Triple J are running the Hottest 100 of All Time in July. They last did it back in 1989, when this song was number 1 (I suspect it'll be up there this year too):
I voted this week, and it was difficult! First you creat a shortlist, and then you select up to 10 favourites from that list. You can also nominate your number 1 song, which enters you in a prize draw.
I browsed my iTunes collection (over 10,000 songs) to create my shortlist of 55 songs. From that, I had the torturous task of selecting just 10 songs. Here they are (in no particular order, apart from number 1), with my reasoning behind each choice...
1. 'Just Like Heaven' The Cure
Click here (YouTube embedding disabled).
This song just makes me happy - the melody, the lyrics, and the association it has with happy moments in my life. Also, I love to dance to it. In my loungeroom.
(The Cure's 'In Between Days' could've easily made it into the top 10. I love to dance to it too.)
2. 'Find The River' R.E.M.
That's the acoustic version - you can find the original music video on page 2 at this site.
R.E.M. are my favourite band, in case you hadn't already figured that out. 'Find The River' and 'You Are The Everything' are my two favourite songs, but 'Find The River' wins for the sheer joy I feel listening to it. The instruments, the harmonies, the lyrics - perfect.
3. 'Disarm' Smashing Pumpkins
This song reminds me of uni in the early 90s. I have a specific memory of a summer holiday down the south coast of NSW, listening to this song over and over. We especially loved the line, "To wither in denial".
Oh yes, and I should mention - as a (bad) violinist, I love string arrangements in pop/rock songs. *swoon*
4. 'Light & Day' The Polyphonic Spree
This one should also come as no surprise. A beautiful, joyful song. Great to sing along to in the car. It's a good motivational song too.
5. 'I've Got A Plan' My Friend The Chocolate Cake
One of my favourite Australian bands. I first discovered them in the early 90s with my first boyfriend (he's now gay, and one of my best friends, and isn't that a whole other story?), and I've lost count of the number of times we've seen them live. This song in particular resonates for me, but there are so many to choose from.
6. 'Lover, You Should've Come Over' Jeff Buckley
The 'Grace' album is amazing of course, and many people love the more well-known songs like 'Last Goodbye', 'Grace', and 'Hallelujah', but I adore this one. My favourite line is, "She's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever". I was lucky enough to see Jeff in concert in 1995 - amazing.
7. 'At First Sight' The Stems
My favourite Aussie love song. "Just say the word and I would die for you."
8. 'The Rainbow Connection' Kermit the Frog
What's not to love? I saw The Muppet Movie at a drive-in in 1979 or 1980. We owned the LP soundtrack too. Hmmm, I wonder if my Mum still has it somewhere...
9. 'Even When I'm Sleeping' Leonardo's Bride
Another wonderful Australian love song. I saw Abby Dobson perform this at The Famous Spiegeltent in December last year, backed by her old bandmate Dean Manning. It brought a tear to my eye.
10. 'Crash Into Me' Dave Matthews Band
Click here (YouTube embedding disabled).
I was a late convert to the Dave Matthews Band - they're not hugely popular in Australia (at least not on the radio), and I first heard this song on an American workmate's computer back in about 2005. I quickly amassed all their albums, and saw them live in 2007. They've just released a new album, which I need to buy. I love many of their songs, but this one is my fave.
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So - what's your top 10?
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Country feedback
It's the beginning of week 3 of my GP term and, as predicted, I'm bored.
I'm on my rural placement in far western NSW with another student from my uni. We thought we were going to Broken Hill, but we've actually done one week in Wilcannia, and just started a two-week placement in Menindee. They're both very small towns.
Wilcannia was an eye-opener. It's a really depressing place. It used to be a thriving riverside town - the beautiful old sandstone buildings are a reminder of that time. But now it has one shop (a supermarket where, for example, broccoli costs $13 a kilo), one pub, and one club - and a raft of social, cultural, and health problems. There is a large indigenous population.
