Chinese canoeing

I went to my first Dragon Boat practice/try-out today.

We sat by the edge of the pool and paddled along.

I sincerely hope they take me, because then I'd get to (hopefully) paddle against my sister if/when she joins the Toronto team. (They wouldn't cut her. She's just not the type who gets cut from things.)

The whole thing was very laid back, and the process of making the team wasn't at all explained, so it remains to be seen whether:

a) They take most comers and teach them to paddle for fun and good times
or
b) They are looking for hard-bodied iron-people to power a competition crushing craft.

It's obvious which one I'm hoping for. I just hope they sieve out all those softie, fun loving paddlers early.

Also, I'm getting old. I was talking to one fellow at the practice, who looked about my age. Turns out he's in first year undergrad. That was... good gawd. Six years ago? yow.

Matchday.

Today, my classmates find out where they will be going and what they will be doing for the next 2-5 years.

My decision to to delay my application for residency by a year was not taken lightly, but it is hard not to wish that I was part of the excitement. There will be a shindig tonight, and I can already imagine the relief I'll be hearing in their celebrations.

I think there's a very real sense of moving forward when you're officially assigned a residency position. We're all just formless medical students. But in a few hours, my classmates can say they WILL be radiology residents, or surgical residents or what have you.

The road to residency is long. Along the way, I think you incorporate your choices into your dreams, into your visions for your life. There is a great deal of anxiety involved, as the competition for certain specialties and locations is fierce. Over time, I think medical students adopt their ideal specialty as part of their identity, and imagine the ideal residency to be key to their happiness.

I hope things go well for my classmates. And I hope that happiness is sturdier than a match.

Goal!

I scored my first goal today in hockey!

My old housemate Dave passed it to me in front of the net and I put it in low to the right side.

I also assisted on two of Dave's goals.

Sharpening my skates must have done good things.

Four things for Dickie

Dickie hit me with a meme awhile back, and it's just unfriendly not to respond. (On another note, some of you will notice that he recently changed his site from .tk to .com. I think he said this was to avoid the ads. I think Dickie works in marketing. Isn't that ironic?)

Four jobs I’ve had

• Rat sacrificer
  


• Copy shop employee
  


• Camp counsellor
  


• Ion channel builder

Four movies I can watch over and over

• Groundhog Day
  


• High Fidelity


• City Slickers
  


• Love Actually
  

Four places I have lived

• Nepean, Ontario


• Kingston, Ontario


• Victoria, British Columbia
  


• Hamilton, Ontario
  

Four TV shows I love to watch

• Grey's Anatomy
  


• South Park
  


• Farscape
  


• Scrubs

Four places I have been on vacation

• New York
  


• Newfoundland
  


• Florida


• England
  

Four websites I visit daily

• ESPN


• YouTube
  


• Google


• McMaster Health Science Library
  

Four of my favourite foods

• Scallops


• Watermelons


• Gelato


• Congee
  

Four places I would rather be right now

• Where there are waves
  


• A ski hill
  


• San Francisco
  


• At the rink
  

THIS is how you practice Medicine

Miss Communication

It is my belief that most interpersonal (and many intrapersonal) problems would not exist if all parties were able to communicate effectively. That is, if all parties were willing to express their views, and listen (with an open-mind!) to the views of others.

We're always looking for more information. But the nature of life is that the majority of decisions and situations demand responses despite a paucity of knowledge.

In this era of internet and information overload, I think it is important to realize that the intelligence that matters is not gained via mouseclick, but rather through frank and honest discussion.

Introspection helps too, but too much of that will make you go kinda crazy.

Was it really so crazy a thing?

Not too long ago I was chatting with someone who didn't know me very well.

In the ebb and flow of conversation, I recall talking about how I permed my hair in my first year of university. I have vague recollections of receiving a look of disbelief and horror, but I have a feeling my mind is filling in blanks for me.

Anyways, a quick poll of my friends yielded the unanimous advice that I should in future avoid any mention of my permed days. At least at first. Apparently the experience of meeting me is traumatic enough without introducing the idea of perms and the like.

I remember thinking that it was reeeeaallly funny looking at first. But I think with the passage of time, I've become desensitized to the whole perm incident. It's just something that happened to my hair roughly half a decade ago.

That perm changed my university experience. So I don't think I'd be where I am today if I hadn't gotten it. At the same time... I'm not the same person as I was back then. You'd be hard pressed to get me to perm my hair now (Although this may be because I already know the ridiculousness which ensues from Asian perms).

I think what I'm trying to say is that I don't think the perm really says too much about what I am today. But at the same time... I kinda understand why it's a bit too crazy to mention offhand.

Hockey Night in Canada

I just got back from hockey.

Things are still pretty crazy out there.

I like to think that I almost scored today. I was there, my stick was there, the net was there. I kinda batted the puck wide of the net. But it was pretty exciting for a moment.

I don't think I appreciated Ottawa for the quantity and quality of its outdoor community rinks. I need a venue to practice my skillz.