Entry for Medic Ed Video Contest 2012. Dribs and Drabs of Everything Else by Iman Lim 1st Year MMA.
Monday 23 April 2012
Thursday 12 April 2012
Jesmine Kuan UNPAD Dentistry
It was my first time being away from Malaysia, away from family, away from friend and away from my bed and being independent in my studies and taking care of myself. It was a hard time saying goodbye in the airport but we all make it through after all the hugs and tears.
After that, we do went Bandung shopping, we do went for a lot of university event.. sooner or later, we got use to the place and came to love it <3
It was my first time being away from Malaysia, away from family, away from friend and away from my bed and being independent in my studies and taking care of myself. It was a hard time saying goodbye in the airport but we all make it through after all the hugs and tears.
MY DADDY
MY MOMMY
MY YOUNGER BROTHER, JASON
MY FAMILY , BUT ELDER BROTHER, JEREMY IS MISSING. HE IS
CURRENTLY STUDYING IN MELBOURNE
ELDER BROTHER, JEREMY.
YES THEY ARE HEAVY BUNCH OF PEOPLE
THE BOYFRIEND
FRIENDS WHO ARE ALWAYS THERE FOR ME
After landed in Indonesia, it felt like Malaysia. The
weather, the people, the food, the shops, the houses and everything, it felt
like Malaysia, but the feeling is not the same. Something was missing, it was
family. I got through those feelings and told myself that I am here to study
and to learn. Lucky for us, we came here with a bunch of friends. Once we
arrive in our university, I was amaze with the size of it, it was huge and it
is full of green. We went straight to our dorm once we arrive, but we all
dentistry student was disappointed because we all thought that we were supposed
to stay in bale with the medical student but we ended up in some dorm out of
the campus.
After we had register, we gave our luggage to be taken
to our dorm and we had to walk. It was one bad constructed road. Okay, lets
imagine you walking in “ kampung” road with more rocks, that is how the road
is. We arrive to our dorm and it didn’t look that bad but we all know bale was
way much better. After getting all ready it was dark, we were new so the only
place we know was bale’s café. It was 7 plus and it was normal dinner time for
Malaysian, we reach the café and guess what? The food was all sold out. We were
all starving for food, went over to the bale mart to get ourselves some mee in
the cup. We sat outside the café eating our maggi, laughing and talking. It was
cold at night, it felt like Malaysia when it is raining. Every night the
weather is this cold, it was nice. After that we went back to the room and hang
out.
After that, we do went Bandung shopping, we do went for a lot of university event.. sooner or later, we got use to the place and came to love it <3
ORIENTATION DAY
FIRST TIME IN BANDUNG
COOKING IN THE HOSTEL.. YUMMY
MERDEKA
EVENT
Diary
of a trip by Catherine Lee
Here’s
this, life as a medical student has ups and downs, cries and laughter,
happiness and sad moments. What motivates me to go through the tough time apart
from the love and support from my family is the small happy events or trips
that never fail to put a smile in my heart. My most memorable trip was the one
to St. Petersburg, Russia. It was a same old same old day and exams had just
ended. Out of nowhere, one of our course-mate T decided to organize a
backpacking trip to St. Petersburg. We headed to the train station located at
Metro Beloruskaya and immediately got ourselves each a tickets the cheapest one
with bunk bed. Well you know for students, luxury travels aren’t exactly a way
of life, and we needed the bunk beds as the train ride was estimated of 12
hours. Since it was our first time at that particular area of Moscow, we even
took some time to walk around later after getting our train tickets.
T
wasn’t someone who likes planning ahead far, and so we just realized having our
transportation settled, we have not yet booked a place to stay. Having informed
T, he immediately hit www.hostelworld.com
and we got ourselves a 9.80 euro/night B&B hostel as he’s the pro. Anyway,
the trip consisted of 5 of us. Me, Terry, Gab, Joanna and Chien. With all the
hustle settled and our document’s done, packing was a cinch since it was just a
short trip. I was kind of excited because it was an unprecedented trip and so
short noticed.