The hospital is very nice (another gorgeous sandstone building), and our accommodation was better than expected. But we couldn't go out at night, and felt very isolated. Even walking to the supermarket at 4pm on a Wednesday meant encountering groups of drunk men walking the streets.
It's a frustrating place. I have a lot of respect for the people who are trying to make it better, but I don't know how they can handle it. Small steps, I suppose. Health has improved in recent years with the implementation of a chronic disease monitoring program, and an early childhood program. Change is coming - slowly. But there's just so much that needs to be done - not just in healthcare. It's a place that many people have tried to fix over the years, but the list of failures is long.
One night we put our names down for ambulance/ED callout, and were woken at 1am. There was a brawl - one man had been glassed and he was in the ED, very aggressive and not allowing anyone to examine him. It was obvious that he hadn't just been drinking. Drugs are having more and more of an impact on the community. The perpetrator was there too - he'd broken his arm.
I was given the task of examining a woman who'd come in after having the crap beaten out of her by her drunk partner. I'd never examined an assault victim before (I'm sure it'll be all-too-common next year though), and I was pleased that I stayed calm and got a good history and did a good examination. In the ED we have to phone the on-call doctor at the RFDS base in Broken Hill, and she was happy with my assessment. Thankfully, the woman was not too seriously injured (no broken bones).
We found it hard to learn much about general practice because the doctors weren't there every day. One day, the RFDS doctor couldn't land due to fog, so we ran his clinic and called him to sign off on what we were doing. Sounds interesting, but it wasn't too challenging and we weren't getting feedback on our performance, so it didn't feel worthwhile. The clinic staff were very grateful for our help though. The worst thing we saw was a child's infected scalp still crawling with lice. (I just typed that and then scratched my head - happens every time I think about lice.)
We arrived in Menindee this morning, and the healthcare setup is more of the same - except there are even fewer doctors here, and fewer patients coming to the ED. Today dragged like you wouldn't believe - and I'm here for 11 days. Thankfully this town is more functional than Wilcannia (two shops, two pubs!), and we feel safe walking around. But it's cold and windy and rainy, and we've already had enough.
The aim for the next two weeks is to knock over all of my uni assignments so that I can relax when I get back to Sydney. It'll be good to do my urban placement with one GP who I can build a relationship with over the three weeks, and hopefully learn from.
PS. We were quite amused to see that Wilcannia Hospital made the news while we were there! Thanks to Yay for letting me know...
I'm on my rural placement in far western NSW with another student from my uni. We thought we were going to Broken Hill, but we've actually done one week in Wilcannia, and just started a two-week placement in Menindee. They're both very small towns.
Wilcannia was an eye-opener. It's a really depressing place. It used to be a thriving riverside town - the beautiful old sandstone buildings are a reminder of that time. But now it has one shop (a supermarket where, for example, broccoli costs $13 a kilo), one pub, and one club - and a raft of social, cultural, and health problems. There is a large indigenous population.
The hospital is very nice (another gorgeous sandstone building), and our accommodation was better than expected. But we couldn't go out at night, and felt very isolated. Even walking to the supermarket at 4pm on a Wednesday meant encountering groups of drunk men walking the streets.
It's a frustrating place. I have a lot of respect for the people who are trying to make it better, but I don't know how they can handle it. Small steps, I suppose. Health has improved in recent years with the implementation of a chronic disease monitoring program, and an early childhood program. Change is coming - slowly. But there's just so much that needs to be done - not just in healthcare. It's a place that many people have tried to fix over the years, but the list of failures is long.
One night we put our names down for ambulance/ED callout, and were woken at 1am. There was a brawl - one man had been glassed and he was in the ED, very aggressive and not allowing anyone to examine him. It was obvious that he hadn't just been drinking. Drugs are having more and more of an impact on the community. The perpetrator was there too - he'd broken his arm.
