and 4 more weeks to go… and then more work… :T

Currently taking social science and hip hop… first is a mandatory course, and the latter is for exercise and to fill up my time, of course. My hip hop instructor is very energetic, so the class is really fun, except for a couple of bossy people. I don’t mind bossy people when they’re good at what they do, since then I can just overlook it as a minor character flaw. But when you’re bossy and you have no idea what you’re actually doing, it gets irritating, Very quickly.

Anyways, my social science class is a complete joke. I mean… yeah, I know community colleges aren’t the brightest places, but there are such things as standards. It all depends on the instructors and the students as well. This class is pretty much social science for dummies. Spent an hour on freaking Punnett squares. The last time I had such a thorough discussion on recessive and dominant phenotypes and genotypes were… oh, yes! 7TH GRADE! To sum up this class in one word: INANE. But what can I do; it’s part of the requirement. I’ll just focus on dancing, as usual.

So Yisan drama finally ended… T_T Was a good run while it lasted…
Watched Surgeon Bong Dal Hee to fill up my time, and it was pretty good. Another medical drama, and I like to compare the protocols in Korean hospitals to American ones… Their IV pumps look kinda ancient, though.

My main drama right now is of course, Iljimae, and it’s progressing pretty nicely. I think I love Lee Junki the more I watch him on screen. He’s pure charisma on screen He just makes his characters come alive, you know? I’m so addicted to this drama… and the guy who plays his half-brother is HOT as well. kekeke~

*sigh* Another week of waiting for the next episodes~~

the downfall of studying psych nursing: you start wanting to label everyone with everything under DSM-IV. Lovely. I think I have Axis I: Parasomnia… or Insomnia… or Narcolepsy… or all of it… *sigh* Sleep is not very refreshing these days.

THANK GOD my clinicals are over. This week was NOT pretty since there were some unfriendly nurses who made our lives miserable by treating us like their slaves and talking smack about if we don’t do what they ask. PUHLEEZE. First of all, we are not here to do YOUR job. Freakin lazy ******. I mean, hey, it’s your license on the line if you make us do something that we’re not qualified to do. So careless. And secondly, we are RN students; we are not here to do CNA/UAP work. So don’t bitch about us not doing your duties because that’s not our priority. Thirdly, there is no reason not to put up isolation signs CLEARLY in the patient’s room and the door. My goodness, no wonder MRSA is out in the public now. Good job people. But what’s done is done, and now I don’t have clinicals or care plans until September. YAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!
But I will studying all this week… finals week, and boy, I never studied this hard before… not even at UCLA (where I honed the fine art of procrastination and BSing papers). This is information I have to know in my sleep for LIFE, so yeah… I am scared and anxious already.

So I release that anxiety and stress by watching dramas and shopping. What else is new? Well, Lee Junki’s new drama just started last week, and I’m hooked. C’mon, it’s Lee Junki; I have to watch it. His drama is cool, since his character is kinda like Hong Gil Dong, but more vengeful and twisted (as far as the drama plot goes). Han Hyo Joo is also in it, which is good since she’s a great actress as well. Very underrated, in my opinion. Can’t wait to see how this drama unfolds.

I also like watching the reality/variety show “We Got Married,” since the celebrity couples are pretty funny. Andy from Shinhwa makes a perfect housewife, haha~

Spent most of last week and this week studying my butt off and suffering chronic anxiety for my tests… I thought the crisis was over until I get my mail… and the government is demanding I spend my summer in court AGAIN. GODDAMN JURY DUTY, I HATE YOU!!! *shakes fists vehemently* Gimme my tax rebate, and maybe I wouldn’t be complaining, but for goodness sake, why do you have to make me drag myself to court to spend couple useless days sitting in musty crowded rooms just so that the legislation can pick the most biased of them all… I am not happy about this one bit. I am going to come over there with my finger stuck in my nose and mussed hair and if I’m feeling really good, I’ll have my eyes crossed the whole day. At times like these, I really can’t wait to save up enough money to move away from America.