It
was a night train ride, so at least we get to sleep in the train and arrive in
the morning wasting no time. Everything was in lock, stock and barrel as 5 of
us arrived at the platform and marched our way towards the train as the wind
was gushing through the open air space. The conductor wasn’t so friendly to us
and sought of gave us problems. Luckily there was a Samaritan/Russian who
speaks English and decided to give us a helping hand. His name was Nikolai.
Anyway, that’s settled and all of us hopped on the train and was ready for our
crazy dreadful 12 hours train ride. After a few hours of sleep, we were awaken
by an old lady selling snacks and beverages, and that’s when sleep ran away and
all of us surprisingly were wide awake as the train was slightly flinging left
and right rocking in a two beat tempo. Chit chatter and board game. Reading and
heart to heart talks sums up everything. Before we knew it, the long 12 hours
was gone and we’d arrived. T with his daredevil happy go lucky attitude decided
to get acquainted with Nikolai, and wonderful and enough, he decided to be our
tour guide throughout our who trip as despite being from Moscow, he travels to
St. Petersburg every twice a month for work.
We
headed towards our hostel with not much expectations. It was drizzling and the
wind was howling. We found the place after a long walk and everyone was
famished. Nikolai wasn’t with us at first as he had his own place figured out
already. As we arrived, we were greeted by the landlady which was very peaceful
looking, in a nice way. Settled down, we hurried ourselves to the metro station
which Nikolai said he would meet us up and take us to lunch. We went to this
cafe, sadly I couldn’t recall it’s name but it is very much similar to
TEREMOK in Moscow where it sells
pancakes, waffles, salads etc. These shops are very common and typical in
Russia. Pancakes are called Blinchik in Russian. Anyway, we gobbled down
whatever was ordered was had some talks with coffee getting to know more about
Nikolai. See, the nice thing about Russians which also amaze me is their
patriotism. Generally every Russian that you speak to, will know this and that
about the history of every part of their country, and for me being a
“historian”, I was curious and exited to know more about St Petersburg.
Anyway, after a nice simple lunch, we headed to St. Isaac’s Square which nearby was located St. Isaac’s cathedral. There was also Kazansky Cathedral and Church on the Split Blood. What really caught my attention was the name of the last church mentioned. The Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood derives its catchy title from the fact that it is buil on the spot where Alexander 2 was assassinated by a hand grenade in 18xx(can’t really remember which year). Inside the cathedral, you could even see the very cobbles where his blood was spattered! This church is one of the most conspicuous buildings in St. Petersburg as it was not designed in the baroque style of the day, but built in the classic Russian style of St. Basil in Moscow. After the revolution in 1917, it was closed for business and during WWII used as a veggie market – earning it the nickname at that time “Church of Our Saviour on the Potatoes.” True Story.
Next, we headed towards the Hermitage and managed to catch a sunset glimsp over the river Neva. There was a bridge across and there majestically stood 2 guardians which were Griffin. No idea why it was there though. Across the river from the Hermitage is another absolutely essential St. Petersburg attraction – St. Peter and St. Paul’s Fortress. I don’t want to continue talking about history but everything was amazing and breathtaking. Oh I nearly missed out a fun fact about the some history related facts. My name is Catherine as well so I have to mention this. On a warm August afternoon in 1782, a large crowd gathered along the Neva River’s south embankment. On a balcony above, Empress Catherine appeared and dedicated to St. Petersburg its newest monument: the Bronze Horseman, a soaring likeness of the city’s founder, Peter the Great, commanding a half-wild steed. Immortallised in the words of the great poet Pushkin “Behold the image sit and ride, upon his brazen horse astride.” Our day ended in MacDonalds. Short simple yet most informative in my opinion. Having return to the hostel, everyone went into Lala-land in no time.
Restful
Sleep! We headed downstairs to the common hall of the hostel and was greeted by
the same reception lady but this time accompanied by other tourist as well, and
of course since it is a B&B, breakfast is provided as well. We had Kasha(porridge),
with bread, butter and salami(some meat stuffing) and also some weird looking
but surprisingly delicious fried flour ball. We managed to exchange contact
information with other tourist as well as sharing what we did in St Petersburg
over the past few days. After washing up and dressed up ready for another
exciting ahead we headed out for the metro. Today we are heading to Peterhof.
