The End Result of Learning to Cook and Eat Chinese!

Chinese culturecookinglab2010

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Oh love..

Tuesday nights are beautiful. I set out on the 45 min drive to the farm with my mind full of everything I needed to accomplish when I got home from riding but in the end someone else was looking out for my mental health. He is constantly taking care of me even when I don't give him enough of my day! :)

I was assigned as a side walker for Hannah whose diagnosis was ASD(Autism) and i went almost an hours trying for even a single word and even though by the end she was still quiet- her smile was enough. Then came Eddie whom was direct and told me that he just needed me to walk next to his horse but he could ride by himself- Melanie the director just smiled at me and silently directed me to assist him with a leg-hold.

These kids/young adults just blow me away and I am thankful for their willingness to step outside their own comfort zone as they climb up onto a huge horse.
Finally it was my turn to ride and I think Melanie was laughing so hard because I resembled a child in a candy store. Wide grin with an almost half laugh continuously for the 1/2 hr she allowed me to play with Duke. I was so happy and my ride ended with an invite to come on Saturdays and ride!! Life is complete! :)
Here are a few cute pictures:

Me, Johanna, and Duke

And as we left I was given some free range eggs by one of the parents to say thanks! 

:) life is good!

Sunday

Catholic Student Center!

I found the most amazing church today! Lisa and I couldn't stop smiling!!! Fr. Gary Braun is amazing!!! The church is a mixture of Wash U student from 18- graduate students, alumni, families that support student life and so much more. I learned from a fellow parishioner that the beautiful building in which the CSC is housed once belonged to a Jewish family. The local priest was great friends with the family and after hundreds of afternoon visits the family converted and gave their house to his cause. Today it is one of the largest Newman Centers.  I feel so blessed that I was led to this community. The energy is amazing and I can't wait until Friday!!

:) <3
Also I finally got a small tour of the Danforth/Main Campus of Wash U! OMG is it beautiful! I was in awe! I can't believe my campus is so beautiful especially after you see how ugly my medical campus is! ha

Update..

Yesterday was the first part of a 3-day weekend but it was defiantly my busiest Friday yet. I met with Troy from out catholic student center this morning and he is awesome. He told me all about the center and it is one of the largest Newman’s center in the USA. I am just happy I have a new church that doesn’t have high mass at every mass! Ha. Catholic Student Center

Then I had my cooking lab. On Thursday 3 of the girls and I went to two different Asian markets to get ingredients. It was an experience to say the least. At the seafood market, I got to pick the sea bass I wanted the guy reached in grabbed it and then killed it right in front of me. I thought I was going to pass out as he slammed the huge knife onto the cutting board, gutting and descaling the fish. The worst part though was the chicken! The butcher had to grind the chicken… that is a sound I will never forget. However it was an experience and if I ever have to work with a Chinese client I will understand their shopping/ food culture.

Chinese Market

Right before he killed this live sea bass

 Geucheng, aka Song, whom was our Chinese expert on cooking, helped us cook 6 different dishes.  It was amazing. I learned how to make spring rolls, dumplings, 2 different stir fries, steamed sea bass, and spicy tofu. My favorite was spring rolls and shrimp dumplings. We paired it with almond milk, plum wine, and jasmine tea. So good!!! It was amazing to cook for 4 hours straight especially when we learned so much about Chinese culture.

My Chinese Cooking Lab Group

Steamed Sea Bass

Spring Rolls

Making Dumplings

Our Expert cooking!

And after all this, I had CP Basketball. I love basketball. Louis, my favorite kiddo, when asked about his favorite part of basketball he said it was ME!!! It made my day!

OT Theory Tree

Wow..grad school stress has offically started.

Quick note... I had my first test today which in grad school one test can be worth 20% of your overall grade BUT my test went great, I hope. :) and from here on out I have a test or a paper or both or many due every week. Next week I have: 1 anatomy check out, 1 essay due, 1 occupational interview paper, 1 biomechanic activity analysis of Upper Extremity  and Lower Extremity, 2 case studies, and a cooking project due. Plus normal reading and studying. Thank goodness for energy drinks and pita chips with hummus and red vines!

Oh but 2 great things to look forward to Greys Anatomy Party on Thursday and St Louis Cathedral Basilica's Community Festival on Saturday!

Ok back to my long night of trying to fit all my thoughts on client centered care into 3 pages and studying origin, insertion, action, and nerves of the back muscles.

:) love amanda

The Great St Louis Hot Air Balloon Race!

This weekend a few friends and I went to the great hot air balloon race... it was like nothing I had ever seen. 67 Hot Air Balloons which included the largest hot air balloon in the US took flight over our Forest Park. It was beautiful!!!

 

 

Allison and I in the sticky heat of St Louis Septembers!


Wish you were all here to see it!!

love
amanda

The homework piles up...

I officially have less than a week until my first dissection quiz which means I have to name structure, origin, insertion, nerve, and action of different landmarks of the superficial and intermediate back of "Jane" my Cadaver. Hopefully our dissection is clean enough... she is so thin that we do not have a lot of work with compared to some of the other cadavers. Today, Ellen -the PT who leads our dissection class- walked us through the brain cavity and I was able to touch the inside of the skull which still had some of the cranial nerves in it, as well as the tongue. (Sorry Mom, I know you didn't want to hear that but it was so cool had to write about it). Next week we are doing neck dissection.

Also next week my first paper is due, its pretty easy as of right now the hardest part of it is shortening it to 3 pages doubled spaced. My current outline is about 4 pages single spaced. And after that I have papers, quizzes, tests, case studies, etc due pretty much everyday until Dec 8th!!  So wish me luck.

