Selamat tinggal!!

Well, my journey has just about reached its end. I have spent a wonderful last couple of days relaxing in Penang and eating as much of the food as I could, hehe!! Had a lovely night in Batu Ferringhi, enjoying the beach and the night markets. Made my way back to KL today and am now hanging out in Starbucks waiting for my flight home!! I just want to thank all of you who have followed my journey. Thanks for reading, thanks for your support, and for those who pray, thank for that too!! It's been a truly amazing experience, and I'm truly thankful for every second, both the tough times and the great once!! Thanks to all of my Malaysian friends...you've been awesome!! And to all my Aussie ones, can't wait to see you soon!! To those who've been following along in NZ and the U.S. - miss you guys like crazy and wish I could see you too!!

Anyway, so excited to be heading home, but feeling quite sad about leaving behind the country that's been my home for 9weeks!! Thanks for reading and following my journey!!

God bless!

Love Aimee

Nearing the end of my journey..

Well, who would've believed it?? I've only got a few more days left in Malaysia before I head home!! I said goodbye to my good friends in Seremban yesterday, after a crazy last evening spent in Port Dickson. Post Dickson is about 1/2hr from Seremban and is right on the coast (hence the 'port' bit ;p). We had dinner there, and then walked straight through a very fancy hotel to the beach for awhile! It was a lot of fun and the best way to spend my last weekend with friends. I'm so grateful for things like email, facebook and skype...hopefully we'll be able to keep in contact after I'm gone!

Yesterday I took the long bus journey from Seremban to Penang. It probably wouldn't have taken as long as it did (about 7hrs) if we didn't make as many stops as we did, hehe. Oh well, it was still a nice trip. Once I arrived at the main bus terminal in Penang, I took a local bus to get closer to my hotel. Unfortunately, I missed my stop and went a little too far. I tried to walk back but I didn't have a map, so in the end caught a taxi to my hotel. Was a bit of a shame as I was trying to avoid using taxis because they overcharge, but it was only a short distance and my backpack was pretty heavy, hehe!! Checked into my hotel last night with no real dramas and went out to get some dinner and snacks before enjoying a nice night in!! This morning after breakfast I walked all over Georgetown, looking at all of the old buildings, fishing shanty villages and the port. Took heaps of photos that probably only I will appreciate, but tried really hard to capture some of the culture here!! My friends in Seremban gave me a list of foods to eat and places to visit. I have crossed off one of the meals at lunchtime (Hokkien Mee, although I had the soup version...I think they wanted me to have the dry version, oh well), and hope to cross off another tonight when I head to one of the main tourist strips where apparently the food and markets are good!! Feels like a summer holiday now...enjoying the heat a lot more than I did when I was wearing a white coat on non-airconditioned wards, hehe!! I've also had time to swim in the hotel pool and relax and read my books, which has been great!! I'm really enjoying my time here, I think just because I can finally relax and not study for a week. It's kind of weird to be a tourist on your own though...it would definitely be a lot more fun with company!! Oh well. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to have a bit of a holiday before heading home and getting straight back into the study!

Anyway, taking some time out in Starbucks to use the internet, which is unfortunately not working at the hotel at the moment! Just thought I'd check in and let everyone know I arrived safely in Penang and am enjoying my stay!!

Will write again before I head home on thursday,

Aimee

Obstetrics and Gynaecology is over!!!

Yay!! My exams are over and I am finally on holiday for a week!! It feels like forever since I last had a break...maybe because during my break between Specialties 2 (the rotation before this one) and O&G I was too busy preparing to come to Malaysia to have much of a holiday. I'm so exhausted and looking forward to being able to relax and read some books for awhile!

My OSCEs (viva exams) were the source of much stress for me, as I was quite nervous about doing them here. In addition, the lecturer who was to take me for those exams was the same lecturer who blasted us all last Friday! And on tuesday, he asked me if I'd be prepared to do them at 8am on wednesday morning!! I basically said that if I had to do them then, I would, but that I had been assuming they would be when UQ had specified that they should be (on thursday and friday), and so I had been looking forward to having wednesday to study. Anyway, it all worked out in the end, as it always does! He agreed to push them to thursday (although they still weren't done when UQ wanted them, hehe), and He was like a different person in the exam! It actually went really well (I think), and I was so relieved to have them over and done with! I did my MCQ exam yesterday, and that went ok as well I think, so now I have finished Obstetrics and Gynaecology!! Providing everything goes well with my exam results and my paediatrics rotation, I'm due to graduate on December 10, which is pretty exciting!! First round offers for internship come out on Monday too, so it really feels as though graduation is almost within my grasp now, hehe!! Mind you, paediatrics is the hardest rotation of the year, and we have a final multi-station viva exam at the very end of the year that I still need to pass; but it's all very exciting. Quite terrifying at the same time...I'm not quite sure I'm actually ready to have the title of 'Doctor' yet...the responsibility that comes with that is very scary!