It was a 2 hours bus ride with the 5 of us accompanied by Nikolai.
Peter the Great’s favourite residence, Peterhof, is a vast complex of palaces and parkland designed to rival the splendor of Versailles. Vast tracts of landscaped gardens are interspersed with statues, water features, pavilions and sumptuous mansions – the most famous being Mon Plaisir, overlooking the gulf of Finland. Another note, Peterhof is best known for it’s 120 fountains, switched on from May to mid-October, some are which designed to soak the unsuspecting visitor, but sadly that’s not the time we went there. The pictures I include later will share the other stories and show a better description on how marvelous the place looks like. I have been to quite a number of places, but never impressed so much as I have been by seeing the splendure of Peterhof. I fervently hope to come again during the period where the fountains are on and get myself soaked! We even rented ourselves a bicycle each and cycled along the hilly terrain in Peterhof. It was one of the best experience I’ve had in so many trips. We took photos of every detail and even many jump-shot(the pictures where everyone jumps!).
After
that we went to a nearby town to this small restaurant but opened in a hut.
Voluptuous meals!!! We ordered the best dishes according to Nikolai which was
the Armenian Cheese Rolls, Pumpkin
cutlet, “Ossetrina pod Syrom”(sturgeon baked with cheese), Basturma(marinated
beef), Beef Khartcho with fresh tomatoes and for desert, we had Khalva(syrupy
walnut dessert), Apple pie and Chocolate vodka. Smashing and delicious. Best
meal I could remember in weeks. Anyway the day ended with our bus ride back and
heading back to the hostel to nestle for the night. Big thank you to Nikolai
and those interested can find him through my facebook under the name Nikolai
Kotov.
Time
flies when you’re happy. Finally, it was time to go back. We bid the lady
working at the B&B goodbye and thanked Nikolai as well. Heading to the
train station, I could see the faces of my friend which were satisfied but also
not too happy on the fact that we are heading back to Moscow and back to
studying again. Well, I’d say everything is like an ECG, ups and downs. On the
way back in the train ride, I was carefully writing my dairy and recording
every single detail of this trip and at the same time looking forward towards
my next trip to whichever part of the globe. A picture paints a thousand words.
My Uni Life in USU, Medan, Indonesia by Lee Muh Teck
Halo out there, I will
roughly highlight my current uni’s life in USU, Medan, Indonesia.
As we know, life getting
tougher as we go overseas for studying to archieve our own dreams and friends
play a very important or major role in our daily life. Here is the photo of our
campus, Rumah Sakit Sumatera Utara, the largest clinical hospital in Indonesia,
cool right? No doubt! Hopefully we can learn or gain a lot from this
beneficial.
Mainly, skills lab is a must for every students in USU. And we are having tutorials and lecture everyday. We enjoy our precious time during lab period, it is fun indeed! We learn a lot of new things in medical field.
Besides studies, social life also plays a role model in all students’s lifes. It’s clearly that ”semangat 1 Malaysia” can be seen among all the Malaysian students at here. We are celebrating Hari Raya, Deepavali and Christams together. The photo below is taken during celebration Hari Raya at Tiara Convention Centre, Medan. All of us wear Malay’s traditional clothes. And, this was my first time to try the outfit, kinda interesting! J
What is the most awaiting moment during the function? Yeap, you’re right, we can taste different kinds of food served by the restaurant. And during that day, we had tried out a lot of delicious traditional food.
Besides celebrating Hari Raya, we had a celebration during Deepavali and it’s called Deepavali night, involving most of the local students from Malaysia, mainly Indians, Malays and Chinese. Here are some of the photos of the day. As usual, all of us dressed up in Indian traditional clothes and it was a nice experience for all of us, showing some respects to other religions.
Not forgetting about our Chinese New Year, we all celebrating it like a big family too!
Besides that, Grand Annual Dinner will be held every year and it is the most exciting event of the year. Everyone wearing different styles of outfit and it is eye stunning!
Apart from that, our university will be having a charity work every year. We will help the poor free of charge, doing some charity works, raising funds for them.
