Just shortly again

Yes another short update about my day. Since I want to read the 7th book in the TrueBlood book series still tonight, and the clock starts to get a bit too much.
But I have been a good girl today, I finally emptied my luggage cases! So hopefully I can put some pics here and write a longer entry on the weekend.
I have also written one out of 2, or maybe 3, essays I have to do because I missed some seminars. The school(or the teachers) are stricter about these now, nobody asked me to write anything if I might have been absent from school last year. And the practical works were easy to re-do. So yes, I wrote and finished an essay about evidence-based medicine and its 5 steps. That had to be two pages. If I am lucky (or unlucky?) I will get to join an Estonian group for 3 hours of Immunology (in Estonian...!). I still do not get the whole thing in English. How will it be in Estonian? Immunology is otherwise already crowned to be my pain-in-the-ass subject this year. Seldom I am like a total questionmark when it comes to school. But this subject really got me...
For biostatistics and epidemiology we have to do some kind of survey. Me, H and F decided to do a questionnaire about the well-being of Finnish medical students in Tartu. Something we can give as a feedback to the Dean's office and also to our student counsel members. And for the three of us it was a interesting subject and something no one has ever done. The teacher is really into it, so maybe we will even get good grades ;)
Yesterday I bought an Estonian Cosmo (still unread though). I asked myself in the store if this was the kind of wordstorage I will be needing, but I thought what the heck, the main point is reading and getting some kind of understanding. If I enjoy it that is even better.
Surprises and nice program is on the schedule for the weekend. More about that later, I do not want to give it away already. But I hope you keep your fingers crossed, because I will need it for Saturday!

Nägemist!

Wednesday

How well do you have to manage on a test you will have the next day and did not know about until the evening before? I guess not too well ;) That is why I am making a quick entry here on my blog. Also I do not have anything to read from for this test. My good old friend Galenos will have to make a comeback for the night. And some old anatomy lectures. The test will be about the vegetative nervous system. Something I did not like because the teacher simply could not teach.

Autumn has come to stay in Tartu, I already got used to t-shirt and shorts last week in Germany! But at least the heat is on in my apartment, I have nothing to complain about there.

I will post pics and further updates about last week soon, don't worry. But first I have to read for this test (it is after all 10 pm) and unpack my heavy bags etc.

Head aega!

Germany

It is already Thursday, and the weather here is just amazing. I have been able to walk around in t-shirts and shorts! As you could guess I do not miss Estonia (or Finland as a matter of fact) or school at all. Because I have moved twice to a foreign country after my 10 years in Germany, I can see the pros and cons of everything related to my former home country much more objectively. The same states for Finland too. One can just say that every country/culture etc. has it owns ups and downs. The art is to recognice the positive things and adapt them.
Here are some pros related to Germany:
-Things are in general cheaper (at least compared to Finland, and to some point Estonia)
-People are politer and up for chit-chatting. (Today at a restaurant an old lady started to talk to me since I sat by myself. Or in the stores the salespeople always greet and ask if they can be of assistance.)
-Germans know how to bake real Brötchen
-It is easier to travel to other parts of Europe (and the world)
-There are a lot of foreigners living in Germany because of various reasons, and the natives cope with it better than in the northern parts of Europe...
-Autobahn ;)

So these to name just a few :) Some pics will be uploaded once I get back to Estonia and have more time. Bis später!

Och samma på svenska tack!

Det får bli ett inlägg på svenska för omväxlingens skull. Hjärnan hänger inte riktigt med mera. Även om klockan inte är mera än lite över elva, och jag har absolut inte gjort ett mitä idag. Utom packat, pluggat, besökt E, hängt vid datorn... Det har ösregnat till och från största delen av dagen, och blandat med det har det varit enorma höststormar på gång. Min lägenhet har varit iskall, och Egon har fått jobba för fullt. Men nu får han vila en vecka, för imorgon far jag till Tyskland!!! Jag ser så fram emot det, och hoppas på bättre väder än här.

