Or Autumn, rather, because Scottish people make fun of you if you call it Fall. HI! I suppose maybe this is a bit of a quarter-annual blog at this point so I do apologise but since I only share this via facebook anyways, I'm sure anyone who's interested has kept up with things on there! Fun thing to note: I do spell things a little more British-ly now, as evidenced by the subconscious use of "apologise" in the previous paragraph which I've just now realised. That's what happens when you have to write the word "mobilising" 7000 times a day in official treatment notes. So anyways hi! Another module is in the books since my last post and I'm starting the final week of placement #2. Caring for the elderly has been a lot more rewarding and, honestly, fun, than I expected it to be. People think I'm just being polite when I tell them how much I've enjoyed it but it's been an absolute great time. Although I now have a few new fears about the possible directions my mind/body could go when I'm older. DON'T SMOKE, guys! And take care of your bodies! Exercise. Manage your weight. Alcohol abuse, inactivity, and smoking have horrific long-term effects. It all makes a huge difference 50 years down the road and trust me, sweet as some of them are, you Do. Not. want to end up like some of these patients.
Let's see. Oh, yeah I had my first actual bout of homesickness in September. It was really weird and not super fun. But it was also tied to some extenuating circumstances and I've recovered now - it only lasted a couple days, maybe. My position on home continues to be one of great fondness, but not in a way that causes me to wish I wasn't here. Both places are good. It's really mind-boggling what a vast array of life experiences are available. There was a minute there, though, where nothing in the world sounded even comparable to jumping on a plane, celebrating a Cleveland sports victory on E 4th with the people I've known for years, and then crashing in the corner of the couch in my parents' living room. That does still always sound nice, mind you, just not as immediately necessary.
But fall! Autumn! The season that means winter is coming: I was never one of those stereotypical midwestern suburban "I'm so excited for scarves and leggings and all things pumpkin!" type girls but I have, evidently, been spoiled by the excellence of Midwestern fall. I'm pretty sure that an autumn in the Midwestern US must be the ideal way to experience that season. That is, of course, coming from my super-educated and culturally experienced outlook now that I've experienced half of one fall in a far northern corner of one little part of Europe, which means I now know everything about fall all over the world.
First of all, apple orchards, right? They're so great. I miss those a lot. More than the orchards, I MISS APPLE CIDER. Honestly. Every American reading this right now should go to the store, buy a gallon of cider (tart as possible), chuck it in your freezer, and bring it to the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on December 28th at 5:36 pm. I will drink ALL of it in the 12 days that I am home. That stuff is gold, and the rest of the world has no idea what they're missing.
All that being said, I've had an excellent fall experience here!
I found out that I am capable of making really seriously delcious, above-average, pumpkin pie (excerpts from my documentation of the process over there ->). I killed the pumpkin myself and everything.
Other things that I didn't realise were not a part of everyone's fall experience:
• really GOOD fall leaves (maple trees make all the difference)
• pumpkin patches (as opposed to digging through a subpar selection in a grocery store bin)
• hayrides. It's really funny to explain the concept of a hayride to a British person.
• bonfires. Though the infamous Fifth of November is coming and I've been told it may involve a little bit of fire. But it's been too long since I've had a hotdog and a s'more while sitting in the seat that, regardless of wind direction, the smoke will inevitably blow towards for the remainder of the night.
I can also still carve a pumpkin with some degree of skill. Although I did not have any proper tools and in an ideal world, I'd have chosen something properly sized/shaped from a patch. However, 4 hours and a big blister from gripping the blade of a potato peeler later, I managed a very spherical interpretation of Van Gogh's Starry Night that I'm decently proud of.
Halloween here: BIG nightlife event, not so much a thing that kids do (weird, right?). Fear not, good friends, in true Mike Wags fashion I went out on the town in a snapback, sweatpants, my most gangsta kicks, and a basketball jersey.
So basically I blended in really well with all the miniskirts and heels and pleather unitards. In fairness though, I was wearing fake nails, false eyelashes, and probably about 1.5 lbs of makeup, which I did complain about all night long even though I 100% did it to myself. The end result was what I've best been able to describe as very basic white girl from urban America.
Then this morning I saw pictures from the Cavs Halloween party and I think someone should tell Kyrie Irving that while he was dressed up like a Jedi, I was repping his USA jersey across the pond, but I've also dressed as a Star Wars character in previous years. Long story short - I think we're meant to be.
The weather is beginning to swap over and I'm happy to report that unlike Ohio, we've been nowhere close to snowy conditions. It's been decent cycling weather pretty much every day, which is good because I have to cycle up a small mountain every day to get to placement. I've also been getting some excellent nighttime runs along the beach. But Daylight Savings Time (which ended last week for us) has potentially crushed my soul a little bit. We're already running on just under 9 hours of daylight here (7:30am-4:30pm ish), which is roughly the shortest length that days ever get back home, with 2 more months of rapidly increasing darkness still ahead. And I am not coping well. Ask Erin (my flatmate). I complain about it a lot. Hopefully I'll get over it really soon otherwise we (me and the people who have to put up with my whining) are in for quite the winter. I'm hoping that, worst case scenario, I just end up hibernating until the sun returns.
Today there was apparently a little bit of basic white girl left in me because I went to Starbucks on my way to the semi/quarter/I'mnotreallysurehow-annual international street market that Aberdeen puts on. I'm sure some people find it very culturally stimulating but I pretty much run up and down the street trying to decide how many different kinds of food I can eat and it's awesome. Today was crepes. So I sat in a park with Starbucks and a crepe and read a book about dementia.
...for about 20 minutes and then I went home and took a 3 hour nap.
And that's me! I know I've said it several times but the next blog post WILL be sooner and it WILL be about music because I'm really quite pleased with how things have been developing in that area recently :) :) :)
Get ready to see me in t-minus a little less than 2 months!