What is the most awaiting moment for students? And the answer is holidays! During short holidays, normally we prefer to go to Brastagi for holidays as it is near to Medan, nice weather and cheaper. I enjoy taking photos, so, as usual, here are the samples of photos I’ve taken during my short journey. Hope you guys will like it! We visited strawberry farm, Mickey funland which is a theme park and some gardens.
Last but not least, in my opinion, for a student, one must be know how to balance their study life. ”Study hard, and play more harder”, and I hope everyone can archieve their dreams in the future.
Life in Russia
according to me by Paul Pravin (RSMU 1st year)
Well life here isn’t
too bad but for a city boy like me who never had to take public transportation
all his life and had a very happy go lucky life, things can get a little hard
for one such as my self, but with perseverance and dedication all the trial and
tribulations seem possible.Let me take you back to the time before I left for
Moscow.
Allright initially I was suppose to leave on Sept 15th but I still hadn’t got my invitation letter from RSMU, so I had to impatiently wait at home till I finally found out I was leaving on the 5th of October. Hence after all the packing and last minute shopping I finally left on the 5th.It was a long 17 hour flight to Moscow but I found my self thinking not so much about the flight but about what I would be facing in Moscow,for example,would I make enough friends,would I like the food,or even how I would find the country in general.
Well I finally
reached Domodedovo airport, which is the main airport in Moscow to a very
reasonable weather. If I recall it was about 10 degrees which is still well
below Malaysia weather of 30 something degree.I found my self experiencing new
things like for starters all the cars were left handed and the leaves were not
green and they were wilting.We eventually got into our van and left for our
hostels. As exhausted as I was from the flight I still made my self look
outside at the buildings and cars which I found to be very interesting for some
reason.The journey to the hostel took us about an hour plus but I finally
arrived.The sight of the Hostel initially scared me and I was terrified to
imagine how the rooms would be like but I eventually was greated by my cousin
and she took me to my room.The room was fine, its was spacious and the toilets
weren’t that bad as I had imagined but the only problem was the dust.
Well in the first few
weeks I found my self travelling around Moscow and trying to get familiarized
with the metro and bus systems here.I went to Kremlin and other historically
places here in Moscow and in the process I found out what an expensive city
this is. For example the price of food in
McDonalds here will be twice the amount we pay back in Malaysia. So can you
imagine spending RM 30 for a double cheese burger,medium fries and a medium
coke.Its crazy!!!!!!So I had to start scouting for cheap good food to eat and
then I discovered ‘sharma’.It was cheap and relatively easy to get because it
is possible to find a sharma shop anywhere. Besides the food here language is
big barrier because I couldn’t communicate with the locals at all. My Russian
was very very bad when I first came and I doubt I could even speak enough
Russian to save my life but with the help of seniors I was fine. They were
really helpful.
Well the first one
month past very quickly. Before I knew it classes were starting.the streets we
covered with snow and I found my self in the studying cycle ones again. My
teachers were ‘ok'. Well when I mean ok I mean they speak good English and I
understood them. Everything seemed fine now but the only remaining problem was
the food. I found my self eating ‘sharma’,which I something like the kebab’s
they sell back home. I ate it almost everyday I started to hate it after a while
so I started going to the McDonalds nearby but for how long right. I started to crave Indian food and any
Malaysian food for the matter and luckily I found something similar. The fourth
year seniors here do offer catering services for about Rm 200 monthly which
too me was a small price to pay for a good Malaysian inspired dish every night
for dinner.
Well I’ve been here 3
months now.and things seems to be going smoothly.I’ve got used to the time and
people but still getting used to the food..Looking forward to another 5 and a
half years more here in beautiful RUSSIA. Hopefully its all up hill from now
onwards.
Monday 9 April 2012
Survival Guide To Moscow, Russia
I am a medical student from Moscow, Russia, and currently in 4th year course at Russian National Research Medical University. The life in Moscow can be colourful or plain depends on how you going to explore it. Although the study timetable is quite packed but I can still manage to have a ride in Moscow during weekends.
Study & Transport
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| Metro Pass |
 | |
| Bus, tram and trolley bus pass |
About my study in Moscow, classes and lectures will be in
university or in different hospitals. But there are no worries when my classes
or lectures are in hospital because the transportation in Moscow is
user-friendly. There have buses, metro, tram, and trolley bus that connected
the whole Moscow places together, what I need to do is just walking in a short
distance after the nearest station.
