A few photos to sum up the year

Inverloch with family
Black Saturday
City fun
Birthdays
Cousins
21sts
This blokeTassie
Last, but definitely not least, VANUATU
Happy New Year to all :)

It is the thirtieth of December two thousand and nine which means it is pretty darn close to being the end of the year, let alone a decade. This calls for a good blog post, no?

2009 was not necessarily the best year I've ever had - what do we mean by best anyway? - for one event that came into mind was 22nd May 1pm when I arrived back home after being out only for 3 hours, only to find the house ransacked and burgled. I was alone and the streets seemed eerily quiet. What do you do in that kind of situation? There were also times throughout the year when I could have so easily gave up, because it just seemed like it was not worth it and I didn't want to keep doing it day after day. Yet I persisted. More doubt, perhaps, then any other year. Somehow I did get through it.

The year will probably be remembered for a few firsts. My first ever patient - Ms. E who underwent removal of a spinal cord tumour - whom I rehabbed at Royal Talbot so she could get back home. Started off in a wheelchair, ended up on her two feet. First ever full on clinical experience. First encounters with supervisors. First case presentations. First clinical exams. First time I really felt my best was not good enough. First full year of IELTS work. And of course, just lately, first time overseas minus parentals for a month. (Just realised, first ever blog too :P )Perhaps this year has also been the most I've ever learnt - about myself, about others, about life. If this year has taught me anything and in particular, the last 4 weeks or so, it's about taking your opportunities, experiencing different cultures, keeping positive during the difficult times, valuing life and living for the sake of others.

I am excited about 2010 and what it may or may not bring. It will be the year of potential graduation and the year of turning twenty-one (not that I have much planned?). Starting afresh always brings renewed hope and pleasant uncertainty. I say, bring it!

I don't think anything really beats coming back home. Even if I had to wait about 15-20 mins to be reunited with parentals and Li-Yen Tan cos flight was early and bro didn't bother turning up.... Though here I am sitting in my room at one ay em and feeling a little out of place, like I don't know this room very well xD Just seems a world away from what I've been used to for a month. One month, I think, is just about the limit so far to work, live, sleep, eat, talk to to the same person, day after day. There really is not much room for privacy and conversations just get stale. Thank goodness monotony was broken on the 17th Dec :)

Anyway, I started compiling a bit of a list. Here goes:
Best overall restaurant: Nambawan Cafe for its superb view, free movies, awesome food, reasonable prices, FREE internet, Jenga and just for its name.
Best rip-off: La Tentation
Best cheap food: TULUK/corn from market
Best moment: Finding Nemo at Hideaway. Li's 'Boom Boom Pow' moment of glory.
Best whole-day experience (non-tour): White Sands with Winnie & co
Best tourist thing to do (non-tour): Market shopping. Hideaway.
Best tour: Gilbert's Round the Island tour
Best meal enjoyed: White Sands lunch. Round the Island tour Melanesian lunch.
Best physio experience: Hearing Winnie's stories
Favourite patient: Mrs. J
Favourite physio: Winnie. Enough said. (Though George was pretty cute).
Favourite patient case: ITB Friction Syndrome & ?foot extensor tendinopathy
Best service: City Motel. Chill Restaurant.
Best meal I cooked: Carbonara. Tuna patties.
Most satisfying moment: Handing out stationery to random kids. Giving Winnie my PT handbook. Doing the motherload of washing.
Best night: Crashing Moorings complete with long D&M. Iririki by night complete with Tusker beer in hand.
Worst moment: Camera dying on Coongoola Cruise.
Best awkward moment: "What's this? -> "Uhm it's a webcam." | "How do you use this? (a nailclipper)"

Some photos from the past week...

My Idol
My PJ sisThis one tooNot bad a photo from a dodge camera - it was simply amazing.Taken from Moorings entranceDrunk on TuskerSo I reckon I've learnt a lot the past month. Life skills perhaps, that I wouldn't have known otherwise. It's definitely taught me to grow up and be more mature etc etc. Take responsibility. The habits I've formed, I should really carry on now, but we'll see. I'm glad I chose the right destination for global - an experience that I will never forget. Just proud of the way it turned out, 'cos it could well have turned out to be a complete bust too. Perhaps more reflecting in the days to come...

Ok so less than a week left in the South Pacific! I'm so glad Sarah Wong and Li Chen have joined me here, else I might have died of boredom.... Just hoping that weather clears up so we can enjoy the next few days even more! Missing Miffy and her moody ways. Ok must cook now and laundry has to be done soon =.=

Just waiting. And hoping Virgin Blue sorts out that check-in technical problem so they don't delay the departure of my reunion with pj sis.

Awesome bananas.
My homemade tuna patties. Nom nom nom.

Wrong size. :(

Jill's Cafe! Must go again before I leave...

Inside physio outpatients department

Just three days await. I'm excited :)

And yes, it is 12:55pm and I am supposed to be at placement but no patients in the afternoon = afternoon off :) Sounds good to me. Wanted tuluk for lunch but ran out so I have gobbled off one and a half cobs of corn. Plus I paid 100VT for Winnie's cob of corn :) Aren't I nice? Tomorrow we finally get to hang out at the hospital for a half day - bit anxious about it, really. Will be so different to private practice mmm..and to be honest, I can't remember anything about strokes etc if we have to deal with one tomorrow XDD An experience for sure.