Well, not a physical one… This crazy lady keeps calling me every other day around midnight or some odd hours in the morning and it’s really pissing me off now. Especially because I’M ASLEEP, and I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE WAKE ME UP. It’s been going on for a few months now, but she has been calling more frequently in the past two weeks. She leaves all kinds of weird messages on my voicemail, and when I actually pick up her calls, she’ll either be silent or talk like a person with dementia.

Some examples:
Me: “Hello? Hello?”
Crazy Lady: *in coarse, wavery, hysterical voice* “Why you don’t call me back? You said you would.”
Me: “Who are you?” O.o
Crazy Lady: “You didn’t pick me up, you @%$%@$#%! Why you lyin’?”
Me: “I think you got the wrong number.”
Crazy Lady: “Shut up! Just shut up, you @#$@@#@%!”

And that’s how it usually is, before I get fed up and hang up on her. She is seriously insane, and the recurrent message of her calls are always about picking her up, not calling her back, and cussing. She sounds like one of those crazy bag ladies, and she’s creepy as hell. I don’t know if my phone can block calls, because I seriously wish I had that option.

So now I’m thinking about downloading some soundbites and use it to answer her calls, since I can’t think of anything else. Should I use Family Guy, Simpsons, or good ole governator? Hmmmm~~

Edit: So she just called me AGAIN. And I answered it in a nice, polite manner, asked who she was… and she said her name was Jackie. Before, she left a voicemail saying that she was Joyce. UMMMMM… And then she called back twice, including right now as I am typing, without saying anything. My friend advised me to file a restraining order if she keeps calling and leaving voice messages, and now I’m seriously thinking about it. I have a hunch that this lady is severely impaired in some way, and if she’s not getting any help for it right now, she definitely needs it. She could definitely use a 5150 if she’s not already.

I hate to admit it… but I have finally succumbed…
I’ve been in denial for a while now, but I can’t resist anymore…

I’m a SuJu fangirl. *sigh* *SIGH*

I couldn’t help myself. They’re EVERYWHERE! They go on a lot of variety programs and even hosted some shows (like Explore the Human Body and Unbelievable Outing), and they’re a hilarious bunch of guys. And I realized quite a few of them are my age (or older)… My favorite is Ye Sung, followed by Shin Dong and Kang In… and Han Kyung is cute too since his Korean is usually jumbled. But some of them are really REALLY neukihae… (slimy? gross? slick? something along those terms) like Hee Chul… he is funny, but his freakishly big eyes, obsession with looking girly to the max, and obnoxiously loud voice get irritating after a while.

I’m totally hooked on korean tv now, since I finally figured out the late night line up on my korean satellite channels… HEHEHE~ And I do mean late night, since it peaks at 3 AM… good thing my sleeping schedule is already whacked.

So my latest favorite pasttime other than ogling korean celebrities?
I hike.
I’m surrounded by mountains, so might as well make the best of it. So far I’ve been to Mt. Echo, Pacific Palisades (Malibu), Santa Anita trail, and Gabrielino (right next to JPL/NASA). I don’t even know which ones are near my house… too many names to remember. Which reminds me, I need to buy some shoes with good traction because I always trip (but never fall… not yet).