If I am going to be late in the morning for
my class, I will just take a “mashut” (small van) and just pay 30 rubles
(around RM3.00), this is the faster and easier option to reach the destination
as the “mashut” is more frequent than a bus. The fares for the bus pass and
metro pass for monthly basis was 230 rubles (Around RM23.00) and 350 rubles
(around RM35.00) respectively, and is quite reasonable, and I can reload it in
every station during end of the month.
Examination
The examinations in Moscow will be in the end of each semester (around January and June). Before I can sit for the exam, I need to collect all my “zachut” (credit) from every subjects of learning with all the small tests during class time. And the teacher will sign in my “zachut book”. The grading system at the university, Moscow is divided into two:-
Examination
The examinations in Moscow will be in the end of each semester (around January and June). Before I can sit for the exam, I need to collect all my “zachut” (credit) from every subjects of learning with all the small tests during class time. And the teacher will sign in my “zachut book”. The grading system at the university, Moscow is divided into two:-
a.)
Numeral concrete marks (2 “not satisfactory”, 3 “satisfactory”, 4 “good”, 5
“excellent”). These grades are used in examinations.
b.)
The second type of grade is used for credit tests based on a PASS/FAIL basis.
In practical training only PASS/FAIL status is given.
Most
of the exams here are conducted by orally after the written part and some have
multiple choice questions and essay questions as well, depends on what subject.
 |
| Cover of "zachut book" |
 |
| Contents: Left part is exam marks, right part is "zachut" (credit) |
 |
 |
| Student card that show to the security guard to enter the university |
Hostel
I am living in student hostels which are under control by our university. Most of the Malaysian students are staying in Dorm 35 and Dorm 39 (16 floors flat). The condition of the hostel is not the best but the basic needs and necessaries are provided in hostel. All the water usage and electricity usage are included in our hostel fees. What we need to pay is just the internet access in our room with the cash paying machine at downstairs of our hostel and it cost 250 rubles (around RM25) per month. There is 2 bus stops near to our hostel and 3 station away is a metro station. I have to take 2 stations of bus stop to go university (around 10minutes). Or by walking if the weather is not so cold.
Weather
The weather in Moscow have four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. But the winter last longer compare to other seasons. During winter time, the temperature will be as low as -20 degree Celsius (°C), but my room still remain warm as the heater inside the room is heated. And the snow will be very thick by the side of road. And during summer time, the weather will as hot as Malaysia, but most of the students will go back to Malaysia for their summer holidays.
Culture
The Russian people here usually they only speak in Russian language. And we have language barrier. We must learn Russian language. And the old men and women here is very stubborn, so we must let them to enter the bus or metro first and let them to have a seat before us, and sometimes they will push us when we queue in bus stop. During the travelling of public transports, we have to remain silent as most of the Russian will read newspaper, books, and doing quiz throughout their whole journey, and this make the citizen have high literacy. And you will just follow their culture here.
Safety
The safety in Moscow overall is quite good in day and night time. But we need to prevent some “big day” in Moscow like Hitler day, Skinhead, and some sudden protest day. Just stay in hostel and it will be safe. And a lot of news regarding to the terrorists attack in Moscow and we cannot estimate when will it happen, but the best way to avoid to being a victim is to choose the less crowded pathway for the public transportation and go to less crowded places when travel out during this season.
Living Expenses
About my living expenses, I have receiving 10,000 rubles (around RM1000.00) from my parents every month. And I think is more than enough if you are not go to clubbing, luxurious restaurants, and entertainments. But during some celebration like my friend’s birthday or festival, I will go out to have nice food and celebrate together. Most of the time, I will cook myself in the common kitchen provided in hostel and it save a lot of money compare eating outside food. Here have variety of nice food when you are here to discover, Russian food, Korean food, Japanese food, Chinese food, and Indian food and you can enjoy the cuisine in Moscow in many places with low prices. But I prefer Malaysian food and it was the best in the world.
