March 6, 2016
Walking to the Day (3/4/16)
Friday was when everything started getting busy. And I had to walk. Like. A lot.
I went in for morning rounds at 7:30 a.m. and we visited about 17 patients. Dr. Hong explained that she wants me to meet with a patient daily for an hour. She is a long term trauma patient that wants to learn how to speak English. I'm actually really excited about this as I can make a new friend as well as learn a little bit of Korean. Morning rounds finished at around 10 o'clock and I was shown to a little office (next to the International Physician's Lounge) that I would be able to use for the time being.
Afterwards, I was left alone and spent a little time in the office before being called down to lunch. This part is bizzare, but it was actually pretty fun to me. There's a restaurant in the operating section of the hospital. To get in, you have to be wearing scrubs, a specific pair of slippers, and a little cap. So, I changed into that and waited a little while. One of Dr. Hong's residents then called me in and I was taken to the restaurant. The resident and his friend made conversation with me and were slightly concerned at the small amount of food on my plate. (I swear I don't hate or dislike Korean food, I just didn't feel that hungry.) They were really nice and looked after me very well.
Lunch ended pretty quickly and I met with Dr. Hong again. She informed me that we would be meeting everyday at 1 p.m. to see my progress. What progress you ask? She informed me that she doesn't know what my knowledge of trauma systems are and wants me to present in front of her and her colleagues about it. She handed me a Trauma book as well as a Korean data book (Which I truly intend to attempt to understand. I hope I can.) This is where you all know I smiled and laughed nervously. I'm not good in front of audiences, but we'll see how this goes. She then told me that we would have dinner together at around 6 p.m. and I was left to my own time.
I called my parents, as I've been doing every day because I miss them like crazy. Then, I went over to the little office. The funny thing though is that I got lost earlier trying to find the office. I had gone to the New Building instead of the West Building. Something good came out of it though. I found a huge balcony area with a beautiful view of the Han River and Seoul. So, after getting tired of being stuck in a room, I went out there and continued to do my research.
I was called down for dinner at 6 p.m. and we ate fish with the rest of her residents in one of the rooms. I completely forgot to ask what the dish was called, but it was absolutely delicious. Again, Dr. Hong was concerned at the small amount of food I ate. And again, I swear I just wasn't that hungry. (Haha, I have to start eating more I guess)
I was let off duty after dinner so I decided to get a little gutsy and go around the very large hospital. I particularly wanted to go up to the balcony again and also the very talked about basement that had a shopping center as well as restaurants. So, I went straight to the balcony and simply stared at the city lights. To put it simply, it was absolutely gorgeous. Honestly, the pictures I took do not do it any justice. It hit me for a moment that I was actually in Korea and that left a nice smile on my face.
I went back to my office to change before heading off to my dormitory to drop off my things. I then proceeded to go down into the basement and attempt to make it to the hospital. I actually did and the building at night is so nice to walk through. There's pieces of artwork everywhere and a special hallway dedicated to new artists' works. After becoming absolutely exhausted, I went down to the basement to head back to my dorm room. Again, I got lost. But! I managed to find the little shopping center and restaurants. I need to go there again and walk through it again while everything is open. Just when I
was about to give up, I managed to find my way back and just slept.
(As a side note, I'm having a lot of trouble posting pictures, so they'll be coming in really slow.)
Interesting Fact of the Day
I just found out today that we're right next to the Cherry Blossom trees next to the Han River. It typically blooms early April, so I hope that I'll at least see the trees start to liven up. When the Cherry Blossoms are up and running, people take long walks and have festivals. (An example would be the picture on top of the pages)
*Fact received from my brain and Dr. Hong
Walking to the Day (3/4/16)
Friday was when everything started getting busy. And I had to walk. Like. A lot.
I went in for morning rounds at 7:30 a.m. and we visited about 17 patients. Dr. Hong explained that she wants me to meet with a patient daily for an hour. She is a long term trauma patient that wants to learn how to speak English. I'm actually really excited about this as I can make a new friend as well as learn a little bit of Korean. Morning rounds finished at around 10 o'clock and I was shown to a little office (next to the International Physician's Lounge) that I would be able to use for the time being.
Afterwards, I was left alone and spent a little time in the office before being called down to lunch. This part is bizzare, but it was actually pretty fun to me. There's a restaurant in the operating section of the hospital. To get in, you have to be wearing scrubs, a specific pair of slippers, and a little cap. So, I changed into that and waited a little while. One of Dr. Hong's residents then called me in and I was taken to the restaurant. The resident and his friend made conversation with me and were slightly concerned at the small amount of food on my plate. (I swear I don't hate or dislike Korean food, I just didn't feel that hungry.) They were really nice and looked after me very well.
Lunch ended pretty quickly and I met with Dr. Hong again. She informed me that we would be meeting everyday at 1 p.m. to see my progress. What progress you ask? She informed me that she doesn't know what my knowledge of trauma systems are and wants me to present in front of her and her colleagues about it. She handed me a Trauma book as well as a Korean data book (Which I truly intend to attempt to understand. I hope I can.) This is where you all know I smiled and laughed nervously. I'm not good in front of audiences, but we'll see how this goes. She then told me that we would have dinner together at around 6 p.m. and I was left to my own time.
I called my parents, as I've been doing every day because I miss them like crazy. Then, I went over to the little office. The funny thing though is that I got lost earlier trying to find the office. I had gone to the New Building instead of the West Building. Something good came out of it though. I found a huge balcony area with a beautiful view of the Han River and Seoul. So, after getting tired of being stuck in a room, I went out there and continued to do my research.
I was called down for dinner at 6 p.m. and we ate fish with the rest of her residents in one of the rooms. I completely forgot to ask what the dish was called, but it was absolutely delicious. Again, Dr. Hong was concerned at the small amount of food I ate. And again, I swear I just wasn't that hungry. (Haha, I have to start eating more I guess)
I was let off duty after dinner so I decided to get a little gutsy and go around the very large hospital. I particularly wanted to go up to the balcony again and also the very talked about basement that had a shopping center as well as restaurants. So, I went straight to the balcony and simply stared at the city lights. To put it simply, it was absolutely gorgeous. Honestly, the pictures I took do not do it any justice. It hit me for a moment that I was actually in Korea and that left a nice smile on my face.
I went back to my office to change before heading off to my dormitory to drop off my things. I then proceeded to go down into the basement and attempt to make it to the hospital. I actually did and the building at night is so nice to walk through. There's pieces of artwork everywhere and a special hallway dedicated to new artists' works. After becoming absolutely exhausted, I went down to the basement to head back to my dorm room. Again, I got lost. But! I managed to find the little shopping center and restaurants. I need to go there again and walk through it again while everything is open. Just when I
was about to give up, I managed to find my way back and just slept.
(As a side note, I'm having a lot of trouble posting pictures, so they'll be coming in really slow.)
Interesting Fact of the Day
I just found out today that we're right next to the Cherry Blossom trees next to the Han River. It typically blooms early April, so I hope that I'll at least see the trees start to liven up. When the Cherry Blossoms are up and running, people take long walks and have festivals. (An example would be the picture on top of the pages)
*Fact received from my brain and Dr. Hong