Anyway, I can't quite believe that my rotation here is over!! There have been so many ups and downs, and I have to be honest and admit that there were times that I wished it would go faster. However, as always, the time does pass quickly and before you know it it's over. I've really tried to make the most of the second 1/2 of my time here so that I wouldn't regret a second of it. There are so many things that I have learned from my time here, and even my study has been better. I have made some amazing friends, spent time in a wonderful culture, have had the privilege of helping to bring some beautiful Malaysian babies into the world and have enjoyed working in a hospital very different from those back home. Being alone and having some financial stresses has allowed me to draw closer to God and trust Him even more. It's been an amazing experience and I'm so grateful for the privilege of being here.

I'm now enjoying a weekend with friends, before heading up to Penang on Monday. Looking forward to being a tourist for a few days and hoping I can see some of the sights and eat some of the food Penang is famous for!! I know this week will go fast; I fly home on thursday night. Just enjoying the opportunity to have a holiday before I have to get straight back into it. I start Paediatrics Monday week.

Thanks everyone for commenting and letting me know people are reading!! May God bless you all immensely in the coming week!!

Love Aims

Countdown to exams!

Hi everyone!!

If you happen to read my blog, could you leave a quick comment, just so that I can get an idea of how many people (if any) are reading this? Lets me know if I should continue writing it or not, hehe!!

So, Nic went home Thursday night :( , and my exams are fast approaching :( :(!! We had a great day in Melaka (or Malacca in English) on Thursday...one of my friends here, Karyn, who lives in Melaka, took us around the historical part, and took us to try some of the must-have dishes there, including chicken rice balls and Chendol (an icy dessert thing with palm sugar syrup and green gelatine noodles). We had a great time; only wish we could have spent some more time there! I think Nic and I have both decided that we have to come back to Malaysia soon!! The problem for me has been that because I'm here for study, I haven't had a chance to see much of the country. I think we'd both love to come back and do the tourist thing one day. The problem is, there are so many places in the world that we want to see...but every time we go somewhere, we also want to go back to that place again!! I think we are destined to be nomads, hehe.

Anyway, it was great to have such a nice last day together! I've never been so terrified before about taking the day off uni, but hopefully nobody noticed that I wasn't there. Amazing how the lecturers here can cause so much terror! Taking Nic to the airport ended up being more rushed than we'd hoped, but we still managed a quick dinner together before he had to go through to the gate. It was pretty hard saying goodbye. It's hard to be apart, finally get to be together again, and then have to say goodbye once again. I don't know how people in the army, etc., do it. I don't think i could!

Friday morning ended up being quite awful, because I was still a bit on edge from having had to say goodbye to Nic, and then I got blasted, along with some of the other students by one of the lecturers. Anyway, suffice to say I didn't have the best morning, but it improved by the evening when I finally got my last delivery! I still stayed late and did my final on-call...so glad to be done with that and focused on exams!! I still have to go to ward round and tutorials this week, but I'm going to try and study as much as I can.

I've made up my mind to change my plans for my final week overseas. I was supposed to be traveling to Phnom Penh next Saturday, but I think that I'm going to stay in malaysia for the extra week. There are two main reasons. the first is financial...going to Phnom Penh will require me to pay for a visa, pay airport tax on the way out, and pay for five nights accommodation, not to mention airport transfers and tuk-tuk journeys!! If I stay here, I can stay with friends or in my apartment for the weekend, and then head up to Penang for 3 nights, therefore only paying for 3 nights accommodation, no visa, no airport tax. The second reason, is it gives me the chance to see another part of Malaysia while I'm here. I was already flying back through Malaysia on the way out, so my flight home will not change. One of my flights to Phnom Penh was free, and the other was only about $30, so I'm not losing much money by not going. Of course, I still want to go to Phnom Penh, but I think I'm going to wait until my friends are living there, or at least until Nic can come too. Either way, I'm just looking forward to that week so I can finally have a holiday!! So stressed about my exams...it'll be nice to just sleep and read and relax for a week (especially as I have paeds next!!)

