1st week in Paradise

my first week

views from my apartmentview of Diamond Head crater, looking north

Well, the first week here in Hawaii has come and gone. It's gone by so fast! I think I'm still getting used to the time difference. So when I have to leave for work at 7am, my body still thinks it's 9am. Why am leaving that early, you ask? Well, I'm trying to use this wonderful weather to jumpstart my exercise routine. So I'm walking to and from work, which is about 2.5 mi each way, probably a little less because I'm cutting thru a couple of park/open areas. I've cut my walking time by almost 10 miles!. I'm also trying to eat breakfast. The hard thing is that lunch is at 1130am so by the time I leave get home after work I'm starving and eat munchies! BAAAADDD!!!!

The first week of work has found me getting used to a lot of new things. Queens Medical Center is the tertiary care trauma center, not only for the Hawaiian Islands, but the Pacific, so they get patients from as far away as Micronesia. Where is that? I'm not even sure, I'll have to look it up on Google. It's a huge hospital, with 500+ beds, residency program (no cute ones seen yet!) and it is quite nice inside. It even has what looks to be a decent cafeteria menu (Hawaiian style, of course) . The hardest thing to get used to is the computer documentation. It's supposed to be easier to read (which it is), unfortutely the ones who really need to use it, ie. the doctors, don't really use it much. So their notes are still largely undecipherable and they often still write in a regular chart which makes more work on our part to read their stuff as well as what's in the computer. It's supposedly takes less time to complete, but that's not true. Even though I'm still getting used it, I'm finding it a slow process. There are a lot of travellers here (6PT, 2OT), all from different parts of the mainland. They're quite busy. The staff have been very helpful in my learning process.

Honolulu, what can I say! It's a cosmopolitan city with a much greater Asian influence than one could have imagined. I would say Caucasians are the minority. They cater greatly to tourists, especially Japanese ones. Many of their signs are in Japanese as well as English and there are many Japanese (as well as other Asian) restaurants. Don't see too many Mexican restaurants. I walked down a major street towards Waikiki and it's so eclectic in what stores are here. There are high priced stores, like Prada, Coach, Kate Space, interspersed with sourvenir shops.

I walked from my place to Diamond Head Crater which is on the east side of Waikiki. It's about a 4.3 mi.walk and the last /.8 05 to the top of the crater is all uphill, with many steep steps. So I had to take the bus back home..boy, my feet are tired! (I also ran this morning which also adds to why my feet and legs are sore - it was a beautiful morning but already hot at 930am) What a beautiful site the crater is though, it's lush and green and from atop the observation tower, you can see what the crater looks like a big bowl! (makes you want a big bowl of ice cream in this warm weather).

Around here, I can get around by walking or taking the bus (the system is really good). I plan on walking quite a bit so I can have that beach body, tanned and lean, for all the surfers! no, maybe the resident doctors! Just kidding.

As you read this, I hope you will write in how you day, your life are going. As exciting as this life may sound, it's always nice to hear about back home and the friends and family that I've left behind but not forgotten.