I am living in student hostels which are under control by our university. Most of the Malaysian students are staying in Dorm 35 and Dorm 39 (16 floors flat). The condition of the hostel is not the best but the basic needs and necessaries are provided in hostel. All the water usage and electricity usage are included in our hostel fees. What we need to pay is just the internet access in our room with the cash paying machine at downstairs of our hostel and it cost 250 rubles (around RM25) per month. There is 2 bus stops near to our hostel and 3 station away is a metro station. I have to take 2 stations of bus stop to go university (around 10minutes). Or by walking if the weather is not so cold.
 |
| Hostel card that show to the security guard to enter the hostel |
Weather
The weather in Moscow have four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. But the winter last longer compare to other seasons. During winter time, the temperature will be as low as -20 degree Celsius (°C), but my room still remain warm as the heater inside the room is heated. And the snow will be very thick by the side of road. And during summer time, the weather will as hot as Malaysia, but most of the students will go back to Malaysia for their summer holidays.
 |
| Snow is everywhere during winter |
 |
| Red Square |
 |
| Autumn |
The Russian people here usually they only speak in Russian language. And we have language barrier. We must learn Russian language. And the old men and women here is very stubborn, so we must let them to enter the bus or metro first and let them to have a seat before us, and sometimes they will push us when we queue in bus stop. During the travelling of public transports, we have to remain silent as most of the Russian will read newspaper, books, and doing quiz throughout their whole journey, and this make the citizen have high literacy. And you will just follow their culture here.
Safety
The safety in Moscow overall is quite good in day and night time. But we need to prevent some “big day” in Moscow like Hitler day, Skinhead, and some sudden protest day. Just stay in hostel and it will be safe. And a lot of news regarding to the terrorists attack in Moscow and we cannot estimate when will it happen, but the best way to avoid to being a victim is to choose the less crowded pathway for the public transportation and go to less crowded places when travel out during this season.
Living Expenses
About my living expenses, I have receiving 10,000 rubles (around RM1000.00) from my parents every month. And I think is more than enough if you are not go to clubbing, luxurious restaurants, and entertainments. But during some celebration like my friend’s birthday or festival, I will go out to have nice food and celebrate together. Most of the time, I will cook myself in the common kitchen provided in hostel and it save a lot of money compare eating outside food. Here have variety of nice food when you are here to discover, Russian food, Korean food, Japanese food, Chinese food, and Indian food and you can enjoy the cuisine in Moscow in many places with low prices. But I prefer Malaysian food and it was the best in the world.
 |
| Korean food |
 |
| Japanese food |
Travel
During my pass three years of my study in Moscow, I have been travelled more than 7 Europe countries during my winter and summer holidays. The reason I have Europe trip not because I am rich, but I just want to explore and see the world around with different culture and people. I will plan my Europe trip in a budget way. The air ticket and train ticket fares to Europe countries from Moscow will as low as 1500 rubles (around RM150.00) for one way ticket. And Russia is near to most of the Europe country so that I can save a lot of money when I travel from Moscow to other Europe country. We should try to discover and explore ourselves more to outside the world during our study year in Moscow and not just study for six years here and go back Malaysia without experience the culture and people around the world.
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| Paris, France |
 |
| London, UK |
 |
| Barcelona, Spain |
Wednesday 4 April 2012
Sour Sweet Bitter Spicy in Indonesia by Robert Low Yong Sheng (USU Student 2011)
First and foremost, I wanna thanks Medic Ed for organizing this event so that I have this oppurtunity to share about our life in INDONESIA. Every student in Russia and Bandung may have new experiences full of joy and happiness but for USU students, our life are totally different from them. Usu student’s life started with the taste of bitter then continue with sour, sweet and spicy compared with those students in Russia and Bandung. This is because we have to start from a new point with unfamiliar place and without guide, in bahasa Indonesia. This is what we mean of BELAJAR MANDIRI,which is independent. Belajar mandiri, these two words are not easy to learn because we have difficulty in communication due to language problem. Next, our life with bitter, sour, sweet and spicy will be explained more in the following stories. |
| Hospital Universita Sumatera Utara : the place where we will have our practical. |
The first day after we reached airport, we were handed to the guiders who sent us back to our hostel. At first, it is comfirm that many of us cannot get used to the new situation here because the weather here was very hot and dry. We all complaining non-stop about the absence of air conditioner and regret to choose medan as our place to have uni life. I can bet that all Malaysian cannot get used to Medan’s SUPER hot and dry weather! Besides, we all have to worry about what and where to have our meals because we are not familiar with this place. However, we have to learn to adapt everything as soon as possible because this is the place that we will have to spent with in the next five years. I can still remember my first night in Medan, all of us can’t sleep due to HOME SICK , hot weather, noisy mosquitoes and many other reasons. All these memories will not vanish in my brain because these are all the process of learning Mandiri.
