Post-Boards Recap

So the Step 1 exam obviously came and went. The scores came out and I passed. And that's all we'll ever speak of the dreaded test again. My post-test trip to NYC with my dad and sister was lovely. Though I didn't even come close to completing my list, I saw many good friends and had really relaxing days with family for about a week. Then the day I got home, I went up north to a friend's cabin to spend the last days before my orientations started. It was the perfect 10-day summer vacation. Here are some pictures!

Mid-Tuesday in Bryant Park. Does anyone work here?

Debbie and her dogs Toby and Lucy. So cute!

The sweetest details at Debbie and Chris' Harlem apartment

My cousin's apartment building rooftop terrace

Tiffany, Big Brother Connor and my aunt

Tiffany holding cute and wriggling things: Lucy on the left, Baby Landon on the right

Sunset view of New Jersey from the Battery Park Boardwalk a block away from my cousin's building

Korean seafood hotpot. The lobster was moving!

After...

Big Bear Lake

Big Bear Lake at sunset

Daddy harvesting some peas

Hard at work

Splendor in the Grass

Since all this, I've spent the month of July on my first clinical rotation in Neurology at the Detroit VA. It deserves another post, but for now, suffice to say, I loved it. Mostly because of the doctors, residents, and patients I've worked with. But more on that next time.

Mid-Board Exam Studying Break

It's been a while. And I shouldn't even be doing this. But because of my 1 faithful reader (and how much I love her) I will post in the midst of STEP 1 studying. Today marks my halfway point with my exam on the 17th. EEK!

But of course, I'm already planning for the fun that's coming after it. I think with all this oppressed living my classmates and I are going through (ie. sitting at a desk for 12-13 hours all day everyday... I didn't even realize it was Memorial Day this past weekend), all I want to do is let loose and go wild. Ok, so by "go wild," I really just mean decadent foods and endless shopping... Come on, what else?

I have plans to go to NYC for the 10 or so days I have left before I begin my orientations for 3rd year. Obviously, we go a lot, but this time, I want to be an ambitious tourist! These are the tentative plans I have. I probably won't get to them all, but I really plan on living it up while I'm there! Daybee, you're joining me!

1. My old Verameat ring that I loved so much broke a few months ago! So I'm looking to replace it. This Steven Alan one is the top contender and I want to go look at it in person. I would also be unopposed to going to Catbird in Brooklyn too.
   
2. Also in Brooklyn, I want to stop by Four and Twenty Blackbirds for a slice of their famous key lime pie, Dough for a crazy(awesome)-sounding donuts, fancy cocktails at the Ides, and a walk along the Brooklyn Heights promenade. I used to take lessons just a couple blocks away from a violinist who, decades ago, sold a violin that made enough money for his brownstone.
3. Obviously the Rain Room at the MoMa that everyone keeps raving about. Or the Cloisters, the Met Rooftop... frankly, any museum would do too.
4. Cookies from Levain and Momofuku's Milk Bar.
5. This may be a stretch, but go see Wicked. I think I'm the only person left on earth who hasn't seen this yet. My sister better come if I go...
6. If not Broadway, I'd be totally down for Swan Lake at Lincoln Center!
7. Over the weekend, check out the Chelsea Flea Market or the Brooklyn Flea Markets.
8. Restaurants, restaurants, more restaurants. And don't even get me started on the Asian foods (and the bubble teas and ice cream that we've been enjoying since childhood).
9. I won't have a bicycle, but doesn't this Cup of Jo Bikeride Guide sound so awesome? Maybe I could walk bits of it...
10. Just walking through Central Park, Battery Park (my cousins live right by it!), so many pretty neighborhoods...

Yowza, this is ambitious. I definitely won't be getting to all of these, but even if I just get half, I'd be thrilled. I better pack my comfiest walking shoes! Daydreaming of post-board exam life... But now, back to work.

C'est La Vie

So I found out this morning that I'm doing clinical rotations at Oakwood Hospital next year. Though it isn't what I wanted, there are definitely some good things about training at this site. This is me trying to be nonchalantly unaffected and positive... And it's a lot like how I'm dealing with the impending snow storm by looking at this photo from a warm and clear yesterday.

Happy 2013... belated

A long delay in posting for this new year... The end of 2012 was really good with my trip to Nicaragua. I have plenty to update on that, hopefully soon. At least I'll have a link to the school blog I was working on while I was down there. But when I got back home, I fell sick and remained so while in NYC between Christmas and New Years... and then stayed sick for about 2 weeks into 2013. I think that definitely was a factor in how difficult I found the Cardio unit - I was playing catch-up the whole time but I've just managed to scrape by.

Anyway, more to come soon! In the meantime, it's likely that you a saw this already. But it is just so cute, I can't help myself...

"We got work to do. We can cry about it or we can dance about it.... Everybody's good to give the world a reason to dance."

Glee's Give Your Heart a Break

I'm currently experiencing an unprecedented exam-free 2 weeks since I started my 2nd year. So naturally I caught up on some TV... I was unexpectedly moved by Glee's "The Break-Up" episode with the varied and unexpected songs selection (yeah, 90's No Doubt!). In true form, it was dramatic and over-the-top, but the catchy pop songs and that emotional break-up scene at the end were pleasant surprises. And sometimes, I think a girl just needs a nice cry. An emotional purge, if you will.

