Texan in Oz

Xmas in Singapore

2007-12-30T18:35:00.000+11:00

I just got back from my 2 week visit to Singapore. Stayed with Cheryl and her family. While there, I attended her brother’s wedding, went to Vietnam, and went to Singapores’ famous Zoo, Night Safari, and Sentosa. In Hanoi, Vietnam, ate local Vietnamese food, shopped, and went to Halong bay, a beautiful world heritage place. In Halong bay, spent 2 nights staying on a junk boat and went cave trekking. Definitely a one-of-a-kind experience!

Camden Stint Over

2007-11-16T12:42:00.000+11:00

I finished my last exam on Wednesday and no more lectures ever. Woo hoo!! Will be starting my yearlong clinical rotations in January 2008. Thought I’d give a recap of all what I did and learned at Camden this past semester. In addition to lectures on ruminants (cattle, and sheep), pigs, poultry, horses, and pocket pets, I participated in weekly prac classes. Some of the cooler stuff I learned included pregnancy testing in cows (you have to stick you whole arm up the bum of a cow in case you were wondering…); giving an epidural to a cow; learning how to do a necropsy to investigate cause of death or disease (human equivalent of autopsy); equine anaesthesia and dentistry.

Of all my classes, I really enjoyed equine lectures and practicals the best. Some of my favourite pracs included learning how to float horse teeth (you have to use these giant-like nail files and rasp the teeth to remove the sharp edges); performing an ophthalmic examination (which I had to give a nerve block first to prevent sensation and keep the eyelid open…); and equine anaesthesia. In equine anaesthesia, I was the closest to guess the horse’s weight so I got to put in the jugular catheter. Before I could do this, I had to first inject local anaesthetic into the skin just over the jugular vein. Then, I had to insert this really long catheter (about 6 inches long) into the jugular vein. I was nervous and excited at the same time, but my prof was there talking to me the whole time. Later we used the jugular catheter to insert various drugs to make the horse lose consciousness like if you were to do in the field for surgeries etc. And, wow what an amazing experience watching this huge beautiful creature fall gracefully to the ground in 3 mins!

Winter Break

2007-07-10T19:08:00.000+10:00

What have I been doing on my winter break …hmmm saw Shrek the 3rd captioned last week (really enjoyed it even though it’s kids movie); went to CartAtak (go cart racing for Sonic deaf youth group); and been doing lots of cooking/baking. For 4th of July, my roomie and I made fried okra and pickles. They came out surprisingly well. :) We did get a lot of curious stares while cooking in the communal kitchen though! Today, my friends and I all went to Luna Park in Sydney. It was like a peewee sized version of The Texas State Fair. No funnel cakes (my fav) unfortunately, but we did manage to find those fake diamond rings that you suck on that I used to have when I was a kid. We rode one ride call the “Tumble Bug,” but I think “Tummy bug” probably would have been more appropriate. Lol, brought back a lot of summer memories that David and I spent at Astroworld!

End of semester

2007-06-30T13:28:00.000+10:00

I finished my final exams yesterday. Woo hoo! Just glad that they’re over with, so I can come out of my lil hole and rejoin society! Lol! It’s a beautiful day too unlike the cold and rainy days we’ve had for the past 2 weeks. Took Buster this morning for a much deserved run in the park. (He quit licking his arm compulsively now that I’m done with exams too—poor guy!) He had so much fun and managed to find a big pile of mud to run through! Checked out the swans in the park and their babies are all accounted for and getting bigger each day. By the way, my essay that I wrote last year for animal behaviour has been published in the June 2007 edition of “The Veterinarian.” Very cool huh! J Well, that’s about it for now—gonna relax now for the next couple of weeks before my big move to Camden farm.

4th Year Update

2007-05-25T19:21:00.000+10:00

A post from me is long overdue. In case you didn’t know, I am now in the last part of my first semester of 4th year. It has been a very exciting and hectic semester. The days and the weeks just fly by! I’m really enjoying all my classes—even radiology too! Lol. My favourite days are surgery prac days. It seems to come more natural to me and it’s a nice break from lectures! Today I did a gastrotomy (cutting into the stomach as if to retrieve a swallowed foreign object); and a gastropexy (suturing part of the stomach to the abdominal wall to prevent rotation of the stomach) which sometimes happens in large breed dogs. I also practiced taking intestinal biopsies as well as suturing two ends of intestine together. A little bit stinky but fun fun! Oh and I did a special kind of fracture repair yesterday on the back leg of a dog with external fixators. (Those are the kind of fractures you sometimes see people walking around with all those pins and bars sticking out of their legs, arms or even the head.) Ok, I better wrap this up in case I’m boring anyone to tears!