Coongoola Cruise.
Trespassing on Le Lagon territory
Lunch with Winnie. 300VT

Ok woops it's been a while since I've updated. Damn. Stupid internet cafes - one hour is not enough .________. Neither is two hours.

Anyway, so how has placement been? Well two weeks have passed already and we only have 5 days left with Winnie. Sadface. Aww I love her - she's like my mum. Lol. Only that she's taller and darker. Yesterday she took us to the Chinese takeaway spot and bought us lunch - yet again. The other day she got us peanuts and bananas and paw paw. And if we're not eating food in the building, we're talking about food - woohooo. So funny. Met her daughter, Pareina who I have to look up on Facebook now and she might come swimming with us today, hopefully! It's so great that Winnie can talk to us about her ideas for the future and stuff - she's planning to move to a different place, start OHS classes with companies and focus more on ergonomics and that. She's got a whole world of opportunities it seems! We're also working on getting her down to Melbourne cos she wants to do a placement here and see how things work.

The main patients we've seen so far are mainly low back pain patients and mainly the expats working too hard. Also saw DDH girl, someone with neck pain, SS tendinitis, a foot extensor tendinopathy and ITB friction syndrome. A fairly good range. Haven't been to the hospital as yet since they are so disorganised - missed out on working at the National Games too but oh well! Hopefully we get a few hours next week at the hospital just to have a browse (they start at 7.30 so umm full day there maybe no thanks XDD).

Right more about the cost of things here. Things really are not cheap. Eating in saves SO much and we've only eaten out about twice or 3x a week for these first two weeks which is great - means that I've spent about AUD800 in these 2 weeks...pretty good I think. Just saving up for our last week where we can go a little crazy :) My camera died on the Coongoola cruise - WORST. One second we were taking photos of me going into the toilet, the next I looked at it and turned it off. Turned it on again and it was a WHITE screen with like a sperm on the LHS. Weird. I am trying to arrange to borrow one of our patient's cameras - a Canon - for the next two weeks - she's a kava drinker and I think last night she was a bit high on it and forgot to call us. Funny. Anyway, I am coping with my dead camera - just a bit. I think Tara is sick of me complaining so I shut up. :P

Can't wait for Thursday when my pj sis join me. Smexy times await. :)

Wow, what a day! Yesterday's "day" of placement turned out to be just the half day as Winnie's husband was returning from Brisbane and she was taking the afternoon off for him :) Today was something else as we were again taken under Winnie's wing and got to know her more. She is such a delightful person and SO unbelievable welcoming. Very motherly, I find...it's like coming to work with just someone who is there to chill out and learn from you and vice versa.

The thing about Winnie and being in the presence of her private practice is that it is so inspiring. I don't want to make it sound so corny or whatever, but she told us her story and I must admit I was a bit emotional XD Ok firstly, her practice is upstairs in a rented building shared with the medical centre. She's got a height-adjusted bed but it's a manual one, not powered. She has exercise posters put up on her walls and cupboards. She has an ultrasound, but she's borrowing it. She has therabands, theraputty, tape, wobble board, textbooks, mostly donated. When I showed her my physiotherapy pocketbook, she looked in amazement and said how it was like a few textbooks in one and she smiled so widely. I knew I had to give it away, so I did. Told her to keep it 'cos I could easily get it back home. She did and the next day (today) she told me how the whole night/rest of y'day afternoon she could not put the book down (: Made me smile.

Winnie also introduced us to her 17-year-old daughter and soon-to-be 16-year-old son. She even said we could come to his celebration this Saturday! So cool. At lunch, we hitched a ride with one of our expat patients, dropped off at the market where Winnie showed us around - bought pineapple, mangoes, tuluk and coconuts for us to have an absolute FEAST for lunch! Tuluk was AMAZING - wish I could get some right now. Nom nom nom. Only 100VT! Lunch was spent just chatting with Winnie and her telling us about her stories etc. She longs to go to conferences and courses etc to develop her skills more, but the opportunities are not here or are too far away and too costly. She is also on the hunt for a new ultrasound! Sigh. Then she talked about how she doesn't even know the business/management side of things - she said a management course would be good - and that her hubby is her manager. Even pricing - she pays about 5,000VT for initial consultation if they have medical insurance - was something she was unsure about. She talked about the inequality between men and women and the lack of understanding of the role of physiotherapy in the community. Yet Winnie still mixed this with laughter and shy smiles, she wasn't asking for forgiveness or sorrow. And that's the thing. Just telling it how it is and not asking for anything in return.

Island life is going good. Think I'm turning pretty brown and dark. Good/bad? Like chocolate, no? Yummeh? Oh yeah we may actually be working at the Vanuatu National Games cos it just so happens to start this Saturday!! Suh-weet! Plus a week at the hospital too somewhere in between. Man wish all "supervisors" were like Winnie. She is tis my idol.