muchas gracias, amigas!
just wanted to thank all you people out there who remember my b-day and sent me cards/packages! i finally opened them all, and boy, do i have LOTS of baked goods or what! tons of cookies, butterscotch blondies, chocolate, snacks, jelly bellys--i'm gonna get sooo fat! i already ate a ton, and i either have to fridge/freeze the rest, or give them away! i also got much needed face lotion, and a necklace from my parents. it was a great birthday overall--THANK YOU!!!
oh, and pepe's pizza is definitely nowhere near CA-pizza quality! i don't plan on going back again...too thin and soggy for me! they have a speciality clam pizza, which was very garlicky. Cicero's is the best thin crust, but i still like Zach's for thick, or Pizza Hut for regular!
25 years...
happy belated b-day to me! =) too bad i spent much of my b-day cramming for an exam i just had, but it was still a very good day. for all you who remembered--thanks so much!!! =D you really made my day, esp since my last post. =) =D sad thing is, i wouldn't let myself open all my gifts until i *finished* my exam (which is the day AFTER my bday), so I still have two packages sitting in my room unopened!! can't wait to rip into them when i'm done with class today. =D we have this birthday policy in my class where the previous b-day person needs to buy a $30 gift for the next b-day person, and so on down the line. well, my person got me a bunch of 'junk' (sorry)--candles, plastic halloween goblets, and a plastic bucket. she claimed it was "halloween theme". i was like, hrm, how do i get rid of all this? =P at least it was wrapped nicely, tho it seemed like she grabbed whatever she could find out our local walgreens and at her home. oh well, i'll pamper the next bday people (which happens to be 2 ppl on nov 12!).
the other gifts i've opened so far are great! gift certificate to niketown (i desperately need new tennis shoes), and a disposable digital camera (i've been complaining about wanting to take pics but not having a camera), a phone card (awww), and YUMMMY homebaked goods and snacks! =D i also allowed myself to spend a couple hours yesterday playing badminton instead of studying. tomorrow i'm going to Boston (leaving at 4:30am, ack!) for a weekend team badminton competition, and i want to do well. i haven't competed in nearly two years, and the only good thing is that i'm over in the East Coast and nobody knows or expects anything from me. that said, i want to work up my rep too! our team "captain" thinks i'm not good "enuf" (told to me by my partner), and now i have a drive to beat the captain in mixed if and when we get to play! Grrrrr! hehe, i'm so competitive! =P and guess what? we beat him and his mixed partner BOTH TIMES yesterday during open gym! yeah!
today my classmates and i are going out for a belated b-day lunch in about an hour! i chose Pepe's Pizza--supposedly the best pizza in new haven, and waits are 2 hours long! hopefully we can beat the line as we have to be back in class in 2h. i highly doubt it will beat zachary's, or ciceros (ciceros is a better comparison, all new haven pizza is very very thin crust, almost like ur just eating cheese and toppings!). i guess i'll find out soon. i'm excited tho--this is my FIRST time eating out in a restaurant since I moved out here!
on a side note, i think i'm doing worse on exams. i haven't gotten the final scores back on the last two (this week was bad--we had double exams in a week), but i don't feel so good about them. kinda nerve-wracking. =(
well, back to lecture! lots to do today to prepare for my wknd trip to boston! i hope to see lotsa pretty autumn leaves (none really in new haven), so look for my update soon!
family and friends
well it's 3 month since i've seen home, and i can now say that i do miss home. it's weird how we take things for granted until we don't have it any longer. silly humans. i actually enjoy talking to my parents, hearing from them or anyone familiar who calls. and of course, i miss chopin big time. i'd love to cuddle and suffocate and sit on him til he runs away in fear! =P i wonder how much bigger he's gotten with my bro feeding him (my parents are in taiwan). my parents seem to be having a blast together--im so happy for them! now that my bro and i are 'near-professionals' (yet still not earning a live-able income, hah), they seem to have felt that they have been successful enough in life to let loose. they go dancing, walking, hiking, exercising, etc. i'm sure part of it has to do with my mom's illness and them jus getting old. but it's so sweeeett!! hehe, i'm such a sucker for old couples.
i've decided i've been too shy here and want to meet more people. i mean, when i come back in a month (wowo!! i can't wait!), i'm sure my gfs will wanna hear good gossip, and not all my boring studying (which is ALL that i've written about, how sad!). my classmates talk about their bfs often, and they talk about how well their boys treat them, how the girls feel they can't give enough in return, etc. i'm like, where the hell did you find these guys?? gimme one!! so anyone out there who knows me, keep yours eyes peeled for me! =)
friends have become increasingly important to me these days. the weather is changing, getting cold (i heard SJ is VERY cold and gloomy too!), and i guess that makes me feel kinda down. the good thing is that i think i have my studying habits more set, so i actually study only about 1/2 as much as i used to, but get about the same grades. so hopefully that will allow me to go out more and try new things, take up this opportunity here in the east coast. oh, our adviser gave us a 3 day weekend nov 12-14!! she moved classes on fri so we can get that day off. at first i was thinking of going on a short trip to NY or Boston or Philly, but i think i'll take this time to try adn get ahead in school so when i go home over turkey day, i'm can TRULY enjoy my time there--no books! 4 days to do a million things, see a million people! i hope i manage to squeeze it all in!
