CultureShock Family... DC

Ahh, so like i finally met some of the funky youth of the DC District when i went to the Company Class of CultureShock DC... man, dope dope dope bunch of people! Great class by this dude with really funky movement, it was all like from the hips.. which peeps who know me, know i LOVE! And they're all so friendly. Went and hung out in this funky lil restaurant after, was kinda an uptown crowd and we were all there in street clothes, but hey. The whole lack of a car caught up with me: Managed to loose track of time and miss the last metro train home.. but CultureShockers always treat u like family and these guys are SOO nice..Jonaki and Simone drove me all the way from the city back to Bethesda in Maryland - they're officially two of my favourite people in DC right now! Oh and i'm gona be teaching CultureShock DC Company Class next Thursday and also teaching a group at Maryland College, so i'm super hyped bout that!

PS - American healthcare/dental care OFFICIALLY sucks!! I need some treatment that's apparently gona cost like $1200 - $1500! My insurances covers me for medical upto 10 million quid, but dental only $300. So ALLOW paying $1000 for some tooth work.. with a lil praying.. hopefully some strong antibiotics will cover me till i get back to the UK!

Filthy...

Wow.. i mean WOW. So i visited the house of this specialist surgeon i'm shadowing out here in the states.. OMG.. this house was like, man, i've never even SEEN the inside of a house like that. My "guest room" was like the size of a HALL! We're talking massive flat screen 55" TVs in every rooms, high tech electronic lighting and controls thruout the house, an array of top notch cars and motorbikes in the multiple garage. I just can't imagine living like that. Yeh i know medicine can be lucrative, but i mean that was just plain old stinking filthy richness i never realised u could achieve from medicine. Dont get me wrong, i'm totally not bothered about money in a career.. i wanna do something i'm passionate about.. but DAYAMN! The US healthcare system is APPAULING for the 'people'.. but it works out GREAT for the Doctors!!!

"..When it stops being fun, i'll quit..."

So characters in medicine are always interesting, right. You got ur surgeons, ur 'Typical' egocentric, arrogant, patronising, u-know-whats.. but then today i met probably one of the most inspiring surgeons i've ever met. I mean if u spoke to him, u wudnt even realise he was a doctor he was SOO down to earth. I mean he even had lunch with us all; nurses, technicians.. he was bored, so he drove round the block and got us all vanilla ice cream! Of course, subsequent to that, most of my time was with the more 'typical' surgeons, but my brief exposure to him was inspiring. He had the whole ethos that you should have a joke whilst learning medicine and most importantly, he said "Whatever job you're gona do, you gotta enjoy it and it's gotta be fun.. my theatre is always a fun place.. The day this job stops being fun, i'm going to quit." So yeh, those are my words of wisdom for now!

Medicine...

So first day of my medical rotation and guess what, i only got ONE shoe in my suitcase! So i pitch up to the huge high class surgical centre in shirt, tie, white coat and phat farm Trainers!! But it's ok.. they're all pretty chilled out here. Being a clinical med student is, well being a clinical med student anywhere - waiting around for most of the day till someone has time to talk to u. But it was cool, met various members of the staff and got shown round the huge hotel-like clinics, polus the secretary runs out and brings u lunch, which today was a MacDonalds, so it aint all bad! 2mrw I start properly... 7:30am.. damn those early mornin starts that Surgeons just love! Ok i'm off to meet some dancers in DC and find some leather loafers!
/// song of the moment "All in All" by The Calling ///

Downtown

So today i take a trip downtown to DC... let's see what this place is like...

TIMEOUT on Washington:
"Though the city welcomes about 19 million visitors a year, its first priority is the business of government, making it a very different destination. Visitors experience frequent disruptions, from demonstrations to the moment’s notice security-lockdowns that have become a way of life since the 2001 terror attacks which also ended the daily public tours of the White House, once known as ‘the people’s house’."

So then I'm wondering what all the police officers are for.. maybe, i'm just walkin near a police station...

no no, just turns out i take a day trip downtown the same day of a massive anti-war rally...

A rather amusing minority of Pro-Bush supporters made a stand against the overwhelming Anti-bush protestors outside the Hoover FBI building... a rather futile one! ha

So after walking all round the centre of Washington DC, joining in an anti-war rally, eating my standard McDonalds Fillet o'fish, I moved on to some classic shoppin in none other than...

Yeh yeh, i know.. no shoppin right at the start of the trip.. but u can't go into that store and not pick up at least one lil item.. so i got a funky lil shirt =:-p

Capitol Hill in the distance as the sun starts to set on this Sept 24th AntiWar Rally...

Stateside...

I've arrived! Wow, even in the evening the weather's baking here! Bethesda is awesome, staying in a breathtaking condominum with some really warm family in a brilliant part of town. The building itself has like a gym, computer room, pool etc.. it's great! Just getting settled in today and probably explore more of DC over the weekend. Oh and they have Chocolate Covered Pretzels in this country.. ahh, how I missed those!!

Too little time...

Sunday.. CS Rehearsal, same ol same ol. Mmm, so flying out so so soon and what's there to do.. far too few CS rehearsals in Watford, Class with Terry Wright in Watford, TWO assessments at DIFFERENT Hospitals, Dental appointments, shoppin for mom's belated bday present, Choreographer's Ball Tue night, hooking up with peeps before i leave, cleaning up and moving out the flat, packing all my stuff for the trip, gettin all my paperwork, insurance and all that stuff sorted...and plenty plenty more too...! Have I again put myself in a situation of too much to do with too little time by any chance..?! Mmmm.... ARGGGGGGGGGGGGH! Well jst gotta suck it up and get it done.. wish me luck!!!

CultureShock Rehearsal...

The Beginning...

Hey everyone.

So this is my first ever proper online journal, or blog. I set off on my travels next week and figure my friends and family can see how my story unfolds through this site. Really, I should email everyone personally, but I get lazy sometimes...!