used to be. Strip mall, no pay phone. Department store, no pay phone. Finally I arrived at a gas station that did have a pay phone. Apparently, pay phones are the one type of phone that does not require an area code. When I put in 1-910 the automated voice told me not to dial a 1 or 0 or an area code if calling a local number. If the phone knows that I'm dialing a 1 and the area code, shouldn't it also be able to just accept it? (Alas, this may be why I have problems with electronics, b/c I question them).

This story has a happy ending. I was able to reach my mother and hey, if I ever need to use a phone phone again, I know where one is and how to use it.

Good luck to all you non-cell phone users; you'll need it!

Travels Around the US

I have taken advantage of my time off the last week and a half and have been traveling. I finally arrived back in NC on Saturday and will be here until next Sunday when I fly to Germany. Here are the highlights of my adventures around the US.

First, I went to Tucson, AZ for a reunion with the girls from my family medicine residency program. We spent the majority of our time just reconnecting, playing with my friend, Tracy's, infant son, eating ice cream (Cold Stone, I love you!) and seeing movies (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 was just right for this group). Two of the four of us will now be living in the area, so it will make it easier to get together. While some things have changed over the last year, our friendship still remains!

Next, it was a red eye flight to DC to see my sister, my cats (yes Jennie, they are still MY cats) and my cousins/little cousins. It was a bit interesting squeezing seven people (one preteen and teenager included) into a two bedroom apartment with one shower, but we managed. After avoiding the Holocaust Museum for three years under the pretense of not being mentally stable enough to go to it, my cousins, sister and I ventured there. It was very well done and emotional and allowed me to practice reading some German. It's amazing to think that I'll be living in Germany in less than a week and more amazing to think that the museum shows what Germany was like less than 70 years ago. For a more relaxing experience, we then went to the Native American Museum, ESPN Zone and then up the Washington Monument. All in all if was an interesting, if somewhat tiring, day. We then spent the next day and a half relaxing (somewhat). I was great to get to see everyone! Good luck, Cecilia, with starting high school this week!

Then it was off to the Baltimore Airport to pick up my friend Augusta (one of my roommates from medical school) and travel to Lancaster, PA to visit our other friend, Heidi (another of my roommates from med school). Amazingly, when I got to baggage claim to meet Augusta, I ran into my friends, Pat and Lynn, who were with me in Korea and who I was going to be visiting in PA the next day! It's definitely a small world!

Heidi, August and I spent our night reminescing and going to Issac's (great restaurant where they have soft pretzel sandwiches!). The next day Augusta and I walked around downtown Lancaster (they have a wonderful farmer's market), hunted for a church (long story, unfortunately we didn't find one that had Mass) and then headed off to Hershey's Chocolate World.

Anyone who has met me probably knows of my love of chocolate. I went to Penn State MedicalSchool which is located in Hershey, PA. I can't say that being located in Hershey was the main reason for choosing this school but it definitely didn't hurt! Chocolate World not only has a multitude of different Hershey products for sale, but it also has a ride where you learn about the making of chocolate. And the best part is that you get a free piece of chocolate at the end of the ride. Okay, I'm a sucker for chocolate! Of course, we (Augusta, Adam and I) went on the ride (Adam had never been there so we did not subject him to our full rendition of the "Hershey's chocolate, Hershey's chocolate, it's a Hershey's chocolate world" theme song on the ride) and then got ice cream (Reeses peanut butter cup sundae w/ chocolate peanut butter ice cream for me of course!) All in all it was a great trip!

Last, but definitely not least, it was back to Lancaster (Manheim, technically) to my friend Lynn's parents' house to visit her, Pat, Adeline and her parents. If you've never been to Lancaster it's beautiful and a great mix of old and new culture. Lynn's parents have a wonderful house, a large lawn, a little pond w/ fish and beautiful flowers! I also got to see how much Adeline (now almost 18 months) is growing and learning. She now definitely knows the meaning of the word 'no' and how to use it. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. It was great to see them all and I could definitely see myself living in that area (I mapquested and found that there's a Starbucks 8.6 miles away, so it's definitely do-able!)

I had to include lots of pictures of Adeline here b/c she's just so darn cute! (I know her parents and grandparents would agree!)

All in all it was a great trip despite the many flights! I'm now back in NC and will be living for Germany on Sunday. I'm both excited and nervous, but know that I will have the chance to meet many wonderful people. The invitation is open to anyone (well, anyone I know) to come and visit. I'll miss you all!

Journey from Korea to the US

Yes, I am still alive and back in the US (for one more week). I have been on 9 plane flights in 11 days. Here's a recap of what I've been doing for the last couple of weeks.

I left Korea on August 7th after almost beating my friend Patrick in ping pong the night before (okay, 'almost' may be stretching it a bit :))It was a nice send off! I up bright and early and took the 6am bus to Incheon airport. This is a view of the base at 0600 just before I left. The other two pictures are of just ouside the base and the Han River in Seoul (that's just fog, right?)

For those of you who haven't had the experience, there are some good and some not-so-good things about 14-hour flights. This one started out in the not-so-good category with the 90 degree temperature in the cabin. The pilot assurred us in Korea, Japanese (I think) and broken English that the 'comfortable temperature would get better as soon as we took off'. Great, except sweating and then being stuck in a confined space with recycled air for 14 hours is probably not great. Plus, they had confiscated my water bottle (which I had filled after going thru security). Really though, things then improved as I was moved from my seat to a bulkhead seat (if you ever get a chance, try to get one of these!) so a couple of siblings could sit together. This meant I could stretch out my legs (really stretch them out, as in, I could stretch them as far as they could go and they didn't hit the wall in front of me). One advantage of being on long flights is that you can catch up on movies that you haven't seen in the past year. Here's a recap: 'Nim's Island' is cute; selecting someone to go on a mission to Mars will be difficult; 'Smart People' is interesting; '21' has an interesting ending. Needless to say, I didn't sleep on the plane more than about an hour (I never can for some reason).