Anyway, this week will basically be the same as every other, except that I have exams on thursday and friday, hehe!! Looking forward to my exams being over, and desperately hoping that my time here has prepared me sufficiently!!

Anyway, gotta get back to the books!! :)

P.S. Don't forget to put a quick comment!!

The final day of a wonderful week...

Sorry that I haven't written in awhile!! Going by the lack of comments on my last few posts, I'm guessing not that many people are reading these anyway, so it probably doesn't matter. I thought I'd better update the few people who are still reading though, hehe!!

So, last Thursday Nic arrived!! The week leading up to him arriving went really fast as I had something to look forward to, so I was really grateful for that! I've also been trying harder to make the most of my time here and grab every opportunity, so it's been great. I spent the week leading up to Nic coming primarily studying, knowing that I wouldn't get much done once he arrived. I have also been back in Obstetrics for 2weeks now, and so have been concentrating on trying to get my deliveries! I seem to have the worst luck! Either there are a whole bunch of new housemen (interns) tagging on with the other interns to compete with for deliveries, or there are all the student nurses!! Even when I stick with a patient all day, hold their hand through the contractions and get them whatever they need, inevitably they end up requiring an assisted delivery or cesarean section, hehe!! Anyway, on the Wednesday night before Nic arrived I stayed over in the labour room all night to try to be the one to deliver a baby! I had to wait until after 2am when all the extra houseman taggers went home, but at 2.15am I finally got my first delivery!! It was such a relief to finally deliver!! It was a fantastic experience too, because I had stuck with her through the pain, allowed her to nearly break my arm when the contractions got bad (seriously!!), and then delivered her baby in the early hours of the morning!! What was amazing was that she was so grateful to me!! I wanted to say, "No, thank you!! It was such a privilege to be able to deliver your child!!" It's actually really nice to see a woman go from the pain of labour to the relief and joy of having her child in her arms. The transformation in her face is amazing!

I would have been able to deliver a second baby, but the houseman told me too late, so unfortunately I missed out. I stayed until morning and then did the morning ward round, etc., but I ended up going home around lunchtime because I was pretty tired by then. Because of that, I ended up arriving at our hotel in KL about 2 hours before Nic arrived!! I have to admit, I was getting pretty anxious that something had happened to him by the time he arrived as it took him 3hours to get to the hotel (I had calculated it should take him 2); the relief was pretty evident in my face when he finally arrived!! I can't explain how amazing it was to see him. If any of you have ever been apart from your other half for some time, you would know what I mean. If you haven't been married, you probably can't know what it's like until you experience it for yourself. Suffice to say, we had an awesome weekend together in KL! We spent a lot of time taking the light rail network all over the place; and spent half our time in markets!! Friday we spent the day walking all over the inner city of KL, from the KL tower to KLCC. We then spent the evening in Chinatown, and Nic nearly got into a fight with a stall owner over a bag, hehe...just trying to get the best price ;p. Saturday we tried to go up the Petronas Twin Towers, but even though we arrived before the ticket office opened, we couldn't get up there. Tickets are free, but they only offer 400 per day, and people had been lining up from 6am. We did think about trying again Sunday morning but decided against it in the end. We actually went to some Chinese wet markets before we headed over to the towers that morning, and I introduced Nic to my favourite Malaysian breakfast snack. He loved the food and the experience so much we went back on Sunday morning too!! We spent Saturday walking around KL some more, going to some other markets and then back to Chinatown, and in the evening we went to this cool bar for dinner, which was a lot of fun. It was also nice to have a hotel with a tv to watch the soccer, air-con, and a hot shower (three things I have not had for 6weeks, hehe). I haven't missed those things that much, but it was nice being able to enjoy them for a weekend!!

On Sunday we headed back to Seremban, and I showed Nic around my home here!! Monday, tuesday and wednesday I've been back at uni during the day, and Nic's basically just been enjoying having nothing to do! On tuesday night we hung out with some of my friends here, and I think Nic had a pretty good time meeting all of them. It's a shame he hasn't had more time to get to know them. Last night we went out for Seremban crab with some friends, which was awesome!! It was also a celebration as I got 2 more deliveries yesterday!! I have been so stressed all week trying to get them, as I really need to have my 4 by the end of the week, as next week I have exams. I went from being extremely anxious yesterday morning to extremely relieved b the afternoon! It was great. I only have one more to get, which I will hopefully get tomorrow.