I was given the task of examining a woman who'd come in after having the crap beaten out of her by her drunk partner. I'd never examined an assault victim before (I'm sure it'll be all-too-common next year though), and I was pleased that I stayed calm and got a good history and did a good examination. In the ED we have to phone the on-call doctor at the RFDS base in Broken Hill, and she was happy with my assessment. Thankfully, the woman was not too seriously injured (no broken bones).
We found it hard to learn much about general practice because the doctors weren't there every day. One day, the RFDS doctor couldn't land due to fog, so we ran his clinic and called him to sign off on what we were doing. Sounds interesting, but it wasn't too challenging and we weren't getting feedback on our performance, so it didn't feel worthwhile. The clinic staff were very grateful for our help though. The worst thing we saw was a child's infected scalp still crawling with lice. (I just typed that and then scratched my head - happens every time I think about lice.)
We arrived in Menindee this morning, and the healthcare setup is more of the same - except there are even fewer doctors here, and fewer patients coming to the ED. Today dragged like you wouldn't believe - and I'm here for 11 days. Thankfully this town is more functional than Wilcannia (two shops, two pubs!), and we feel safe walking around. But it's cold and windy and rainy, and we've already had enough.
The aim for the next two weeks is to knock over all of my uni assignments so that I can relax when I get back to Sydney. It'll be good to do my urban placement with one GP who I can build a relationship with over the three weeks, and hopefully learn from.
PS. We were quite amused to see that Wilcannia Hospital made the news while we were there! Thanks to Yay for letting me know...
Saturday, May 16, 2009
That shrinking feeling...
I've been absent for a while - a couple of months I guess. I thought about posting during that time, but Twitter seemed to suffice.
I wanted to talk about how much I was enjoying my Psychiatry rotation, but as I got closer to exams, I started to worry about failing again, so I decided not to tempt fate and only post if/when I passed.
Well, I'm posting, so that means I passed! Yay!
It'd be ironic if I ended up as a Psychiatrist. My first degree was in Psychology, and by the end of it I was pretty sure I didn't want to be a Psychologist. I distinctly remember saying, "I'm not interested in listening to people talk about their problems all day". Such a load of crap - obviously there's a lot more to Psychology than counselling, and if I'd gone on with it I imagine I would've ended up doing some sort of HR role. But at the time, the thought of doing a year of supervised training (with a small salary) turned me off the idea of Psychology as a career, and I never went back to it.
With Psychiatry, you can end up listening to people's problems all day, but that'd be more common in private practice I think. That's where the money is of course, but I know I'd get bored with it. Public psychiatry definitely has some appeal.
My first placement was with the drug and alcohol team. I mostly saw patients affected by alchohol dependence, though I did encounter some IV drug users too. It's a frustrating area, because relapses are so common, and recommendations so often fall on deaf ears. To work in that area, you'd need to redefine "success" - it's not curing someone, or even getting them off the substance they're using. Small victories are important - avoiding complications of their addiction, getting them into a rehab program (even if they don't complete it), and so on. I had a long chat with a 40-year-old man with longstanding alcohol dependence. He'd tried all the rehab programs, various pharmacotherapies, and so on. He had advanced liver disease and brain damage. He was due to be discharged the day after I spoke to him. I asked him the likelihood of him drinking again after discharge - that day, or that week, or that month? He said he would be drinking again by the end of the week: "I know I'm an idiot, I know it's making me sick, but I'm going to keep drinking."
My second placement was in the community. It was quite interesting, but I don't have any exciting stories to tell. The placement was interrupted by the Easter break, and also the registrar I was with had holidays in the second week, so I had a lot of spare time!