Anyway, here was my favorite song of the episode (only because no one will ever come close to the perfection that is the original Coldpay version of "The Scientist"). I've been listening to this more often then I'd like to admit...

Sunday Seven

I'm always a day late, but I've been making the most of my weekends. This is my last week of work before I take 1 week off in my last summer vacation forever. This past week was very full, in the lazy and decadent way that is so indicative of summer.

Social Promiscuity

So I think the reason why I've been more and more infrequent in my posting, besides the obvious school responsibilities, is perhaps my increasing participation in the modes of social networking. I've joined the likes of Instagram (because of my iPhone) and Twitter (because of my classmates), both of which I am warming up to more and more. There's less of a commitment to quality idea-expansion and coherent, cohesive expressions of thoughts and sadly is thus easier to use during fly-by moments during the day.

However, if any recall, it was this very responsibility of developing and following through with ideas and thoughts that drew me back to blogging in the first place. Especially now in the constant barrage of transient fancies and attention deficits, I hope to continue this meager exercize of writing in complete sentences when I can.

Anyway, here is my long-winded and bashful invitation to find me on Instagram (parachutesandpatience) and Twitter (cschen08) where you will find surely the "quantity over quality"-type posts, but hopefully with more pictures and possibly slightly more witty one-liners than you'll find here...

"Got Heart" Ring

This is my first piece of "everyday wear" jewelery that I actually wear all the time. I bought this Got Heart ring on sale from a little East Village jewelery boutique, on kind of a whim during my winter break. Of course, only Helen could bring me to a place as quintessentially New York as Verameat. She, along with my sister, were integral in my decision. Having worn this ring daily for a few months now, I feel like it was a worthy purchase. This buying nice jewelery for oneself - perhaps a physically small item, but significant in a young woman's life. At least for me, it is a daily reminder of what I'm capable of, my independence to find my own happiness, and the recognition of my own self-worth.

Happy Monday to all.

Bad Valentine

I'm a day late, but here is my favorite lyric from one of my favorite songs. It's particularly relevant since I took my last biochemistry exam yesterday. Yes, Happy Valentine's Day indeed.

Happy New Year!

I never fully believe it's the new year until I start school and work for the first time. In this way, 2012 has snuck up and surprised me today.

As for you, dear blog (and of course my multitudes of fans), I'm so sorry for having neglected you, leaving you rejected and forgotten. But no more of this! I think my frequency to write follows a negative parabolic pattern: no writing when I become too busy and no writing when I become too free. So good news! I'm back in school, guaranteeing at least a meager correspondence. Can we just be ok with that for now? Consider this my 2012 resolution.

As a brief recap, I finished my first semester of medical school, and of course in perfect timing, I performed in a few Christmas concerts the weekend before exams. I also got to see some very far-away friends who were able to make the pilgrimage back to Michigan every year-end.

I was conned into dog-sitting for a classmate and let's just say, that was perhaps one of the most trying weeks of my life (and my family's), even if the psychotically needy dog was pretty cute.

My family and I went to NYC to spend the week between Christmas and New Years with my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandmother - always such a good time though the dynamics and details change in both significant and subtle ways as we get older.

Maybe now you can understand why that I didn't have time to write. But perhaps to be fair, I shouldn't say "time to write" and instead I should say "spirit to write". I think I was much more focused on relaxing and enjoying the precious 2 weeks of holiday break, resting and absorbing all the good things that come with an extended period of minimal responsibility. Anyway, this is the stuff that I fall asleep to when life inevitably starts back up and startles me into submission. Nevertheless, I promise to be better this year.

PS. Sugar Bowl from New Orleans tonight! Geaux Blue!

Quotability

"I just love individuals who never stay still. With all the potential that everyone has and our limited time in this world, we owe ourselves nothing less."

C. Sy

On the home stretch of the completion of my first block of medical school. I already passed my first class. Anatomy ends Friday. See you on the other side.

(space view of night and day - photo source unknown)

Indian Summer

I always love the last of summer. To me, it's always the most magical time: sunny and warming days, leaves just beginning their fall tinge, crisp mornings melting into lingering twilights. I think the promise of summer is not yet gone and I'm still invigorated (and not jaded) by the unexplored horizons of a new school year and all the possibilities that it carries.

I was also lucky enough to see a bunch of old friends last weekend: Smurf and R pictured above at Eastern Market. Yes, I'm in shorts! And the next day, I went apple picking by Ann Arbor with A and a friend doing a Rad-Onc rotation who I haven't seen since high school. I might have to conjecture that October in Michigan is unbeatable...

Catching Up

So after a rather brutal month, I've survived the head and neck unit of Anatomy and a great deal of Embryology. I acquired (and am still recovering) a bout of self-diagnosed bronchitis and about 2 weeks straight of 5-hour nights of sleep. It is true that handling stress has never been a strong suit of mine and I'm certainly working on this. I must acknowledge and admit that a great deal of my motivation to work and study comes from sheer fear, thus making much of my stress self-induced. It keeps me honest. However, there must be a more healthy and balanced way of keeping oneself on task.

Anyway here are a few peeks into the latter half of my September.

Vitamin C for bronchitis, cramming in a jam jar of oatmeal and the boundaries of the middle ear cavity before my exam, and Korean Ohyes chococakes. Contrary to photographic evidence, my month was sadly not all food-centric. Please note the upgrade in the intensity of nerdiness compared to the last unit.

And alas, no rest for the weary. Here I go before my 8am class for Unit 3!