Today is Nic's last day, and so I have to admit I'm sad. But I'm so grateful that he was able to come at all, and at least in two weeks I'll be home too!! We're going to have a fun day together today, and then my friends and I will take him to the airport tonight. I wish he was staying until the end, but I will probably get more study done for my exams if he goes home, so I'm staying positive!!

I can't believe my time here is nearly up!! This time next week I'll be sitting my exams, and then it's off to Phnom Penh!! So exciting! I can't wait for a bit of a holiday, I am so exhausted!!

Anyway, gotta go!! Will update next week again!! :)

So out of touch!!

So, today I find out that my Prime Minister has been ousted by his own party...I am so out of touch with all that has been going on at home!! I know everyone is saying that no one expected this, but I didn't know that people had so turned against him!! Amazing what being out of the country and not having a tv can do!! I think I need to start reading the news online. Anyway, I don't want to talk politics, but I do have to admit that I'm sad.

So, for some reason I seem to be addicted to doing these after I've been on call, when I should be going to sleep, but oh well. I always seem to be out of luck when it comes to delivering babies. At this rate I think I'll have to stay overnight one night, which is not going to be that easy here, but it'll probably e the only way. I thought I'd get to deliver tonight; I spoke to a patient who was 4cm dilated, and was there when they ruptured her membranes (broke her waters). I thought I'd still have a few hours to spend with her and prepare, but unlike all of the other deliveries I've witnessed, she delivered 15 minutes later. The baby's head was basically out before anyone could get gloves on!! It was so fast. Needless to say, I was not able to be the one to deliver the baby. My next patient was progressing very slowly, and probably won't deliver until the early hours of the morning. I did get to go watch and emergency cesarean section though, which was good. It's always interesting and eventful, but I am starting to stress about managing my 4 deliveries!!

Anyway, enough medical stuff; those of you who are not medical are probably already grossed out enough!! I spent the weekend in KL again with friends, which was great!! We stayed with my friend Chrsity's parents ('we' being another of my friends, Priscilla, and I) who were absolutely lovely and so hospitable!! They took us out for so many meals; and really rare meals that you can only get in certain places. On Friday night we had this delicious fish, and steamed seafood (prawns and crab and much more), barbecued lamb and so much more. On Sunday night we had Beggar Chicken. The chicken is covered in spices and wrapped in foil and then encased in clay/mud, and cooked in a big dirt oven. When it's cooked they break it out of the clay and remove the foil and it's delicious!! On Saturday we went to several different shops and markets and I had a very nice version of one of the national dishes, Nasi Lemak. It's basically chicken and rice with chilli and other things on the side. It was fun just getting to spend time with my friends and get out of Seremban. I an looking forward to a weekend at home though this weekend, as I have a lot of study to do. I really need to get on top of everything before Nic comes! I think I've probably already studied more in these 5 wks than I normally would have though, so I hope it ends up being reflected in my marks!! So tired though. I think when I get to Phnom Penh I'm just going to sleep!!

Anyway, my week has been a bit crazy, jumping between obstetrics and gynaecology. Only three weeks (and one day) of this rotation to go!! YAY!! I'm looking forward to a weekend of study, and then next weekend taking Nic around KL!! So much to be thankful to God for!!

Hope all of you are doing well!! Love you and miss you!!

Aimee

4 weeks down...5 to go...nearly halfway!!

Hi everyone!!

Sorry it's been a while since I've written...I have been pretty busy!! So, what have I been doing with myself you ask?? Well, last Friday night I headed back to KL by train to meet up with a friend. I hung out at her house Friday night, just relaxing and watching the soccer ( a novelty, as I don't have a tv or the time to watch!) She's originally from Zimbabwe, so she was barracking for South Africa against Mexico. I have to admit, I was a bit torn, I like both of those countries!! Anyway, on Saturday morning we met up with her old boss and went to some markets to try to find her some pearls. We were out of lick though, and went to have breakfast at a chinese restaurant. We had dim sum for breakfast, which was yummy, but a bit too heavy for me. I tend to like a lighter breakfast, but I'm always happy to try something new! :) For those who don't know (or haven't watched masterchef) dim sum is actually a way of eating as well as the name given to the food. You sit at the table, and the waiters bring around trays filled with dishes of two or three items. For example, fish balls, steamed rice paper parcel things (so hard to explain if you haven't had it!!) Anyway, there is a huge variety and you just take whatever dishes you want. They keep coming around though, so you have to be careful or you inevitably end up with too much food, hehe!! Anyway, I love this meal, but probably prefer it for lunch or dinner :).

