bonjour brightside

i lost one half of my earrings today, possibly because i tugged on my scarf too hard while trying to free it from my neck. i’m pretty upset because they were my favorite… or rather my staples. boooo! losing something that you really like is bad enough but losing half of it is just… ugh. because you still have the other half to remind you of your loss. and it’s the not the first time i’ve had to buy a replacement pair- last year one side dropped into the sinkhole, and if i’d kept the remaining side instead of tossing it out i’d have a pair now.

and she will cut herself some bangs. yeah so i was feeling real bored and armed with a scissors and some straggly hair, i snipped off a good chunk of my fringe……. and now i feel all of six years old, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. change is good, at least i thought it was therapeutic after having to sit through EIGHT hours of ENT lectures on a SATURDAY. a glorious saturday, too. erghhh. anyway i have nothing new to report…..except i got myself some more apparel and heels. on friday i got a letter from the faculty in the post and nearly died of shock because it was my results plus an in-depth analysis of my performance…… yeah and that marks the end of my segment called ’stuff you probably were not interested in’.

help! i am driving myself crazy trying to call shanghai to enquire about electives. for one, my mandarin is pretty much non-existent. i found myself saying ni hao, then i got stuck, and promptly switched to english. and the connection was so bad, i spent 5 minutes ni hao-ing and listening to the dialtone and then gave up. called again via my cellphone and this time i finally got a decent connection going, but the woman on the other end was the operator who did not quite understand my request. she redirected me to another number but no one answered. so after 3 attempts i threw in the towel… i shall try again tomorrow. perhaps i should make a draft in chinese beforehand. my level of mandarin is just …embarassing. can someone please tell me how i can contact the person-in-charge for international exchanges in Shanghai Second Medical University (SHSMU)? i’m getting a little desperate

anyway ive started my gp/psychiatry rotation and it looks to be a pretty peachy semester ahead *fingers crossed* we saw two patients with schizophrenia in psych early this week. one presented with attempted suicide, and the other presented with mania(?). it was really interesting, listening to them recount their thoughts and feelings and experiences….. i’m beginning to like the clinical part of psych but i’m not sure if i’ll enjoy the voluminous readings. haha. anyway i walked from my house to nottinghill for lectures today (must have been about 3 kilometres or so) and it took me 30 minutes. but it was a pretty nice scenic walk and i was dressed in 5 layers to keep myself warm and toasty. the weather forecast said it was going to hail but thank God, it only drizzled a little.

oh! and something amusing happened yesterday. for some reason i thought that class started at 2pm but in actual fact it ran from 1 to 2pm. so at 2pm i waltzed in feeling pretty breezy, while the entire class looked at me in utter shock. i was completely oblivious, until nesh told me that tute was at 1pm. oh my. i wanted to laugh out loud then, but i had to regain my composure so i could apologize to the tutor. and seriously this is not the first time i’ve pulled off something along these lines. i think i have a knack for doing silly things. haha!

i have once again overstepped my shopping budget for the month (already!) and i blame ninewest for it. i blame them for audaciously displaying the dreaded red lettered signs proclaiming ’sale!’ in every angle of my peripheral vision. okay actually i blame myself for lacking willpower to resist the lure of material haven… one pair of shoes and one (very nice) bag later, i was filled with immense guilt and satisfaction at the same time. although i did want to return the shoes at first, but i figured i would let them linger for a while more in my room before i decide if i should exchange them for a different pair. ahhh decisions decisions decisions. anyway i do feel extremely guilty for splurging, especially when the money i spent was my hard earned wages from my vacation job, which was meant to be saved for my elective trip/grad trip next year. i often toy with the idea of saving for something big, or perhaps for a rainy day… but i somehow never manage to put it into concrete action. every bit of money that i earn just goes to the retailers……. i’ve tried to be more strict with myself these days, only allowing myself to buy something if i really need/like it, but everything seems to qualify as a ‘i must have it’ item. anyway i was reading an article today about how much australians spend on clothing. apparently the average australian woman buys 56 pieces of garments each year, and if she’s under the age of 30 she tends to buy double that amount! geez. i reckon i could quadruple that, seeing as i just bought 14 pieces of garments and 4 bags over the last month (yes i counted). i’m guilty as charged- i did overspend, and i’m not proud of it. hence i am on a shopping ban until july is over…. i really need to be more responsible for my finances.

oh and today i attempted to pack my room. i say attempted, because the mess is epic and has to be carried out in stages. i think i finished stages 1 and 2 out of 5 today, and i am absolutely knackered! i spent most of my time folding clothes, stuffing them unceremoniously into my bursting wardrobe, and of course setting aside some for donation. i have way too many things in my tiny room and i’ve realized that i am absolutely hopeless at decluttering, because i want to keep everything and anything. when i was little my mother called me a junk-collector. i think she was quite right.

“Every year twenty-something women come to New York City in search of the two ‘L’s: labels and love. Twenty years ago, i was one of them. Having gotten the knack for labels early… i concentrated on love.”

- Carrie Bradshaw

so yes. finally i caught SATC with my bunch of gal pals, after all that pent-up excitement about that walk-in wardrobe that Big built for Carrie, the fabulous fashion, and of course the mandatory dose of kickass girl power. i was warned not to get my hopes up too high, but i LOVE the movie! apart from the amazing couture gowns that SJP rocked, i was enamored with her too-high-for-walking-in manolos, glossy brown tresses and THAT studded belt (which i think she wore about four times?) it makes me want to be a fashionista too! well apart from the droolworthy fashion snippets i think the movie was really sweet and most importantly i was reminded of the selflessness and multitudes of girlfriend-ship, and for which i am thankful that i have in my bunch of girlfriends