Oz/Sugar Land Recap

2007-02-08T05:53:00.000+11:00

I figured a post was long over due and I’d give a recap of my happenings. Mom came to Sydney and spent a month with me. We celebrated New Year’s at Taronga Zoo and watched the fireworks over Sydney Harbour. We had a lovely picnic dinner and donned our festive glow-in-the-dark jewellery. For her Birthday, I took her to her favourite beach—Manly and we had steak and wine. In the month that she was in Sydney, the days were filled with lots of walking, talking, laughter, shopping, gelato, and eating! The highlight of the trip was when we spent a week in Cairns. In Cairns, we went on day cruise, saw the Great Barrier Reef, walked in the rain forest, and went to a rainforest village called Karrunda. The day in Karrunda began with a scenic train ride to the village that overlooked waterfalls, and the city of Cairns. At Karrunda, we spent most of our time in Bird World where these beautiful exotic birds would eat out of our hands. At the end of the day, we rode a sky rail over the rain forest canopies. The views were just spectacular!!

Now, I’m back in Sugar Land and hope to see friends and family before going back to uni on the 25th of February. Will be entering my 4th year! Woo hoo!

Surprise Visitors

2006-12-17T23:25:00.000+11:00

I was just about to leave for the grocery store when lo and behold look what landed in our balcony! Just as I thought he was about to fly off, his/her mate came to say hello too. :) Wow, what an incredible moment!

Don’t be in a hurry

2006-12-14T22:38:00.000+11:00

Went to a pub/dance club last week with Cheryl. It became obvious once we got there that we had made a mistake—we were the only ones NOT wearing black, studded jewellery nor spiky hair. Turns out it was “goth night.” Lol. Since it took us 30 mins to get there by bus and walking, we decided to stay & make the most of it. Every time we go out, it’s always an adventure!

On Tuesday night, Cheryl and I had an early Christmas dinner before she left for home. We made turkey with stuffing, sweet potatoes, veggies, rolls—the works. Yummy! Now it’s just me, Buster, and a lot of leftovers. We miss Cheryl already!

Last night, Buster and I were waiting at the light & we witnessed this middle-aged lady get hit by a car. Instead of waiting for the cross walk, she ran across the road with shopping bags in hand in attempts to beat oncoming traffic. The guy hit her leg and she fell to the ground. Very traumatic experience, but fortunately, she pulled herself up and was able to walk again. I was surprised that no one bothered to call the police or an ambulance. To everyone out there: please slow down your lives a little & try to be a little more patient. Life is precious, don’t rush it.

Today, Buster and I have been kind of mopey around the house, so I decided to take him to the park where we fed the ducks and these snakelike fish. Some kind of eels I think. We had fun watching the ducks swim after the bread pieces and the fish splashing water as they slapped their tails to keep the other fish away from their prized food!

Farmer Girl Evy

2006-12-05T10:54:00.000+11:00

Ever since finishing my final exams about 3 weeks ago, I’ve been keeping busy completing the remainder of my practical work experience with large animals. I rode a 7 hour train followed by a 1.5 hour bus ride and then a 1 hour car ride to a beef cattle property where I spent a week working with Angus cattle. My jobs included feeding, mustering, grooming, haltering, and doing the dishes. The family was very nice and the husband even had a hearing impairment so we got along really well! He asked me lots of questions about Texas and American history! Was funny because when he’d introduce me to people, he’d say “This is Evelyn, she’s a Texan, and deaf as post just like me!” Lol.

After spending a week with Angus cattle, I spent a week with dairy cattle (Holstein Friesians) only 3 hours from Sydney. The dairy was part of a small agricultural college. Rented a car and dragged Cheryl & Buster with me to keep me company out in the country. The first night, we stayed in a hole in the wall place that looked like one of those places that you rent by the hour…got eaten alive by mosquitos that night. After spending one night there, we ended up spending the remainder of the week at the college student housing. My main jobs at the dairy included feeding, teaching the calves how to drink milk from a bucket, mustering, & lots of milking!! Also did some ear tagging. I liked mustering because I’d get to use a 4 wheeler (or a quad as it is called here) to herd about 200 cows from the paddocks into the milking barn. To teach calves how to drink from a bucket, I’d stick my fingers in their mouth to get the sucking action going & then slowly bring their heads down into the bucket of milk and let them suck the milk & eventually removing my fingers. Once the milk is gone, the calves will try to head butt your crotch or your bum so they can get more milk which can give you quite a shock if you’re not expecting it! Was an exhausting 2 weeks of prac work, but had fun!

