Lost in the pacific.

Helicopter ride photos

2009-10-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

The new room

2009-09-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

Finally, here it is. The location is what is costing so much.

Where I live now

2009-09-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

I will not be posting until next week, because unfortunately due to my lovely roommate who almost managed to mess up my possible medical career. Since he caused such a mess that I have to move to another destination.

Stay tuned!

Back in the States

2009-09-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

Time to kick off a new semester. We'll actually I'm 1.5 weeks into the new semester already.

I had to come here a few weeks earlier before the semester started since I had two exams to complete in order to get two of my summer classes finished.

This weekend I'll start telling a story about a certain roommate who happens to be the biggest stereotype of American bad drinking habits & stupid behavior ever to be reported.

What I'll try to do differently this fall in my entries to this blog:

1) More entries
- About life in general
- Hawaiian history
- Current affairs
- Random entries information about health issues etc. etc.
2) More pictures, due to complaints back home for not doing so.
3) ???
4) Profit

Diamond head:

Broaden your knowledge.

2009-04-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

Got some nice stuff to read from amazon today.

Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies -- and What It Means to Be Human [Paperback]
By: Joel Garreau
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767915038

The Scientific Conquest of Death (Paperback)
By: Immortality Institute
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/98756113528

The Immortal Cell: One Scientist's Quest to Solve the Mystery of Human Aging [Hardcover]
By: Michael D. West
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385509286

More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement (Hardcover)
by Ramez Naam
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767918436

Entertaining stuff to read for the next two weeks!

Cost of education

2009-04-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

I just feel like I have post about something, so I'll write about a topic that keeps coming up on my mind.

The cost of getting a M.D. from here in the states is quite... expensive.

First getting your bachelor's degree will cost the following per year:

Tuition 14000 - 38000
Living expenses 500*8=4000
Food 300*8=2400
Insurance 1200
Books & Supplies 2500

24100 - 48100 dollars per year. Multiply that by 4 -> 85600 - 192400 dollars total. Quite the amount, eh?

Then the medical phase, oh boy.
3
Quoted from the Johns Hopkins Medical School site: "Applicants who do not hold a permanent visa or an immigrant visa are not eligible for financial aid due to federal restrictions on the use of most of the loan funds that support the financial aid program. Due to these limitations, qualified international students will be issued conditional acceptance into the School of Medicine under the following terms: On or before July 1 of the year of matriculation, the accepted student must deposit in an escrow account to be established in the State of Maryland under the terms acceptable to The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine funds sufficient to meet all tuition, mandatory fees, and living expenses for the anticipated period of enrollment. (In case of tuition increases for future year, accepted students will be billed for additional charges as they become due). The current escrow amount for four years of medical education is approximately $252,000 US currency."

Compared to back home, that's quite the difference.

The whole Finnish model is completely different, get in, you're in. Over here during the bachelor phase you need a GPA of around 3.7 = 88-92% depending on your class, and that's the minimum, which means you're risking it.

What's causing the problem then? The stupid economy. Because everything is going so bad several states are limiting the opportunity of foreign students to enroll, great...
No more scholarships are being offered as well.

Oh well, enjoying my time while I can. :-)

exactly 1 month until this semester is over.

Going through the heart & circulation at the moment, fun times.

Life lessons

2009-04-02T00:45:00.000-07:00

Hey hey hey,

No long post coming, I have to go sleep soon since I have to wake around 0300 to write my paper.

lovely exam about cell metabolism, focusing on sugars over.

I have to say I stopped drinking sodas after reading a bit too much outside the area, High Fructose Corn (Cancer) Syrup is honestly the worst thing in the western diets these days, I am not going to start lecturing here, I don't have the credentials nor the interest, if you want to learn then do the research yourself.

I haven't sorted out all the pictures yet, but I had to post one that I took when I stepped out of the building where I was taking my exam at.

Writing a damn paper before I go sleep, fun times.

This is the first thing I see every morning when I step out of the door.

A fat samoan guy living in section 8 housing (housing for poor people). I think that the guy is still alive is more impressive than the mountains in the background.

Which view would you prefer? Comment.

Lesson: Don't touch coral reefs, because they tend to be sharp.

Busy man

2009-03-24T23:54:00.000-07:00

Been busy, going to make a huge post on Sunday + upload pictures!

Spring break defines relaxation.

Midterms done

2009-03-04T01:07:00.001-08:00

Wohoo! I feel great, all midterms went great.
3xA
1xA-
1xB-something

I planned on sleeping tonight, but my math teacher decided to give us a huge load of problems that are of course due on Wednesday.

6-pack of mountain dew and 20 problems.. Starting now.

Going to be tired tomorrow. I feel like complaining about the huge increase we're getting on the tuition, but I just can't bother. I am seeing the Dean on Friday with people from the student council to discuss the topic.

