Just a quick update!

I think I'm going to do this update in number form - to keep it simple.

1. I have a histopathology test in 2 days - it's going to be an absolute nightmare.

2. I recently did an immunology presentation to/with some 4th years - I thought it went horribly.

3. I actually came top of the class, sharing a 90% with another guy - not too shabby for my new favorite subject,

4. I'm typing with one hand, I sprained my finger playing ultimate frisbee (I know, weak way to do it). It's buddy taped right now, but if it's not feeling better by morning I'll go buy a splint,

5. I'm starting to look into doing a PhD right out of my BSc, since it's totally possible, and would eliminate the time-consuming Master's step. Thinking maybe UBC or UofT. Of course I love my Brock, but I'm not sure that I will be able to go back to living in a city as small as St. Catharines after living in one as big as Perth.

6. Marianas Trench is sneaking up on Sufjan Stevens in terms of my favorite band - let's see how this plays out.

7. I've got a cold... my bloody CD8+ t lymphocytes need to do their job and kill any virally infected cells, because I'm damn sick of it.

That's it for now, I'm going to sleep, then spend a ridiculous amount of time tomorrow studying pictures of cells...

My new favorite course:

I'm taking a few courses here at Curtin, but I have got to say that my new absolute favorite is Immunology. I honestly didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I do, but it's incredible. 

I tried to learn the immune system for years - and to be honest, I'm still fuzzy on the basics of it. That isn't stopping me from learning advanced therapies and diagnostic techniques. I've already felt like I've completed the course - because there is so much to learn - but I'm excited that more is going to come (like flow cytometry, HIV, etc).

Speaking of HIV, I did a project on it last week (and have to go watch other projects on it this week) but I just wanted to say something regarding it:

There are extremely potent immunotherapies regarding the treatment of an HIV-1 infection... Dear scientific community - let's push these into phase 1 clinical trials - we can save some lives. 

I definitely do not know all the facts, but I'm really excited to learn them. I think I'm going to spend most of this weekend working on immunological research, and reviewing the course material so I can kick this course's butt. My dream would be to do my undergraduate thesis in diagnostic immunology, but I don't think Brock offers any professor who studies the subject - nor do I think I can do my thesis while I'm abroad - I'm going to have to ask around and find out. 

Also:

Here's a picture of my most recent immuno-fixation electrophoresis - which for the non scientific part of my audience (basically 100%) is an immunology test for a patient's blood.

I did this one all by myself - and you can tell it's me, because you can see anti-M-antibodies spilling into the alpha lane. This patient has a monoclonal spike with reduced polyclonal production in the ELP lane, which can be identified as a large production of the IgM Kappa antibody. 

This means that the patient had a cancerous B cell that differentiated into a plasma cell, that just went nuts and produced more, and more, and produced so many antibodies that other antibodies were shut down; this patient is extremely immunocompromised. 

Okay, I've got to study now - I think I want to become an immunologist.

G'day mate

One of the things I expected - and was excited for the most - is the Australian accent. We hear it on TV all the time, and it's probably one of the easiest imitated ones with catch phrases, but what I did not expect, is how different it actually is from my Canadian one. It was actually so different, that I spent at least 3 weeks obsessing over how different it is, and even to this day, when somebody says something that I think is funny, I try to imitate it in their accent; like "shopping trolley."

For the first week or so - I had absolutely no idea what any of my friends were saying. I could catch on once in a while, and I could communicate, but when they were talking to each other, I sometimes just did the "smile and nod" thing (which doesn't always work out). 

Friend: So where in Canada are you from?

Me: *Smiles and nods*

Friend: right...

It seems like down here, they are a lot more lazy with their words. They drop the r's off of the end of words, and add them on other places - like the word No. This is much debated, because the Australians here tell me they don't do it, but every other foreigner agrees with me. 

*In an interesting note - I just found out I do not have lecture today, so I'm just sitting in the lecture hall alone - this is an awesome place to get work done.

Anyways, I really hope to pick up an Australian accent, and I've gotten good at mimicking some of the phrases said by my friends, but to my disappointment, it seems that even if I pick up an accent - as soon as I'm exposed to my regular one, I'll revert back to it. I hope it's a lot like classical conditioning, and that when I'm re-exposed to Australian culture, it will jump right back - but I can at least hold on to the dialect like "shopping trolley".

I've included a handy Canadian - Australian list just so you can see what I'm dealing with

Gas Sation - Servo

Gas - Petrol

Mall - Shopping Centre

Shopping Cart - Shopping Trolley

Garbage - Rubbish Bin

LCBO - Bottle-O

How are you - How ya going?

Candy - Lollies

Popsicles - Icy Poles

Chocolate Milk - Mocha

Sup - G'day

Not to mention everything is pronounced different: Aluminum and Oregano. 

Also, here's a picture of me with a joey. 

One Month!

I've been here for a little over a month now - so I think that warrants a blog update. I haven't been very good at updating it, but that is because my original plan was to abandon Facebook and just use the blog to communicate - which I still might do a little bit later. It's annoying how much my life relies on Facebook, and how I can't get away from that - but that's a post for another day.

I just finished my first presentation here - and dear lord was I up against some tough competition. Usually I don't have to worry about my presentation being bad compared to the rest of people, but these Australians gave me a run for my money... I'll update you on how I did, but I'm not feeling that it's going to be great. The class is insane, but I think I might want to start going into immunology.

To be completely honest, I've been feeling a little homesick this week, or the past two weeks I should say. I don't think it's necessarily homesickness, because I don't miss anything, but the only way I can describe it is just a general feeling of not being in the right place - I certainly hope (and I believe) that it's transient, so it should be nothing to worry about. I think I just need to get out and meet some more people - which brings me to my next problem...

The majority of people who are on exchanges want to drink every night of the week, and not go to school. Which is okay with me, because I'm all for enjoying the prime of your life, but I'm not really an alcohol person (although I do enjoy the taste of Australian beer now... weird). I find myself wanting to go on random adventures like before, but I don't have a car so it's difficult to do. I could take public transportation, but the city isn't necessarily safe in certain places, so that's got me on edge.

Overall though, things are going pretty okay. I need to get out and experience more. I turned down at least 3 opportunities to do really fun things this week - and I have absolutely no reason why I did that. I'm disappointed with myself for doing that, but it leaves me room to improve and sieze other opportunities that are placed in front of me.

I'll post more soon, I promise. I think I'm going to start posting short things that are topic based, instead of long weekly updates!

Peace out girl scouts!