Min telefon har spökat en hel del, men jag lyckades efter många om och men formatera om den ikväll. Så det är också en delorsak till varför jag bloggar istället för att dra i säng. Jag måste ha musik till resan imorgon. Annars blir det till ingenting. Eftersom jag har glömt kabeln i Jeppis, apparently, så tar det megalång tid via Bluetooth. Teknikens underbara värld jo säkert...

Imorgon har vi biokemi prov. Har jag läst? Janå det har jag lite iallafall. Om det är tillräckligt är väl upp till bevis imorgon. Hoppas bara på att hinna catcha bussen in till stan och sen den till Tallinn, vill ju inte missa mitt flyg.

I helgen har jag sett två filmer, Julie & Julia som just var en jättemysig söndagsfilm. Nu vill jag läsa boken! Så se den :) Igår kväll såg jag på romantiska komedin When in Rome. Helt okej film, varken bu eller bä, inget att prata om desto mera. Började se på dokumentärfilmen Babies, men den var utan prat eller någon form utav action, så såg endast hälften. Den följer med några babisar i olika delar av världen för att visa hur de har det under sin första tid. Man kunde säkert ha utvecklat det hela lite bättre, så kunde den ha varit bättre.

Blir alltså en paus i bloggandet en tid framåt, får sedan rapportera efter en vecka i Tyskland med bröllop och allt.
Njut av hösten med mysiga filmer och böcker!

Dagens vardagslyx: Kokt ägg. Mums!

Dagens estniska ord: Peatus=hållplats

Födelsedag

Idag fyller min bästaste P(-aita) (paita & peppu uttrycket kan ni fast googla). Eftersom jag är i Tartu, och hon har joinat det svenska kungariket och studerar i Jönköping till ljusdesigner (för att se vad hon pysslar med klicka här) så skickade jag en liten present till henne på posten. För då man fyller vill man ha presenter, så det är så.

Så grattis P, ännu ett år äldre.
Let's take a walk along memory lane och se på dina tidigare födelsedagar:


Året var 2005, paita fyller 17 år. Hemma vid hennes med en mumsig chokokaka. Här upptäckte gänget även Tuulihattuja eller som vi kallar dem, huumehattuja


Året vi fyllde 18, ingen bild av P:s födelsedag, men anyhow


19år, wohoo. P hade börjat studera i Raahe, men det hela blev firat med utgång i hemmastaden. Alla hade de där fina girlangerna kring halsen.


19 år, firades i Vasa, alla hade kommit dit från sina studieorter. Oj vilken kväll det var; skratt,fjant,tårar,mat,tusch,romantik,dancing... Unforgettable


Och fr.o.m. 2009 får vi nöja oss med att fira födelsedagar på andra orter tyvärr.

Summer memories

The very first couple of hours I was back in my hometown looked something like this:




The whole gang, minus P the photographer, around the famous table in E's parents kitchen


S och L's birthday party in Vaasa:




(As usual half of the pics are kind of blurry and way too crazy, so this will be the only ones posted :P )


And then came Fest I Nord, this time around in Lohja Finland. So much fun!


Welcome to the jungle!



Me and my cousin



My leg and foot got a new colour that they have never had.


I went to the local beach quite a lot this summer, the weather was just super





Another weekend with the girls, including mini-golf and some intense round of Alias




The winner :)



And the loser. I did not have any kind of idea how to hit just right.


Epic Moomin mugs <3



Lion king



We take Alias way too seriously....


And the last weekend together at S bachlorette party:

Almost the whole gang

This is so stressful (nb! sarcasm)

2nd year of med-school is mainly about enjoying life. A minimum amount of tests and a lot of spare time. At least for now. I've already read three books in less than two weeks, imagine. I am beginning to get so lazy I do not even do small school quest that would require a minimum amount of effort. This also includes things not school related. I still have not plugged in and tested my tv. I feel that I do not really have a need for it at the moment. A lot of series on my pc are still unwatched.

I also decided to leave ALL of my schoolpapers and so on at home for my week off in Germany. School can take care of itself for a while. I can stress about essays and tests later, at the moment I simply do not care.

