Berlin and Polar Bears

Last weekend I had to go to Berlin because my visa expired and I needed to leave the country. I'm in the process of applying for a temporary stay card, but it's taken a lot longer than I had hoped!

Berlin is only a few hours away from where I go to school, so it's a real easy trip on the train. I decided that since it's summer and most of the stuff I want to see is outside to take Copper with me. Ironically his train ticket cost more than mine! But whatever, it was totally worth it.

On the way there the train was PACKED. I went to go sit down in my cabin and found that there were people in all of the seats except mine and that two of them were small children, which had me really worried. Copper is a big dog, he loves kids, but sometimes kids and parents don't like him too much. It didn't help that he had to wear a muzzle for the trip which he hates and it makes him look way more vicious than he actually is. There were a few times where he stood up and tried to move around when I thought the other people in the cabin were going to kill me for sure, but once he got settled down he was perfectly fine.

Once we got to Berlin we headed to the hotel, which at first I couldn't find despite being on the street where it said it was. It turns out I was standing directly in front of it, the sign was just so small I didn't notice it! Go me.

Since we arrived at about 1pm we had plenty of time to go see the city. First off I found an awesome statue of Robert Koch near my hotel. Call me an uber nerd, but a statue dedicated to the father of bacteriology is pretty cool in my book! Then we headed to the Brandenburg gate. I was really less than impressed with this. There were too many people, there were Egypt protesters blocking the view, and they were setting up for some sort of fair so it just made everything more packed. No offense, but protest all you want, just not in front of a huge tourist attraction that many people travel hundreds of miles to see.

From there we walked to the Reichstag that houses the German parliament. I have to say its is a pretty awesome looking building and excellent blend of old and new. If I hadn't had the dog with me I would have totally signed up to go check out the dome and get a tour of the inside. We sat there looking at it for a bit and a few people 'oohed' and 'awed' at Copper. Something about a German shepherd dog being in Germany I guess, but it seemed that a lot of people wanted to take his picture.

Once we were done with that we saw Schloss Bellevue- the presidents house which unlike the US White House does not have snipers on the roof, at least that I could see. (Ironically, my sister and I go into DC quite often as my dad lives very close and instead of really enjoying the sites we count the roof snipers...yeah I know we have issues). On the way we walked through the Tiergarten and saw the Bell Tower which might actually have a better tune than the Glockenspiel in Munich. And we also saw the Victory Tower complete with a girl pretending to be a swan and flapping her wings in slow motion. (I should have taken a picture).

The weather was getting a bit 'iffy' at this point so I decided to go try and find Check Point Charlie, eat, and head back to the hotel. Well, I never found it, but I did get to Museum Island and walked through a flea market. At this point it began to rain so I headed towards the hotel looking for a place with a covered outdoor eating area so I could eat with Copper. Luckily I found one and they even brought Copper out a bowl full of water. I love Germany.

The next day we got up early to check out of the hotel and head to the Tierpark Zoo in the former East Berlin. The west Berlin Zoo doesn't allow dogs and I've heard it's quite packed. So we took the U-bahn and the S-bahn out there and had a look around. My favorite bit was the Polar Bear which scared the dickens out of Copper at first which was hilarious (see the video below). He jumped back about five feet when the bear came out of the water to greet him. He also had a good time with the spotted hyena and the golden throated martens which ran up and down there enclosures playing with him. After a few hours there the torrential down pours ensued and we headed back to the Haufbahnhof and caught an early train home.  

Overall, not a bad trip for a quick two days! I love living in Europe!!! 

Studying

In the past month or so that I've been out of class I've been trying to study. The USMLE is everything for me, I have to pass, I have to do well - or I won't even be considered for a residency in the US, let alone the residency of my choice.

I want so much to do well. And yet, when I sit down to study I can't stand it. I fidget, I day dream, I organize my highlighters. I make it a point to do at least 20 pages of first aid a day, which might not seem like a lot but it could take me upwards of four hours to just do that. And after five hours I'm shot, I can't go on, I literally start falling asleep at the desk.

I've heard about people who basically lock themselves in the library. People who study 10+ hours a day. How do they do it. How can I do it?

And then there's the questions. I did about twenty biochem questions today and out of that I got around five right. FIVE. Am I even learning anything by doing all of this reading? Did I even learn anything in my first two years of medical school? What am I doing with myself?

I want to do well.

But something keeps telling me that I won't.

What happens if I don't pass? What happens if I don't match?
What then?