Our hostel in Medan: Graha Petula
After the short honeymoon for us to adapt ourselves to the environment and food, a new problem appeared! All of us are compulsory to attend the school’s orientation which was held by Indonesian seniors. From the stories and rumours told by seniors, we can tell that this orientation will be full of BULLY and GANGSTERISM! We went through these three days finger-crossed and experienced many things that we never had. By doing so, we finally understand that the aim of this orientation is to teach us the value of HUMBLE for a medical student or doctor. We are all glad because we passed the orientation successfully but the price we had to pay was we boys have to all become BOTAK!!
This is what we call OSPEK USU!!!
The next few days after orientation, USU students experienced the most scary and unforgettable memory which we will never have in Malaysia! We experienced the first EARTH-Quake in our life which is 6.5 from north part of Sumatera! I can still remember everyone was getting to bed and all of sudden I can feel my furnitures and see the whole buildings shaking for around 10 seconds. I believe that everyone reacted like how I did which was too shocked to do anything and freeze on the spot without realizing that this is an earthquake! When I finally pull my souls back, everyone is shouting and gathered outside our rooms. Luckily we are only slightly affected and are safe from the disaster.
Journey as a MEDICAL STUDENT STARTS!
After finished facing all those problems, all we have to do is to start our uni life as a medical student. First thing we have to learn the transportation from our hostel to university. In Medan, we have many types of public transportation including Angkut, Becak and Taxi. Most of us took Angkut to university because it is affordable for every students. Each journey only costs about RP2000. It is a type of mini van that can fit at least 15 people during peak period. Can you imagine how crowded and terrible it is in this hot weather of Medan? When we are running out of time or heading to other places such as shopping complexes, we prefer taking Becak. It is something resemble “three wheeled car” in Malaysia, except that the bicycle is replaced by motorcycle. It can fit maximum 4 person. However, we have to bargain for the price because there is no fix price for becak man. Most of us were cheated by them because we are not familiar yet with the places and prices. As a result, we payed more than it worths. As for taxi, I can say that Indonesia’s taxi has higher quality than Malaysia’s because their service is quick and comfortable with reasonable price.
One of the public transportation in Indonesia: Becak
One of the public transport in Indonesia: Angkut
One of the most common problem every students will face while studying overseas is the problem of communications. Within the first few weeks of our uni life, we cant understand everything said by the teachers which is called dosen and also our Indonesian mates. We are so blur and scared because we are afraid of missing out anything that is important. Only then we realize that Bahasa Melayu has very big difference from Bahasa Indonesia. For example, toilet in BM is tandas while in BI is karma mandi. We called uncle as pakcik in Malaysia but bapak in Indonesia. The word can (boleh) in bahasa Indonesia is bisa and no (tak) is enggak. The slang and pronounciation also have big difference from Bahasa Melayu. Although it is tough, the process of learning a new language can be fun. After few months of learning and practising, we can now speak in local language fluently. We found many new Indonesian friends and learned how to communicate with them in their own language. We realize that we slowly changed ourselves to suit this new environment and sometimes, others can’t even differentiate whether we are locals or Malaysian!