My final placement was in the acute unit at the hospital. I really enjoyed it. All the registrars were friendly and helpful, and I was lucky to be allocated to a good team with a friendly consultant too. I interviewed a lot of patients, mostly with psychosis. I practised my interview skills for the long case, which I did last week. My registrar also saw patients in the eating disorders clinic, so I attended that a couple of times. Those patients made me want to tear my hair out - so self-obsessed, so painful. Not an area I'm interested in. The consultant was really encouraging. One day she invited me to coffee with her and the registrar. All three of us were in our 30s, and had plenty in common, so it was great to just relax in the sunshine with our coffees and have a good old chat. We ended up being there for over an hour!
My long case went well. My patient didn't have many overt signs of psychosis, as she'd been in for a while and was medicated. I asked her whether she'd ever heard voices, received instructions from the TV, etc. and she denied it. However when I read her notes afterwards, she'd come in with all sorts of delusions and auditory hallucinations! After the long case, the examiner gave me some excellent feedback. He said that the questions I asked the patient were at the expected (medical student) level, but my interviewing style was more advanced. He said I'd fit in very well in Psychiatry. It was really nice to hear and I was a happy camper for the rest of the day!
The exam was a couple of days ago - 60 multiple choice questions. Some of the questions were easy, some ridiculous, many tricky. A lot of the questions had several reasonable options to choose from - for example: Naked man on a farm, talking to himself - what's your first step? Options included establishing rapport, asking if he has weapons, giving him some clothes, etc. We also got the pavlova and Vegemite question that Liz mentioned last year. Anyway, I felt OK about the exam, but I made the mistake of chatting to people afterwards and talking about the questions. I started to get nervous when I realised there were a few I'd stuffed up.
But I passed, and all is good in the world. I'm excited to have a week off! Holiday plans include exercising a lot, learning how to use Photoshop, playing with my camera, getting my recipe collection sorted and trying out some new recipes, working (my clients have saved up a lot of work for me because I've been unavailable while studying for exams), giving blood, watching lots of TV (the list includes Arrested Development seasons 2 and 3, Mad Men seasons 1 and 2, Scrubs season 7, Dollhouse, Brothers and Sisters season 3...), and playing my poor neglected violin.
GP rotation is next. I suspect I will be bored. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do things (e.g. procedures, examinations), instead of just sitting there watching the GP at work. I still don't know where I'm going for my rural or urban placements - apparently we'll hear about the rural placement this week.
Also - I submitted my preferences for internship. They're due on 1 June, so I've got time to change my mind, but I'm happy with them for now. Exciting! We find out on 20 July.
I wanted to talk about how much I was enjoying my Psychiatry rotation, but as I got closer to exams, I started to worry about failing again, so I decided not to tempt fate and only post if/when I passed.
Well, I'm posting, so that means I passed! Yay!
It'd be ironic if I ended up as a Psychiatrist. My first degree was in Psychology, and by the end of it I was pretty sure I didn't want to be a Psychologist. I distinctly remember saying, "I'm not interested in listening to people talk about their problems all day". Such a load of crap - obviously there's a lot more to Psychology than counselling, and if I'd gone on with it I imagine I would've ended up doing some sort of HR role. But at the time, the thought of doing a year of supervised training (with a small salary) turned me off the idea of Psychology as a career, and I never went back to it.
With Psychiatry, you can end up listening to people's problems all day, but that'd be more common in private practice I think. That's where the money is of course, but I know I'd get bored with it. Public psychiatry definitely has some appeal.
My first placement was with the drug and alcohol team. I mostly saw patients affected by alchohol dependence, though I did encounter some IV drug users too. It's a frustrating area, because relapses are so common, and recommendations so often fall on deaf ears. To work in that area, you'd need to redefine "success" - it's not curing someone, or even getting them off the substance they're using. Small victories are important - avoiding complications of their addiction, getting them into a rehab program (even if they don't complete it), and so on. I had a long chat with a 40-year-old man with longstanding alcohol dependence. He'd tried all the rehab programs, various pharmacotherapies, and so on. He had advanced liver disease and brain damage. He was due to be discharged the day after I spoke to him. I asked him the likelihood of him drinking again after discharge - that day, or that week, or that month? He said he would be drinking again by the end of the week: "I know I'm an idiot, I know it's making me sick, but I'm going to keep drinking."
