Thursday, July 6, 2017

redo summer post

This is my redo from my last post, which wasn't very interesting. I wasn't in the mood to write a blog, so I don't know why I even did. Because I just complained about the heat. So I'm writing a more interesting one today that is like my usual posts. I'm starting to run out of things to write about. My cultural observations are always there but its starting to get too difficult to explain them all the time. Plus, lately there haven't been too many interesting things to write about. But here's what I've compiled over the last couple months.
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Its summer in Europe and that means vacation time. With 5 weeks vacation during the year, its a big deal. Its all everyone is talking about at the hospital. Asking each other where they are going on vacation this summer. People usually take 2 weeks in the summer time, at least. I've been asked several times what my summer vacation plans are and I have none and people are so shocked. I explain that I'm going to San Francisco in September for a wedding and that we are taking a 2 week honeymoon in October after my internship is over. But they are like "but you need a vacation in the summer!" Then I explain that I want to get this internship over with and that I don't work weekends so we take mini trips every weekend into the mountains. And they're like "oh ok well I guess that's pretty good then" 

(side note. To my SF, LPCH friends: I will be in the Bay Area Labor day weekend, I want to see you all!)
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My floor hosts a lot of students and interns for short periods of time. This week we have this 18 year old kid who just finished high school and wants to be a doctor, so he's observing for a week. He said something to me yesterday, jokingly, sarcastically, but I just smiled and answered yes or no (i forget exactly what he said) because I didn't have the right come-back in french. He said "you know I was just joking" I said "yeah I know" he said "people my age joke a lot." I was like, does this kid think I'm 80 years old or something?! Do I look that old?! I said "yeah I know I joke a lot too, its just hard for me to do it in French, I'm much funnier in English" 

This is my least favorite part of speaking a 2nd language, you can't always express yourself the way you want to or be 100% your normal funny self because you just can't always communicate it right. And french people aren't going to understand when I quote American movies, yesterday I had the best Bueller moment but nobody got it. A few weeks ago I had a great Christmas Vacation quotable moment but no one to tell it to. This goes the other way too, a doctor told a joke yesterday and everyone busted out laughing and I just sat there and said "will someone please explain this to me" I got it after that but the joke was already over. 
So I just have to deal with people thinking I'm kind of boring or quiet.
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You know you live in Switzerland when the only choices at the hospital cafeteria one day are fish (I hate fish) and chicken liver or veal cheek (I don't eat veal) and then you have to load up on salad and sides.
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When we went to Lake Como, which is just across the swiss border, on the train we were wondering when we would finally cross the border into Italy... You know you've crossed the border from Switzerland into Italy when the train stations are spotless and modern with clean shiny signs and then all the sudden you're in a train station with faded signs and it looks like it hasn't been renovated since WWII. Oh yeah, now we're definitely in Italy. (Lake Como is beautiful though) (and they have started modernizing parts of that station)

But I guess to fully appreciate this observation/joke you need a little understanding of the basic stereotypes that European countries have of each other. This illustrates 2 of them.
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I said to myself when I moved here a year ago (crazy it's already been a year) that as soon as I considered myself more or less fluent in french, I'd start learning German, because it would really come in handy in the German speaking region, which is 75% of the country. So according to my Duolingo app, I am now 6% fluent in German. Which I think is kinda funny and pathetic that it even tells me that. 
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I really miss working in Labor and Delivery. I'm dying to get back to pregnant women and babies. I was near the OR one day and saw a baby being rolled out in an incubator and wanted to just grab it. I went to drop off a culture specimen one day and I saw a mini-fridge labeled "Placentas" and I got so excited and sad at the same time. I told this to Adam and in typical Adam fashion his first response was "..... you know what rhymes with placenta? ..... polenta!"