The Weekday

I would wake up at half past 6, shower, breakfast and walk to the department.
My housemates rose later so I rarely get to see them before I leave.
Anyway, I like my morning walk to the department.
The department being at the other end of the ground is compensated by big trees lining the pathway.

I would change in the nurse locker room and make my way to the meeting room.
To be honest the time between 730am to the end of the meeting is the time where I am nervous.
Being alone never scare me except during these time.
I would stand at the corner and look straight ahead because I understand no German and the meeting is conducted fully in German.
I hate not knowing so I guess it's the fact that everybody in the room knows the substance of discussion except me that trigger the out of place dilemma.
Plus, I have never been to any department meeting in my life as a medical student.
And then, I am here in my first meeting, conducted in a language alien to me.
I calculated over the trivia thing like, should I sit at the chair or when I am sitting in one, I felt guilty.
Whatever, I'm glad it has long past.

After the meeting I'd darted to the basement to swap my uniform with a new fresh one or I'll just go around Zenker as a small vampire.
I had the option to be in the ward meeting but I opted out of it because it's also in German.
Actually, the exchange is wonderful but because I know no German, it's quite significant let down.

Blood taking is the very thing that they expect you to do.
On the day I went to Europa Park with the girls, I went to the department solely to do the blood taking before I head for the train station.
No complaints there because I like it when I have something to do.
Since I am in surgery department, I made countless visit to the operation room.

On my first week, I just go into any operation room that I fancy and stay at the anesthesiologist side.
The thing that I love about doing internship in Germany is that you get to do many practical things, and I am offered to scrub in.
The surgeons are generally willing to teach me and answer my questions, saved for one or two. =p
Starting from second week, my name is assigned for surgeries, which means I can ditch the ward works and scrub in to assist.
Problem is I was not given the password to access the system (I asked for it and the man rejected my request) and the OS is in German so I made a lot of hopeful guess.
I had to bother others to help me and it ain't comfortable for both parties. I got scolded once just because I kindly ask for a doctor with a please to put in the password so that I can check at what time is the surgery (sometimes they move the time so you have to check). She was writing discharge letter and I had disturb her concentration.

I learned to scrub in by Dr Siepe and Minchen because they do it differently in Germany.
"Put your head as far away from the pipe when washing your hands"
"too high, too low"
"put your hands together and away from your chest"
Oh, I discover my glove size to be 6.
And after gowning, go latch youself to the side o the patient and put your hands on your epigastric or rest them on the patient.
I shall make a post solely about assisting.

If I am not in the operation room, I'll find things to do in the ward.
Mostly, they are written on the board in the doctor's room.
ECG
Vigo
Full blood taking for new admission
and that's all. Not much.
So I resorted to practise suturing in my second week and trying to translate the patient files.
Translating documented German papers is quite ok since German has many similar words to English.

Usually if there's no operation, or anything else to do, and Dr Reinisch is there it's "go away and enjoy the sun"
and I'll gladly pack up and walk out into the sun.
I usually go to Old town and discover new things or go home and surf the net.
That's the minus thing about beng the only exchange student in the department.
I'd love to go and play in Seepark and doing group things.

So that pretty sums up my weekday.