My second placement was in the community. It was quite interesting, but I don't have any exciting stories to tell. The placement was interrupted by the Easter break, and also the registrar I was with had holidays in the second week, so I had a lot of spare time!
My final placement was in the acute unit at the hospital. I really enjoyed it. All the registrars were friendly and helpful, and I was lucky to be allocated to a good team with a friendly consultant too. I interviewed a lot of patients, mostly with psychosis. I practised my interview skills for the long case, which I did last week. My registrar also saw patients in the eating disorders clinic, so I attended that a couple of times. Those patients made me want to tear my hair out - so self-obsessed, so painful. Not an area I'm interested in. The consultant was really encouraging. One day she invited me to coffee with her and the registrar. All three of us were in our 30s, and had plenty in common, so it was great to just relax in the sunshine with our coffees and have a good old chat. We ended up being there for over an hour!
My long case went well. My patient didn't have many overt signs of psychosis, as she'd been in for a while and was medicated. I asked her whether she'd ever heard voices, received instructions from the TV, etc. and she denied it. However when I read her notes afterwards, she'd come in with all sorts of delusions and auditory hallucinations! After the long case, the examiner gave me some excellent feedback. He said that the questions I asked the patient were at the expected (medical student) level, but my interviewing style was more advanced. He said I'd fit in very well in Psychiatry. It was really nice to hear and I was a happy camper for the rest of the day!
The exam was a couple of days ago - 60 multiple choice questions. Some of the questions were easy, some ridiculous, many tricky. A lot of the questions had several reasonable options to choose from - for example: Naked man on a farm, talking to himself - what's your first step? Options included establishing rapport, asking if he has weapons, giving him some clothes, etc. We also got the pavlova and Vegemite question that Liz mentioned last year. Anyway, I felt OK about the exam, but I made the mistake of chatting to people afterwards and talking about the questions. I started to get nervous when I realised there were a few I'd stuffed up.
But I passed, and all is good in the world. I'm excited to have a week off! Holiday plans include exercising a lot, learning how to use Photoshop, playing with my camera, getting my recipe collection sorted and trying out some new recipes, working (my clients have saved up a lot of work for me because I've been unavailable while studying for exams), giving blood, watching lots of TV (the list includes Arrested Development seasons 2 and 3, Mad Men seasons 1 and 2, Scrubs season 7, Dollhouse, Brothers and Sisters season 3...), and playing my poor neglected violin.
GP rotation is next. I suspect I will be bored. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do things (e.g. procedures, examinations), instead of just sitting there watching the GP at work. I still don't know where I'm going for my rural or urban placements - apparently we'll hear about the rural placement this week.
Also - I submitted my preferences for internship. They're due on 1 June, so I've got time to change my mind, but I'm happy with them for now. Exciting! We find out on 20 July.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Holidaying and tweeting
So much for my resolution to post more on my blog!
I finished my elective back in Hanoi with O&G. It was certainly eye-opening (and eye-watering - brutal episiotomies!) but I found it quite frustrating and dull. Only one of the doctors spoke decent English, and he wasn't particularly interested in teaching or showing me around, so I often found myself at a loose end. And while I felt privileged to experience the miracle of childbirth (not first-hand, thank goodness), it got very boring with no-one explaining the finer points of the procedures.
A baby born via Caesarean
I witnessed an abortion that affected me more than I thought it would. The patient had rheumatic heart disease and was not expected to carry the baby to term, so the decision was made to abort the 15-week foetus. The patient had been given some sort of local or spinal anaesthetic before we arrived, but it was clear that she could feel the instruments and was in pain. She was not sedated. A 15-week foetus is about 10 cm long, so the doctors used the instruments to break it into pieces for easier extraction. At one point, a perfectly-formed foot was removed, about 8 mm long. That really got to me. It also bothered me that the doctors pointed out each part of the foetus as it was removed - in Vietnamese and English. The English was good for us because it helped us to learn, but I don't think the patient needed to hear the details. I wish she'd been sedated.