Recap of the Past Few Weeks

2006-10-14T12:17:00.000+10:00

It’s been ages since I’ve updated my blog. Ok, so I’d thought I’ve give a run down of the past few weeks….Here goes…

4 weeks ago: went to the abattoir in Camden & learned how to inspect carcasses

3 weeks ago: had a week off for spring
break…went to the sidewalk festival where all these artists completed chalk works of art along Pyrmont Bridge in Darling Harbour; walked through a Brazilian festival; made chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels; spent some time at the park; did some studying; saw a really corny movie—Nacho Libre; went to Manly beach & had a scenic walk followed by ice cream

2 weeks ago: mid-semester exams

1 week ago: had a week on aquaculture medicine & learned all about fish farming; celebrated my 26th Birthday w/ Cheryl—had a fantastic steak & seafood dinner (thanks mom and dad!), & checked out Star City Casino—played the 1 & 5 cent slots & watched people play cards

This week: went to a Dixie Chicks concert & had an awesome time :)

Embarrassing Buster Moments

2006-09-01T15:20:00.000+10:00

It’s a beautiful day today in Sydney with nice warm weather and a gentle breeze. Even did some reading outside while Buster chomped away on a tree branch. (I’m a bad mom I know, but it’s better than him chewing on his arm!) Btw, Buster totally embarrassed me Wednesday morning. During radiology lectures, he decided to expel his anal glands followed by profuse licking, and burping sounds. And, once a couple of weeks ago, while chatting with one of my professors, Buster started humping the air in between the two of us. I was mortified. Gotta get that dog a girlfriend! Yesterday, I caught up with one of my professors from first year anatomy. We had a nice chat. I still can’t believe how fast the years have gone by already! Gonna try to do something fun this weekend now that assessments have subsided for the time being.

Uni Life & Food

2006-08-10T21:47:00.000+10:00

I’m in my third week of 2nd semester. I’m really enjoying it. Some of my classes include: Animal Disease, Veterinary Economics/Law (boring), Public Health (all the diseases that humans can get from animals--yikes), Intro to Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia, and Clinical Medicine. Oh, and my latest cooking repertoire now includes kangaroo steak, homemade chicken pot pie, and a few Asian dishes! I’m getting brave & creative in the kitchen now. Lol. Also, went out yesterday to celebrate Singapore National Day with Cheryl’s medical society. We ended up eating Malaysian food. I had a coconut drink that tasted like a snow cone and a milkshake (without the ice cream or milk) called chendol—was pretty good. Also went to a pub later that night but only had sprite because I don’t like beer and the bartenders didn’t know how to make any mixed drinks. Overall, it was a nice evening out away from the books.

Moving House

2006-07-15T10:36:00.000+10:00

Yesterday afternoon, we finally moved out of our moldy and stinky house. I'm so relieved to be out of there. Now, we are living in a small but nice 2 bedroom apartment. The only smell now is that of fresh paint. It’s convenient now being so close to the grocery store and church. :) The move went relatively well except in the end when one of the movers (the owner) became very hot tempered because we didn't have exact change, wanted him to replace the dryer door that he broke, and he couldn't get out of our apartment building. I guess cheap service doesn't include common curtsey. Oh well. Just glad everything is done. Now all the unpacking begins.

Also, forgot to mention that I went to Coffs Harbour last week to attend Cheryl's tae kwon do tournament. I had fun watching all the competitors. One could feel the adrenaline in the air. I even found myself very nervous and excited when it came time for Cheryl's fight. Lol, now I know how my parents feel when they spent all those years watching us kids play in sports! ;)

After the tournament, we spent the remainder of the week sightseeing which included a banana plantation, candy maker, carob factory, clog barn, the butterfly house, and a trip to the BIG W. (It reminded me a lot of Wal-mart, but is actually a Woolworths instead.) It was a good relaxing week after final exams. :)

Finals

2006-06-16T11:06:00.000+10:00

Studying for finals...got 8 of them--oy vey.

Last week of lectures & good news

2006-06-09T15:54:00.000+10:00

This week was the last week of formal lectures before finals. Got a good grade on my microbiology paper…the professor’s words were, “Fabulous essay Evelyn—well done.” Sure felt good hearing that! Ended up celebrating the good week with Cheryl at a Vietnamese place for dinner (had tasty beef noodle soup) followed by gelato for dessert—hmmm good.

Life is full of sweet surprises...

2006-06-01T22:09:00.000+10:00

Surprise 1: I was running late one rainy and cold morning and despite it all, I stopped for a brief moment and “wow,” there was just something so amazing and beautiful the way the rain fell that morning. The rain drops seemed to sparkle with sunlight and dance their way around me as they fell to the ground. In an instant, I was in another world.

Surprise 2: On another morning, I saw 10-15 Rainbow Lorikeets eating bread amongst 50 or so pigeons in the park. Their bright, beautiful, and small bodies were such a sharp contrast to the plump and poofy pigeons that normally feed in the park, and yet none of that seemed to matter…all of them ate peacefully.

Surprise 3: I got roses from by best friend for no reason at all. :) It’s been a good week. I thank God for life’s sweet surprises.

