Thursday, a Day in the Life: I wonder if Klause Grawe ever got puked on?

There is a time to worry about papers, and a time to swim with sharks. I spoke last time about Buddhist Mindfulness I learned about when I was preparing for the interview for UQ. I spoke about “knowing what time it is” while I was on Morton Island, and knowing that its not time to write a paper.

This week was different: I’ve written 343 pages of suggesting and proposing a theory of something that might be somewhat valid – as per psychological research; its all an argument as to what might be happening.

This week is what I expected out of graduate school. Rather than boring you with what I’ve learnt over the last 3 weeks, I’ve decided to show you what its like living in beautiful (and rainey) Brisbane.

It goes like this: I woke up at 7 on Thursday and hung out with Jason and Deb, had a shower, then, sent a few emails and made a few phone calls. 

7:02 AM

9:00 AM 

After the intro, I went to see what Thursday is like:

Thursday was reading Klause Grawe's Neuropsychotherapy, chapter 2: 112 pages of amygdalas, hypothalamues, limbic systems, dopamine, neuron receptors, dendrites, and the arcanity that is Neurobiology. 

I didn't have the text book, as there were only 10 available 2 weeks ago. I needed breakfast and assumed a book store down the street would have my book. I took a shower and ran down to Taringa food market, which became an opportunity in something i've always wanted to do: get in a figher-jet.

9:04 AM

I ran into this guy who was on his way to the physio clinic for a his achilles tendon which he hurt getting out of the "bloddy aircraft."

We'll get back to that...much, later. Back to Thursday....

Thats a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. 

A coke,

And a potato. 

...life is expensive here.

9:13 AM

I said goodbye to Alice and Sherice who run this food market. Had my breakfast and searched for this book. I called 10 places...

 I've always thought this was funny...

 

9:32 AM Train: 

The humor from that ad was quickly diminished by the anger that was not finding this book. My book store where I've gotten all of my books did not have it and well, its not time to worry about that anymore. The library on campus has it, that just means that I'm on campus all day, not at a coffee shop. 

I took the 9:34 train from taringa to toowong:

Toowong:

Pissed by the book stores not having the book I needed, I decided on the ferry and headed to campus:

5 minutes walk from Toowong is the Regatta Ferry Terminal: 

9:47 AM: I'm off to campus

Through the great court, is the library:

9:53 AM: 

The book I need is on a 2 hour loan, which means I get to know the ladies working the library very well. Pissed by the fact that I cannot buy the book myself, I head down to Wordsmiths, one of my favourite spots on campus. Here is my walk: 

10:00 AM

That bird you see is an ibis, they are all over and well, you'll see can be a bit of a pain of the ass...

Damn birds...

2:02 PM

4 hours later I realised I needed to turn this book back in (again),  I said hello to the ladies who know me very well by now. Each time I've got to wait 15 minutes to get the book back...a bit annoying but it has to be done. So back to the library I go:

5:05 PM

 I get kicked out of Wordsmiths, apparently they close at 5. So I head back to the library, and find a quite spot to sort out how our brains work...

10:32 PM

I finish Grawe's beef on behavior and the brain, and realised that I was wrong with the way I approached the patients at that hospital - a feeling way too common with everything I read here. 

That maybe why I find myself in debt. 

I learned how to deal with patients; how to create new neural pathways or mirror neurons. How to use the brain to create new behaviours, or use the neurons to create new neurons. Blown away by this research I leave campus and head to the swamp...

 

10:52 PM

Dinner: a burger, cheesecake, and a bag of potato chips.

Dinner at damn.near 11. That reminds me of hospital life, living a job, not working it. Dinner at 11, that reminds me of college too.

This week as been nuts. Thursday was no different from Wednesday or the previous days before that. I like being busy. I love learning what I did wrong at that hospital, and how I can be better. I like thinking about that place and bringing it up in class. 

I like thinking about what I said to those kiddos, but, thinking about how I said it.

I love thinking about those terrible days at that hospital: shit.filled bathtubs, getting spit on on thanksgiving, getting puked on, getting peed on, or the infamous 'code-browns.' i love thinking about those 4 terrible days throughout the week, and that 1 good one. 

i love thinking about what these dry.erase.markers I used in 4 contents. 

I love living in Australia and beg for that day off I have tomorrow. I hope I find a kangaroo, but rather sit.down with my neuropsyche professor about all of what I read from Klause. I'd rather think about what Klause thinks, and about what Choice Theory would suggest. 