On Monday we have a Biochemistry test. Maybe I study for a bit tomorrow. Otherwise there are no specific plans planned for the weekend. Today I sort of ex tempore went to a party, fun to meet new people.
Also it is good to have some closer friends, other than the books on my very very poor bookshelf. But in October they will get some more company.

Hope you all have a great weekend, mine started just fine (:

Happy->bad feeling->happy->bad feeling...

During the 2 weeks (almost) I have been back in school, I suffer from constantly having a bad conscience, because I am not busy with school. And because of me having a lot of spare time I think I should be studying a lot of Estonian or otherwise school-related things. As I said previously in one of my posts, I hate having a lot of dead time, aka. hanging around and doing nothing. Still I hate stressing. So this is all very complicated, and I have to figure this out in my head.
I would also like to learn stress management and better learning skills. Maybe there are books to buy or something interesting to read on the internet. I think it would help me a lot in my life as a student. Because let's face it, even though I have managed just fine in my studies now and earlier there is no guarantee for me making it through med-school, especially the feared third year of school. You just will have to work and work and study and study until you can't do it anymore. At least next year ;)

Today I met our new Estonian teacher. I had heard a lot of stuff about her before this lecture, and yes some of it was true. But I think a strict teacher who just speaks fast Estonian will do just the trick. So instead of being depressed about my language studies I am quite confident and excited! A new language is such a great blessing in one's life, and since I know a couple of them I know what I am talking about. Die Grenzen meiner Sprache, sind die Grenzen meiner Welt somebody said. And it is totally true. I will have to do some kind of studyplan for myself to get this Estonian. Something to do on the weekend.

Another nice thing is that I will be traveling to Germany on Monday! And the teachers have been okay with it. Some extra essay has to be written, and I will have to re-do 2 practicals (actually 3 because I was not here for the first week of school). But that is about it. Maybe my schoolstuff can take a vacation too and stay in the apartment. We will see...

The reason for all this happy happy joy joy thoughts are, amongst others, a new series I discovered. It is called Surgery School and tells about real want to be surgeons at some hospital in London. Unfortunatly I only found one episode of it, but I hope there will be more to come!

---

I sort of broke my own rules today, by buying some Pepsi even though it was not a weekend. But I went to the store really really hungry and with a bad headache, so I could not help myself. Other "important" stuff I bought was a yellow melon, brie-cheese, some special yoghurt... Well you get the picture. I actually managed to not buy any real food. Go me! But I have been good at not eating any sweets or crappy snacks in general. So I am pleased with myself. I have to keep my fingers crossed that the scale will think that too. Tonight it started raining, so I could not go out for a run. Bummer :P

Well, to promote my Estonian language skills I will need to see to my tv now. I have only put it on once, and then it seemed like not all cables were on their right places. Learning by hearing is good, or at least I tell myself that every time I think of "fixing" my tv.

Some Estonian words I learned today in class:
stressirohke=stressful
põdema=to suffer from
Langetama kaalu=to loose weight
Tõstma kaalu=to gain weight
Tingimus=circumstance, condition

Luxury of today: To have things to look forward to :)

Prices, cooking, money and so on in Estonia

One really really good thing in Estonia are the grocery prices. And the prices for eating out. So now I will give you some quick nice examples where I converted the prices into Euros.

Pepsi Max 2L. = 1,20€
Milk, 1L. 3,5% fat in a bag = 0,45€
Ruispalat, 6 pieces = 0,60€
Crabsalad 1kg = 3,00€
My favorite piece of cake in the more exclusive café in town = 3,50€
Pasta at my favorite restaurant = about 5-6€
Gefilus yoghurt 1L. = 1,40€
Minced meat 400g. = 1,20€
Pelmeni, frozen 750g. (the Russian kind of Tortellini) = about 1,60€

These are some of the things that I remember by heart, of course there are a lot of other things I buy that are just as cheap.
But here in Estonia you really have to find the "right" kind of things of eg. pasta, yoghurt, bread that you like. And those aren't always the cheapest alternatives. In Finland I'm used to grab the cheapest, and it usually isn't that big difference. Last autumn I had some funny experiences with the cheapest alternatives in the store and trying to make it tasty. At least I've learnt something!

