Oh, Paris.

“Strangely enough, everyone in France spoke English… except the guy at McDonald’s.

Nov 28, 2009

I used to live in Europe.

And this is the exact view I held of Parisians.

My best friend’s account.

Love Skype.

Paris, je t’aime.

Slippery, Swirly (and Sulky) Semester

Slapping September

This part is actually a combination post for August August and Slapping September (pardonne-moi for my alliterations; it is a chronic condition of mine.) We had orientation for two days, and I got to meet or see everyone that is in my class. Then we had the White Coat Ceremony. I got a white coat, a nice note pad with a pen and a spatula from Kroger pharmacy as a gift. We were the 125th incoming class, so the spatula was something that only *my* class got. It pretty much looks like a butter/jam spreader, but hey, it says “pharmacy” on it. The WCC was almost like graduation, but so much better. It framed me as a pharmacy student – barely educated as I was. I had my first prescription homework; first pharmacy exams; first classes about drugs.

Looking back, September served as a transitional period for me in every sense; I went from living in dorms + at home to having my own apartment (with three roommates); I used to be a pre-pharmacy student, and now I am a legit pharmacy  student. Two of my closest friends at Purdue have moved on with their lives (one moved to Pittsburgh & the other attends graduate school, and grad school has adsorbed him thoroughly); my brother is back in the United States; even my life goals have transformed. In the previous two years, I had been so focused on getting into pharmacy school that I feel like I’ve missed out on other life aspirations; I don’t know. Just about anything from learning how to cook to looking at what my ultimate professional, nay, life goals could be. Now that I’m in pharmacy school, I’m trying to figure out what is it that I exactly want to do – everything seems so fascinating (and oh so demanding). I’m currently doing the Nuclear Pharmacy certification (one of the several specialisations a pharmacist can pursue.), but I’ve seen a new light in clinical pharmacy (especially oncology), and even industrial pharmacy has mesmerised me. I guess I have ample time to determine my direction, but sometimes I wonder I need to figure out what I want for myself, non-professionally, I mean.

Exam Count: 4

Overbearing October

I thought last year broke me pretty well into a good, obedient student… I was terribly wrong.

As a child, migraines were part of my life. Puberty granted me the blessing of headaches. Pharmacy school brought my childhood back. In October alone, I had eight exams. That doesn’t sound that bad, except that each exam covered what two exams would in a typical undergraduate class. Now that I look back to it, it doesn’t seem as bad, but at the time… well, with homework, quizzes and other obligations, further excruciated by the lack of sleep, everything seemed to spell doom.

At times, I felt like a messy desk equaled a messy life. Everything evolved around the endless exams, quizzes, homework and other academic duties. Then there was a ray of hope: October break.

For October break, I drove down with some people to Smoky Mountains. Breath taking. Wonderful. Calm. Though the driving was rather painful (think no sleep combined with dark and rainy weather), what I saw there made up for it. Granted, I didn’t get much rest because I wanted to see as much as possible as long as I stayed down there, but I learned that a world more beautiful and peaceful exists outside the realm of school… a world I hope to join in a few years matter time. I went horse back riding, and I almost instantly bonded with the horse. I felt lucky because I know others struggled with their furry four-legged creature and because riding through the smokies (while not worrying about falling into streams and dirt) is, well, simply ineffable.

October reminded me of my love for gum, coffee and chocolate (not that I needed any more of that), but it also prompted me to understand importance of juggling. I interviewed for a few internships (keep your fingers crossed!), got in touch with some faculty with awesome research projects, so hopefully I can manage a thing or two before summer 2010 begins. On top of that, there were apartment and other humanly interests, such as, families and friends, to take care of, but I am excited to announce that I have a studio to myself next year! =)

Exam Count: 8

Since November has not left us yet,I think it’s safe to say that I’m not quite ready to reflect on it. Life has definitely finished a sentence though! Hopefully, I will write in a more positive note. But in the meantime:

savvy?

 

A Reminder To Happiness

“Don’t you dare sad face me.