So with my elective finally complete, I made my way to Thailand for a long-awaited holiday! I spent a couple of days in Bangkok and crammed in some shopping and sightseeing, then headed south to Railay Beach, near Krabi. It was perfect - a sleepy resort peninsula only accessible by long-tail boat. It wasn't too packed with tourists, the beach was gorgeous, the sunsets were divine, and the food was delicious. I must admit I was feeling a bit of trepidation about spending a whole week at a beach resort by myself. It worked out well though, and I had a great time doing very little. I didn't realise how tightly wound I was until I started to unwind...
Transparent sea at Phra Nang Beach, on the same peninsula as Railay Beach
Sunset at Railay West Beach
Now I'm back in Sydney, with one more week off before I go back to uni. I start with Psychiatry, which I'll hopefully enjoy, considering I have a Psychology background.
Now to the blog. I'll continue to write here when I have something substantial to say (longer than 140 characters!) or photos to share. Otherwise, cast your eyes to the right and you'll see my Twitter feed. You're welcome to follow my tweets: @pathologic_kt
I finished my elective back in Hanoi with O&G. It was certainly eye-opening (and eye-watering - brutal episiotomies!) but I found it quite frustrating and dull. Only one of the doctors spoke decent English, and he wasn't particularly interested in teaching or showing me around, so I often found myself at a loose end. And while I felt privileged to experience the miracle of childbirth (not first-hand, thank goodness), it got very boring with no-one explaining the finer points of the procedures.
A baby born via Caesarean
I witnessed an abortion that affected me more than I thought it would. The patient had rheumatic heart disease and was not expected to carry the baby to term, so the decision was made to abort the 15-week foetus. The patient had been given some sort of local or spinal anaesthetic before we arrived, but it was clear that she could feel the instruments and was in pain. She was not sedated. A 15-week foetus is about 10 cm long, so the doctors used the instruments to break it into pieces for easier extraction. At one point, a perfectly-formed foot was removed, about 8 mm long. That really got to me. It also bothered me that the doctors pointed out each part of the foetus as it was removed - in Vietnamese and English. The English was good for us because it helped us to learn, but I don't think the patient needed to hear the details. I wish she'd been sedated.
So with my elective finally complete, I made my way to Thailand for a long-awaited holiday! I spent a couple of days in Bangkok and crammed in some shopping and sightseeing, then headed south to Railay Beach, near Krabi. It was perfect - a sleepy resort peninsula only accessible by long-tail boat. It wasn't too packed with tourists, the beach was gorgeous, the sunsets were divine, and the food was delicious. I must admit I was feeling a bit of trepidation about spending a whole week at a beach resort by myself. It worked out well though, and I had a great time doing very little. I didn't realise how tightly wound I was until I started to unwind...
Transparent sea at Phra Nang Beach, on the same peninsula as Railay Beach
Sunset at Railay West Beach
Now I'm back in Sydney, with one more week off before I go back to uni. I start with Psychiatry, which I'll hopefully enjoy, considering I have a Psychology background.
Now to the blog. I'll continue to write here when I have something substantial to say (longer than 140 characters!) or photos to share. Otherwise, cast your eyes to the right and you'll see my Twitter feed. You're welcome to follow my tweets: @pathologic_kt
Monday, February 16, 2009
Cacophony
I like silence. I find it difficult to sleep unless it's very quiet. I wear earplugs to sleep back home in Sydney (I live under the flight path, on a busy street). And if I'm sleeping beside a snorer, well, that means I get no sleep.
