Final Days In The Orient

Tomorrow is the last day of my med school orientation, and the process itself has proceeded much like you might expect. I admit that I am blissfully unaware of the orientation procedures at other med schools, but for me orientation has consisted mostly of faculty and staff reminding my fellow first-years and I of how much debt we're getting ourselves into. Yet matching the consistency of the financial downers has been the prevalence of barbecues, and this is nothing to complain about at all. I theorize that this phenomenon may be our first venture into the world of homeostasis--the body's inherent state of equilibrium that must be actively maintained at all times by various organ systems. I can clearly see the faculty's logic in this macroscopic analogy, as I can think of no better remedy for depression than steaming burgers and crisp, cool watermelon.

I'm joking of course, as I've had quite a bit of fun these last few days. I've met some cool people, relaxed in the grass, watched a volleyball repeatedly land in a bowl of potato chips, eaten lots of picnic food, visited my first cricket club, sat in a ridiculously squeaky microanatomy lab chair, and seen the total dissection of the incredible hulk (a.k.a. a cadaver of an elderly woman whose body tissues had been stained green during embalming due to biliary leakage).

She even had her ovaries intact which, according to the lab instructor, is unusual for a woman her age. I'm telling you, the excitement never seems to stop.