pure loveliness, pure excitement!

Two more sleeps until we'll be in London, one of which is gonna be in Christchurch. Needless to say, I'm SO excited! After a somewhat tiring and extremely busy first week of summer vacation, I'm ready to become exhausted in a different way, a good way. I love being a student because one, you're guaranteed big chunks of time off like this, but more than that, that time off is 100% responsibility and worry free. I'm gonna miss that when it's gone, so I've vowed to make the most of it while I still can. And I think I am, so far.

Starting my research project last week instead of trying to do the whole four weeks in January was such a great idea because it's given me the freedom to work on it in December while my supervisor is away and I technically won't be getting paid. As my LOVELY supervisor wrote in an email to an external party, "Although Anna is not officially working after this week until January, she is very conscientious and will probably do some work in between." Lovely, just lovely! Since he's from the UK we talked for ages on Friday about this and that, him giving me tips on my trip for safety and so forth, and then gave me his home number and said to call at any time if there's anything I need, especially if I needed a "local's" advice and/or help! Even though I have travel insurance, I now feel 100% okay in the instance I get hurt because, hello! I totally have the hook-up to the British Health System and all the top surgeons over there! Hehehe...

The other thing that's been going surprisingly excellent lately is our med student journal which I've been involved with since I started out in medicine. It takes me back to my Yearbook Editor days in the States and I love it. A small glimpse of the alternate life I could have had had I decided to go down a more humanities-oriented path. Which leads me to even more good news as of late, which is that I managed to get my hands on super cheap, basically half-price tickets to fly up to Auckland at the end of January! It'll be so refreshing to just get away by myself for a few nights, meet up with people, have breakfast on the Viaduct, go shopping... lol. And of course, meet some of the Auckland journal crew and most definitely our awesome Chair. It'll be a fun mini-trip! :)) I just hope the weather will be nice.

Other than that, I have to spend the day packing because we're leaving tomorrow! Exciting. I still have a butt load of errands to run and I'm meeting a friend for lunch today too, all of which will keep me busy busy.

It seems I haven't had a moment to breathe this year and it's not slowing down any now with vacation. Funny that.

josh lyman and his receding hairline

Have picked up The Woman In White once again after a very long hiatus during the horror that was exams (yes, that is how I will be referring to it for the rest of my life). I have forgotten how good it is, even though it's taking me forever to get through this 600+ page book.

"There can be no doubt - though some strange perversity prevents me from seeing it myself - there can be no doubt that Laura's future husband is a very handsome man. Regular features form a personal advantage to begin with - and he has them. Bright brown eyes, either in man or woman, are a great attraction - and he has them. Even baldness, when it is only baldness over the forehead (as in his case), is rather becoming, than not, in a man, for it heightens the head and adds to the intelligence of the face."

Collins has perfectly captured with words my ineffable infatuation with Bradley Whitford (of West Wing, not Studio 60).

goodbye brachial plexus?

As you can see my wall is naked once again, with the exception of my brachial plexus masterpiece from second year. All the other notes, drawings, diagrams and post-its that were covering that bare space you see now was ripped off with incredible fierceness after the horror that was Friday exams (aka repressed memories). I really should take down the plexus also, but I can't seem to part with it. Plus, I might need it again in the not-too-distant future, riiiiight? Note: notice how the posterior branch runs behind the yellow-cellophane representing the brachial artery. I know, amazing. And no, this is not how I usually spend my time but manipulating pipe-cleaners to form this work of art was not only semi-fun but it beat drawing out the brachial plexus a thousand times. Oh, the good old days of second year.

Two days into my break and I'm already waist-deep into my summer research project which is going very well I have to admit. Although the weather's not very summer-y. Darn.

Watched 28 Weeks Later last night and couldn't fall asleep for a very long time. My worst nightmare is without a doubt that scene with the three main characters walking along the underground subway tracks in complete and utter darkness with crazy rage-virus-infected zombies potentially around every corner and dead bodies covering the ground -- oh. my. goodness.

FINALLY

It's finally all over. Exams are finished. Third year is over. Yet I'm not my usual reflective self this year. It's been an indescribably long year, a real growing period, academically, emotionally, spiritually... and I'm just tired. I want to forget all about the year, go watch all the movies I want to whenever I want, leave for my trip and put it all behind me. Not necessarily because it was a bad year but because I feel like whenever I think about the year it starts to deplete me of all my energy.

And after what happened yesterday afternoon, I'm not really in a celebratory mood. I'm just looking forward to the summer.

Went to our class dinner last night which I left early with a couple friends of mine to go down to the beach and get some dessert at Esplanade. It was really nice. A great way to end the night and the year. Finally. It's over.

type I hypersensitivity

I think I have become allergic to studying: every time I try I get a thumping headache and feel extremely nauseated. Hmmm... Oh well, if I don't know it by now, I don't know it. Three days till the end of exams!! Fourteen days till I leave for Europe!!

and what about those who can't just wake themselves up?

I had a real nightmare last night for the first time since I was ten and dreamed of flying monkeys after watching Wizard of Oz. Even stranger because the night before I had the most fun and random dream where I was at Donna and David's wedding in an episode of Beverly Hills 90210, but I digress. The dream last night began as a seemingly innocent Grey's Anatomy episode, but ended with... serious human rights abuses. The images and events must of been from my StreetTalking days for Amnesty International -- genocide, child soldiers, etc. -- and it was darn scary. My brain did that thing where you wake yourself up as a defense mechanism so I was wide awake at 3.30am thinking of how... I should be more involved with Amnesty and the like. Especially this year I've resorted to just giving money, and although that's important, I dunno... man it was scary... it was a dream and it freaked me out so bad; I can't even begin to imagine what it'd be like for a woman in Darfur... and here I am in New Zealand where my biggest worry is passing an exam. Just doesn't seem right... it just doesn't seem right.