Transitions

Nothing injects me with more melancholy than the end of any long holiday. The prospects of trading these joyful anything-goes days with tedious academic stuffs that eats you from the inside is not so great in my book. Even though I’ve gone through this holiday-to-holysh*t transition for a gazillion times, I cannot simply brush it off with a “been there, done that approach”. Pity me :(

As said in Lord of The Rings that “one does not simply walk into Salemba”, I think I have unintentionally compiled a to-do list before waving the semester break bye-bye.

Sort EAMSC memories. I uploaded the pics from my camera and have tagged almost everyone in it, but photos are not the only thing I brought from Bangkok.

First of all, thank you to my AMSA friends for the beautiful souvenirs we hastily traded during cultural night ;p They are very dear to me. I have kept them in a safe place and I will immediately put everything in its rightful place.

Second, I have to arrange who will get which gift from yours truly. Although I am quite flexible on this matter, I don’t want to give a cutey sparkling little Thai elephant keychain to my professors. They deserve something with more dignity, and less sparkle.

Last, I need to properly store my souvenirs from the conference and the Bangkok tour I had. There are conference booklets, business cards, books, fliers, and other whatnots to give home to. Additionally, I am proud to admit that I splurged on sweets in Bangkok supermarkets. Yumm, those chocolate chip cookies sure are tasty.

Reorganize school stuffs. Usually I would have done this at the start of the holiday as a part of my moving-on done-with-you ritual. However, something got in the way this year. Probably laziness.

The ritual starts with moving all the previous module’s materials to an external drive. Because my laptop is one of the centers of life, moving the files symbolizes my strong will to keep school out. And I just don’t like the digital clutter.

 

Then, repeat step #1 but in meatspace (that’s the opposite of cyberspace). As last the previous semester progressed, small ad hoc medical libraries sprouted in every corner of the house. Psychiatry textbook here, atlas of anatomy there, and I was surprised that no book chilled in the fridge.

Next, take care of the piles of medical handouts I-will-need-in-the-future but I’ll-forget-them-soon-anyway. By taking care, I mean buy a plastic folder and let them fall into oblivion there.

Last, prepare for the next module – NOT! The only thing I’ll have to rectify soon is my circadian rhythm, which is now more like a circus than a cycle.

Enjoy live as a free person. The most essential component of any school break.

Monitor the FAILblogs. Watch some weird viral videos. Read a novel. Load my preowned-by-dad iPod with cool apps.  Download the latest episodes of 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live (Eisenberg-Zuckerberg encounter was crayzeeh). Wake up with the sun shining directly above. Eat the whole mall. Come up with other activities normal people do on holidays.

If followed properly with great liberty to modify accordingly, those steps will certainly recharge me for another month of sleeping in class. Medical students rawkz!