Exam week trivia, by blogger of the month Jixi He

I thought I might not have much to say for this last week of blogging due to the exams. We had a bacteriology exam and Hebrew final on Sunday, and biochemistry final on Thursday. However I realized that the excitement of life doesn’t go away during exam’s week as long as I keep my eyes open. Hence I’ve slowed down to smell some roses and gathered some trivia from the past week that’s not related to biochemistry. You know how hard it is:

Photos:
1. We finally got our ASRAN cards – proof that we’re medical students!

















2. My desk before the biochemistry final. Yes, I was multitasking all those books.


















3. Can you guess what is this strange looking UFO building, where I spend most of my daytime before an exam? I bet our library is cooler than yours.















4. The library’s got a great view too: the helicopter pad. A helicopter landed one morning and some soldiers came down with a stretcher just like in a movie. What better place to learn emergency medicine than in Israel?















5. Before the biochemistry final, I spotted the most beautiful sunset on my way to school. Thanks to our NBME exam time (5pm in order to be in sync with North America) I was able to witness this beauty of nature that not everyone can see everyday.

6. After the biochemistry final, my breath was again taken away by the mesmerizing sky with the cotton candy like clouds and an almost-full moon.

7. I found this Chinese rice snack I had always loved as a kid in a nearby supermarket. The excitement was comparable to seeing a long lost childhood friend on a lonely island, and knowing that my friend now speaks Hebrew too.

       8-10. A Shabbat dinner with Chinese food is the best! I’m pleasantly surprised after coming to Israel that I’ve had way more frequent Chinese food gatherings in the past 6 months than my past 6 years in the US. We have much less Chinese students here but probably also because of that; we are a much tighter community. Whenever I get to taste Chinese food I feel like I’m on an express plane back home.

The week before exams, by blogger of the month Jixi He

Luisa's birthday

We like to say time flies when you’re having fun. Well, time flies no matter what you do especially when the exam period is coming up. I can’t believe I’ve already been in Israel for almost half a year now. I know my way around Beer Sheva. I can ask for directions in Hebrew and actually understand the answers. I refer to Soroka as “our hospital”. But I don’t think I’m ready for the exams, even if you give me another 6 months for it. I’ve learned quite a lot this semester but there’s always much more that I don’t know. So this is what we’ve been doing to prepare for the exam…


Luisa’s birthday is coming up. Don’t you dare forget about it! She is teaching the whole class about the biochemical pathways of her existence: You start with 2 substrates-papi and mami, and the enzyme-Luisasynthase, and you get an irreversible conformational change that results in our lovely product-Luisa, who is responsible for making birthday cards, giving our classmates lots of hugs, and keeping everyone happy. This metabolic pathway is positively regulated by love and negatively regulated by sickness on a gloomy day. And there you go; I should pass my biochemistry final after this review session?

Sleepy chaverim (friends)

Sleepy Sam!

How to prevent yourself from falling asleep in class? Fall asleep between classes! Just like how my dear chaverim (“friends” in Hebrew) have demonstrated: a short power nap during the break can improve attention in class and retain 50% more knowledge because you’re not constantly dozing off. Phase II clinical trial pending.

Food before

Food after!

It is absolutely essential to have good energy for better and more efficient studies. The brain takes up only 2% of the body weight but uses more than 20% of our daily energy intake. Let’s take care of that little commander on top with some delicious cafeteria food from the hospital. Beef, carrots, and chicken soup; tastes just like the food I had in China. “It tastes like Chinese” is the best compliment I can give to food. We all might have noticed that we get a little grumpier when we’re hungry. That’s because when we’re hungry the serotonin level drops and this is an important hormone that helps regulate behaviors like anger and aggression. I can definitely tell you that I feel like the happiest person on earth whenever I finish a good meal after a state of starvation. My almost empty plate can tell you that too.

Rainy B7

When you’re busy preparing for exams don’t forget about the little things that can make life beautiful. It’s been pretty rainy and cold in Beer Sheva this past week. Even in this gloomy weather, I still spotted the most beautiful scene at the hospital helicopter field yesterday: a golden sunset against the backdrop of the heavy grey clouds. It brightened up my evening as I walked back home, tired from a whole day of study.

Falafel for Thanksgiving

It’s the 4th Thursday of November. What’s Thanksgiving in Israel like? Falafels! In this cold winter night at the Black Falafel stand, we gathered our friends and family and took turns saying what we were thankful for this past year. I am thankful for my mom, all my friends, this falafel and the fact that I’m in Israel. - blogger of the month, Jixi He

Our First Friendsgiving! by blogger of the month, Jixi He

Preparation!

The third Thursday of November 2014 is not Thanksgiving, neither in Canada nor in America. It is nevertheless the Thanksgiving for this group of people in Beer Sheva, Israel: the MSIH Class of 2018.

It wasn’t very realistic for us to get a turkey because in order to get one you would have to order 2 turkeys from Tel Aviv and someone would have to spend a whole day cooking it. So we decided to go with chickens instead, a brilliant alternative. There were garlic chicken, beer can chicken, and chicken drum sticks. It was a potluck dinner at our classmates’ apartment. I brought crackers and a bowl of pumpkin spice dip, which was described as “orgasmic” by a fellow classmate. But don’t get full on the crackers; there’s more to come!

Brian and Shauna playing Shesh Besh

I wish I had fasted before the dinner when I saw so much delicious food made by my talented classmates: 3 different types of chicken, sushi, Israeli couscous, spicy Indian dish, sweet potato with marsh mellows, pumpkin pie, gluten-free diary-free nut-free chocolate cake, apple pie, and more unlisted. I’ve never been in a class as small, close and intimate as this one where we treat each other like brothers and sisters, even without the sibling rivalry part. There are only 29 of us, small enough to put all of us in one apartment. We tend to each other’s needs like it’s our own—evidence shown as below: the massage train! Who doesn’t love a nice shoulder massage, especially when you can get one in return too?

The night ended with most of my classmates going to watch The Hunger Game. I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving. Even though we’re at a place away from home, we are spending it with our classmates that are just like family.

                                                                                                             

Beer can Chicken

Everyone!  almost....

Kristina makes the best sushi

That's just round 1

Pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream

Massage train!

Our kitty guest

                                                                                                                - blogger of the month, Jixi He