We then headed back to the centre of KL, and, along with another friend, travelled up to the Genting highlands. It's about 1hr from KL, depending on the traffic, and up in the mountains. It's therefore much cooler up there. It's actually a hotel and casino city built up on this mountaintop in the clouds. From the bus stop we took a cable car up to the top, which was pretty cool as we were travelling through the clouds. The view is great on the way up, but unfortunately, once you get up there, it's mainly just hotels and a theme park, which we decided not to bother going to. It was nice to look around and enjoy the cool air though, hehe. We had lunch and headed back down to KL in the evening. I took the train back to Seremban and stayed over at one of my friend's houses here. I've actually been staying there all week as her housemate has been away. It was really nice!! I didn't realise how lonely I was until I spent the week there!! Even just being able to hang out in the living room studying together has been nice!! Plus, she has couches, hot water and air conditioning!!

Sunday after church I was on call at the hospital all day, and monday night after the normal uni day as well. I've seen so many ruptured ectopic pregnancies now, it's crazy!! At least one a day here at the moment!! It's been a busy week trying to catch up on study, and I still feel so far behind. I'm grateful to have gotten through the week though. Plus, I got the awesome news that Nic's coming over in 2 weeks!! So so so so so excited!!

Anyway, heading back to KL now with my friends for hopefully what should be a great weekend!! Hope to still find time to study though, hehe.

I'll update you all soon!!

Love Aimee

Ok, so, I know it's high time I wrote a new blog!! I've had so little time, it's crazy!! I always end up writing these after I've been on call, so it's really late at night but for some reason I can't come home and go straight to sleep. I am supposed to be doing some uni work before I go to bed...writing up some cases etc, but oh well. I decided to do this instead.

The last week and a half have been pretty frustrating as far as uni has been concerned. I spent so much time in the labour ward last week trying to deliver babies, only to end up just watching every time!! I was especially frustrated on Friday, because I spent all morning befriending the midwives and the patients, in preparation for being the one to perform the delivery. The first couple of patients went into the second stage of labour (pushing stage, hehe) when I was with a different patient, and so I missed the beginning and couldn't deliver. After that I chose one patient and stuck to her all morning, doing her fetal heart monitoring, keeping the fan on her, everything. However, just when she was ready to push, they had a change of nursing shift, and the new midwife, who hadn't introduced myself to yet, just came in and took over. Then she said I could do the next one, but of course the next one was with a different midwife again, and so once again I was left to watch. It was so frustrating!! This week has been long. I've been based on the ward this week instead of the operating theatre and labour ward, and although I like talking to the patients and examining them, the day just seems to go so slowly when you're confined to the ward. I've also been struggling to find patients that speak english this week too, which has made it twice as hard. I feel bad also, as my group is supposed to 'cover the ward' this week. That basically means that they split the beds up between them (40 beds), and make sure they know everything about their patients. They're all so nervous about not knowing their patients that they stay until 10-11pm every night this week to clerk any new admissions, so they are prepared for the morning ward round. We also have to come in early and do a student round before the consultant round. The other students didn't even include me in sharing out the beds because of the language barrier, and so I feel quite useless. I've managed to pick up a few patients, but it looks like a token effort compared to what they've been doing, and I feel like such a burden. I'm trying to do as much as I can though...I just have to hope that they can see that.

Tonight was better though. Even though it means a late night, being on call is always better. There is more freedom to be where you want, and more exciting things happen at night. Tonight I spent some time chatting with a couple of ladies having their chemotherapy for cervical cancer. They could both speak english, and it was really great to talk to them about their experiences of cancer, what they have gone through and what supports they have, etc. One of them is a training manager for a resort/hotel in Port Dickson (by the beach, about 40min drive from here), and she was trying to convince me to come down there and stay for a bit. She even said she'd have her driver pick me up, hehe!! If there is one thing that I love about Malaysian people, it's their generosity. So many people have been so welcoming and generous with their time, their home, their money...I have really been blessed. After chatting to those lovely ladies I went to theatre to watch an emergency surgery, which is always great.

