trivia night in Mt. Isa

so, how many wheels does a boeing 747 have?

Tuesday nights are trivia nights at the Buffs Club, and we are "required" to be there. I had a good time tonight actually and learned some useless, but interesting facts. Bunch of people gather in one lounge area and divide into teams. There are 6 categories of questions and whoever answers the most questions correctly wins.

so a boeing 747 has a total of 18 wheels or tires.

Yesterday night, we went a the Irish Club. Did you know that Mt. Isa's Irish Club has the largest membership in the WORLD? amazing tidbit isn't it?

In case you might think that i'm here just to have fun, that's not the case. Tomorrow we actually start our shifts in the ER. I think they are not quite sure how to make use of us(PAs) yet, so they are figuring things out as we go. We got a tour of the hospital in town which serves an area of 380k sq. km. It wasn't until this morning actually when everything became official as we are "good" to be here. I had a feeling not all the ducks were in line, but that's okay. We are trying to break new grounds here, so that's to be expected I guess.

The hospital is small, but basically has most everything they need and seems very well organized. Specialists come in every month or two. Complicated cases are transferred to the bigger city of Townsville.

In Mt. Isa- the Rodeo Capitol of Australia

i'm finally at my final destination in Mt. Isa. it's a mining city in the NW part of Queensland. the mine is right in the city, so there's no hiding the fact that this is a mining town.

i'm staying in student housing and it's pretty nice. we get our own rooms and the kitchen and living areas are shared. there's 5 pods (rooms) in each apartment. it sure beats the place I was staying at in Temple by far. i feel safe walking barefoot for one, and there are no bugs for two.

i met one of my roommates yesterday who also had just come in and she's a physiotherapy student from Brisbane. She and i explored the city yesterday and today and picked up some food items to make our place feel a bit more homey. my classmate will join me hopefully this evening and then it will be the 3 of us.

so Mt. Isa is the rodeo capitol of Austalia. 2 weekends from now is the big rodeo event i hear. funny how i haven't even seen a rodeo in TX and i'll probably be going to these events here.

the weather here is like summer in Arizona except not as hot. it gets quite cold at night. i'm glad i packed my shorts and slippers.

more on mt. isa probably later.

meeting nemo and dorey

well, i met nemo and dorey. thousands of them actually. it was a beautiful day for diving. we could see 15-20 meters out. i also got to see turtles and dolphins and a little tiny shark. it was really neat. i'm almost sure the fish were laughing at me. and somehow i passed and got my certification. i honestly think i'm more proud of this than any other certificates that i've received.

i went to Chinatown here looking for a Vietnamese restaurant that I heard was good. On the way, i ran into a korean restaurant and just could not stop my self from going in. it was so good. i wanted everything on the menu actually.

tomorrow i head out for mt. isa. the next stage. i met with the director who arranged this trip yesterday over some nice white wine. i still don't know exactly what i'll be doing, but i think it should be good.

my mom will be getting a biopsy done of a mass found in her lung next Wed. or thurs. if you are reading this, please pray for her. i really wish i could be there for that.

swimming with the fish

i didn't think scuba diving would be so so difficult. but i'm slowly getting the hang of it. we got to swim with the fish today (stripees and morey eel). it made all the pain and struggle worth it. tomorrow should be better. our group is also what has helped me to not quit. my instructor is so patient and i could see that he really want me to get it. my classmates are so much better and have picked it up so nicely. after spending 3 days together, i feel like i've gotten to know them well. i wish i can write about them here, but maybe i can write more about them later when i don't have a time limit.

brisbane is a very fun city. i wish i can stay here a little while longer. the restaurants here are amazing. beats almost any big city in the US. there is so much to do outdoors. today after scuba, we went to Surfer's paradise. It was so beautiful. The people I've met have such a spirit of discovery, freedom, and sharing life, it's hard not to get caught up in that. It's not about finding good jobs, going to college, and stuff. It's about experiencing life with whoever is around and doing things with others. I'm sad to say that due to my fatigue from scuba, I haven't been able to participate in the activities that my roommates have invited me too. I feel like i'm so missing out. I think it's so kind of them to invite me along. i also love that i can walk to places. i must have lost a few pounds at least from walking. and then a few more from scuba diving and being so tired that i go to bed without eating. my instructor can't believe how little i eat, but i keep telling him that it's partly his fault: he won't let me quit scuba diving.

i wish i can write more, but i must get some sleep before tomorrow's final dive. we meet at 5:45 in the morning.

day 2 in Australia

so there is an internet cafe that requires some fees for use, so i can't write too much although i can truly write 20 pages easily.

first, a book recommendation in case you are interested in Australia: In a Sunburned Country by Bryson. very funny, and historical. the author writes of his experiences in traveling through australia and i heard it gives a very good picture of what you might experience here. so far i'm half way through, and it's really good.

this hostel is actually not scary at all as a first thought. i share a room with 5 other girls and they are all from Europe: Finland, Germany, England. They are very nice, and i'm glad i chose to stay in a shared room despite its untidiness. it's nice to hear about their experiences so far. Europeans are definitely a bit more adventuresome then Americans. They are not just here 1-2 months, but for 1-2 years. They work whatever job they can find here and go from city to city and learn and experience life. I wish I did that when i was younger.

i passed the physical yesterday. afterwards i had a doner kabeb( beef and lamb wrap). everything is definitely more expensive here even considering the strength of the american dollar. i paid $3 for about a 12 ounce bottle of Sunkist. anyway the guy that sold me the kabeb asked me "are you Korean?" i was very impressed since no one has ever guessed me as Korean the first time. He then said there was just a football match between Korea and Iran. I said that I am Korean, but i was born in Iran. I don't know if he was thinking Korean because of the soccer match or because Australians in Brisbane are better at distinguishing the various asian "look." I think it's maybe both. There are lots of Asians here and Europeans.