Maybe one day I'll leave that pdf i just downloaded for a kangaroo, or for a fighter-jet...

Live high, ya'll. 








 

Morton Island and Buddah: The Brillance of Time Off

There are times to write a paper, and there are times to drink beer. There are times to have a victory massage in Austin, and there is a time to run a code at a hospital. There are times to walk along the Great Wall of China, a time for Stonehenge in College, for PICU in Austin, and there is a time in this crazy life to hang out at the Colosseum. 

Yesterday however, was not the time to worry about the papers I have due next week:

 

When I was getting ready for the interview for school, I started preparing myself on what UQ was all about - what their epistemology is. It boils down to a brilliant point one of my professors made: 

"the best theory, is one you make up every time you see a client. All of the theories fit together, but the words don't."  

(god i love school)

Another thing they're teaching me is something called "mindfulness" which is basically knowing "what time it is."

It is not time to worry about school: 

 

Grad school is a marathon. I'm worried that I'm not working hard enough some weeks, and overworking others. At the end of the day, its a 40 hour a week job on good weeks, 60 on normal weeks, and 80 on tough weeks. I'd like to think its the same work-week for everyone else, no?

 There is enough time in the week for me to enjoy what Australia, UQ, the Quest Society and life in general has to offer. Things I'll rarely have the opportunity to do, like sand-boarding in a desert.

Rare things, like snorkeling around old ship wrecks. 

Quest is a society of foreign exchange students run by Australian's. They take us all over, Byron Bay a few weekends ago, and now Morton Island...all of an hour and a half out of the city. My goal one night during our camp fire was to:

(a) meet everyone, and,
(b) get a picture with the nationalities represented.

France

Germany

 Ireland

Norway

Australia (obvioulsy, haha)

Canada.

The things I'll rarely have the opportunity to do:

Sand-board in a desert, snorkel with sharks, meet the people above on an island in Australia. Things like, running a code at a hospital, having a victory massage after getting into UQ, walking Stonehenge, the great wall, or the Colosseum. Jumping out a plane, or riding across the Korean coast line.

I've finally been able to pull all that motorcyle-riding, sky-diving, sand-boarding, into something that matters. I did it in an American hospital, a Korean classroom, and now an Australian University.

I think that is what keeps me going here; knowing that there is more to learn, more to see, more people to meet, more things to do, in all aspects of life - both professional and personal. It has me going to bed with a goofy-ass smile on my face and bouncing out of bed in the morning with that same smile. 

That cognition forces me to think about what I want to do, all-day-every-day. What's next?!?

That cognition doesn't belong in Morton, or for that matter, on this brilliant night in Brisbane. Its not time (at all) to work in Busan, Beijing, or Rome. Its not time to think about the massive paper I'll be working on all week, its not time to go to work, or ride a bike...it was time to worry about that shark. 

Buddhist mindfulness kept me from getting bit by a shark. 

Me and this crazy life will get there. (there, read: corner-offer at UT and a grown-up life). Its not time for that yet though. 

I'm just a young man living to make me old.

Live high, ya'll.

Introductions: Life between Byron Bay, Graduate School, and Train Schedules

Byron Bay is a beach city about 2 hours drive from Brisbane, its an epic place. 

The Arts Factory is a kick ass place, they've got a bar at the hostel. 

Well done Byron, well done.

Consistent with all my Australian beach trips, I had a hard time getting there: 

There was a bus one time, once in Australia, that left at 11 on a Friday. Then another bus also, that left at 2, then another bus at 4. I had class on that Friday from 9 to 5 and missed all of those buses.
I ended up hooking up with a 2 hour ride from an airport shuttle down to Byron, for about 5 bucks more than the 4 hour rides I missed on Friday. So, I guess I got a deal.

There was another time I had a bit of trouble getting to a beach: Sunshine coast.

I had read the train schedule as any logical person would - as a train schedule. However, said train schedule did not suggest that it may also double as a bus schedule. So my 9:03 train from Nabour was actually a bus that was leaving from the same depot. I thought I was reading a train schedule, and the 9:03 mark, would mean it was a train - I didn't see the * at the bottom of the page, ugh.

Good times. 

Other than the beach v. me, life is good.

One day I will figure the best, cheapest, and (ergo) easiest way out to a beach. One day.

Sunshine, and Byron were awesome despite the b.s. School is good; it keeps me interested, passionate, busy, and focused. The pig, cigarettes, and trips to the beach take away from that focus, and also put me in situations that don't agree with my journey for an advanced degree.

