some updates

the last month or so has been pretty busy. i haven't even called home since my birthday (i call them, they don't call me. i think the time difference is too confusing for those aged over 60.)

so let's see...

1) i passed my Psych and Women's Health exam. which i think i mentioned before, but has even more significance, since i found out that 10% of my class didn't pass their exams. i feel bad for those 9 ppl, b/c they have to sit a remediation exam. but at the same time, at least now i know that they don't just pass everyone - that there is some minimal threshold required. (since ANU is a relatively new med school, us students don't always have the utmost confidence in our education.)

2) i got a job offer for January. i'll be staying in Canberra. and get this, i'll be making money!! i'm absolutely terrified of the job, but i've been reassured that i won't die on my first day. again, i was in the lucky boat. there were about 15 ppl who put Canberra as their first preference but didn't get it. some of these ppl have partners/kids/mortgages here, and they might have to leave. there's some political who-ha about it right now, it's even in the local paper: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/canberra-hospital-turns-away-anu-medical-graduates/1227005.aspx

3) i went to "the snow" last weekend. Australia gets snow only in selected places. Canberra is considered to be close to "the snow," close being a 3 hr drive! there were all these new concepts for me - snow chains for your tyres (that was not a typo), a snow line (above which there is snow, and below there is none). oh, and i went snowshoeing for the first time ever. it's pretty fun, and the ones we used looked nothing like the Inuit's tennis racquet type.

4) i'm over living with my roommate. she's nothing like what i thought she'd be. she rarely cleans, has some kinda gross habits, and keeps keeping the cordless phone, the only phone, in her room. earlier today i cleaned the countertops, and 30 minutes later i return to see puddles of raw chicken juice on it, with no one in sight. haha, i need to learn to chill out!

5) last month i went to the coast and one of the stops was at Jarvis Bay. i was kindly informed by the hotel manager there that according to the Guinness Book of World Records, has the whitest sand in the world. i'm not sure if i believe it, but see for yourself in the photo below. and yes, this is winter for parts of Australia.



coming up:

next month, i head up to Cairns/Port Douglas for the first time. this is where the Great Barrier Reef is. i'll only be up there for 4 days, but during this time i will be fulfilling my duties as best man for some very good friends.