oh… my… god…

So I was realllllly bored right now and I just spontaneously decided to see if my OkCupid account was still there… WOW! I haven’t visited it in TWO YEARS and my profile sounds so cheery and full of stuff that I wouldn’t normally say nowadays… Blehhhhh… I guess the sparkle in my eyes and lofty dreams of academia was at its highest at that point. It is always fun to look back at the past and see how much of your personality changed… I guess I became more realistic now, and I went from being hopeful to wistful… Yes, I am feeling the weight of my years already T_T And I started a basic anti-aging regimen already since only way to deal with wrinkles is to prevent them (nonsurgically speaking). It’s retinol retinol retinol from here on~ Well, I know I don’t have to worry right now, but it really helps to even out my skin tone and keep the acne and redness down. *sigh* And I know the next step up is facial treatments and peels and masks and whole bunch of skincare that is really bothersome unless you go to a spa… Hmmm, I lived in Korea, I could get those for free since my cousin owns a spa… I got a facial and massage done when I went, and it was SOOOOO NICE~~~ And most of the beauty/skincare/makeup treatments are really cheap there… Eyelash extensions run from roughly 30 bucks and up, and I got my perm+hair treatment for 80… Here in ktown it would be 200 bucks at cheapest… Ahhhh I miss Korea already! It’s such an amazing place on all levels.

Urgh, I got my MRI done for my retarded left shoulder, and now I just have to go and see what the doc says about it. The MRI process was really weird for me, since I felt like they were sliding me into a white coffin… I’m not very claustrophobic, but when you’re enclosed in such a small space with your face less than a foot away from the “ceiling” part, it kinda makes you panicky. So I just had my eyes closed the whole time, trying to shut out the whirring/clicking noises and pretending that I was lying in a wide, open space.

Also decided to apply for an internship at a nearby hospital on a whim at the last minute, and I got it… It’s always disorienting when opportunities come so easily when you’re not really thinking about it, but when you actually do, it is harder to attain. Weird. Anyways, it’ll be a good experience since I will learn to read and maybe use most of the monitoring machines in the telemetry unit. Although I am dreading the classes in reading the ECG and EKG machines since at this point they all look like squiggles to me… I’m such a horrible student, I know. But it’ll be a good experience for see what else is out there… there’s so many fields that I can branch out in nursing… Psych can be my backup option, since it’s pretty chill. I am pretty used to the wards now, and the people are realllllly interesting. Well, the really schizophrenic patients are scary at times… but that’s another story. The bipolar patients in their manic state are pretty interesting to talk to. They have no impulse control at times, and they speak whatever they feel like, so you can imagine the shock factor. I think the psych clinicals are the funniest so far… there’s just so much that goes on in there… oh! And I learned how to play gin rummy since this patient taught us how to play~ It’s a REALLY fun game, since it’s a bit complicated and you play off of other people’s cards… It’s fantastic!

I will stop looking at ebay
I will stop looking at ebay
I will stop looking at ebay
I will stop looking at ebay
I will stop looking at ebay
I will stop looking at ebay
I will stop looking at ebay
I will stop looking at ebay
I will stop looking at ebay

Damn… I have nearly 40 pairs of R&Rs alone, AFTER cutting down my collection. And I haven’t even counted my other designer denim yet. And in order to stop my jean addiction, I diverted my attention to… collecting shoes. *rolls eyes*
Just learned today in psych that high levels of dopamine in women directly correlates to shopping… Well, I guess it is a type of manic behavior, if you have great urges to go shopping.
It’s funny how all my years at UCLA I haven’t really had a first hand experience with psych patients; only dealt with the research aspect of the field. And now I’m in the treatment/therapy aspect of the field, and I find it quite… calm. It’s not THAT crazy nor is it always quiet, and I’m just waiting for something exciting to happen. I want to try my self-defense moves that we were taught during orientation.

Still learning the ropes about therapeutic communication. It’s pretty basic, but you realize that there is an art to making communication with psych patients. It’s a lot like beating around the bush to get at the source of the problem. Well, most of the time, that is. I guess that part I have down pat because the whole Korean culture is like that. It’s rude to ask direct questions, so most of the time the conversations are very indirect (which always made me feel falsely cheery and very nervous). Blehhhhhh. But it’s ingrained in me, so I can’t do anything about it. Well, I could, but I’m lazy.

