the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

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Brun Ugle
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Re: the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

Postby Brun Ugle » Thu Apr 06, 2017 5:53 am

I've been wondering where all my energy went. It looks like you have it.

I agree with you about those German adjectives. It's just nuts.
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Re: the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

Postby blaurebell » Thu Apr 06, 2017 7:19 am

Brun Ugle wrote:I agree with you about those German adjectives. It's just nuts.


Whenever my husband asks me German grammar questions I realise how lucky I am that I got this one for free :D
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Cavesa
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Re: the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

Postby Cavesa » Thu Apr 06, 2017 8:03 am

Brun Ugle wrote:I've been wondering where all my energy went. It looks like you have it.

I agree with you about those German adjectives. It's just nuts.


No energy, just the power of procrastination.

Dermatovenerology is nuts. And the examinator I am going to is even worse. Really, the ugliest insides of the human body are still better than a thousand skin deseases which look all the same. And disgusting.

Fortunately, I got some fun resources, like a book by an author with a great sense of humor. His quote of an anonymous wise person: "The dermatologist's art is giving a disease a long Greek name... and then a topical steroid." May I just learn Ancient Greek instead, please? :-D

Only one resource is fun, and two are bearable, as they are in French and needed for the huuuuge exam next year. The Czech resources are as usual. Dry, written without having students on mind (ok, there are exceptions to the rule, but the dermatovenerology textbook is not one of them). But there are great disgusting photos that make learning in public transport more enjoyable :-D :-D :-D

Last year, he kicked me out because I didn't know the structure of the hair follicle in enough detail for his taste. Guess what? Neither do the textbooks for medicine students! I will never need that much detail. He didn't even let me progress to the questions I actually was clueless about.

P.S. I opened the horrible chapter. Ok, the one resource the professor wrote includes the damn follicle in detail. But if I am supposed to learn every sentence this maniac wrote, I can as well give up on studying medicine. I feel like a balrog. I shall not pass :-D Please, let me learn Ancient Greek instead. Or Mandarin, that could still be easier.
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Re: the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

Postby Cavesa » Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:39 pm

I hate dermatovenerology.

It is disgusting, annoying, and superficial. (Yes, I know that "superficial" is the whole point of this medicine branch.) I didn't learn any German this weekend, with ambitious plans to learn this whole crap. Every time I open it, I get angry. One library copy of the textbook bears two handwriten notes on the first page:

1. Only Chuck Norris can read this book.

2. "Even I had trouble with it, I've read it only twice." Chuck Norris

I hate it. Please, let me learn Arabic or Mandarin instead. Both might be more useful in my future medical profession than this. All I need to know is: If it is red and itches or the skin seems to be falling apart, don't touch and send it to a dermatologist. After all, dermatology staff are quite common clients at the occupational medicine clinics.

It will be sad to finish the medicine martyrium due to dermatology.
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Re: the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

Postby Atinkoriko » Sun Apr 09, 2017 7:50 pm

I don't know if this would help but I think I got the hang of adjective declination [and the declensions in general] by mostly ignoring them and just focusing on 'noticing' the endings whenever I read anything. If I was confused, I'd glance briefly at a declension table to be sure that I was noticing correctly. I did this on a case by case basis ie read something, wonder about the word ending and then look it up without worrying about the other endings I didn't know yet.
Then, after a while I got a 'feeling' that certain endings were correct and some weren't. Then, whenever I wrote native speakers on HelloTalk, I'd check one more time to confirm that I was using the right ending. Now, after going through this process many times, the endings feel quite natural to me.

However, if you aren't already doing FSI, you might want to check out the drills . I took the time to check and you can find the adjective declination drills in Unit 7 of the FSI Basic German course, specifically the substitution drill part I and part II. :)
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Cavesa
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Re: the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

Postby Cavesa » Sun Apr 30, 2017 6:50 pm

April has been bad for my studies.

What I did: some real studying (both langauges) at the beginning of the month. Approximately 1/4 of the april srs challenge. Two seasons of superhero series in Italian (which started interfering with my Spanish immediately. It's good next seasons of my beloved Marvel series are not gonna air any time soon).

Bad for my medicine studies too.

I've heard such a concentration of discouragement lately! And it has been getting to me. I am trying to get through this. It's just that I would need some inner reserves for it, that had been depleted long ago. Discouragement everywhere and I am quite tired. There are a few supportive people close to me, but the balance is still not reestablished.

I could do with a study buddy but it seems like all my quests are a bit lonely ones. Perhaps I trully am aiming too high, considering my abilities, and live the worthless crappy life of a young czech doctor. I hate it.

At least my langauge related ones can be more of a group activity, that is one of the things I value the most about this community. Thanks for being around!

That is what I have mentioned on the "improving learning capacity" thread. Support from the people around you can do much more than any vitamins, even more than sufficient amounts of sleep. Too little of such support is a bigger blow than eating crap.