So you can imagine that I'm struggling a bit with the noise in Vietnam. I feel like I haven't had a decent sleep since, I don't know, December? I also get migraines - I've had a few since being here, and let me tell you, they're not much fun. Thank God for triptans.
Having been here before, I knew that I would constantly hear horns - motorcycles, cars, buses. After a while you get used to them, because they rarely stop. And I'm staying in hotels, so of course there'll be noise from other guests and their TVs, and clueless hotel staff.
In Hanoi there are always renovations happening somewhere, and the workers start early and finish late. They're currently restoring the "footpaths"* in the Old Quarter, so that's additional noise.
My hotel backs onto Tin Street (Hàng Thiếc), where various tin products are constructed and sold. So from first thing in the morning until the evening, I hear hammering on metal and angle grinders.
Tin Street
In an earlier post I mentioned that I was woken on Tết (New Year's Day) by the sound of ABBA singing "Happy New Year". I waited for it to end so that I could go back to sleep, but it was not to be - I had to listen to the whole "Best of ABBA" CD. (It sucks you in though - I was singing along to "Super Trouper" in the shower.)
With music and TVs, there are only two possible settings here - off, and VERY FUCKING LOUD. Everything goes up to eleven.
In Hanoi, the other thing that gets you first thing in the morning is the loudspeakers that suddenly burst to life with either a woman speaking very loudly in Vietnamese (apparently, she's announcing the lotto numbers), or very loud music (a muzak version of Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" was especially memorable).
And in the evening, there's a distinctive clanging noise that goes on for about half an hour. It's the garbage collector making the rounds of the Old Quarter on foot. Granted, it doesn't wake you up (unless you're trying to nap, WHY BOTHER?), but it's just another sound competing for your attention.
The garbage collectors in Hanoi's Old Quarter have nothing on the collectors in Hoi An though. One Sunday morning I woke at 6 am after hearing some repetitive music in the distance. I thought to myself, "Don't wake up KT, just roll over and ignore it." That worked for a few seconds, but then I realised that the music was getting louder. Before long, it was blaring in my ears. I stumbled out of bed and looked out the window. On the street below, a garbage truck was parked. The music was their way of letting people know to bring out their garbage for collection. Aaaaagh! After the truck left, there was no getting back to sleep - everyone in the hotel was awake and making noise. Very frustrating.
The worst sleep interruption I've experienced was in Danang. We stayed at a bible-recommended hotel that wasn't far from the Catholic cathedral. In fact, I could see it from the window in my room. However, on the first night, I was woken at 4:20am by the church bells ringing! It wasn't even a tune - just "dong, dong, dong, dong...". It lasted for about five minutes, after which I was well and truly awake. We soon discovered that this happened at exactly the same time every single night. Incredible. Luckily I found a different hotel for my second week, nowhere near the bloody cathedral.
View of the cathedral from my Danang hotel room
I do have some solutions for a better night's sleep. Earplugs are obvious. White noise is a good idea - one of the other students over here suggested turning up the air conditioner fan, and that's worked quite well for me. I've tried using my iPod, but I'm yet to find the perfect music that's loud enough to block out external noise, but calming enough to let me fall asleep (suggestions are welcome).
And then there are drugs. I came over here with a Stilnox prescription. I've used it several times and it's worked well. I wouldn't recommend using it if you have to get up at a specific time the next day - it's better if you can just wake when you're ready. One day at the hospital I was out of it all morning. Another student is using temazepam. When that ran out, she went to a local pharmacy and they gave her diazepam over the counter! She's reluctant to use that though, and has tried Valerian root, which they also sell at the pharmacy. So far, it's been successful.
Maybe I'll get the chance for a decent sleep on my beach holiday in Thailand...
* Actually, there's rarely room for people to walk because of all the motorcycles and bicycles parked there, and the families eating their lunch and dinner on plastic stools. It's much simpler to walk on the road and dodge the oncoming traffic.
