Summer/Christmas Break

First time I'll be able to celebrate Christmas over my summer break. It already sort of feels like Christmas with a little bit of snow on the ground. This will definitely be the coolest summer holiday ever. Woke up on Tuesday morning to the beautiful view of sunshine and snow and to find that the newspaper delivery person walked across our lawn.


A lot of things were still the same coming home. Everything in the house looked pretty much exactly the same as it did when I left. My room was definitely a lot cleaner. My dad swapped out my flat-screen monitor for a huge 21" CRT; but I'm no longer using my desktop, it's not a big deal. It seems like I have a lot less space after having such a huge room in Australia.

Managed to get my cell phone unlocked from my Australian service provider. I just called them up and they gave me the unlock codes that I needed. I also had a chance to meet up with my grandparents and great-grandma. Yup, I have a great-grandma and she's 98 years old! We went to Chinatown for some Dim Sum and it was a LOT better than the stuff I had in Brisbane. Had my first cup of Tim Horton's coffee with my mom on Tuesday, first eat out meal (excluding dim sum) at Denny's on Wednesday night, and my first Starbucks latte courtesy of Stan on Thursday.

This photo was taken before I left in January '07.
From L to R: my mom, my great-grandmother, myself, and my grandmother.

So what's left for me? Beginning on Monday, I have a four week elective with a pediatrician. After that I will probably be doing some research work with my old supervisor at the Foothills Hospital. Have a lot of books that I want to read and I also want to start studying for the USMLE step 1. At the least, review the stuff I've learned in first year and prevent all that knowledge from slipping away. Maybe go snowboarding once or twice if the conditions are alright. Should be a busy but exciting couple of months ahead!