Faculty of Dentistry
Faculty of Medicine
We started our life as a medical student even before we can get used to the environment and cultures. This is not an easy process for us because the system for university has so much difference from our high school or college life. First of all, we have lecture classes from Monday to Saturday. The time table is so pact that the maximum time for us having lectures in university is 10 hours (7am to 5pm) per day! Besides, we also have lots of practical lab, tutorial and presentation that we have to prepare for and study. All kinds of quiz and exams will be held once in a while. Holiday is so rare that we can only have the first day of holiday after three months of uni life which is during Christmas. The chances of getting back home or rest well during holiday is the biggest awards and appreciation for all our hard works and sacrifices. We always have to be mentally and physically well prepared. This process is hard that we always complain and getting emotional over things. However, we learned many things such as managing time tables and enjoy the joy of earning knowledge ourselves as a medical student. People may think that this is a MISSION IMPOSSIBLE but we know that this is what we have to pay to fulfill our dream to become a dentist or a doctor.
Our classroom : kuliah
A Chinese phrase saying: “we depends on our parents at home, but depends on our friends at outside.” This is true to us because wherever you go, friends will always be an important and essential element in our life. Without the help and guides from others, we will never be able to survive on our own. We are glad that we have known many seniors, Indonesian and Malaysian who are honest, helpful and always sincere to us. Malaysia may be a more developed country compared to Indonesia by having better economy and technologies. However, there is one thing that Malaysian should learn from Indonesian which is their POLITENESS. From what we observed and experienced, we can say that Indonesian are always polite to everyone and respect their elders very much. We also get to know many seniors from Malaysia who always share their experiences with us and guide us through difficulties.
United Malaysian in Medan
Many people assume that the biggest benefit to study overseas is that we get to travel in that country. However, this is a wrong statement for USU students. Russia students have snow and Red Square; Bandung students have shopping heaven but USU students are very lack of entertainment and places to visit because the nearest vacation spot from us needs 5 hours of travelling. We only got TWO shopping malls here. All we can do is everyday to stay at home and study. Maybe because of this, our results will be better than them? Lol
Visiting a Buddhist temple in Medan
The biggest shopping centre in Medan city : Sun Plaza
We started our journey of learning and living independently once we stepped out of our home. The first thing we learned is to cook our own meal. Despite saving more by cooking ourselves, self-cooked meals are more hygiene. The IBU we knew in the hostel teached us to cook many simple but delicious dishes. One of the most delicious and successful dish we learned from her is Ayam Goreng Bumbu Indonesia. We also learned cocacola chicken, ketchup chicken, curry fish and many more. Although cooking is a very simple process for many people, we learned to be independent by studying how to cook. We also realized that our parents’ sacrificed and effort of feeding us for the past 18 years. This is what we call BELAJAR MANDIRI. Besides, we get another back-up plan if we don’t want to become a doctor or dentist in the future, that is to become a CHEF! HAHAHA That is the amazing part of becoming an USU student. Although we can send our clothes to laundry or pay for the ibu who will wash the clothes for us, we chose to wash our clothes ourselves to save our parents’ money because they have spent too much to send us study overseas. These jobs may seem easy but they could be the experiences we will never have if we are at home or studying local. Now, we all EARN it by our own hands!!!
Homemade ayam goreng bumbu Indonesia teached by ibu
  The first Indonesian dessert i learned : bubur pulut hitam |
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Although
we are at Indonesia, we never forget about our own origin and cultures. This is
how we celebrated our traditional DONG ZHI by having fun of making colourful
TANG YUAN. This is because tang yuan resembles reunion of family. Therefore, no
matter how far we go, we always stay with our dearest family and friends.
We also bring the pre-celebration atmosphere of
Chinese new year to Medan.
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We had started our life as USU medical student in Medan for five months. We had encountered numerous problems and questions to be solved. Some of us regret and some of us wanted to give up on this. Although we had a hard time to solve every problems, I am very proud to say I DID IT! It is also proven that my university USU has a unique but efficient education system. I strongly recommend that students who like challenges to choose USU as their medical education pathway. A medical student studying in USU may invite more challenges and difficulties on themselves but this will definitely strengthen their mental and ability to be a best dentist or doctor in the future. I will also recommend USU for my three sisters because I believe that this a place that will groom many EXCELLENT dentists and doctors. This is because a life for an USU medical student is NO SWEET WITHOUT SWEAT. If I am given a chance to choose again, I definitely will choose USU again. I AM PROUD TO BE A USU STUDENT!
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