- Nov 02, 2009

I’m one of those people that keeps everything: anything from museum tickets to bag tags to text messages… so I’ve decided to post some text messages and other things now and then to remind me of the small things that make me smile.

I’m Still Alive

To state the obvious, it’s November now. The last time I posted, it was August. So September, October and November: three entire months, I have procrastinated in writing to myself. A tremendous amount of stuff has happened, so I’ll be doing a recap on things that has happened perhaps over Thanksgiving. Hopefully a new layout, too? We’ll see. I’m at a library now taking a (rather long) study break: it’s so much better than studying drug preservatives… oh well! Seventeen exams in so far, and two more coming up next week, and it’s finally turkey break!

Pharmacy school… It’s as awful as awesome it can be.

*** What pharmacy students look like theoretically: professional, intelligent and happy.

(and yes, I’m in there somewhere! That was our WCC [White Coat Ceremony].)

*** What we really look like:

Need I say more?

Updated Summer Reading Garble

From the looks of this blog one would imagine that I do nothing but read (and subsequently nothing exciting in my life occurs.) Though that is not true, I can do nothing but reinforce that image because I am about present another summer reading update. Ah, pity. Anyways, here are a few more books that I have read since posting the last list or books that I forgot to include in the last post.

• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s  Le Petit Prince
• Thich Naht Hanh’s 화 (Anger) – read in Korean
• 김정현’s 아버지 (obviously Korean)
• Audiobooks: J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
• Jonh Grisham’s The King of Torts

As usual, I will choose one more book to expand my views a little. Though this book has already received a rave of reviews, I shall join the chorus. I will admit, however, that I bought this book in 2007 and have just only finished it. I discovered in May 2007 that Clarke’s writing style, while highly entertaining, to be too ropey.  That year’s August, I found Clarke to be quite vivid, but with the college transition, the book lay forgotten somewhere in my library. The next summer, my excuse was the PCAT and subsequent pre-pharmacy duties, and only this year (sometime last weekend) I picked up the book and failed to put the book down (with a sane want/need of a casual reader) until I finally finished it last night past 3:00 AM.

Reader beware. Once Clarke captures you, she will bind you to the book, just as the gentleman with thistle-down hair envelopes Jonathan Strange in the Everlasting darkness. You will not break free until you finish the book, and even then, the world that Clarke has created will linger in the back of your mind, always ready to welcome you back into it. The scenes the writer painted gives a vivid pastel-tone aura; a piece of work that surprises the viewer with the strong memory and emotional tie that we didn’t even realize we had until we left it.

I’m getting all dramatic about the book, so I’m going to move on. In about two weeks, my summer officially comes to an end. Since a reading famine is sure to occur, I am determined to read as many as more books before leaving for school. Here are the desirables:

• J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Children of Húrin
• Jane Austen’s Emma or Sense and Sensibility
• Peter Shaffer’s Equus
• Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting
• Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange

I have already read the script and seen the movie version of Trainspotting. While I did enjoy both tremendously, I would like to read the original work to honor the author and movie righteously. (I am one of those very unyielding people that almost always believe that the book to be superior to the recreated movie. Few exceptions occur, and I believe two of those are Joe Wright’s recreation of Pride and Prejudice and Peter Jackson’s making of The Lord of the Rings. Countless examples of failures exist; The Harry Potter movies are one. I would say Twilight was a horrible mistake, but then, so was the book.)

Summer Reading List 2009

And walla! Here is the reading list for the summer so far!

• Stephanie Meyer’s The Twilight Series
• Roald Dahl’s The BFG, The Twits
• Umberto Eco’s Baudolino, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
• Audiobooks: J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter 1
• Kate di Camillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie
• Jacqueline Wilson’s Candyfloss
• Thich Naht Hanh’s The Stone Boy
• Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park
• J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit
• Gave up: James Joyce’s Dubliners

I know there are books here and there I have forgot to mention (mainly Korean. I’ve also been reading the daily newspaper much more often.), but the list is still not so scanty. As for a book report, I must admit that I’ve not much to say. I will bravely announce that I have read the Meyer books. That said, I would also like to mention that I did not pay a dime to read them and refuse to lavish them with more attention that they deserve. Besides the adolescent protagonist’s drama and the seemingly limited emotional range (dare I say that of a teaspoon?), the books do not offer much.