oh, class is over! (hehe, yup, i was typing this all in class again). time for the weekend to begin! i hope to study lots tonite (yes, on a fri) so i can go shopping tomorrow morning (i need winter clothes....) and then to a party tomorrow nite! and they are giving us a free sunday brunch in the dorms, so that will be good since they don't open cafeteria's on wknds. i've been craving scrambled eggs, of all things! =P
caught in the rain!
so last night, i decided in my craziness to go shopping 'cuz i had the urge. the #1 thing i need is a nice winter coat, so i went to burlingtons, even though it was raining! i took the bus, which took me 30 min to get there, and then dropped me off in teh wrong place! i walked in the rain for 30 min to find the coat store, and managed to drench my pants in the process. i had to walk on the big road (no sidewalks) and water splashed me everywhere! so finally i bought one jacket (still need another longer one), and decided i'm horribly lost and not going to walk in the dark and rain looking for the bus stop. i call up a classmate, who is with this guy (i think theya re dating..they are always together but she always refers to him as a "friend") and the two of them rescue me!! i felt so sad. but they said to never hold back on asking for help again, esp for rides. i try too hard to not be a burden on others, only to make things really hard for myself. so from now on, i'm nto gonna bo so hesitant! if i need it, i'll ask!
wow, has it been a month already!!??
wow, life is obviously crazy busy. each week flies like it has never before! yet...only 2.5 out of 25 months completed! hrm, so not much new has been going on in my life. here is my oh-so-unique everyday schedule: wake up at 7:58am (used to be 7:45am) for class at 8:30am. Class til 12:15pm, run to cafeteria which can get packed now that the dorms are totally filled, and all of us get out for lunch around the same time (noon-1pm). i'm basically tired of all the food, and my newest thing now is the riduculously expensive salad bar (done with the soup/chili phase, chicken sandwich phase, entree phase, and sandwich phase). then it's back to class til 3pm or so, then study from like 4pm-1am except for a workout or those special days when i get to go to badminton =). oh yea, that brings me to my next thing, i'm *hoping* to making time to go to the 2004 Boston Open badminton competition 10/30-31. sucky thing is that it is halloween weekend, and i'm sure my classmates will be doing lotsa fun things. but this is a high-caliber competition, and i really want to see the people play (and get my butt kicked too)! so we'll see.
besides the boring repetitive food menu, the dorm is falling apart this past week. both elevators take turns breaking down, and sometimes both are broken down at the same time! i took the stairs to the 10th floor 4x yesterday, and this morning as well. so let's *hope* it's fixed soon! not only that, but the entire laundry room computer system is shut down, so nobody can do their laundry for the past few days! it's gonna be BAD once it's up and running supposedly tonight. i guess i'll try and hold out doing laundry a bit longer.
well, tests are going well. instead of studying for various subjects weekly, now it is down to just studying for ONE subject for an entire week to prepare for that one exam. the last three were anatomy, neurophysiology, and microbiology (that one kicked my butt), and now im preparing for cardiovascular physiology exam (for all you techies out there...i do NOT care for "circuits" and parallel/series resistance, etc, 'cuz that's how the heart and vessels works apparently).
today tho, is a SPECIAL day!! i get to go to trader joe's!! i'm soooo happy!!! a trip, a trip!!! see how pathetic my life has been reduced to? =P i'm definitely getting lotsa hot drink mixes like tea, chai, coffee etc to mix, 'cuz it is getting cold here. oh yea, yesterday i bought a mocha pearl tea from that stand, and it was NASTY. well the pearls were decent, but the drink itself was icky. =( and tonite our gay psychiatry professor has invited us to his house for dinner, beer, and desserts. weird to think a prof inviting us, but he's quite funny and it should be entertaining. (gosh, my mind is jumping all over the place!)
i'm also really contemplating taking the bus to go to the mall soon, as i only have ONE jacket to carry me through the winter. on wednesday, it was CRAZY cold (dropped down to 32 at night, 45 during day not counting wind chill) and my classmates were laughing at me for wearing 3 long sleeve layers and STILL shivering! oh well..what can i say! i'm a californian! i bought some more clothes from my current fav store ann taylor loft (the pants actually fit without alterations!!), but have to return a lot more than i bought. and most of the stuff is summer clearance, so that won't help me for the upcoming months!
oh yes, this week is PA week. I tabled outside the cafeteria on PA day (oct 6) and handed out info on our profession and lotsa free candy. that was fun. =) tho most ppl already know about PAs, cuz it's Yale and we send all our students to the hospital near the cafeteria! oh well, it was nice to talk to ppl.
hrm...i'm in lecture right now on psychosexual disorders. maybe that will be more interesting...