But what I really miss when I want to make food is matlagningsgrädde/ruokakerma (like the creamier milk you use when you make food. but it's not creme fraiche..) and chicken bits you can just fry in the pan.
There is like one store selling the chicken-thingy and it doesn't taste good and the bits are weird. And the solution for my missing matlagningsgrädde is that I use the Estonian hapukoor which is a some kind of mixture between creme fraiche and gräddfil.

People often ask me if I do some kind of work on the weekends to get some extra money. And they do not believe me when I say that it wouldn't pay off. Literally. My friend informed me that a waitress here (in a good restaurant) makes about 2€ per hour. Hopefully you get my point about working extra in Estonia...

Luxury of the day: My bike. It's not very good, but it gets me where I have to be and it's nice biking outside (when it's not raining)

Word of the day:
Mõistatuslik=gåtfull

Friday morning

Almost 11 amazing hours of sleep, when did I start sleeping this much? And I get tired so much earlier than before. But I shouldn't complain, soon I probably will not be able to do this anymore. I yesterday actually fell asleep with the computer on, my bed still made up nicely and with my nose in the book of Tove Jansson Pappan och havet. How I managed to close my curtains, close the computer, switch of the lights and open the bed is still a mystery.

As for my plans this weekend, they are really not settled in stone at least yet. Today I will meet up with F and go shopping. Which is sort of a new one since I didn't do any real shopping the whole last year. Then I knew what I wanted from which store and got it.

Today also starts the chain of serie-premieres that I talked about last week. So now that I have Vampire Diaries on my PC, I will watch that and then get ready for town.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Luxury of today: Sunshine!

I like this!

I think that every week of med-school should be like this. Just chilling, and having a couple of lectures/seminars/practicals now and then. Meeting up with friends and talk about the more and less important stuff in life. It feels like being in high school all over again, and high school still is the best time in my life.

I have a confession to make. I've written down all the starting dates of my series in my calender. So that I have something to look forward to and don't miss them. That is what my life seems to be about, besides the dates for changing contact lenses and test or project due dates. At the back of my calender I even listed series I should start watching, all over again or "brand new" ones. If I just can put my mind to it I will read more books (not for school I mean) this autumn too. But when there is a lot going on in school, you can't really read anything more. Head overloading...

Because of my trip to Germany I will have to do a LOT of extra work. Two 5 side essays about the topics I will be missing in Immunology for example(which I have decided to hate. I can barely figure out and remember the different functions of T- and B-lymphocytes, and now we are going even deeper inside the whole thing!). Hurray for a even more strict second year at Estonian med-school. Let us PLEASE have a life from time to time too! Secretly I am dreaming about starting my spring semester of my third year, after all the exams from hell (we have been scared to death by the older students about patoanatomy and co. and it will be all in Estonian, ouyeay!).

But there is a lot to look forward to even this semster. In less than two weeks I will be in Germany for a week. My younger aunt is getting married! Last year I went there too about at the same time, but then my older aunt was getting married.
In October, my family will come and visit! Then in November I will probably visit home, since my little brother is leaving for his mission 12.11, but then I will be in Stockholm attending Soulnite, another event from the church for young single adults.
Yeah then there is always my birthday at the beginning of December and then we are almost leaving for our Christmas break!
Of course "minor" events come along the way, like stuff organized by our student organisation and spontanious stuff with friends.

So even if school will suck (again) from time to time, there is always something fun to do :)

Today's day-to-day luxury:
My dermosil handsoap in a nicely designed bottle, smells yummy! But mine is green :)

Det lilla ordet om...

Ja i mitt förra inlägg så var en av punkterna som nämndes att man funderar på om man inte är i fel bransch. Det funderar jag ganska ofta, man längtar tillbaka efter den tiden då man bara kunde vara (och jag säger det här efter två dagars skola redan...!)