I did notice that I have read many children books: The Twilight Series, The BFG, The Twits, Harry Potter, Because of Winn-Dixie, Candyfloss, and technically, even The Hobbit. While an underlying cause exists (most of the books were chosen and recommended by one lovely student I tutor), I do not regret reading most. The syntax, vocabulary and even the ideas seemed refreshing. Perhaps slaving over countless pages of organic chemistry, et. al. for an entire year and dealing with adults and college students made me forget how easy life can be. I will say what has been said so often: I adore the simplicity.

I hope to spend this summer acquiring a refreshing outlook. Instead of complicating things more, I’m trying to appreciate the seemingly plain things. And maybe, this gratitude will prepare me for another challenging year… I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed! : )

Of Whims and Whimsies

I know I’ve been majorly sucking on the category of updating this blog. I do have more time now that I’m on summer break, but I’ve been busy with working, sleeping, learning how to drive and of course catching up with “playing.”

I’ve been putting thought into materialism – or the personal side to it. Everyone likes new toys. Whether that new toy is a new laptop or a new puppy doll, regardless of how old one is, everyone likes new things to play with.

And, everyone likes to discover a new thing to like. It’s always fun to figure out another thing we can obsess about or spend our time on (and actually enjoy that time we invest.)

So here is something that roughly resembles a bucket list, except for the part that I (hopefully) have a long to play it out. [and some tacky side notes that I like to tack on. So, I guess it’s a rather long one.]

• I definitely want to learn how to scuba dive. I don’t know what it is, but this underwater, often literally shady, business has fascinated me since, well, I don’t know. I’ve always been fond of the water – not that I’m a fantastic swimmer or anything, but being in water or by water seems to be alright by me. I like rafting, I like the ocean, I like the food that comes from it, and I even find the diseases and/or disorders that result from it truly fascinating. I don’t daresay that I grasp the true meaning of the grandiose circle of life that plays in it, but it’s pretty cool in my opinion. I’m aware I can get some terrible oxygen bubbles in my vein (which is apparently terribly painful), but doing all those National Geographic-y things seems über cool.

• I want to own a Nintendo Gameboy, specifically a Nintendo DS Lite. Well, of course, something else cooler may come out, but as of now, that’s my favourite model. (I’m not that big of a fan of the DSi.) I’m not really into a lot of electronic toys (that said, I did just get a new laptop, a beautiful Macbook, if I may add.), but I’ve wanted a gameboy since grade school. Maybe it was because I was into Pokémon when I was younger (still think Pokémon was a brilliant idea that revolutionized animation, industry, etc.) It’s a terribly easy way to carry entertainment and major distraction in a bundle!

• I want to own a dog or a cat. I’ve never really had any bigger pets than a hamster and some small birds since my mother is not quite the fan of moving things that have more than two legs or have white liquid feces. I love Dachshunds, red, brown or black poodles (I will need no pompoms on poodles heads and tails), Corgis and a lot of other hounds and terriers (I like German Shepherds, too, but I think they might be too much for me.) I’m hoping to get a smart and one of those ‘hypoallergenic dogs,’ (though I don’t completely believe in the ‘no shedding,’ and ‘no dandruff’ statements) by the time I’m ready to have my own place AFTER graduation. Hopefully I’ll get some time to learn about them a little more by volunteering and reading more about raising them. And as for the cat, I really don’t have any strong preferences, but I’ve always loved the look of British shorthairs and Chartreuxes… so I guess I like the more solid coloured, round-faced beauties. Pointy-faced cats creep me out for some reason. Ragamuffins are adorable, too.

• I want a Roald Dahl collection. I have an anthology of his adult fiction (which, of course, contains his excitingly cynical tone and delightful + morbid descriptions.) In modern internet-speak Roald Dahl pwns (?) writing (translation: he’s also über cool.) Even his children fiction is quite the amazing artwork. Way better than Harry Potter. And speaking of RD, this is a quote from The Twits.