My transition in Atlanta was better than I thought (and I got Starbucks, so that made it ever better!) My plane from Atlanta to Raleigh-Durham took off without a problem. The best part of this was the my parents were there to greet me when I arrived at RDU. It's nice to be home!

Stay tuned for the rest of my journey above!

5 Best/Worst Things About Life in Korea

So, I'm leaving Korea on Wednesday. While I'm excited to be going to Germany next (and going back to the US on leave for a few weeks), I am sad to be leaving. I figured I'd let you know what I've found to be the best and worst things about life in Korea (from the perspective of someone living on a military base). Here goes:


5 best things (in no specific order)

1. Kid friendly environment: People here LOVE kids! Anytime a baby (especially an American baby) is around, people of all ages (both males and females) will come up and touch the baby, want to hold the baby, talk to the baby, etc. Also, they have wonderful parks for kids in strange locations. You'll be walking among houses which are basically nothing more than shacks and suddenly you come upon a beautiful new playground!

2. Friends: I have made some of the best friends here in Korea (and gotten to know others much better:)). I think this stems from being placed in an environment outside my comfort zone. Thanks to everyone who has made my life so much better and taught me so many new things about life.

3. Public transportation: I lived in DC and the metro was great, but the public transportation in Korea beats it all. You can take buses almost everywhere, the subway system is great (and in both Korean and English almost everywhere), and ITT on base has buses and trips of their own. I wish more cities in the US where like this!

4. Historical culture: Korea has a wonderful wealth of cultural exhibits, relics, historical villages and the DMZ. Since most countries have been in existence much longer than the United States, they do have somewhat of an unfair advantage when it comes to historical attractions, but Korea still takes the cake!

5. AFN commercials: This one made it on both my best and worst lists. For those of you that don't know, AFN stands for Armed Forces Network. Basically, it's military cable that has random programs at random times and tries to give us some semblance of American TV. The reason it's on my best list is because the commercials are really educational and hopefully help direct people to the resources they need.


5 worst things (in no specific order)

1. Pushing in airport/lines: No matter where you are, if there's a line, people are pushing. It’s as if they seem to believe that they will win a prize if they can just shave a few seconds of their waiting time. This perplexed me at first; in most other situations the Korean people seem much more laidback than Americans. However, I've come to realize that my recognition of the pushing/rushing is more due to the infringement of my personal space. I don't think Koreans (and many other cultures around the world) seem to have the need for personal space; however, I am truly American in that respect!

2. Driving: In four words, KOREAN DRIVERS ARE CRAZY! So I don't seem prejudice against Koreans, the drivers in Thailand and China are also crazy. I mean this in the nicest possible way. Here it is truly the "survival of the fittest" on the roads. Street signs are optional, stop signs/stop lights are only suggestions. You get my point. I have found, however, that the pedestrians strictly obey the cross walk signals, not walking one second before the walk signal changes. (This is probably b/c they know that the drivers may not stop for the crosswalk and they are taking their lives in their hands at any crossings!)

3. Space available patients: This is no end to frustration with this. Long story short: there are many Americans living in Korea with military contacts who are entitled to some military care (like emergency care) but are supposed to have a primary doctor (civilian Korean doctor) to oversea the majority of their care. However, due to the language barrier, financial costs and the feeling that the military should provide for all their care, most do not get a civilian doctor. This leads to many problems: serious medical problems go untreated, meds aren't taken or refilled, etc. These people are often then seen in the ER when they're in crisis leading to admission to hospitals which they often need to front the costs for and then get reimbursed. People on all sides of this issue then complain about this. From the medical prespective, it's frustrating because I see people who aren't getting the real care they need (whether because of the system of by choice).

4. Living in base housing: Think college dorms, but w/ mold. Now you're probably thinking that I should just do my dishes sooner/clean my room; however, the mold I speak of is not mold in the dorm rooms, it's mold in the common areas (hallways, common room, etc). There is a simple explanation and solution for the mold problem; stop the raining from the ceilings! Yes, you read this correctly. In the year that I have lived in the dorms, on a normal day there has been water dripping from the ceiling somewhere in the dorm. Housing’s solution to this problem is to place a bucket under that area of the ceiling that is dripping. When the bucket overflows, the carpet is left to absorb the rest (that is until the carpet is saturated and mold begins to form). Just so you don't think that I'm biased, I'll add that this isn't just an isolated problem in my dorm. I discovered about a week ago that in the control room of the emergency department, there is a bucket in the ceiling (yep, you heard me right, IN THE CEILING above the ceiling panels) that fills with water that leaks from above (apparently NOT from the sewer system which is where we were initially told the water was coming from). The bucket is changed out every couple of weeks. Apparently this has been going on for about 6 months. Instead of fixing the root of the problem, they just change the bucket! Does anyone she a problem with this?

5. AFN commercials: Like I said before, these are both good and bad. The "never shake your baby" commercial may drive me to shake a baby if I had one. Then there are some commercials that just don't make sense. I still don't fully understand the "Let's talk about talk" commercial. It tells me that I can talk about stuff and I'm protected but then I can't. Yep, doesn't make sense to me. If you're interested in seeing samples of any of these commercials, you can get some of them on youtube.com by searching for AFN commercials.

Well, that's it; I’m done with my ranting and raving. Feel free to chime in with you own thoughts on this!

All in all I've had a wonderful time here and have had many great new life changing/growing experiences!