Vacation

It’s been a great, relaxing break so far, after the craziness that is exams. Here’s an excerpt from my class president’s blog describing the end of our exam period: It was just as if a hurricane had passed.

The merciless pounding stopped,

and everyone began to come out of their makeshift shelters,

wandering bleary-eyed into the streets,

looking at the destruction around them,

assessing what little they had left of their friends, and social lives, and dignity.

And they began to talk to each other,

wondering aloud,

putting into words the thoughts they were all thinking...

"Did that really happen?"

"I can't believe I made it. There were times when I didn't think I would."

"Can it actually get worse?"

"I'm not sure anybody would understand what this was like if they didn't see it with their own eyes." It was pretty crazy actually. Never before have I spent so many hours with my butt in a chair, feeling guilty to get up for a tea break, that is, just to make tea but sit back down and study while consuming it. Anyway, I’m very glad that I made it through another round of exams successfully. And I know that this is still a warm up for future exams that matter more (like the big licensing exams towards the end of my training). As always, I jam-packed my post-exam time with visits, coffees, and dinners with friends beginning on the day of my last exam, Wednesday Dec 20th. I had family visit from “the mainland” – the Lower Mainland of BC, that is. And we had a nice intimate Christmas on the actual day. Mom and i (‘i’ in lowercase due to my minimal role) made the whole turkey dinner the day before and just reheated it on Christmas Day which worked out very well and resulted in a much more enjoyable day for mum! And we watched some wonderful dvds called the “Blue Planet” on Mom & Dad’s gigantic new crystal-clear tv. I felt like I was scuba-diving without the gear or threat of getting the “bendz”. I was very fortunate, as always, and got some great gifts but I think the highlight of the day were 2 gifts – my brother & his girlfriend gave my Dad about 40 cds that they had made by converting the vast majority of his old records to digital files on the computer AND my brother gave Caren (his girlfriend) a cute little scooter for her to commute to work each day. Boxing Day was a beautiful sunny day here in Victoria so we went out for a walk along the water and when we came home I happily tucked in to a book to read for pleasure. I highly recommend it, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini – an excellent book to be sure and one I devoured in only a few hours! For the rest of my holidays I’m planning to go to Seattle on Saturday with some Newfoundland friends (Calvin, Laura & their little girl Freyja) to visit until January 2nd. Then back for a few more days of relaxing before I get back at it on January 7th. I decided to postpone a visit to Vancouver until a few of my jet-setting friends (currently in Panama, India, Mexico), arrive back in town. I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays with your family and friends & that you have a very happy 2008 filled with love, good health, and lots of laughter!

PS I'm heading out this afternoon to give blood at Canadian Blood Services. This is a time of year when they are particularly desperate for donations so if that is something you would consider doing, please do. Check out their website for a location near you.