If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it get so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it. A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.

I’m not one to necessarily harbor dark and twisted thoughts (or at least, I don’t think so), but I do think that statement is true. You can be a good person, but harbour negative thoughts, and those thoughts will show up on your face. And if these thoughts persist, it’ll mold into your face. And, molding dark and twisted thoughts into your face, probably isn’t the most advised beauty solution.

Anyways, I’m going to update my reading hopefully relatively soon. I’ve been reading lots… and watching a lot of TV. Let me enjoy being lazy a little longer. Peace!

Back for now

This year has been quite the experience. Despite the almost impossible airplane trips to and from home, the slightly crazed class load and the huge shift in social dynamics, I’ve gotten through the loops and hoops that seemed to strangle me away from whatever the end of this year was supposed to accomplish.

First things are first. I’ve made my decision as of where I will be next year. I will continue to stay at Purdue University to finish my Doctor of Pharmacy education; so it’s another four years to get through, taking and making the best out of whatever comes my way. I think it’s quite easy to say that now, that I’m going to try my best since I’m not directly involved with the predicament. That said, I’m writing write now from the post-hardship phase – well, actually, my vacation hasn’t started yet – I’m writing this from Narita Airport. I haven’t arrived at my final destination yet: home. (Actually, I am writing from Incheon Airport, now.)

Since I’m on the subject of airports anyways, I’d like to lament about the unfortunate plane trips I’ve had since starting my college career. My first trip back to Korea, Chicago got a major snowstorm. Getting from Indy to ‘O Hare was no problem – leaving Chicago was. They made us board, and then we stalled for four hours! The worst part of it all was that they kept on saying that we’d be leaving in ten, fifteen, thirty minutes (keeping our hopes up, eh?) and wouldn’t let us go. Needless to say, I had missed breakfast because I had to leave at 5:30 in the morning from the big PU), and had not bought lunch because the plan was that the plane would feed me – so I was quite the hungry one. The return trip back from Korea was all right, but the snow storm hadn’t passed. Getting to ‘O Hare, once again, was no problem. The problem was that the luggage compartment had frozen over, and they couldn’t get out the luggage so we were stuck in ‘O Hare again. See my luck? The plot thickens, but all I’m going to say about this trip was that United Airlines did not provide even a blanket and it was delayed for at least three hours because a) the filter wasn’t working quite right, b) they messed up the legal work and c) the pilot was late. I think I’m going to start flying Delta or Korean Airlines again.

When we got to Narita, it was even more frustrating. Because of the Swine Flu that is apparently (and not really) ravaging the minds of clueless people, we got a bunch of confused looking Japanese health officials to poorly “inspect” us. They made us fill out paper work, and then provided masks. (Which, I thought silly again, because a mask doesn’t provide much protection from a virus. Viruses are way too small.) Whatever to my sarcastic point of view, and I put them on for my respect for even the dumbest of legal procedures, but what astonished me was that, they didn’t even have us wear it throughout the airport. In other words, they just had us wear the masks to communicate with the already air-filter/goggle, scrubs and et. al. protected people… Seriously? Seriously! Seriously. I mean, for real, people? They’re definitely not isolating a virus strain through some paper work and some flimsy fomite of a mask. All I’ve got to say is I love over-excited, over-reacting and overtly dumb public policies. In the mean time, I accomplished something that I would never do: I started reading the Twilight series (much to my own dismay, but I wasn’t really feeling Faulkner), and got a good laugh out of the self-important protagonists. I finished the first two books (Twilight and New Moon), and I think if I can acquire the other two books without cost, I may finish it.

So, it’s summer now. It hasn’t hit me now, but I suppose it soon will. It still hasn’t really hit me that school is out. I suppose it will become more obvious when I get accustomed to my work schedule and my summer life. I have two jobs (in a lab and as a tutor), but I wouldn’t mind picking up another at a hospital. I’m hoping to train for long distance running so hopefully in two years, I can run the Indy Mini-marathon in a reasonable time. On top of that, I’ll be picking up tennis again (more like re-learning) and learning how to drive… which, in all honesty, I’m not too excited about. We’ll see how it goes. This summer, despite all these plans, I want to focus on becoming more self-composed. I want to become more independent that before. I have good reasons for this decision. I’m quite the independent person to begin with, but self-maintenance seems to be an important quality to succeeding.

