TWIG : Second Saturday here!

HAIII.


Okay, so this post is on MS Word as well.
Its Saturday morning right now, but I’ll probably only post it up later once I get to use the broadband.

We haven’t had internet since Tuesday (I think) or Wednesday.
Wednesday, probably.
Some guy was supposed to come fix it yesterday, but there was some problem, and he didn’t. I hope it comes back on soon.
I miss the internetttt!
Plus I really want to skype with my parents and my cousins. I miss their faces. :(


Alright, so what can I blog about today?


I’ll tell you guys about my week in uni.

I’ve been pretty busy (by NUIG standards…NUIG stands for National University of Ireland, Galway; I’m considering buying an NUIG hoodie. For the heck of it. Should I?),
but honestly I feel I’ve been horribly unproductive.


We’ve been put together with the 3rd year med students, because they only do Cardio in 3rd year apparently. It does feel a bit odd, because they’re still very new to the whole clinical setting, and I keep having to remind myself I was as lost as them when I started Sem6 back in Seremban.
I generally try to avoid answering questions in class, because there’s no triumph in showing up a bunch of 3rd years when I’m already entering 5th year, and I should know what they don’t.
The boy is having the time of his life showing off in class, which is honestly rather annoying. but. wtv.


We’ve also been given logbooks, and we’re supposed to get signatures for every patient clerked and presented, and for every procedure seen.
But unlike Seremban, here it’s compulsory to get signatures.
Even the lab technicians and the nurses and the SHOs know about it…to the extent that after every procedure, they immediately go like “okay, so what do I have to sign for you?”
…before we even open our mouths okay.
I don’t like that part of it.
I suppose that’s one way of the uni keeping track of students’ attendance, but to me it just feels like you show up for classes/tutorials for the sake of getting the signatures. At least that’s what I’ve been doing for the past 4 days.
:/
Me and Jovann have been put into the same group, and our timetables are slightly different from the other 3 Irish students in our group, so we mostly just do things on our own, which suits us just fine.

yep.

Okay, so anyway,
on Monday we went for some cardiac rehab session.
It’s sort of like an aerobic class/exercise session for patient’s with heart disease. Like physio.
I haven’t seen it back home, maybe they have it in GHKL or IJN, but I don’t think they have it in Seremban.
It was rather cute, all these old men doing aerobics and using exercise machines. And they were all very excited about me and Jovann being there.
Damn jakun okay.
And the nurse there.
Ohmygod.
She was all like “you’re from Malaysia?? Singapore is in Malaysia right?”
o.O
And then she goes on to say “But you have very good English! It’s perfect!” and then gives us this exaggerated surprised look.
Excuse me.
What do you mean BUT I have very good English?
Did you think Malaysians couldn’t speak English or something??
ugh. I’ve heard people say that they’ve been faced with situations like these before, where people mix up Singapore and Malaysia, and/or think we still live on treetops and can’t speak anything but gibberish,
but..honestly.
And there are so many other Malaysians studying/working here too! Why are people still so jakun about us??

Even on Tuesday, we had to attend afternoon clinic, and we were following this Malaysian doctor (a Registrar who works there)
and this patient walks in and asks us where we’re all from, and we say we’re all from Malaysia, but he still looks awfully confused,
and after awhile, he points to me and goes like “you look different. They (points to Jovann and the doctor..who is Malay btw) look the same, you don’t. You look Indian”
…
I am Indian.
There are Indian people in Malaysia. Who are also Malaysian.
…
I mean it’s the same concept as having African Americans isn’t it? I’m Indian by race, and Malaysian by nationality.
It’s not that difficult to understand -_-
And I keep getting asked if I’m from the UK. Took me some time to figure out that there are a lot of British-born Indians who come to Ireland to study as well,
so somehow it’s easier for patients to accept the concept of BBIs (British born Indians) as opposed to working their heads around M(Malaysian)BIs.
They seem to think all Malaysians are Malay.


But otherwise, the patients are all really nice.
But they don’t stop talking omg.
Even in clinics, one consultation takes at least half an hour. That’s a stark difference from back home.
We were in the clinic from 2pm to 5pm on Tuesday, and we only saw 6 patients.
So when I came back home, I was telling Yan Qi’s housemates about how we saw so few patients,
and they’re like “You saw SIX!? Six is a lot! :O”

-_-

Ok.


And the patients here tend to lead the clerking. I know I used to complain about how old Indian patients back home used to go on and on about their life stories,
but patients here do the same. :/
I was clerking a heart failure patient yesterday, and he was doing all the talking.
I kept having to cut him off here and there because he was going off on a different tangent, and I wasn’t getting the information I needed.

Oh, and that’s another thing.
I’m so out of practice clerking patients omg.
I talked to him for a good 45 minutes (because he just wouldn’t stop and it would be awfully rude if I cut him off at every sentence) and then when I came back home, I sat down to write up the history (thanks to Dato’ Kanda I’ve developed the habit of not taking notes while clerking)
and I realized there were quite a few things I forgot to ask. Minor things, but still.

So anyway, presented the case to the doctor yesterday,
and at the end of it he goes like “oh well done. Very good history. I have nothing to add. Very good”

O_O

What.

And all I could think of was “omg if I had presented this to Prof Esha or Dato’ Kew they’d have crucified me”


That’s another difference. The doctors here are really nice.
Like super nice.
Like if you mess up somewhere, they’re all like “do you need more help?”, or if you don’t turn up for class they’re like “Are you alright? Do you need extra tutorials?”

:O

So niceeeee.

:(


Okay la, back home the doctors are really nice too,
but they’re hardcore when it comes to work.
And come on la, which doctor would offer extra tutorials if you don’t turn up for class?


Lol I’ve been complaining this whole post.

Oh well.


The grass here definitely isn’t greener.
Everyone is nice, and life is relaxed and whatnot,
but I couldn’t live here.
Not after the hectic life we have in Seremban…I come here and I’m like omg why don’t I have anything to do? It’s like being in psych all over again.

It’s no wonder people who study here can’t work in Malaysia.

Yep.


And now everyone in this house has woken up and I’m distracted and I’ve completely lost track of what I want to say.
End of blog post :D

OH OH.
They have this shop called the Milkshake Bar in town, which is honestly the best shop in existence.
They have every flavor omg.
Like Snickers and Twix and Ferrero Rocher and Strawberry Cheesecake and Chocolate Muffin and Melon and Protein Shakes and yeah.
They have everything.
So far I’ve taken Turkish Delight (love!) and Crunchie.
I want to import that shop back to Malaysia ok bye,



~vid~