.......
As a sequel to where I left the log: I cannot take another course on, like FSI, I have enough on my plate. My courses will work, if only I get through them.
.....
Another new month, another wave of resolutions. Let's see how far I get this time.
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Re: the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

Postby tarvos » Sun Apr 30, 2017 6:59 pm

Je mi lito slyšet že máš tolik problémů s učením. Ale mám dojem že nelibí se ti studovat medicinu, i méně ten akademický život, který je spojený s tím životem. Nebude lépe soustředit se na studovaní, nebo jazyků nebo mediciny? Potom se můžeš vrátit na ten jiný předmět.
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Re: the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

Postby DaveBee » Sun Apr 30, 2017 10:31 pm

Cavesa wrote:Another new month, another wave of resolutions. Let's see how far I get this time.
Get a good night's sleep, then wake up and pomodoro like a Rock Star!
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Cavesa
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Re: the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

Postby Cavesa » Mon May 01, 2017 9:10 pm

DaveBee wrote:
Cavesa wrote:Another new month, another wave of resolutions. Let's see how far I get this time.
Get a good night's sleep, then wake up and pomodoro like a Rock Star!


Thanks! Exactly what I needed! I am trying!

Tarvos, thanks for the attempt. But that is exactly what I am hearing around here all the time. And to a larger extent. I cannot stop my life for as many years as necessary to get my slave diploma. I want to live, but I have to start making money soon, and abroad (there is no future here). Of course I hate being a medicine student. Who would love being worthless? Who would love to keep sacrifying their own health, time, and opportunities without any reward or even respect? You read the czech news, look at the opinions about young doctors and medicine students, do you really think those people make me desire to help them? :-D But I cannot simply choose and leave this. There is no other honorable way out than finishing this hell. There would be no way back, I am already far too old. But thanks.

I might like the job of a doctor one day, perhaps. I hope. I've gotten a glimpse at this option in France. But then I returned to the powerpoint land, where I am expected to be grateful for this crap they call medical education here.

Just in case I don't like it, I need a lot of langauge certificates, as that is the only valuable part of my CV. :-D :-D :-D
..............
Pomodoro and coffee seems to be a powerful combination. German (6wc) and oncology are tonight's program.
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Re: the Diaries of a Caffeinated Squirrel

Postby the1whoknocks » Tue May 02, 2017 5:29 am

I hope nothing I write here reads as offensive or presumptuous.

Cavesa wrote:At least my langauge related ones can be more of a group activity, that is one of the things I value the most about this community. Thanks for being around!

That is what I have mentioned on the "improving learning capacity" thread. Support from the people around you can do much more than any vitamins, even more than sufficient amounts of sleep. Too little of such support is a bigger blow than eating crap.


This reminded me of a scene from a series named The West Wing, that I watched a few years ago. In this particular scene, one of the main characters tells a story:

This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in the hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts out, “hey you, can you help me out?”. The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down the hole, and moves on.

Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts out, “hey Father, I’m down in this hole, can you help me out?” The Father writes a prayer, throws it in the hole, and moves on.

Then a friend walks by. “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?” The friend jumps down in the hole. Our guy says, “are you stupid, now were both down here.” The friend says, “yeah, but I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out”


That story sums up much of what I think about true friends, and others who may have found themselves in similar situations that you’ll face. They’re there to get down in the hole with you, and often, just their presence is enough to make a difference.

Still, I believe there are questions and situations that even they won’t be able to help us with. Sadly, I would have to admit to being more like the doctor or priest from the above story, since I don't really know you. Still, from what I read of your log, you’ve often had periods of love and hate regarding the study of medicine. Usually when you're tired, it seems. I’ve written before about how much your work ethic inspires me. It’s this work ethic that would allow me to state confidently that I believe you could do whatever you decide to do. At the risk of being wrong, the pertinent question, to me, is; what do you want? Really?

A while back, I was struggling with my decision to finish my bachelors; much easier than getting a medical degree. Nonetheless, I was constantly sleep deprived, cranky, had little leisure time and felt like I was living at work or in the library. It felt downright miserable sometimes. I talked it out with a few friends. My family saw what was going on. Many weighed in on the whole thing. At the end of the day, I concluded that only the answer to one question truly mattered; do I want this? Once I could truly answer, “yes” to that question, the only thing left to do was to go get it.

Just to bore you a bit more, I came across an excerpt from one of Theodore Roosevelt’s speeches that he gave in Paris. There is a lot of good and a lot of bad to be said about this past US President, but something he wrote rang true to me when I was being told by many what I can’t and shouldn’t do. Ill paste it below.

The Man in the Arena:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.


I think that there are times when people, however well intentioned, are simply unable to meet us where we’re at. In these moments, the thoughts we choose to harbor, what we believe about ourselves, and our resolve to persevere are key. My friends still studying medicine always seem to be scrambling to meet some deadline, or make some plan happen, and often question themselves once a week, maybe twice on Sundays. You guys have my respect for all that studying and other random stuff you must do to be successful in your field.

btw, I agree with you about those dermatology pictures.
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