In the jungle that is the emergency room where there is very little room to move around, where the general smell constantly shifts from the usual diabetic foot to fecal stench (and just yesterday, an extremely strong mutant urine smell that pervaded the entire complex), and where the charts can be found taped underneath the tables and hidden in some other secret spy panels, traipsed a walking shaft of light—specifically, an extremely white oriental-looking dude who seemed to be an exchange student from Japan or somewhere. We feared for his safety, more specifically, for the safety of his skin, like he would grow full-body allergies in any second. Shuta and I immediately thought that we should fix Walking Shaft of Light (WSOL) up with our batchmate JJL, who is also a walking shaft of light in her own right, and a taller one at that. We excitedly told JJL of the existence of this potential mate, and things would have come to pass until we realized that WSOL is twenty diamond peels whiter that JJL. The quest for JJL’s perfect mate continues.

The quest for charts that vanish at 2 and 10 pm also continues, and what an epic quest it is. It used to be that they would just be hidden behind that supplies cabinet or in drawers but now they can totally disappear without a trace. I got so desperate once I looked inside a trash can.

A lot of foreign medical students always seem to be fighting their way to take their electives in this hospital. Last year I was paired up with med students Huang and Lauren, who were interesting kids. It was a busy month, and we barely had any time to interact significantly. They were very nice people and showed a lot of interest, asking a lot of questions and such. The only question they asked me that I can remember now, however, was something I could not answer. “I’ve just loaded my cellphone last night and haven’t used it since then but now the load’s all gone. WHY???” Huang asked one morning. “Uh-huh,” I could only mutter. “Hey, want to read some ECG’s?”

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