Currently watching jdrama “Bara no nai Hanaya” (Roseless Flower Shop? Flower shop without roses?)
It’s kinda awkward in the beginning, but I love the quirky mismatched characters, and the storyline has gotten a lot more interesting since the past few episodes. And of course, I started watching it for Matsuda Shota, but the story has now gotten me HOOKED. The little girl in the drama is SOOOOOO ADORABLE! I just want to hug her to death.
Also watching Atsuhime, starring Miyazaki Aoi, who makes a great lead in the drama… It’s not for everyone, since it’s a pretty heavy historical drama, but I think it’s very interesting.

So… woke up at the crack of dawn, as usual, went over to the mental court, tried not to be creeped out by the lady talking to herself who was sitting wayyyy too close to me when there were 7 empty seats available, did a 5.4 mile hike up Mt. Echo, went to my 5 hour psych ward rotation, and now my legs are screaming in pain.

Yep, that’s right. I’ve been experiencing the psych ward for a couple of weeks, and yeah… It’s an interesting place. Most of the time, you go in and talk to them, to get a feel for the type of people who come in these units. Many are interesting characters, and it’s very true about how the only difference between them and “normal” people is a crisis. Well, except maybe borderline pts… they are very hard to figure out… kinda scary… I just de-escalated a patient today, so that was pretty good… But I don’t think I can handle bipolar patients just yet because when they are manic, they are reallllly difficult. And no, the psych ward is not how it is depicted in the movies and TV. It’s pretty calm most of the time where I am. But it’s never a dull day there, that’s for sure. I really wish I can go into detail, but I don’t want the HIPAA after me, so I’ll have to keep it pretty vague.

And then the med surg portion of the second semester. We just started off at full speed into cardiac mode… heart heart heart heart heart. And more heart. I’ve learned more than I’d like to about CHF, CAD, valvular disorders, etc… I think I am still in a daze… It’s only like what, 3rd week? And the days are going by in a blur. But I’m happy to back, because it’s getting more interesting. Can’t wait to do med surg clinicals and IVs~!

I just woke up screaming from a nightmare. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t being killed in so many different ways in my dream. And my dreams could be made into movies if I could usually remember them. But yeah, I was in a dream where the main theme was a patchwork quilt, with each piece depicting or representing someone. I think I was one of the characters, but I got to see everything from everyone’s point of view. Needless to say, each person being represented by each piece of patchwork got killed somehow, in different ways. I was at the point where I was running away from the killer and I was successful, barely. Then the scene pans over patchwork quilt, where it passes over each patch until it zooms in on my patch… and then the killer comes out of nowhere and tries to choke me to death… That’s when I wake up screaming…

Remind me not to eat sugary foods before I sleep, because I never get great sleep whenever I do… geez…

My mom is weird… she needs a hobby

On monday, I come home to my mother, smiling ear-to-ear. I give her a puzzled look and proceed to open the fridge… look inside, and see an infestation of tangerines. She pops up beside me, saying, “4 pounds for ONE DOLLAR!”
I stare in disbelief and ask her exactly how many pounds she bought…
She smiles sheepishly and said, “Well, I felt kind of bad, so I bought 40 pounds. Only ten dollars.”
At this point, I’m wondering how she managed to fit 40 pounds of tangerines in her cart, and if you’re feeling embarrassing about 40 pounds of fruit, you can definitely afford the embarrassment to buy MORE.
She also added that she gave away several bags already, and the REMAINDER is what is left in the fridge…
I’ve never seen so many tangerines in my life… and they’re the good kind, fresh out of the orchard or whatever farm it’s from. I think she gets too excited about fruit sometimes… She was also boasting about how cheap she got her Asian pears…

Anyways, next week is finals, and I don’t know if I have the energy to study next week because of the 6AM clinicals I’ve been having this intersession… I know I’ll have the advantage in getting more experience, but I really don’t like waking up and driving around at 5 AM, when it’s pitch dark and godforsakenly COLD. Only thing that is a plus is the curly fries in the hospital cafeteria… yum~~