I keep trying, I keep studying. I just want one thing, and I don't even know if I can do it based on my scores right now.

I need help. I need a sign. Anything.

Passport Prosze

So lately I've been in the process of applying for my temporary stay card, it's basically like a long term visa except it's in card form. This has meant finally putting my big girl pants on and dealing with the Polish bureaucracy head on.

First off there's the application. It's five pages and written in Polish, English, and French...but it can only be answered in Polish. If for some reason you answer part of it using the wrong Polish word you'll hear about it when you go to turn it in. It's kind of strange to put a document in a language you can't answer it in.

Second, you have to basically do a scavenger hunt around the city, to collect things you need to complete the application, and then you need at minimum three copies of everything. So I spent one whole day going from the bank, to the health office, to another health office, to the bank again, and then to city hall. At city hall I found out that I was supposed to register my address when I moved last year, so I got a good telling off for that. Another fun fact, in Poland you have to go directly to the health insurance office and submit a form every month. This means filling out a piece of paper that I can't read, and then standing in line for an hour to submit the stupid thing- fun, fun.

Anyway, after pretty much running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I got the application submitted, everything was hunky dory. And then this morning at 8:30 my door bell was ringing. It took me a second to wake up, scrounge around for a hair tie, put the dog in the other room and then finally open the door. And who should it be? Why the police!!! I wasn't even dressed, I looked like I had just stepped out of a zombie apocalypse movie and I'm sure my apartment wasn't helping my case any! So then they ask to see my passport.

My passport that's easy I can do that. Problem is, apparently I can't. I spent five minutes searching my desk, my dresser, every folder I've ever used - no passport. Shit. Meanwhile, they stood at the door waiting for me to find this stupid little book, and I'm still half asleep and tearing my apartment apart. Finally I located a copy and they just took that. 

About ten minutes after they left I located my passport, it had gotten tucked into the case for my external hardrive while in my desk drawer where it normally is. I feel like G-d is having a good laugh at my expense sometimes. And I'm certain the police will be telling the other cops about this crazy scenario of the girl who had that wild, half asleep look in her eyes, and really bad breath as she searched furiously for her passport.

That being said, I've never heard of the police coming to check someones residence! I suppose I'm just a lucky person like that.  

Fussen, Germany

I've just gotten back from my first trip of the summer. Of course like the others it was short, but it was really a lot of fun and oddly relaxing considering that it involved running 42km.

Day 1: I took an airplane from Poland to Munich. (I booked the flight several months before so it was super cheap, otherwise I'd of had to take the train). Once in Munich I took the city train downtown to the main train station and from there caught a train to Fussen. By the time I arrived in Fussen it was around 11pm so I headed straight to my hotel and went to sleep.

Day 2: I woke up to a beautiful alpine morning. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the hills were alive with the sound of music...

I ate breakfast and then headed to get my packet for the marathon that was the next day. Once I had that all sorted out I decided to walk to the castles- Neuschwanstein and Hogenschwanu (I'm pretty sure I misspelled those but I really don't care right now). It took about thirty minutes to walk there but it was nice to be out in the country with the alpine cows and the views of the mountains.

I reached the castles and then realized that I should have booked tickets ahead of time to see them! I've seen them a million times as Fussen is very near Garmisch-Partenkierchen where my family used to go on vacation when I was younger and we lived a little closer. But, I still wanted to see them again! I ended up waiting in line for an hour and then couldn't get tickets to see the castles for at least another three hours.

While I was waiting I decided to go over to Tegelberg ski are where they have a summer lift that will take you near the top and then you can hike the rest of the way. I'm not sure if hiking was the best idea the day before a marathon, but the views were certainly spectacular. I also got some great schnitzel at the lodge up there!

Eventually I headed back to the castles and got to see inside. Somehow they don't seem quite as impressive as they did when I was a kid, but they're still pretty schnazzy.

Day 3: Race day. It was VERY HOT. The race started early but within the first hour the heat was unbearable. We were running near large lakes and all I wanted to do was throw myself in! I finished with a semi decent time, not my best, but I was more in it for the views anyways!

I slept the rest of the afternoon after the race and then in the evening went and got some more schnitzel for dinner (what can I say, I'm a schnitzel addict).



Day 4: I got up really early to take the first train to Munich so that I'd have time to stop downtown and have a look at the Glockenspiel (a really big, old clock). The last time I was there it wasn't working so I wanted to hear it chime!