I’m starting pharmacy school next year, which means that classes are going to get harder, but most important, I’m a step closer to becoming a person that I wanted to, and I want to use that opportunity well. Like I’ve chosen to move on with my life, my two closest friends at Purdue University have, too. One is transferring to Pittsburgh University and the other is staring graduate school. I suspect this shifts some of the dynamics in my closest relationships, whether for the better or the worse. In order to maintain the academic standards, social security and healthy life style I want, it’s important that I know how to take care of myself well. I know I have wrap up the easiest part of my life – adolescence… and I definitely do not want to make this time an awkward phase of my life

Well, that’s it for now. I know I’ve been absent from the blog a lot, but school comes first. I hope I won’t get that bored over the summer ☺.

- the end -

*** that said, I do plan on watching re-runs of Grey’s Anatomy Season 5 and catch up on House M.D.

****** and read a LOT. I want to re-read Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, try the entire series of 토지, a lot of poetry, Jane Austen, and other great books, classics and otherwise alike.

******** and spend time with the family and a good friend. : )

Of The Map Uncharted

I’m in college. I have a major called pre-pharmacy, and my problem and joy is that I’m doing it in two years while other people tend to do it in 3+ years.  This means pain. Lots of.

Speaking of pre-pharmacy, I need to let this out:

I’ve been accepted by one of my top choices!

but I’m waiting to make the decision till Spring Break and after I hear from my other top choice. Once this whole process is over, I’ll let you guys know more, but I’ve applied to five schools (all ranked; all +40 ), was offered interviews from all of them, but we’ll see how my future turns out after this semester. I turned down three interviews because I got into Iowa and since two were them were not the best match (the third, University of Illinois-Chicago was awesome, but that would be quite a wait, and there are decisions to be made!).

So actually, I obviously didn’t finish that post, but I’m going to finish it short and sweet, if that’s possible for me. I finally heard back from my own school, and…..

For those that have a life and don’t know what it is, I’ve been accepted to Purdue’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science’s Doctor of Pharmacy program as well!

I have till this Friday to make the big decision. I’ll let you know.

AND just six weeks till liberation! I can’t wait to go back home!

Of pájaros

I like to write. I guess that’s a little obvious since I obviously have this blog, but anyways, I also like writing poetry. Normally, I don’t like showing what I wrote just because how personal it can be and I’m not sure whether it’s presentable or not.

I’ve been taking a creative writing class, and I realised that it’s OK to be not perfect, etc. I’ve become a lot more confident with what I have to offer, so here’s something little I wrote. It’s a bilingual poem in English and Spanish, and I wrote it on a whim, like most of the situations I write. I’m trilingual, but I figured three languages at once would take too much of me!

Without further ado:

Of pájaros

I came here hoy
looking for un amigo que
me pudiera conocer but
in this mundo moderno
no one gives no joda de
other gente.

Es más fácil to say
¡déjala! but that’s only
lo que digo. La verdad
es that in this testaruda
estoy girando crazily
hasta que alguien takes me.

Es increíble how I hear
lo que no ha dicho
en esta echoing
wave que
nunca duerme but
sigue screeching for aire.

Por eso volví to my room
Dejected y lista to quedarse in mi
cama para olvidar a day that fue
sin éxito como any other día
but then I heard el
pajarrito llorar.

¿De lágrimas o cantar?
I do not know en cúal
pensé but even till ahora
me pregunto si I am
crying or singing este
ritmo que keeps on
haunting mi lado.

********************

Today, I find este lugar otra vez
no por encontrar a friend,
because ya lo sé que
en este modern world
a nadie le importa
even a small carajo
de other gente.

Entonces me preguntas why I find
este lugar? Supongo que I will know
la repuesta once I know whether
el pajarrito canta o sí.