excuse me?

at our office, we have a policy of asking patients when they check in whether their address or insurance has changed since their last visit. usually i say, "you still live at ______ and you still have ______ insurance?" yesterday i happened to blurt out something the other receptionists say. "has anything changed since your last visit?" i completely expected the typical "no, it's all the same." instead, the lady launched into a very detailed explanation of her medical complaints, which i thought was surprising and a little amusing. after i explained to her i was referring to her contact info and insurance and the patient sat down, chris remarked, "i was wondering when that would happen."

i hadn't thought about it before then, but her response should've been much more common with the way we word that question. phrases that we say repeatedly lose so much meaning when we abbreviate as much as possible while still retrieving the same answer. and we feel that everyone should know what we mean because we've said it so many times. it's easy to forget that not everyone will understand language specific to your world. hence, the effort of communication - developing a fresh connection between your world and someone else's amidst your comfort zone.

it's an effort i need to remind myself of from time to time.

reflective sunday

ok, it's actually saturday, but it's one of those cloudy, windy days without a specific plan. back in cupertino, a day like this called for hours spent letting my mind wander on unpredictable tangents. also known as zoning out.

driving along the 580 today, i remembered the first time i saw the signs for harrison st. and grand ave. and the uneven pavement of oakland streets. it was my first time going to le's place to pick him up for a dancesafe event. this must've been 3 years ago. little did i know, i was wandering down into central oakland right off international with my brand new jetta. not that there are gangs ready to jump you, but it's not the best part of town. what did i know about oakland except the murders they report on the news? it was trying to navigate the streets that curve around the lake i didn't now existed. liquor stores on every corner, run-down homes, locked gates on the doors of every building, fried chicken restaurants everywhere! i lived in berkeley, but this was a different level. there were other times when i took the lakeshore exit because we were lost on the freeway.

how ironic that i ended living here after graduation. how lakeshore is now the road to home. how much i love lake merritt now, despite the havoc it wreaks on the street layout. how the liquor store on the corner was a convenient refreshment replenisher for our party. how i frequent the lakeside farmer's market now along with the old hippies, new families, and everyone in between in the community.

i'm going to miss oakland.

new news

med schools applied: 14
secondaries received: 11
invitations to interview: 4
acceptances: 1
still awaiting: 2

today seemed like the day when all the med schools i'm still waiting for decided to send me information updating my status with them. first of all, two weeks ago, i was accepted to the university of pittsburgh medical school!! i'm going to be a doctor!! frances called to tell me the absolutely fabulous news and it was awesome. people keep asking if it's my first choice and all i can say is, i'd be happy going there. it's such an adorable little city with rivers, bridges, neighborhoods...and they really want me! i'd be happy going to mayo or wash U too...that was probably one of my best decisions. it doesn't make sense to apply to places you wouldn't be happy living in for the next 4 years. anyways, so i interviewed at those two other places...i love the mayo philosophy, but rochester is less contemporary than the pittsburgh and st. louis. i may need some more for my soul than chili's and snowshoeing. st. louis was all right. it didn't seem particularly happening and it's got the highest tuition out of the three. today i received an invitation to interview at jefferson medical college in philidelphia, what i considered my back-up school. i doubt i'll go, just because it means taking time off work and i don't think i would choose jefferson over pittsburgh. but i figure my application statistics aren't too bad, considering how lazy i was about the whole process. so far, it's pittsburgh, here i come!!



next step: plan the summer.

gotta move out of oakland, do some good works in asia, and spend a couple weeks in san diego before i move to the east coast!