Those beach trips or nights out in Brizzy are fun though. I've met a bunch of really good people. (which is a big part of traveling).

I'm pretty sure UQ took over Byron for those days: 

 

 and i got to sleep in a jungle... 

Monday comes tomorrow, and I've got a week ahead of me. Likely four 18 hour days, but, that's life. A presentation, a quiz, and a video due that shows my counseling skills as of now. (read): exactly what I was doing at the hospital. A video of me and a client that I choose.

I like to be challenged as I am at Uni now (uni: college in Australian). I like, to be told I don't know what I'm talking about, and, have to defend my position. It reminds me of why I am in this whole thing. It's good to be introduced to two characters: one who says I will move to Australia, and one who says I won't. Its good to be forced to be successful.

Work hard, play hard.

Live high, ya'll.

Comsamneda: is 'thank you' in Kangarooian

Kangaroo Point: 

Brisbane. 

So, its 12:38 AM on a glorious Thursday night in Australia. My beer is cold, my bare feet rest on my beach chair, my computer is charged, and...my life is on fire. 

I'm a student again. Graduate School, quitting smoking, and...living in a foreign country. Bring it on.

Class this week good. I go Tuesday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. My class on Friday is 9-5, unlike my other three-classes which are 3 hours each from 5 to 8.


School is going to a grind. 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, me thinks. Its just like the hospital - minus the fecal filled bathtubs, the code browns, or the urine samples. The codes, the ER trips, the charts, the stress, or the insanity (literally).


Personal life will be fun too, I've met a bunch of great people. Mostly American-undergrads from Syracuse which is weird, but, whatever. 

The other night I was talking to some friends and we were kicking around the idea of why we came to Australia. Some for travel, some for school, some for both. We were at South Bank when we were talking about this

...downtown, at the river, on a beach.

 

I started thinking about why I took this risk. I thought about why I left Korea ages ago, left the hospital weeks ago, and why I chose to move to Australia. I really got into it and realised that I’m not here for the Sunshine Coast, or South Bank. I'm not here to buy a motorcycle and ride it cross country. I'm not here for skydiving New Zealand, or going to the opera house in Sydney. I'm not here to travel, I'm here to go to school - South Bank is a glorious place to study though.

I'm not ruling out the idea of skydiving and motorcycles - I'm just ruling out the cigarette after the fact.


I went home after southbank to this:

I started thinking about Austin, the time i was downtown with Friends of Lizzy. I thought about the experience at the hospital. How bat-shit crazy it was. How much I learned and how many amazing people I met. I realized that everyone I worked with praised my efforts to get into UQ, and didn’t question my goals.  I remember what we went through, the codes, the craziness, the fecal filled bathtubs or the urine...the damn urine. 


I raise my beer to those amazing people…

Katie, Kent, Joesph, Kari, Rachel, Alex, Lou, Connie, Ann, Joan, Alfredo, Liz, Carol, Mallori, Chris D, Bobby, Blake, Stephanie, Sandy, Kimberly, Michelle, Rey, Catie, Tony, Sue, Kim, Leo, Cecilia, Deb, Jim, Roberta, Sherry, Bethany, Lindsay, Troy,  Meya, Cris Bukalew, Gloria, Flor, Security John, Ashley, Amy in Admissions, Glen, Elizabeth, Nola…

I raised my beer to…Mike Moore.

Over these beers I’m having tonight with this glorious Australian night and BB King, I thought about all those names above and how I was able to pull it off...how all of you helped me get through it all.

I couldn’t have done it without Jodi Reeseman at AustraLearn. I couldn’t have done it with Texas State (et., al) sending an acceptance letter about 2 years ago. I couldn't have done it without Korea (et., al). I couldn't have done it without Roberta, she gave me a job...

...the 'baby-blues-crew-from-two' pushed me to be more than I thought I was capable of being able to do. Here's to you guys.

My family reminded me why I work so hard, my friends got me through it, and SSC pushed me to become better than i was before. All of those people; from patients, to staff, to family, to the friends got me here. All of you taught me something along the way, challenged me every chance they had, and put me in uncomfortable situations where I had to choose to be tested. You guys are a big part of why I am here. 

I worked a bit harder on school today because of what the 2nd floor taught me. I worked a bit harder today on school today because of what you guys told me I could do - and what Texas State (et., al) said I couldn't do.

Cheers to you guys…I thank all of you.

Live high, ya’ll.