CK in the ER (Just Call Me Doctor)
Yeah! That's right. I'm truly excited now. I'm going to start my first medically related job ever, and guess what? I landed one in the ER in the largest hospital in Sioux Falls! Amazing. Being a volunteer employee 12 hours a week in the busiest, most critical part of the hospital will certainly give me valuable experience, as well as a chance to be part of and observing the adrenaline pumping life-and-death traumas that take place there. Seeing doctors and nurses in action, helping them out in any way I legally can, is going to be so fantastically fascinating I can hardly wait. I am prepared though, and I should be, for the many horrifying, blood-gushing, gut-wrenching situations that are bound to take place in a place like that (where else?), and I understand that this job will be very different physically and mentally from the front desk receptionist position I was first offered. Cool, though, and important, in that I get a pointer on my future ability and wish to tackle such situations.
This Friday I went to the hospital to find out what jobs were available to me, and before my meeting I had a few minutes to spend. I went up on the top of the parking complex, and got a great view of the whole hospital campus. Then, about a 100 feet from where I was standing, on a different hospital roof, a medical helicopter started up its engines. Slowly and steadily it started to take off, and then flew right over where I was standing and off into the horizon. A great way to start your day at a hospital.
I know, and have always known (even though I like the drama anyways) that the tv-show ER is fictional in many ways, but I have always believed that reality can beat whatever clever tv-writers can make up.
Avera McKennan hospital, here I come, and let's hope I like it.
Labels: Medical, News
Driving Myself Insane
This weekend was a different one. Instead of the tedious same-ol' slacking I get around to usually, I basically decided in the matter of minutes I was going to go on a road trip. Road trips are fun, I love 'em, so I had no problem figuring out if I was going to tag along with my friend Markus to someplace in Iowa or not. Off we went, and you know what? I was driving the whole way.
Christian's driving. I know, it's scary, it might even be nightmare-inspiring, but I have surprising news. I'm not reckless at all. Nor am I a bad driver, by any standards, I gotta say, I actually think I might be the born driver. Smoothly turning corners, heeding (most, so far) traffic signs, traffic lights, laws and regulations, heck, I even got traffic ethics down. I'm amazed, and so are the people who see me drive (not too many yet, but hey, I can claim it). The trip to Iowa this weekend was completed after only 2 night and one day session of real driving, which I find incredibly sweet seeing as I'm not wasting any time getting that licence. All in all, counting a pretty large detour on the way back, I actually drove
676 miles this weekend (for those not up to speed on the idiotic US system: about 1090 kilometers). And this fantastic distance (about the distance of Oslo-Trondheim-Oslo) included city driving, highway driving, interstate driving at about 75 miles (120 km) per hour, and multiple complicated car and trailer passings. I won't lie when I say I'm quite happy about this weekend's outcome, which puts me at about 18 hours of driving total, including the one (first) time I totally freaked out my dad driving on what normally were slow, boring roads...
Back in Soo-Foo (that's what all the coool kids call Sioux Falls) I find myself more relaxed than after a typical weekend. I break out in laughter over the smallest things, like today when my psychology prof (a guy with glasses and a long, long beard) exclaimed that "about 2/3 of my students don't want to talk to me", or my chem prof who suddenly started talking about "diabetics who go crazy and start spewing out formaldehyde everywhere". No one is laughing except me, but I honestly couldn't care less. I feel so happy I start laughing at whatever I can, and apparently find funny stuff even in places where the jokes are few and far between. A little crazy, yes, but me-sa no care. Happiness has never been negative.
Labels: Everyday, Minor Updates, News
The Big 2-0
The dreaded day came and passed, and what's changed is merely my age. That's what I keep telling myself anyways, that all that changed was a number and that my level of responsibility and maturity is still totally dependent on my internal workings. My mental processes, the demands put upon me by society, and so on, will always be the most important factors in deciding my "real" age, if you will, and I still decide exactly
how old I am. Take my dad, for example. He turned 46 today, two days after my birthday, and in that occasion shared his philosophies about age. He explained how he as a teenager had thought of 46-year-olds as only one step away from the grave, and how he had perceived even his own parents as old when they crossed their mid-forties. Now, he continued, he was feeling totally different, he felt in good shape, and mentally he would have had no problem believing he was still 30. The future, though, was more uncertain. He's nearing 50, which he now knew to be an age of great vigor and even physical fitness, so that wasn't a major point of concern. The 60s were a little more uncertain, and the 70s he still thought of as pretty old. It's interesting how our perceptions change as we gain life experiences and wisdom, and we all seem to come to the conclusion after a while that age is merely an illusion. Which I find solace in, which makes me able to tell myself I'm still the 'reckless' teenager, still my parents' young, protected son. Anything else would still be too scary and overwhelming.
To the point of my post this time, the birthday celebration this Saturday. The day was a very quiet, easygoing one to begin with, and I woke to the loud ringing of my phone. It was my mom, who had been trying to reach me since that special 9:03 time, the exact time I was born, and she finally reached me at 9:18am. It's the thought that counts, and I thinks it's so incredibly cool that she remembers every year, and even to call on the time of birth. Nice. We talked for a while, and I went back to sleep (hey, waking up before noon on a Saturday? Not likely). My dad called around 12, and after talking to him I got out of bed and spent the afternoon having lunch (I actually cooked myself a fantastic Mexican tomato soup from Guerrero with chili, jalapeno, and paprika), eating a whole bag of my favorite nuts in this entire world, Norwegian chili nuts, discovering that Norway was winning the Olympics by a lot of points combined, feeling the national pride make me happy, and having a 20-minute nap.