Best part of Thursdays: Our anatomy professor! He is originally from Armenia. His accent is not bad but he has the BEST saying ever. Every time he wants to say something funny he preludes it with "..oh this is a cocktail moment!" haha and he gets laughs from the pictures he chooses for lecture slides. And today he gave us a small lecture about "smart" words to use at cocktail parties so everyone knows we are smart. hhah. I enjoy my Thursday lecture!!

I joined the WUSOTA- Washington University Student Occupational Therapy Association! I am trying to join the community service or cultural committee of WUSOTA! I am excited to be getting back involved in semi-student council.

I have to interview someone for my Occupation Paper and I think I may ask my favorite security guard, Donnie. Random I know but actually he used to be a Physical Therapist and has had a very interesting life. Plus he rocks!

Well I think that is enough for now! Everyday is just so full and busy I could write forever. Mom- I finally did all my laundry! Be proud!!

love always
amanda

COUNT DOWN UNTIL AMY and TIM'S WEDDING/plus me in CA for 2.5 days ha : 3 weeks and 1 day!

Fieldwork I Placement: St. Louis Children's Hospital

After a few weeks of crossing my finger, I received my placement today for our Oct 24-30th fieldwork. I got my second choice which was St Louis Children's Hospital working with mainly outpatients. This is perfect for me considering it is where I want to practice OT, I think!

Tour of Rehab Clinic
just click above and you can see where I was be working.

About St Louis Children's Hospital Rehab.
This is about the actual site!!

This is the building which is about 10 minutes from my apartment.

The entrance!













I am thankful to get to stay close for this fieldwork but in spring I may be heading to San Fran!!!!

Love, Amanda

Life in the Barn

I guess I still a little girl at heart... I fell head over heels for the ponies at Cornerstone Farm. Tuesday will officially my longest day, starting with my 10am anatomy lab(dissections) and then a 4.5 hour Evaluation class(learning assessments) and then riding/leading horses!! But I am so happy and I really feel this is where I belong right now. If you want to look at the website for my horse program it is:
 Bridge the Divide  (just click on the link and it should send you to the page!)

Aw, I miss my Magic!!

Off to study AGAIN!!!!!!

9 hours of class/other school stuff tomorrow!!


love always
amanda

Tuesday cant come soon enough

I am counting the hours until Tuesday at 7pm.. I am going to the farm, to help children ride horses... omg. I am so excited. Gosh, life is so fun. basketball Fridays, horses Tuesday, balloon race on Saturday and sushi on Friday night!!!

And.. Allison and I are going on a photo shoot of the Central West End aka where we live, so everyone can look forward to some amazing pictures of my home sweet home.

oh side note: here are some pictures TOGA!

Toga Party

Karaoke Time after Toga!!

Chelsea and I at GreekFest!

Gyros!!!

Due to water.. this is the only float trip pic we have!!! but oh the memories!

More Karaoke... "I got you babe"

Just another stroll down Euclid! <3

My Occupation Collage!! :)

Love always
amanda

2 weeks of school done...already

As I get ready to start my third week of school, I am finally starting to see a pattern. SCHOOL all day, Study all night, Friday nights karaoke. I mean if you're gunna work hard a little bit of play wont kill you.

Last night was my first day of our sports activity. I signed up for CP (Cerebral Palsy) Basketball. It was such an awesome experience. My kiddo, Louis, is awesome and even though during warm up he and i ran 14 laps while everyone else ran/walked about 2, I had a great time. We have 4 weeks of sports and I already can't wait until Friday!

As for fieldwork, I am waiting to hear where I will get placed. I told them I hoped to stay in St Louis but it depends on where has space. Cross your fingers that I get Rehab Center or Children's or Peter and Paul!!!

Anatomy , well what to say... its about 3/4 of the units I am taking this semester. Its intense but my amazing study group (Lisa, Chelsea, Allison, and Mike-yes there is one boy) gets together everyday to figure it all out.

Life is great and I am so in love with st Louis. For my theory class, I got to make a collage about my occupations of life and i realize i miss being creative- sad but grad school has very few coloring projects. ha

All my love!
amanda

End of a long day.

So today was my first day of cadaver lab.  My awesome group took turn dissecting the back of our cadaver. It was awesome, maybe I should have been a surgeon. ha We located many of the major back muscles and it was amazing to see them up close and personal. I made it the two hours without fainting thank goodness because the smell gave me a headache. What a wonderful experience I have been given.

First day in the Cadaver Lab!

Cadaver Lab DAY #1

Me in my clean scrubs... soon they will be full of cadaver juice! Ewww



wish me luck!

End of the first week..

I am loving school. Yes, it is hard and I feel like I am in class most of every day but I LOVE IT! I am learning a lot but enjoying myself too. Ive made some nice friends and we are getting readying to pick sports experiences to work with organizations in the community. So exciting.

This past weekend we went to the St Louis Zoo(which is free and huge- these are a few pictures I took while we were there!)

Next was The Festival of Nations(which is a huge event in the park with all different countries represented). This was the Scotland man! I had a lamb gyro and it rocked!

I also finally tried sushi in St Louis!
I might not be kura but its still good!










And Finally WASH U OT Program had a semi formal picnic! It was so good and had live jazz music!

Me, Chelsea, and Lisa

World's Fair Pavilion

The Live Music

So, that is live so far! Currently we are having a lighting and thunder storm which means that tomorrow the humidity will be much lower! Thank goodness! I had my first paper due this evening and now just relaxing and studying/reading! I doubt the reading will ever end but I will get through! 






I love you all and miss you! I hope you enjoy reading about my time in st louis and eventually I will get to tell you all about my cadaver lab!! I met my cadaver on Tuesday and the smell almost made me pass out. ha!

hugs and love
amanda