So, I guess my time here so far has been filled with highs and lows. I'm sad to say that I'm probably not enjoying my time at the hospital as much as I was hoping, but I am continually trying to keep a positive attitude and learn everything I can. On the other hand, I had a fantastic weekend in KL. I love Kuala Lumpur!! I kinda wish I was staying there, but I guess being here makes me appreciate it even more when I get to go. I went with one of my friends from the Uni to KL on Friday night, and stayed over at her house. Her family are absolutely wonderful...they were so generous to me and it was an amazing time. We had chinese for dinner, which was great. On Saturday they took me to see some of the sights in KL; the main square where all of the old buildings are, up the KL tower, and later to KLCC (Big shopping centre beneath the KL twin towers). The view from the KL tower was pretty awesome, and it was quite funny going on the 'formula one simulator' - more like a timezone game, hehe. KLCC is quite a fancy shopping centre, they even have a Cartier and a Harrods!! I had my first laksa in Malaysia there, and really enjoyed spending time with my friend Kim and her family. They have this really cool park outside too, with a water park for kids and even a soft running track. Kinda wish i lived close to there, hehe.

On Saturday evening I met up with a friend of my uncle's, who took me, along with his lovely wife, to the Batu caves. They are limestone caves, and a hindu temple has been built inside. Apparently it's 277 steps up...it didn't really feel like that many. It was pretty interesting though. Then we went to China town and had a look at the markets, had a late dinner (Indian) and headed back to their place. In the morning I went to church with them, and met an Australian man from my Uncle's church, which was pretty funny. We went out to lunch (more Indian food...yum), then went to a couple of other places (Brickfields - 'Little India' and the Grand Palace), before I headed back to my friends. Had another wonderful dinner with them before we headed back to Seremban. It was such a busy weekend and I was exhausted, but it was so much fun!!

I'm actually heading back to KL tomorrow, but only for the night. On Saturday I'm going with a couple of girls to the Genting Highlands - supposed to be pretty and a lot cooler than here!! Hope to come back Saturday night, because I need to be in the hospital on sunday.

I hope that gives everyone a bit of an idea of what I've been doing!! I hope to have some photos up here soon...waiting on my husband to upload them, hehe.

Anyway, goodnight everyone!!

:)

Gynaecology begins...

Aaaaaaaagh!! It's 1.30am and I should be going to sleep, but I only recently got back from the hospital after being on-call tonight. I spent the whole night in theatre, which was great! Definitely one of my favourite places to be in the hospital (except when it's soooooooo cold)...really thinking I'm destined to be a surgeon, hehe. Can't rule out emergency though yet as that's my other fav place to be!! :)

So, I had a great weekend, hanging out with some of the other students. They keep taking me out for meals, which is great. So far I've had traditional Malaysian, Indian, Thai and Chinese dim sum!! I'm cooking for myself all week though, because I'm trying to eat healthy and save money. Hard to eat healthy when you eat out as even if you don't buy anything fried, you don't know how much oil is in the curries, etc. Luckily, the most I've paid for a meal and drinks is roughly $4 Australian. I keep thinking of the ringgit as equivalent to the dollar, and then remember it's not, and my meal is way cheaper than I thought, hehe.

Pros and cons of this week:
- Cons - some of the other students are not that proactive with their learning, and I don't want to be the pushy foreigner, so I'm occasionally a bit frustrated at not being able to get in their and do more. The language barrier is also hard, although there are some English speaking patients. I also have sooooooooo much study to do and not enough time to do it!! I have seen a few too many D&Cs...starting to panic about having miscarriages and I'm not even contemplating pregnancy yet.

- Pros - Have been to several gynae procedures, and got to go to an emergency op tonight for ruptured ovarian cyst - very cool. Also managed to present my case at bedside teaching without any hiccups, yay. Picked up a murmur today that the residents hadn't noticed, :). Most of the doctors and nurses are really nice and I'm getting known around the place now, so hopefully I'll be able to do more soon!!

I'm going to KL this weekend, yay! Going to go up on Friday with another student and stay with her friday, look around the city centre on Sat, and then spend saturday night and sunday with the family of the brother of a pastor my uncle knows...if that made sense to anyone, hehe. Excited about finally seeing KL, but a bit stressed at how little study I'm likely to get done on the weekend!!

Starting to get into the swing of things here but still missing my hubby of course. Well, I better go to bed...have to be up in a few hrs!!

:)

One week down...seven to go (Plus my week in Phnom Penh)

Hi everyone!!