Här kommer en lista med alternativa livsvägar jag brukar ta till i mitt huvud lite nu som då:

-Jag och min skolkamrat F, också österbottning, säger att vi skall gå och dööö då vi blir led allting.
-Andra alternativet är att börja om på Peffan (lärarskolan i Vasa) och flumma oss igenom ett tämligen lätt liv.
-Sista alternativet, som jag gillar mest, är att jag och F skulle fejka oss in på Roparnäs (mentalsjukhuset i Vasa) och leva ett liv där vi gör allt som är tabubelagt; skrika och springa runt naken, ha matkrig och banka i väggar/dörrar, söndra saker och ja you get the picture.

-Jag och P, som också börjat sina studier utomlands nyligen, har bestämt att vi ska gifta oss rik och bli finlandssvenska Hollywood-frurarna. Dagens bekymmer vore att välja vilken av de snygga bilarna som skall användas idag.

-Jobb jag lekte runt med under gymnasietiden var: barnmorska(testat och inget för mig), arkitekt (glad över att inte behöva tävla mig in på TKK och jag är urusel på att rita, fast då skulle jag ha J som studiekamrat), logoped, psykolog, biomedicinare, diplomat (lite av en hemlig dröm fortfarande om jag end up fat and alone in my apartment som Bridget Jones skulle ha sagt), något inom EU-parlamentet då via en Samhällsvetenskaplig politics magister examen.

-I skrivande stund skulle jag också nöja med med att bo med mami tills jag blir gammal och inte behöva sköta nånting själv.

Saken är den, att även om jag i huvudet leker med andra livsval än det jag har gjort så skulle jag inte byta bort mitt studieval. Jag vill bli läkare, har velat bli det sens sjunde klass, och även om det har varit andra val i bakhuvudet så har läkaryrket alltid hängt med. Tyvärr är jag en person som bara inte kan dega runt, jag blir bara rastlös och sur. Jag behöver få göra något, studera, arbeta, ha planer. Därför är yrkesvalet bland det bästa som finns för mig, man är aldrig till hundra procent fullärd och det finns många jobbmöjligheter och specialiseringar.

Men ibland glömmer man bort allt det här och är bara led. Jag är en riktigt soffpotatis också. Det vore lätt att följa med strömmen någonstans, vart livet då än skulle ta en. Har du drömmar och vill uppnå dem så måste man kämpa lite.


Dagens vardagslyx: Mitt minivärmeelement som jag har döpt till Egon. Han är min bästa vän nu då höstkylan smyger sig på efter solnedgången. Jag hoppas och ber för att husets värmesystem skulle kopplas på, det blir dyrt att använda Egon i det långa loppet tror jag...

Back in Tartu

Jag kom in genom lägenhetsdörren för 1,5 timme sedan och har inte gjort nåt nyttigare än att hänga runt på internet. Ett skypesamtal hem blev det också, det tröstar lite iallafall att de saknar en lika mycket som man saknar dem! Helgen hade helt gått i familjens tecken, alla vänner var på annan ort eller hade annat program. På fredagen lagade pappa hemlagade burgare, addera till sedan fredagssnackset efteråt och otaliga glas Pepsi Max så förstår ni varför jag mådde dåligt på natten och hade svårt för att somna... Vi såg på The Bone Collector på tv, den var ny för mig och jättebra!

Igår slappade vi runt hemma (på fredagen städade nämligen jag och lillebror N hela huset!). Hösten anlände i mitten av augusti ren i Jeppis, så man vill inte göra så mycket. Vi lånade en dålig dåligare dåligaste film som heter Case 39, se den inte! Drack mera Pepsi (nej vi är ju inte beroende...) och bara umgicks. Jag älskar verkligen min familj. Tur att jag redan om två veckor slipper till Tyskland och se den delen av familjen man inte ser så ofta. Att det dessutom involverar bröllop gör det hela ännu roligare.

