Oct 13

Well,

Happy Thanksgiving to the Canadians reading the blog! Unfortunately there is no thanksgiving over here in Poland, so I have school tomorrow morning. They do however have a few festivals in the summer geared towards harvests, similar to Thanksgiving in the Western Culture.

I haven't been on the past two weeks. Just finally getting into a solid rhythm for studying and school work. So I should be back to normal posting every night.

So what has happened in the past two weeks? I will try to summarize some of it:

• A lot of studying, reviewing, and note taking. If anyone ever tells you that medical school was easy and they never did homework, its because they never graduated then. It is impossible to not study and still do great.
• A pass over here is 60%, not 50%.
• There's quizzes before every seminar on the information that is going to be discussed, you must get 60% average to be able to write the final exam, to get credit for the course
• If you excel (above 80% average), some classes you can get the credit from the average, instead of writing a final exam.
• So, they force you to study, and if you do well, you get rewarded from your studying
• We are subdivided into groups of 10 people, and that's who we have our classes with, for the next 6 years. So as a group, to unwind and relax, every Friday we have been heading out to "Old Town", which is where all the restaurants are, and have a ice dinner and a few drinks, and then go back and hang out and chat. 
• My roommate has moved out of my room. So I had to rearrange everything to make it homely. I put the two single beds together so now its about the size of a queen or king in width only, unfortunately my feet still hang off if I stretch out completely. Tall people problems.
• I had a toaster oven, went to cook a ham on Sunday, blew the toaster oven. So no ham, and no toaster oven. I have been eating still gourmet meals. Spinach and cheese cannelloni, chicken penne carbonara, spaghetti, pizzas, a Mexican beef stir fry and rice. I haven't been living off rations or anything. Found some cappuccino and hot chocolate drink mix as well.
• My phone stopped working with iMessage, which is the only way I communicate back home with friends. So Thursday night was a lot of troubleshooting trying to get it back working. I could not imagine if this line of communication was stopped. It is the principle device I use to talk to my girlfriend so neither of us have to pay long distance.
• And as always, alcohol is cheap and good over here. But, that stays to only on Friday nights! I have found a place to buy Sommersby! And it works out to be only $1.40 /0.5L! Makes studying a little easier some nights. I have also found a good, Italian amaretto, that you do not need to pay import fees on. Disaronno is about $40 for 0.5L, where in Canada it sells for $30.00 / 750mL. 

Besides trying to get into a solid routine, which takes about three weeks, of studying, cleaning, laundry, and keeping a balance of relaxation, I have not really been up to anything else. We use out Friday nights to unwind, Mon-Fri is class and studying, weekend is studying and cleaning, and catching up on television shows. Then comes Monday and repeat!

Happy Thanksgiving All,

T

New room layout