Faster!

Since the last post I've dissected a sheep's heart, gotten my UMAT test result back and competed in an ice-cream eating competition...

It's only the second week of uni and already I'm starting to get tired and fall asleep during lectures! I seriously can't wait till the holidays. I've already started looking at what I want to do next year, and am now even looking at possible part-time jobs for the holidays (can anyone tell me if it's OK for guys to work at Farmers?), so I have to keep telling myself not to get too far ahead of myself! I've still got the exams to think about!

Yesterday for our medsci lab we dissected the hearts of sheep. Now while it is sad for the sheep, it was really fascinating being able to actually see the various bits of a heart in real life, as we've studied diagrams and read all about all of the functions of the different parts of the heart. We were all being very careful when dissecting the heart yesterday for fear of contracting leptospirosis, so we made sure we had our gloves on tightly and that we didn't pierce them with our scissors! I was being stupid with the heart and got a bit of blood on my safety goggles though!

Leptospirosis - an infectious disease carried mainly by cattle but sometimes by sheep, dogs and wild rats. It is caused by a spirochete bacterium. Humans can become infected through broken skin or via mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and eyes. New Zealand strains of leptospirosis produce flu-like symptoms...

Come to think of it, I did have a bit of a runny nose later that night after the lab session! But then again (well I'm hoping) it was probably because it was windy and my jumper wasn't thick enough!

Yesterday our UMAT (Undergraduate Medical and Health Sciences Admission Test) results back. It took me quite a while trying to interpret the results and figure out what they meant! I suppose my results weren't too bad, or at least not as bad as I expected, but that doesn't matter anymore since I'm not going for medicine. What a waste of money!!

Today after having one lecture, I hung out at uni waiting for the Dessert Club's ice-cream eating competition! There were two challenges - either to eat 1L of ice-cream the fastest, or 2L of ice-cream. I met up with Hamish and we signed up. Originally I was thinking of putting my name down for 2L because I could just get my ice-cream, start eating, and then when someone won I could take it away with me and keep eating it. After seeing just how much 1L was though, I decided against that and Hamish and I both signed up for the 1L competition. I tried getting a few of my friends to enter but none of them wanted to! It was free too!

After watching a few rounds of people having a go at eating their ice-cream, it was Hamish and my turn to step up to the table and take on the ice-cream. Hamish got chocolate and I got strawberry. When we were told to start I didn't realise just how solid the ice-cream was! Realising I didn't have much chance of threatening the record, I decided to take my time, and everyone else seemed to be too, unlike the people in the other rounds who were using their hands and getting all messy!

Once one guy finished (way off the record though!) and that's when I decided I'd try pick up the pace and see if I could at least come second. My hands went into the ice-cream and I started mashing it around and massaging it, with people calling out to me

"What are you doing?!!!"

I told them I was trying to melt the ice-cream so I could drink it! OK not such a great idea! My hands started freezing and going numb! One of the competition officials eventually told us to clear up so I finished my ice-cream on the sidelines before rushing to the toilet to put my hands under hot water! For the rest of the day I was pretty much full!

I spent the afternoon watching the free lunchtime music concert at the music school. Amalia Hall, this really good violinist (who, may I say proudly, beat me to a music scholarship back when we were still in intermediate school hahaha) was performing, but before her there were these other soloists. This guy named Ludwig was performing for the second week in a row yet another Beethoven piece! I wonder if it's anything more than a coincidence that Ludwig likes playing Ludwig's music... I have to admit I was trying not to nod off during the concert (the musicians were good! I must've just been slightly tired!) and get told off by the older guy sitting next to me, but fortunately I managed to keep my eyes open!