Med School Diaries #1: Kuantan Kaos
Welcome to the first series I’m starting on the blog: Med School diaries! As I move into my third year, I thought it would be fun to share some snippets of my life as I start clinicals as well as start figuring out my twenties. Episode one was written during the time leading up to my first two days of orientation – a time of stress, excitement, and lots of packing and unpacking and packing again.
1. The haircut
The woman who washed my hair passes by and laments how she
wishes she had hair as soft as mine. She comments that cutting it too short
would make it look thin. I am officially balding then, I think to myself as I
smile painfully at her, if she's worried about my hair looking thin. Woefully I
think if how much my mother has spent on hair growth oil for herself.
I've put my life into the hands of the man standing behind me and cutting three inches off my hair. I'd ask to cut it even shorter but I trust his judgement. Some days I wish I could buzz it off entirely, but I've been informed I have one of those faces that need to be covered by curtain bangs to maintain the illusion of my beauty.
A woman walks in the store. My hairdresser has moved on to
wrapping my hair in sheets of aluminium foil. His face turns grim as he speaks
to her - he comes back and his buddy comes over, and they discuss something
about keratin treatments and four hours in Hindi. They nod along and seem to
form an agreement. It is now 1pm.
A large family walks in the store - the mother asks for
haircuts and blowouts and highlights and dyed hair and I can see my hairdresser
realising in real time how late his lunch break is going to be. Still he paints
my hair like he's Michelangelo and I am his David. He leaves me there to
marinate in the smell of rotten eggs while I look like a bad alien costume
Mother brings me blueberry buns. We are both hungry but she
insists on waiting for me to finish before we go for lunch. After an hour of
marinating in hair dye they finally release me from my aluminium foil shackles
– and I look at my wet hair in the mirror and wonder what the heck they were
doing this long if I can’t tell the difference. Only after he blow dries my
hair do I realize he has given me the most beautiful light brown highlights
I’ve ever seen.
If only he didn’t have to take an eternity to make them. And if only he knew how to blow it properly – within less then 24 hours my hair is back to its usual frizzy, curly self. I styled it myself with my own heated comb and I honestly considered switching professions.
2. The road trip.
I’ve never gone up to the east coast before – my mom has,
once, on a church trip, but even that was barely for a day. I’ll be staying
there for the next one and a half years. The car was really, really full –
booth was packed, the back seat had boxes, and I had to keep one bag on my lap
the whole way there. Still I was missing a few things – most heartbreakingly,
my guitar, which mom promised to brin whenever she could next come. It would
only be later that I discovered I also left my sports shoes, kettle, butter
knife, kimchi jar… such are the troubles of a student moving to another state.
The view was gorgeous – we’d decided to leave early in the
morning to avoid the jam and it paid off with views of clouds resting over
rolling hills looking straight out of a fantasy novel. Initially the road was
extremely winding, but after a while it was pretty straightforward.
The funniest thing we saw along the way was a sign for Kampung New Zealand – which was a confusing sight to see right after a 5 minute nap. Mom and I laughed about it for a good ten minutes. If only we’d known earlier to take a photo! I joked that I could post it in the family group chat and make them think we took a flight to Australia.
3. Finding a fridge
Most people who are close to me know that, in the past year,
I’ve become enamoured with cooking. One, because I love Korean food and making
kimchi fried rice myself is cheaper compared to buying it, and two because it
makes me feel accomplished when I see a complete meal at the end of 20 minutes.
This, combined with the fact that my new classroom does not come equipped with
a cafeteria, made it so mom and I decided to get me a fridge.
The first shop we approached didn’t have fridges small
enough. The second shop had a single one – but the owner was not budging on the
heavy delivery fee. As they say, third time’s the charm – we got it for the
exact price we wanted AND a next day delivery despite it being Deepavali.
It was only a bit later, in the hotel room, that I
calculated in my head just how much money mom was spending on me –
petrol, fridge, groceries, cleaning supplies… Unexpectedly, I felt tears
forming in my eyes. Mom was a little shocked. It’s a blessing to have so many
luxuries at your fingertips – I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Over the next
couple of days, things kept lining up for us – the right shops were open, the
right things were on sale, and the right people were sent out way.
I’m taking it as a sign that God sees my anxiety and is telling not to worry too much. Depite my raging impostor syndrome, somehow I know I deserve to be here – I just need to put in the work to prove that to myself.
4. Orientation day(s)
Day one… underwhelming, to say the least. I woke up bright
and early to get ready, putting on my favourite formal shirt and pants, as well
as going through the effort of styling my hair. Then the bus came 30 minutes
later than they said it would – so I sweat through the back of my shirt and my
hair got frizzy in the wind. We were seated according to groups, and my table
was the unfortunate victim of the AC on full blast combined with an absolutely
enormous pillar blocking our view of the central area, where most of the
lecturers stood as they introduced themselves. So now I only know my lecturers
by name. How fun.
Day two was more interesting. The department heads came to
introduce themselves and explain how our four weeks at their department would
look like. Some posting seemed interesting and fun, while others seemed like I
would be rather go to military boot camp than come unprepared to a lecture. So
yes, I am foreseeing rather large amounts of sleep being lost to studying,
considering one of my professors said and I quote: “Two hours of studying is
nowhere near enough unless you’re a robot who remembers everything.”
Lunch is going to be a problem. I’m definitely going to have
to cook everyday with how little options there are for food here – since there’s
no cafeteria in the building nor food court nearby. Thankfully I’ve been saving
recipes – something to try this weekend!
It’s a strange kind of feeling I’m having. Half of me is
absolutely terrified for starting clinicals. The other half is bursting with
excitement – to finally get a glimpse of the kind of life I’ve been wanting to
live since I was a kid. Yes, it sounds horrible – sleepless nights, constant
studying, aching legs from walking for hours on end, accidentally forgetting
meals – but it also sounds like meeting incredible people, being someone people
can rely on, helping others when they’re feeling their worst… Most of all, I have
this quiet kind of hope that I’m going to find my life’s purpose when I step into
a ward and smile at a patient.
Let’s see what Kuantan decides to throw at me, shall we?
Like I said, this is a series – which means I’m trying to
force myself to be consistent. Writing has always been a form of stress-relief
for me, so I’m hoping this project will be a respite from what will be a
terrifying new semester to face. My first posting has been notified – I’ll be
in Surgery for the next month or so. ((Send help))
Talk to you soon world!
Joy (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)
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