Problems in paradise, it's been raining for 2 weeks in a row.

Hope everyone's doing great back home. ;)

---Edit----

Great, finished early. It's 04:01 and I am going to sleep now.

Done for the week

2009-02-28T02:36:00.000-08:00

Well everything went as planned.

I'll post more later today.

Time spent writing papers, sitting in lectures, reading in the library and doing exams: 68 hours in 5 days.
Drinking 6 shots after biology midterm: 20minutes.

Feeling great.

Biology: Cytoskeleton and cellular respiration to go.

2009-02-27T00:46:00.000-08:00

Well, nice week... Fucking tired as shit, I fell asleep today for 3 hours from 1500 to 1800.

Think I have to pull out an allnighter to study for tomorrow's exam.

Remembering that and every other thing what's happening etc. + all the other stuff I have to remember, going to be hard.

Back to studying.

Lovely week

2009-02-24T00:59:00.000-08:00

Midterms.

This week:
3 exams
3 papers

Enough said.

Small rant incoming.

Gotta complain a bit: Honestly what the fuck? I found out most motored wheelchairs here in America are sold to people who are MORBIDLY OBESE!? Not to those with disabilities. I mean what the hell. I've seen so many obese white people within the last week that I honestly am getting a reaction to exercise twice as much to stay in decent shape - I don't ever want to resemble people like that. God...

Posting on Saturday when I have recovered from my drinking night.

So what's this whole premedicine thing anyway?

2009-02-20T15:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, I thought I would post some information what I am studying.

Becoming a doctor in the Usa is completely different compared to Finland. First thing you have to do is study premedicine, which basically is a Biology/Biochemistry/Chemistry degree with plenty of extra classes related to the human body. This basically equals studying A LOT of human anatomy & physiology + living in the laboratories trying to understand how things actually work. The goal during this part is to get a bachelor's degree in science before proceeding / applying to clinical phase in medical school.

Getting the first part done generally takes 2.5 - 5 years, depending on the pace. The degree consists of the following:

a) General education (social sciences, English, mathematics, computer science). Since university is seen as the place where people get civilized, unlike high school back home. Though this is only around 10% of the whole degree.

b) Lower division science courses, which are biology, biochemistry, chemistry and physics. 40% of the whole degree.

c) Upper division, honestly pretty much studying only human a&p. 50% of the whole degree.

My current study plan is made for 3 years, meaning I'm pretty much know what I'll be doing for the time; sitting in the damn library. During the first 1.5 years I will get my general education + most lower division courses done, after which I will move towards my upper division courses. The goal at the moment is to graduate in 2011 winter, take a 9 month break from university before going to medical school. So basically I have to write my seminar paper during the summer of 2011. Great... In order to make sure I do actually get it done, I will come to Finland for the summer.

In the spring of 2010 I will start working random jobs at the hospital, though most likely working in the laboratory, while occasionally observing certain producedures done by doctors.

I have to take the entire 2010 summer off, because then I will be studying for my MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), which consists of my lower & certain upper division courses. Once again spending the time in Finland.

The medical school part will take 3-4 years, 95% do it in 4 years. So if all goes like planned I will graduate in spring 2016. Talk about a long time.

Anyway, I am quite happy I decided to leave to the states, honestly the best decision in years!!!

Oh another thing, consuming vast amounts of sugar here in the United states is almost as easy as avoiding sun in Finland during the 'kaamos' time. I realized like the first 2 weeks I was here I was getting around 300g of sugar per day... Now that is A LOT! Decided to start preferring water. Can't be fat at the beach. Though I do know one guy who would be in heaven in this place with the extremely cheap soda prices.

I'll post some pictures of Hawaii on my next post.

Busy man

2009-02-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

Well it’s been over one month since my previous post, yes I am sorry for that.

What can I say about the time I’ve spent here?

Study
Beach
Party
Workout
Sleep

That basically sums up what I have been doing the last month.

I went to the Hanauma bay yesterday with Eric, Kelsey and Melisa. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side. I got down to the beach before the others since I did not have to watch the introduction/safety video. Anyway, I was just standing there when I saw a huge "fog" approaching, meaning a huge storm was approaching. Everyone else started running away from the beach, but yours truly just stood there. The rain just started pouring down like nothing I had never experienced anything before. All my clothes got soaking wet, I was feeling like I was suffering from hypothermia from the 30 second shower I got.