I thought it was about time I updated everyone on what I've been doing this week!! I'm so glad to have made it through my first week!! It has definitely been a bit of a roller-coaster. Monday started off on a bit of a difficult note. Firstly, due to the heat, I decided to walk to the hospital in my thongs and t-shirt, with my good pants on, and change my top and shoes when I arrived. However, on arrival at the clinical school, I realized that I had left my shoes, which didn't fit into my bag, in the apartment. I therefore had to go through the entire day in my clinical clothes with thongs!! Luckily I didn't have my proper ID for hospital here yet, so I couldn't go to the wards anyway, but it wasn't the greatest first impression. The doctor here who is acting as my mentor was like, "We have a very strict dress code here!" I had to assure her that it is the same in Australia, and that I had accidentally left my shoes at home. So embarrassing!! I also got quite overwhelmed by all of the work that I have to do here, as the university expects me to do the same work as the IMU (Malaysian) students, in addition to what I have to do for UQ. Having looked at it more closely, a lot of things are doubled up, so it's not as much work as I first thought, but I was very overwhelmed by it all on Monday morning. The day did improve though, as it turned out that my mentor, who is the head of O&G for the university, is a christian lady, and she has been very supportive this week. She also invited me to the med school christian fellowship, which I went to on Tuesday night after classes. It's hard to explain how much of a blessing it is to hang out with brothers and sisters in Christ over here...it was a huge blessing. We had dinner at one of the Christian doctor's houses and I met and Aussie couple who have been here for three months. He's a doctor, but he's also done a bible college degree and his masters, and is teaching at the seminary here. It was a pretty cool night. It made up for a strange tuesday morning. Dr Sheila (my mentor), took me to the doctor's handover meeting so that I could meet all of the doctors working in obstetrics. When I started introducing myself, the head of O&G for the hospital started ranting about how the university could be better spending its money...etc. etc. It was quite strange.

Wednesday I went out for my first lot of malaysian food for lunch, which was great. The rest of the day was ok...a bit of a mess with centrelink that I had to sort out from here, which was a bit of a pain, but it's all sorted now. Most of the time I've either been on the wards, clerking patients (I'm grabbing any patient that speaks english and taking their history and examining them, hehe), or in tutorial sessions. I went to the antenatal clinic on wednesday, which was good too. One of my patients had a cesarean section yesterday morning, and she's doing well now.

Today is a public holiday, and most of the students went home to KL last night. It seems that most of them stay here during the week, but go home on the weekends. Only those who live further away from Seremban stay over the weekend. One of the other students who did stay back and I went in to the hospital today anyway. We have to be on call once a week, and as I was unable to do an evening this week, I decided to go in today. It should count as a weekend on call. We went to the labour ward and watched 2 deliveries, which was great. I went to check on my other patients and unfortunately, one who I thought would deliver today went into labour over night and then had to have an emergency cesarean. I was disappointed to have missed it, but thankfully both the mother and the baby are fine.

I went out for lunch with my friend to a Malaysian Indian restaurant, which was a lot of fun, and am now doing some boring study (and obviously writing this blog) before heading to her house to hang out tonight!! On Monday I will be joining the gynaecology students. Over here, they do a 5wk obstetrics term in their 4th year (equivalent to my 3rd year), and then do 4 weeks of gynaecology in their 5th yr (my 4th yr). Their terms therefore don't match up with ours. The students in 5th year have been on holidays this week, and I will be joining some of them for their gynaecology term on Monday. That way, i will at least get to cover that term from start to finish. Unfortunately that means that my obstetrics will be quite disjointed. I joined the obstetrics students this week for their week 2 of obstetrics, and have spent most of the week trying to catch up on the knowledge they learned last week. When I finish gynaecology, I'll be joining the next group of obstetrics students and just doing their first 3 weeks, before doing my exams and heading to Cambodia!! I'm hoping that I'll still manage to cover everything I need to know though.

So, that's me up to date!! I don't know if it sounds all that interesting to most of you...but I am here for study, hehe!!

God bless!!

Aimee's animal I spy

1. Strange, rather large lizard at the park (It was over 1metre long)
2. Many, many quails
3. Stupid pigeons around my apartment block
4. Blackbirds
5. A cute, tiny little black-brown squirrel!!
6. A little kitten...he looked like a stray, poor thing
7. Turtles in the lake
8. Some guys were fishing in the lake and caught what looked like large catfish with bread on their lines!! Thought I might pop down their later with some bread myself....just kidding

Today was a beautiful day; very sunny!! I decided to go for a jog, and then realised I should've had a lot more water before I left as all of my internal body water poured out at once!! (Well, not quite, but that's what it felt like!!) Can't run my ten kms in this heat and humidity, hehe.

Had a bit more of a look around town. It's very interesting. They keep everything fairly clean; there's no rubbish lying around, etc (in contrast to where I stayed in Cambodia). However, they let a lot of the buildings get really run down. I haven't yet found the markets to buy food yet. They must be somewhere, I'm sure! I'm going to ask some of the Malaysian students tomorrow.