The 'party' (hullabaloo/shindig/clambake/gathering/shabang)
itself was supposed to start at 7:30 p.m., and all the guests had shown up promptly then at
T.G.I. Friday's, but even with reservations we had to wait for 25 minutes. That was fine, I was having fun talking to everyone and being sociable, so time went by quickly. The dinner itself for me and most of the other 11 people, consisted of 3 courses, and I had 'Cheese covered potato skins', a fantastic 12 ounce "New York Strip' steak, and a cheese cake to go. We had a great time, I think, and it was a lot of fun. Marianne gave me some interesting gifts, including a Swiss army knife and a night light, but it was all good.
So, the embarrassing part of birthdays. Towards the middle of the dinner Denise had the brilliant idea to tell the waiter it was my birthday. The inevitable snowball. "Happy birthday" wishes from him turned in to something much bigger as soon as I had started relaxing again and thinking that would be it. Suddenly another waiter pops up behind me, and immediately tells me that my chair was broken (original!) and that I would have to stand up. Oh, great. My initial response was "Ha, I'm not falling for that," but when he kept insisting I decided to play along. Up I stood, and immediately he started shouting to the whole restaurant. "Attention, everybody, we have an emergency in the restaurant; This young guy has a birthday today, and that's why I want absolutely everybody to join me in singing Happy Birthday". Uhm, splendid. "Even you guys in the back, sing along! His name is Christian! Come on, sing!
Happy birthday to you..."
I was standing there all the time, not blushing according to my friends, listening to the birthday tribute. Even for the "how old is he?" from somewhere in the restaurant, and then I could sit down again. Pheeew. The remaining time all the passing waiters brought a balloon that they tied to my wrist, of course, and wishing me a happy birthday. We left around 10-ish, so I'd deem the evening a rewarding, fun celebration, despite the embarrassing moments inbetween.
That night, around 12, Markus decided to let me drive his car around town, before ending up at the 24/7 coffee shop
Sonkofa. I never knew driving was so much fun! I did well, stopping at the correct times, going the correct speeds, overall doing a good job. I recently go my instruction permit, which is a 10-minute driving test away from a driver's license. Some practice, now, and I'll have it. For the great price of $2... Imagine what I save from the $2000-$3000 in Norway..
Anyhow, that was my b-day, I had a blast and got a couple of neat gift cards (one for
HuHot, great place, and another for calling minutes to Norway). A good day, and now (the gray Monday) I have more homework than at all desirable. But fine, I can surely tackle 2 essays, 2 book readings and 2 pages of chem chapter problems. I hope. (Taking deep breath.)
Pics can be found further down in this post.
Labels: Episode Accounts, Pictures, Special Events
Location: Changed
[WISH LIST FOR CHRISTIAN'S BIRTHDAY: CLICK HERE!]I moved. Finally. I moved to my friend Landon's former room, and I love it. It might be just across the hall from where I temporarily lived the past 12 days (remember: "my penthouse"), but it feels like it's in a totally different building. The room's actually square, the ceiling's barely slanting, and it's of course bigger. But that's not the only thing on my mind these days, I have occasional periods where I can't stop thinking about my cat, H.M. King Farouk I, so I thought I'd post the first picture of him in the history of the blog, right now, while I keep thinking about and missing him.
Here are my new keys, which obviously go together with my new room.
Just thought that'd be symbolic in a way.
Behold, it's... new.
This is the left side of the room, featuring my desk and the picture display.
Same side of the room as the last one, but featuring my bookcase and microwave.
The right side of my room, featuring my fridge, bed, Smallville poster and a flag. Now, I'm not exactly an American patriot, so don't worry - the flag's just decoration.
My bed, Smallville and Superman posters, and the end table (hard to see) with the alarm clock (important), phone and answering machine.
My fantastic walk-in closet, with my fascinating array of hats, and of course (almost) all my clothes.
The East Hall TV room, or my new living room, seeing as I don't have a TV, and this room has a DVD player and a VCR as well.
The pool room in East, somewhat old but fully useable. And we do.
My Japanese friend, Kei, who's a devoted tennis player.
That concludes this week's picture exclusive, straight from the prairie land of South Dakota.
Labels: College Stuff, Medical, Minor Updates, News, Pictures
Yeah! That's right. I'm truly excited now. I'm going to start my first medically related job ever, and guess what? I landed one in the ER in the largest hospital in Sioux Falls! Amazing. Being a volunteer employee 12 hours a week in the busiest, most critical part of the hospital will certainly give me valuable experience, as well as a chance to be part of and observing the adrenaline pumping life-and-death traumas that take place there. Seeing doctors and nurses in action, helping them out in any way I legally can, is going to be so fantastically fascinating I can hardly wait. I am prepared though, and I should be, for the many horrifying, blood-gushing, gut-wrenching situations that are bound to take place in a place like that (where else?), and I understand that this job will be very different physically and mentally from the front desk receptionist position I was first offered. Cool, though, and important, in that I get a pointer on my future ability and wish to tackle such situations. 
This Friday I went to the hospital to find out what jobs were available to me, and before my meeting I had a few minutes to spend. I went up on the top of the parking complex, and got a great view of the whole hospital campus. Then, about a 100 feet from where I was standing, on a different hospital roof, a medical helicopter started up its engines. Slowly and steadily it started to take off, and then flew right over where I was standing and off into the horizon. A great way to start your day at a hospital.
I know, and have always known (even though I like the drama anyways) that the tv-show ER is fictional in many ways, but I have always believed that reality can beat whatever clever tv-writers can make up. Avera McKennan hospital, here I come, and let's hope I like it.