Congrats

2006-05-22T08:00:00.000+10:00

Congrats to my brother David on his UT graduation! David, I’m so proud of you!
Your sis,
Evy

To know love is to be loved

2006-05-14T15:26:00.000+10:00

Today I’d like to make tribute to all the amazing women and mothers in my life. To my mom, grandmothers, aunts, friends, and teachers out there—I admire all of you. You give so much yet expect so little in return. The words “thank you” are simply not big enough to express my immense gratitude for all of your love, support, patience, guidance, prayers, and friendship. God bless you all.
Love always,
Evelyn

Puffy Face, but still Smiling

2006-02-24T14:23:00.000+11:00

I did my stint with the humane society in Mississippi. My main job was anaesthetist (very stressful) and monitoring post op recovery. Only poked myself once with a needle and all my patients survived surgery. Overall, got some good experience though. On my last night, I stayed by myself in Memphis, TN and saw a little bit of Graceland—the Elvis mansion, Heartbreak Hotel and rode in a pink pig limo to a restaurant called Marlowes and had some of their famous pork BBQ. This week, I also had all 4 of my wisdom teeth taken out. Now, I know how the animals must feel waking up from anaesthesia! I look like a blonde chipmunk now. The best news of the week is Buster is going back with me to Oz—woo hoo! (We had his blood retested and turns out it must have been a lab error!) Thank goodness!

Winter in Sugar Land

2006-02-12T15:25:00.000+11:00

Katherine and I had a sleep over like old times a couple of nights ago at the beach. Too cold and windy for sunbathing, but we still had a good time hanging out and talking about girly stuff. Today, I saw Firewall with my parents. We ended up getting free movie passes because it was supposed to be closed captioned with a rear window, but the theatre didn’t have all their equipment in yet. Btw, went on a date last night. It was supposed to be just coffee, but turned into dessert and drinks. We had a nice time and talked a lot about stuff that would be considered “taboo” on a first date! Lol. Not expecting anything given my school obligations, but it’s nice to know they’re still some nice guys out there! :)

Nothin Like the Country

2006-02-08T18:36:00.000+11:00

Last weekend I visited my Mammaw and Pappaw. Every time I visit them, I always feel relaxed. I even lose track of time and sleep soundly. Something about being surrounded by the woods and all of nature’s beauty gives me a sense of inner peace. I had a wonderful time chatting, taking nature walks, learning surgical knots from Dr. Tommy, eating good venison, sipping tea by the fire, and most of all spending time with my loved ones!

Keep Austin Weird

2006-01-30T16:02:00.000+11:00

I spent this past weekend visiting my grandparents and David in Austin. All of us had a really nice time. We dined at some of the favorite restaurants of UT students—Kerby Lane Café and Shady Grove. My favorite place that David took us to was a coffee shop on a big lake. It had this huge outdoor wrap around patio with old trees and an incredible view. Later that night, we went to a popular bar called the “Hole in the Wall” and it really was, but we still had a nice time listening to very loud music played by men in their 40’s, laughing, and kickin’ back a few drinks with my folks and David’s girlfriend, Katrina. Mom and us kids even had shots together. It sure was fun!

What kind of soul are you?

2006-01-27T17:11:00.000+11:00

You Are a Prophet Soul

You are a gentle soul, with good intentions toward everyone.
Selfless and kind, you have great faith in people.
Sometimes this faith can lead to disappoinment in the long run.
No matter what, you deal with everything in a calm and balanced way.

You are a good interpreter, very sensitive, intuitive, caring, and gentle.
Concerned about the world, you are good at predicting people's feelings.
A seeker of wisdom, you are a life long learner looking for purpose and meaning.
You are a great thinker and communicator, but not necessarily a doer.

Souls you are most compatible with: Bright Star Soul and Dreaming Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Strength in many forms

2006-01-25T13:55:00.000+11:00

Someone told me yesterday that I was one of the strongest people they know. It’s nice to know that I’m admired for my strength, but there are many others out there much stronger than I whom I admire a great deal.

I do not know my fate,
but I know I’m destined for something great.
Many paths I will travel.
And when it feels like life is about to unravel,
I draw my strength from deep within my soul
and from all those I know.
I owe my life,
my love, to all my family and friends
and God above.

There’s no place like Texas

2006-01-18T22:41:00.000+11:00

It’s great to be back in the good ol’ USA. (I came home for Christmas/summer break and will be heading back to Oz on March 1st.) Since I’ve been home, I’ve been keeping busy catching up with family and friends, dog training, and preparing for my trip to Mississippi in February where I will be doing some veterinary volunteer experience with the Humane Society. I can’t wait.

Last weekend, a good friend came to visit me from L.A. We had a blast eating good Texas food, walking along the beach, watching movies, and chatting into the wee hours of the night.