So you can imagine that I'm struggling a bit with the noise in Vietnam. I feel like I haven't had a decent sleep since, I don't know, December? I also get migraines - I've had a few since being here, and let me tell you, they're not much fun. Thank God for triptans.
Having been here before, I knew that I would constantly hear horns - motorcycles, cars, buses. After a while you get used to them, because they rarely stop. And I'm staying in hotels, so of course there'll be noise from other guests and their TVs, and clueless hotel staff.
In Hanoi there are always renovations happening somewhere, and the workers start early and finish late. They're currently restoring the "footpaths"* in the Old Quarter, so that's additional noise.
My hotel backs onto Tin Street (Hàng Thiếc), where various tin products are constructed and sold. So from first thing in the morning until the evening, I hear hammering on metal and angle grinders.
Tin Street
In an earlier post I mentioned that I was woken on Tết (New Year's Day) by the sound of ABBA singing "Happy New Year". I waited for it to end so that I could go back to sleep, but it was not to be - I had to listen to the whole "Best of ABBA" CD. (It sucks you in though - I was singing along to "Super Trouper" in the shower.)
With music and TVs, there are only two possible settings here - off, and VERY FUCKING LOUD. Everything goes up to eleven.
In Hanoi, the other thing that gets you first thing in the morning is the loudspeakers that suddenly burst to life with either a woman speaking very loudly in Vietnamese (apparently, she's announcing the lotto numbers), or very loud music (a muzak version of Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" was especially memorable).
And in the evening, there's a distinctive clanging noise that goes on for about half an hour. It's the garbage collector making the rounds of the Old Quarter on foot. Granted, it doesn't wake you up (unless you're trying to nap, WHY BOTHER?), but it's just another sound competing for your attention.
The garbage collectors in Hanoi's Old Quarter have nothing on the collectors in Hoi An though. One Sunday morning I woke at 6 am after hearing some repetitive music in the distance. I thought to myself, "Don't wake up KT, just roll over and ignore it." That worked for a few seconds, but then I realised that the music was getting louder. Before long, it was blaring in my ears. I stumbled out of bed and looked out the window. On the street below, a garbage truck was parked. The music was their way of letting people know to bring out their garbage for collection. Aaaaagh! After the truck left, there was no getting back to sleep - everyone in the hotel was awake and making noise. Very frustrating.
The worst sleep interruption I've experienced was in Danang. We stayed at a bible-recommended hotel that wasn't far from the Catholic cathedral. In fact, I could see it from the window in my room. However, on the first night, I was woken at 4:20am by the church bells ringing! It wasn't even a tune - just "dong, dong, dong, dong...". It lasted for about five minutes, after which I was well and truly awake. We soon discovered that this happened at exactly the same time every single night. Incredible. Luckily I found a different hotel for my second week, nowhere near the bloody cathedral.
View of the cathedral from my Danang hotel room
I do have some solutions for a better night's sleep. Earplugs are obvious. White noise is a good idea - one of the other students over here suggested turning up the air conditioner fan, and that's worked quite well for me. I've tried using my iPod, but I'm yet to find the perfect music that's loud enough to block out external noise, but calming enough to let me fall asleep (suggestions are welcome).
And then there are drugs. I came over here with a Stilnox prescription. I've used it several times and it's worked well. I wouldn't recommend using it if you have to get up at a specific time the next day - it's better if you can just wake when you're ready. One day at the hospital I was out of it all morning. Another student is using temazepam. When that ran out, she went to a local pharmacy and they gave her diazepam over the counter! She's reluctant to use that though, and has tried Valerian root, which they also sell at the pharmacy. So far, it's been successful.
Maybe I'll get the chance for a decent sleep on my beach holiday in Thailand...
* Actually, there's rarely room for people to walk because of all the motorcycles and bicycles parked there, and the families eating their lunch and dinner on plastic stools. It's much simpler to walk on the road and dodge the oncoming traffic.
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