So I start at the hospital tomorrow!! Hoping it'll be good. Looking forward to getting into it and being busy each day, but hoping the doctors are nice. Not sure yet if I start on obstetrics or gynaecology!! Hopefully should have some more interesting news for everyone in the next few days!!

:)

A better afternoon

Well, after a terrible time trying to organise internet that would work in my apartment, i went for a walk and found this really nice park. It runs alongside a man-made lake and I think it'll be good for jogging around. I'll have to go in the morning or late afternoon as it's very hot and humid here...not unlike a Queensland summer, although possibly even stickier!!

I also managed to log onto a trial internet account for 24hrs. It's not great...it keeps cutting out and it's not letting me upload photos to the blog page, but it's better than nothing and at least I don't feel quite so far away from everyone! Funny how only 3 yrs ago when I went to Cambodia I was lucky to get online at an internet cafe once a week, and now I can't cope without it!! In 2001 when I went on my 3month trip around the world, I only got online once or twice the entire trip!! How our world has changed!! I did have company on both of those trips when I arrived at my destinations, however, whereas this time I am truly on my own.

So I'm grateful for small mercies, such as a nice park to walk in and some contact with friends and family. Praise God! Tomorrow should be a nice, relaxing day before jumping into the medicine on Monday. Hopefully I get some pre-reading done tomorrow, hehe!!

;p

Day 2 in malaysia

Hi everyone!!

I wasn't sure whether to bog today, because it's been a tough couple of days, but I guess I should let you know a little of what's been happening. I made my way from the airport to Seremban by bus and train, and didn't get in until about 7pm. I was eventually taken to my apartment, which reminds me a lot of the apartment I had in Cambodia!! I'll try to upload pictures when I can. Cold showers again, yay! At least it's about 33degrees celsius here and very humid, so I can put up with cold showers. I pretty much just had a shower and went to bed, I was physically and emotionally spent. Struggling a bit with the realisation that I'm on my own for 8 weeks. Really praying I can make it through. Tried to go shopping this morning, which was an experience. Very hard to find what you're looking for here!! Hopefully once I start at the hospital I'll make some Malaysian friends who can tell me where to find what I need!! I think it might be cheaper to buy food off the side of the road than make it myself, but I'll have to find out where to go.

I'm currently trying to sort out internet, but having a few issues. Worst comes to worst I'll be sitting in McDonalds every day using their wireless!!

Definitely feeling a bit lonely and stressed at the moment, but hoping things will improve soon!!

Love you all!!

The eve of my departure

Hi everyone!!

Well, I thought I'd start a blog while I'm away so that everyone can hear what I'm doing and how it's going. This way, even those who don't use facebook can know what I'm up to!!

So, for those who don't know, I'm heading to Seremban, Malaysia (about 80 km south of Kuala Lumpur), to undertake my obstetrics and gynaecology rotation. My rotation is 8wks long and I will be doing it at the International Medical University in Seremban, alongside Malaysian medical students. I have chosen to do my rotation in Malaysia, with the hopes of experiencing medicine in a less developed country than my own, and having the opportunity to do a lot more than I can in Australia. I'm also hoping for some opportunities to get out to the more rural areas of Malaysia, but I am not sure whether I will have those opportunities. I'm staying in an apartment rented by the uni and am paying the university for this. At the end of my rotation I am traveling to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for 6 days. Some of you may know that I've been to Cambodia before, in my first year of medicine. I have not been to Phnom Penh, however, and am looking forward to the opportunity to experience the capital city and learn more about what the people of Cambodia were forced to endure under the Khmer Rouge. I was hoping for company, hehe, but am sure it will be a wonderful experience regardless!!

So, my thoughts the night before I leave?? I'm both excited and nervous at the same time. Excited to be traveling to Malaysia, and looking forward to all of the amazing experiences that I will have. However, I'm also nervous about how I will be received at the hospital in Malaysia, and what the Doctors over there will be like. I'm also nervous about being apart from nic for so long. This is definitely going to be a tough time for both of us, and we are just praying that it won't impact negatively on my ability to enjoy this experience!!

Basically, I'm both excited and freaking out!! I will try to update this blog as often as I can. I'm not sure what my internet situation is going to be like, but I will definitely keep everyone informed!! Please pray for safe travels and that nic and I will survive!! :)

So...the adventure begins!!


P.S. Could those of you who know people who might be interested in my trip, but don't have internet (e.g. Oma, Nana), please print these and pass them on to them??

Thanks guys!! Dios te bendiga!