We were snorkeling while I felt something really odd on my calf, I decided to surface, but unfortunately just as I got above surface A HUGE wave hit me on the side of my face. So my piece of crap snorkeling mask broke by the impact! All the salt water that I got on my face caused me to swipe in a panic for just a second. I managed to get huge cuts on my right foot, left hand and right hand, because I managed to "swipe" them against some coral. When I got out of the water Eric pointed out that my hands were bleeding a lot, so I took a long and noticed that my hands / wrists completely covered in blood, so I went to see the lifeguard for some bandages+rubbing alcohol. I should have taken a picture of his face when he saw my hans completely covered in blood. :) These cuts in my hands are most likely going to leave scars to show people. Emo?

University is going great, managed to get all A's so far, but quite understandable with the amount of time I'm putting in. Had my Biology midterm in which I scored 99%. Highest in class, talk about a good feeling.

Yesterday I attended the Valentine's Day Waikiki Pub Crawl, rough night. All I can say, I did my share of the drinking and partying. Fun times.

Replies toquestions I got from Fission.

Q:How's the pressure?
A: I didn't realize at first how much time I have to put in, constant reading; meaning a minimum of 3-4 hours per day is to required to stay on top of all my classes. It's all good now.

Q: How is the place, people, friends, school, weather, color of the grass, and of course the local beer?
A: This place is absolutely a paradise. The people have been just great, made a lot of friends; nationatilies really do vary a lot. The weather is a constant 29'c every day; sunny and a nice ocean breeze. I was so surprised to find out that the grass is GREEN here! The local Kona brew beers are decent.

Q: Are you used to the new environment?
A: Yeah, got used to the enviroment, starting to realize how things work around here. I know to start looking over my shoulder when I hear "look at that fucking hauli" (hauli means white man).

Q: Overall feeling?
A: Everything is great. I love this place. Best decision in years.

I'll start posting photos next week, since I will be receiving my camera + underwater camera.
Going scuba diving next weekend so I will have to post A LOT of photos.

I am going to start updating this blog on Wednesdays and Sundays from now on.

Trip Here & First impression

2009-01-14T15:15:00.000-08:00

Well here I am on American soil. Honestly I am feeling so weird, I’ve been travelling since 05:40 this morning, and now it’s 14:57. Doesn’t sound so bad, but realizing the time zone has changed from +2 to -7. This means I have been travelling 05:40 – 23:57. Only 17h17mins. Sleep? I decided to sleep when I noticed the time was 04:00 in Hawaii during my lovely 11h flight, A four hour nap, or more likely 1h naps with 15min breaks between them helped me get some kind of sleeping rhytm.

Anyway, lets go back a bit. Everything went great at Helsinki airport, I have to praise them for that. Smooth and no hassle. Well, then I arrived to Heathrow. Oh boy. I was extremely happy when I looked at the time , unbelievable, 30mins early in London?! Well, it ended up in the plane being 40minutes late, leading to me running for my life in order to make it to the San Francisco flight.

Security

London Heathrow

After running like crazy from Terminal 1 to Terminal 5. I got to the check in; last call, everything went great until a security guard calls my name from behind and tells me I have to attend a random security check. I have no problem with security, but it really makes me wonder that why am I always pulled away from the queue for a more ”intensive” search? I have no criminal record, excellent academic records, never had any problem with the police. There I was standing in my boxers + undershirt… Thinking what has one of my siblings done to get me into this trouble.

San Francisco

I heard the U.S security has really tightened its grip. I was almost sure I would get pulled from the queue as usual… Well of course. First of all I was taken to a separate line, with all the muslims & people who would usually be prejudiced. Well first the normal checkup, Then they wiped all my items for possible residues from toxic materials, what? I had to walk through a machine that blew air so hard that anyt lethal residues would be identified. To give some impression how the hard the air was blowing -> my t-shirt ended up going almost over my head. There I was doing what they asked, extremely confused. They also wanted to go through my laptop’s data, no idea why, but they browsed through everything..

I must say, I am rather confused about the american government spending vast amounts of money in security to nullify possible threats, but if it targets people like me; makes me kind of confused. I wouldn’t hurt a fly. I am going to become a doctor to help people, not hurt them in anyway.

It is no longer random checkups when I am always pulled from the queue for the longest possible inspection.

I am guessing though that I always look a bit weird since I’ve always been up for like 30 hours when spending time at American airports.

Conclusion: Security is important, but target screening needs improving.

Observations

P.S. Security rating SSSS on all my US tickets, always circled in red. Have I done something that I do not know of in the past? I did see some other Finn being checked really thorougly, he wasn’t as neutral about it as I were though.

I must say after spending time at the beach, that it seems like overall Finnish women are prettier and have better bodies than their American counterparts. The extreme case: I saw this woman who probably weighed around 200 kilos, really massive. Then these two girls passed by, and the other one said "titta ett val" while pointing at the woman, I almost died laughing. Swedes are rude.

Added Feb 16th: American women are fatter. 'Nuf said.

Hawaiian Weather > Helsinki