The Glockenspiel 

Fussen

Noc Kupały

Noc Kupały: Some countries are trying to stop forest fires, Poland is trying to start them.

Seriously though. I'm not even really sure what the occasion was except the first day of summer maybe. But there's a huge celebration where thousands of people let loose lanterns into the sky. It was beautiful and amazing and totally not safe. 





The lanterns are pretty big so it takes a while before the flame which is quite large fills them with enough hot air to float. Because of this, people kept letting go of their lanterns too early, so instead of floating up they'd hover near the ground right at 'head level' and attempt to burn the hair of the nearest victim. I didn't see anyone get lit up, but I'm sure someone did (especially with all the drinking that was going on). Basically, it was a very magical experience that kept being punctuated by sounds of distress and "Uwaga, uwaga!!!" as some small child was almost engulfed in flames.   


I went by myself and took Copper with me because I figured it would be a nice walk and he'd be cool with hanging out. And he did really great up until the music started across the river then he just wanted to go home! (Personally I wasn't too thrilled with the music either...too loud). I was hoping he'd be good, because in order to get him into the area I had to tell them he was a service dog...lucky for me he behaved like a champ and let all the little kids pet him without even a second glance and when I was filming everything he just lied there. He wasn't too thrilled when we were leaving though with the huge crowd and all the crazy people. 


But, we survived and there aren't any burns, just pretty memories

Groups

It’s that time of year again! Group picking time!!! 

Picking groups in medical school is a lot like picking teams for dodge ball in middle school. Of course everyone picks the biggest person with the best arm and their friends first. And then they criticize everyone who doesn’t have a group, or who got screwed because they thought they were friends with people but aren’t anymore.

At least that’s what happened last year when our class picked groups. I’ve never seen so much back stabbing in my life. I’m not quite sure how it’s working out this year. I’m trying to stay out of the drama- but, what I’m hearing isn’t great. Just when I thought I’d entered a world of adults.  Who really cares what group you’re in? As long as everyone works hard and shows up on time so the doctor in charge doesn’t think everyone's stupid. You’re still going to see your friends, it just won’t be 24/7 in class…. 

I feel like I should make a documentary…”watch how the medical student stalks its prey. In the animal kingdom, groups are formed via this intricate process….”    

More to come. 

Ski Patrol

Before I came to medical school,  I worked as a ski patroller at a small resort near my university. It was some of the best times of my life. The people were great, the snowboarding was awesome, and it was an amazing job. I wish that I could still be out there doing what I really love and helping people at the same time.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I miss it. I want nothing more than to go back in time and live those winters over again and again. It's amazing how much of our lives we spend hoping for the next thing, wishing that the next adventure would hurry up and come only to forget how amazing NOW is.

NOW I'm studying to be a doctor, NOW I'm in Poland, NOW I'm doing what I wanted to do all along and I can't decide if I love it or I hate it. But, I have my ski patrol experience to remind me why I'm here, it might be the one thing I miss about my old life the most, but it's also why I went ahead and took the dive.

In one day on the slopes I'd SEE and TREAT more injuries than most pre-meds ever see. When I started I was the youngest except for one other - the rest of the patrol were at least ten to twenty years older. But, that didn't stop me.

My squad used to call me the 'black cat.' When I came on duty there was guaranteed to be at least one ambulance call or some weird thing happening. It probably wasn't the best reputation to have, but I think it was just because I was on the hill more, so I found them more often. In the few months a year when there was snow on the ground I would treat cuts and bruises, broken femurs, and humerouses (which by the way isn't funny), I was first on scene to more injuries than I can remember. I saw concussions and held c-spine, called for ambulances, and a helicopter (or two...)

There was even one incident where a teenager ran out onto the ski hill without any shoes screaming that he was going to die. It turns out when I got to talking to him, he had taken 'shrooms.' A first for our patrol...and I can safely say it was one of the only times that I though that my patient might actually die, because I had no idea what to do (I'm happy to say he did live to get high another day).

I miss being in the midst of chaos and being able to handle it and help the people around me. I miss being first on the hill and last off. I miss feeling at home...

One day I will get the feeling back that I used to have while I was on ski patrol. I will feel like I'm making a difference, I'll feel like I'm saving lives, I'll feel like I have the best job in the world.....but most of all I'll feel happy again.

I just have to get through med school first...

But for NOW since I'm here, I'm going to try and enjoy the ride.

The Hill Just before Ski Season