Då jag kom in i min lägenhet slog en kloakstank emot mig. Orsaken, som jag upptäckte kort efteråt, var att ingen uppenbarligen hade spolat wc:n på hela sommaren. Om man säger åt sin hyresvärdinna att hon skall kika in och se till att allt är bra, så skulle man tro att hon också skulle kunna dra i wc-byttan en gång... Jag öppnade alla kranar ett varv, de flesta kom det lite brunt ur till först (vågar jag dricka vattnet här mera?) men annars verkar allt vara ok med dem. KELA hade bestämt sig för att jag skött mina studier bra och att jag får fortsätta få studiebidrag så det låg ett brev och vänta på mig. Sen desto senare klockan blev, och jag hann kyla ner mig efter min marsch med två rullkappsäckar insåg jag snabbt att det nog har blivit kallt i Tartu också. Sen är husets värme inte tillkopplat än, jag hoppas de bestämmer sig för att göra det SNART! Som tur har jag ett extra portabelt minivärmeelement jag kan stöpsla i bara, den fick jag användning för för första gången idag! Nu har jag vridit upp till fullt och har den så nära mig och soffan jag vågar. Jag fryser fortfarande.

Börjar bli så trött (minns inte ens när jag sist skulle ha velat fara och sova kl.21.45...???) så det får vara slut för idag. Mera om föregående helg och annat senare!

Dagens vardagslyx: En god natts sömn

You might be in Med School if...

You blame neurotransmitters for anything going wrong in your life.

You can have a conversation about the abscess you drained today while eating cream of broccoli soup without any problem at all. Or for that matter, over any kind of meal.

You have named a dead person and talked to them about your stresses while finding their lumbar plexus.

You know that specialties are pre-defined by personality type.

The drama in your life now is worse than it ever was in high school.

You can name the four people in your class who are the question-asker, the arguer, the bigshot doctor's son/daughter and the stoner/alkie/druggie who's never IN class.

You know countless dirty mnemonics for parts of the body, but couldn't tell anyone what the front-page headline today is.

You consistently tell people that they just don't understand how bad it really is.

You don't bother dating because the divorce rate is 70% for physicians.

You constantly find yourself saying things like "I just have to get to spring break" or "I just have to get through Step 1."

You question every day if you should drop out and open a coffee shop, then realize that as soon as you were two semesters into med school, you were too far in debt to be anything but a doctor.

People assume you know something when you tell them you're in med school, but you know that you haven't learned anything.

You've dissected a penis and can explain the way Viagra works.

People constantly ask what med school is like, and all you can think of to say is "It really sucks."

You've never had problems before, but 6 months into med school you're on birth control, an anti-depressant, an anxiolytic and sleep medication.

A "study group" is you, your syllabus, and your red bull.

You're still excited to see "real patients."

You're pretty sure you used to be a normal social person, but now you can completely stop conversations by talking about the time that guy pissed and bled all over you during a code.

You speak only in acronyms and abbreviations; HIV, CMV, USMLE, Dx, Px.

Advisors tell you that you have to balance your life with med school, and then are baffled when you ask them how to do it.

You're really frightened by the thought of some of your classmates becoming doctors.

You go a week without sleeping with no problem at all.

Grey's Anatomy, House, Scrubs, Dr. 90210, Nip/Tuck and ER are your favorite shows, but you point out all the wrong things in them all the time.

You have diagnosed yourself or others with at least 5 rare diseases (PML, Kaposi's sarcoma, Measles, Rheumatic Heart Disease, etc.)

You've been squirted by all manner of body fluids and don't even flinch anymore.

If female, you've been asked at least 25 times when you'll be a nurse.

A patient has threatened to kill you.

You've gotten astonishingly good at dodging punches from delirious patients.

You become an expert at how to look busy and do nothing.

You've realized that the ideal answer to the question "where will you be in 10 years" is "skiing in tahoe or tanning in oahu"

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In celebration of me going back to med school tomorrow I posted these. I found them in a group of Facebook which has the same name and i copypasted those that apply to myself :)