My last weekend of freedom...

So the very LONG week of orientation is finally over. It was filled with boring lectures and computer training for five solid days 8-5. Ugh! But we made sure to counter-balance the boredom with a different happy hour at the end of every day. It was a good way to get to know everyone a little more before we all set off different directions this year. We also met a few other interns from other departments along the way...even managed to piss off a particular Med-Peds intern at lunch one day. It was comical to say the least.

The fun filled weekend officially began on Thursday night for me (yes we had more orientation stuff on Friday), but I just couldn't resist Ladies 80s night at a bar in The Short North area. I initially wasn't going to go because I felt I needed to be home one night this week to get some things done before work started. Well I came home and got some things done and changed my mind at 930. Since no one had headed out yet, I packed an overnight bag and headed into town to dance the night away to 80s music. It was a blast and totally worth being a little sluggish the next day. It's really nice having friends that live within walking distance from the bars. I don't have to worry about getting home at the end of the night. :)

Part of the crew that went to ladies 80s. Me, Megan (Med-Peds), Lauren (OB), Lenore (Peds), Loriana (OB), and Maggie (OB)

The big event this weekend was Comfest, which is short for Community Festival. It's the big summer festival in Goodale Park in Columbus. Mom and Dad, it's the park we saw at the end of our house hunting weekend with the pond with the ducks. It's a lot bigger than I remember it looking back then. Comfest starts Friday night and lasts until Sunday evening. It has multiple stages with live music, shopping booths, food from multiple venders, and BEER! The best thing about Comfest is of course the people watching. When I first arrived Saturday afternoon I was entertained for a solid 10 minutes by this old man dancing to the music without a shirt. Think I might borrow a few of his moves. HA! Comfest is also an acceptable time for women to go topless. The first set of boobs I saw had flames painted on them. But not everyone was so crafty as to have them painted. And as the sun went down, more boobs came out. Don't worry, I'm still as modest as ever and did not partake in the topless tradition of Comfest. But I did buy one of the awesome, huge beer mugs with the Comfest logo.

That evening we left Comfest and walked to Huntington Park to see the Clippers play. They are a minor league baseball team that belongs to the Indians. It was suppose to be a resident social event, but it turned out being most of our class and two upper level residents. Oh well. We had a good time anyway.

Loriana and Me with our fabulous, but expensive beers. She had a friend working the beer booth so at least we got more bang for our buck in those mugs.

After getting beer we went to a booth that was handing out free discount cards, kind of like a Kroger card, that provides discounts to locally owned shops and restaurants. It promotes shopping local. At the tent they had free temporary tattoos! Loriana and I went a little crazy with it. I ended up with four...only because the fifth one didn't work out very well. Here's my favorite. It says "Hi. I'm clean." I have no idea what it advertises but I thought it was funny since I had been sweating for hours in the sun and was not clean in the least bit.

Proud of my tats.

Loriana went hard core and put one on her neck.

Ran into the Ghostbuster Geek Squad. They were proud of their costumes. They did a good job and I just had to take a pic like everyone else.
Finally more co-interns joined the fun. Pictured here: Kim, Me, Maggie, Yan, and Lo

Look at those colorful mugs! You got to pic your color.

At the gam we met up with more people from my class. Blair, Nick, and Erinn

Walking through the park I saw this guy walk by with legit cut off shorts. I busted out laughing and immediately pointed him out to my friends, discreetly of course. When we studied him a little more we got the impression that he either lost a bet or was dared to dress this way. Turns out he's a bachelor and his friends dressed him in dark blue jean cut offs, white velcro shoes, and a shirt that says "hey ladies this could be you." He was a good sport and let me take a pic with him.
Huntington Park from the outfield grass seating.

Enjoying the game

It was a good final weekend. The craziness starts Monday at 6:30. Shh...don't tell my fellow interns. I'm on an easy rotation and get to go in a little later to start off. Wish me luck!!

Pre-Intern Funivities

Hocking Hills:

One of the OSU graduates in my class planned a nice trip to Hocking Hills to go "cabrewing" and "camping". Hocking Hills is only an hour East/Southeast of Columbus (towards the hills...very pretty), so it wasn't a big drive for us. We drove down early Tuesday afternoon and went cabrewing, which is a new Ohio term I've learned. Basically it's a cute way of saying floating or canoeing with alcohol. I guess we aren't as fancy with our terminology in Arkansas. Or maybe we just assume the two naturally go together and don't feel the need to make a special statement to describe drinking while floating down a river. Maybe both?

When we got to the canoe outfitter place, we were told that the river was up and that they would only allow people with experience in a canoe on the river. Since some people weren't very confident in their paddling skills we got rafts instead. It worked out better in the end because we were able to focus our efforts more on talking and drinking instead of steering down the river. Our float lasted a few hours and then we headed to "camp," which really was a comfy cabin in the woods with a hot tub. :) That night we had cocktail hour with margaritas (I shared the limeade, corona, sprite recipe I learned from Daine's sister), cooked spaghetti, and enjoyed the hot tub. It was a good way to break the ice and get to know some of my fellow interns. Big thanks to Maggie for setting it all up!

Another note: Only 7 of 11 could make it to Hocking Hills. We found out might have a little confusion in the upcoming year with names. There is a Laura, Lauren, and Loriana. We have 2 Maggies, 2 Asian girls, and 2 Dr. Huffmans!! Erinn Bjorklund recently got married to Adam Huffman. :)

Erinn (Virginia), Susan (ECU), and Maggie Rosen (OSU) in their raft.

Loriana (OSU), Blair (SLU), and Maggie Liang (OSU) in my raft.

Maggie Liang and me. Everyone liked my super awesome coozie.

We hooked our two rafts together and floated down the river. By the way, it wouldn't have taken much effort to get a canoe down that river! The Buffalo offers more obstacles. It was running a little fast, so maybe that was the issue?? It wasn't near as pretty as our AR rivers!

Hot tub time!! The OSU ladies: Maggie R., Loriana, and Maggie L. Notice the "O"

Susan, Blair, and Erinn

The Chiefs' Dinner:

Friday night we went to the graduation of the chiefs and the fellows from OSU. It was held at a nice hotel on campus. We had a good time, but were quickly told that we were labeled the rebel class because we failed to attend journal club held at the chair's house the night before. We were told it was optional in our email....and no one wanted to go because we are hanging on to every last bit of freedom we have left. Today in orientation we were told that it was a madatory event, especially since it was at the chair of the department's house. Oh well. We aren't technically interns until next Monday anyway, so I don't think anyone is losing sleep over it. Despite all this we had a good time at the chief's dinner. It's definitely something to look forward to in four years!

Maggie L., Blair, Yan (UNC Chapel Hill), Loriana, and Maggie R. at cocktail hour before dinner.

The interns that made it. Not sure we were quite ready for the pic. And I think the photographer might have been a little unsteady on her feet.

All of us after dinner and ready to go to the after party!
Pictures of my place to come... When I'm ready :)