horseriding and packing

the highlight of my fortnight of anticipation thus far would have to be thursday. i went horseriding with a group of girlfriends, followed by mundaring pizza. the pizza was good, but i'd say not worth the drive (mundaring is very east). in any case, we don't usually organise girls only events, so it was a very pleasant experience for us all.

i got to ride zara, the slowest horse in the entire group. she just trodded along the entire trail ride. to pass the time, my mind drifted off into a number of alternate scenarios: me as a rider in Lord of the Rings, and then as one of those policemen who patrol the city on horseback.

i started packing for my upcoming trip to singapore/the philippines/england this morning, starting with the UK segment.

so after months of assuring my friends that i am an experienced traveler and capable of packing light, it turns out that i was wrong.

clothing pile thus far for my trip to England

the mere sight of it makes me nervous. i still have to pack for the other destinations, including mosquito net, sleeping bag, and LINCS stuff.

mum says that the flights to singapore are very full, so i may have to leave Australia earlier than i'd like to. most likely tuesday, so i really have to get on with the packing.

i think i need a bigger suitcase.

a fortnight of "freedom"

i have been thoroughly enjoying my post-exam habit of decluttering my desk and laptop. there's the mundane task of filing notes and lectures away, and the very therapeutic effect of chucking out past exam papers and other scrap.

mum's alternative use for some of my unwanted paper waste

i don't think i can talk about the details of the OSCE without feeling sick. basically, it is a clinical examination held in the outpatient clinic of one of the teaching hospitals. we get 16 + 1 (rest) stations of seven minutes' duration, and are rotated through each station by a series of whistles- one to enter, one for time's up.

over the next two weeks our marks will be discussed by the examiners, and those of us who fail will get a phonecall/email on the 1st of december. that gives us roughly two weeks to perform repeated analyses on our performance and the likelihood of remediating. which sort of makes it difficult to enjoy post-examination liberation.

i'm trying very hard to move on (read: avoiding OSCE-dissecting post-exam "social"- ha, more like academic- gatherings). because of the way my elective has been organised, i have to leave for singapore before the 1st of december. i'm almost psychologically ready to purchase a flight ticket.

as for the final instalment of the UK visa saga, it has been approved! thank you to those of you who listened to, complained with, or prayed for me.

life on hold!

stopped taking roaccutane today. i'm a little bit nervous about whether my acne will recur or not, but i can't take the pills (as wonderful as they are) forever.

also, had terrible concentration during the weekend. i was finding all sorts of ways to procrastinate, eg playing the piano, looking up bilingual children's books and fantasizing about being able to speak chinese. at one point i even fantasized about learning french.

maybe it was because i was forcing myself to do GP study, and now i can look forward to doing some serious Obsgyn & Paeds study before my first exam on friday.

an update on the visa front- my application has arrived in canberra. my heart nearly stopped when i saw the email from CANCGVisaInfo letting me know that processing had begun. for a moment i had to pause, and remind myself of the one in whom i trust.

life resumes next friday, the 19th of november. but not until after my OSCE, which is scheduled for the afternoon. more on that later, perhaps.