On my way back, i passed the soccor stadium. Very nice stadium. I wanted to go in to watch a game as everyone was piling in, but i decided i better get back to the hostel. It would get out too late. But how exciting it would be...i think it would almost be more exciting than watching a Mavericks game at the AA center.

Today was my first scuba day. It's just 3 of us plus the instructor. My body aches so much from my first day. I don't think I would recommend scuba to just anyone. It is truly physically demanding at first I found. I guess every sport you try at first might be, but this one in particular is quite taxing. I even tried to prepare for the physicality of it, but I'm not nearly prepared as I should be. I don't quite know how i'm going to survive tomorrow. it was pretty neat though. and for all the coral reef and fish that i have yet to see, i will keep on keeping on.

well, i'd like to write more, but my shoulders are giving out on me and my mind is exhausted, too. jetlag, i haven't experienced yet. maybe cuz i was so focused on trying to learn to scuba dive and not drown. wow that was hard.

but i'm so loving all of this. i've been on bus, the metro and the ferry already. i'm thankful for the public transport system. gas prices are outrageously high. so the bus is much cheaper may to go even though it's not cheap either.

okay, i'm really going to sign out now. i do miss home...already.

how are you going?

so that's the Australians way of saying "how are you doing?"
well, already it's been an adventure. i'm here at the hostel that i'll be for the week. i've never stayed at a place like this, so it's rather interesting. i feel half scared and half safe. if you saw this place, you would understand. it's really for backpackers, so a nice gentlemen lugged my heavy suitcase up the stairs to a shared room. i'm glad i asked for an all girl's room. i didn't realize this was going to be such close quarters.

the plane rides here were mostly uneventful. i slept most of the way and read some too. sydney was much colder with everyone in winter coats, but brisbane is warmer. i'm glad because i'm in my summer TX clothes. i knew it was going to be winter here, but i just could not get myself to dress wintery when it was so hot in Dallas.

i already lost my passport once, and a nice person with a smile comes up to my panicked self and says "passport?" i was so very relieved.

i have to pass a physical by an Australian doctor before I can scuba dive here, so that's where i'm headed after writing this post. It feels strange to be here, so far away from home. But everyone's been super nice, so I feel okay.

everythings a bit more expensive then i had planned on, but hopefully that's cuz i was only in the airports. this hostel is only $23 a night, so we'll see what kind of experience this turns out to be.

time to go explore the city...

some australia info

the first week i will be in brisbane learning to scuba dive.

starting the the second week i will be in mt. isa for the next 7 weeks. here's a link to where i'll be staying for the most part.
http://www.micrrh.jcu.edu.au/

the last few days, i'll be in sydney, doing the touristy thing.

in the middle somewhere, i hope to go to Cairns and do more scuba diving near the Great Barrier Reef.

sort of a month off

so after my internal medicine rotation in temple, i had a month off to work on my graduate project. it turned out to be busier than any of the months that i was actually on rotation. my brothers' families were in town, so most of it was family time. i could not say no to my nephews whenever they asked me to do something with them, which was almost 24/7. there's few things in this world that i'd rather do, so it was both exhausting and incredibly fulfilling.

in the midst of that, i've made many trips to the doctor's office with my mom. she wasn't feeling well.

i did make a point to visit my friends who had babies, but i just couldn't find time enough to catch up with my friends much. i got to play tennis once and that's about the only time i went out. boy, did i hurt after that. one day, i'm going to start back golfing again. i did make it out to California to hear Brennan Manning speak, breath in some great ocean air and meet some neat people at NewSong. it was a time of "healing the image of God" and myself. overall, an exhausting, but great time.

i'm off to australia tomorrow. i'm somewhat reluctant to go because of my mom's health, but i'll go and come back early if i have to. so the few days that i had hoped to catch up with my friends before i leave, i've spent with my mom and dad. yes, i wish i had another month off before going to Australia. so much i wanna do, so little time. what else can i do, but just keep on keeping on.

i'm so behind on my reading. i should read on the plane, but i have a feeling i'll be sleeping instead.

updating my blog

so i haven't blogged in while. in Temple, i didn't have internet access at "home" so i actually put pen to paper and started journaling some. then things got a bit more hectic, and i stopped. so now i'm back.

my internal medicine rotation in temple was very good. it had it's low points: being away from family/friends, the rundown motel i stayed at and just being in a small city with not much incentive to explore.

but it had many good points, too.
1) i learned more of the art of medicine while i was there. learning to treat patients not necessarily diseases. my disheartened view of the health care system was somewhat softened as i met many physicians who were as compassionate as they were knowledgeable. not only that, almost all the staff, residents I met were truly interested in patient care. funny as heck too.
2) i know better now the kind of physcian assistant i want to be.
3) i started to exercise again more regularly. i didn't have anything else to do.