Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Salsa class
So last week after discussing it with my roommate forever and never put it to action, we went to the salsa class at Princeton University for the first time. the first hour was somewhat a tramatizing experience for me because we actually inadvertently joined their intermediate class. My roommate was able to handle it, but i was a super beginner. so i pretty much looked like a dumb a** the whole time, not even knowing my basic steps. I'm sure i looked super robotic and my footwork was all wrong, which probably made all my rotating dancing partners mad because they were trying to lead me, and i wasn't following. :/
So this time we went to the BEGINNER'S class. It was A LOT more fun because i actually got the basic footwork down, so i was making some pretty nice twirls and switching positions with my partner. I could actually dance the whole song salsa-style! :D Although i still somewhat suspect that i look robotic from the waist up, that's still a HUGE improvement from what i know before. My hope is that, by the end of the fellowship year, i can hit the salsa clubs and actually have fun in them (disclaimer: not like the usual night clubs. as seen in movies, people actually go to dance salsa...:) like Jennifer Aniston in Along Came Polly?) When done right salsa can be a super fun and sexy dance (as seen in Dancing with the Stars)....
Anyway, the class, oddly enough, actually have a lot of guys enrolled in it. I was expecting some really scary awkward nerds (from my ballroom dancing experience in college), but these guys were all really nice and courteous, no one was aggressive or pervertive in anyway. So that's a big relief. And a lot of them are actually international. So you've got italian, swedish, indian...etc. Not a bad thing, but i also suspect that if i develop a little crush on any of them, might not be the smartest thing to do, since 1) they dont have a car, 2) they can't legally reside here in the US, and 3) they will leave. so most likely, friend potential at most. :/ As much as i find accents cute and european culture amazing....
ok. thinking too much. gotta hit the bed now. let's hope i turn into a salsa-dancing goddess in 40 weeks!
So this time we went to the BEGINNER'S class. It was A LOT more fun because i actually got the basic footwork down, so i was making some pretty nice twirls and switching positions with my partner. I could actually dance the whole song salsa-style! :D Although i still somewhat suspect that i look robotic from the waist up, that's still a HUGE improvement from what i know before. My hope is that, by the end of the fellowship year, i can hit the salsa clubs and actually have fun in them (disclaimer: not like the usual night clubs. as seen in movies, people actually go to dance salsa...:) like Jennifer Aniston in Along Came Polly?) When done right salsa can be a super fun and sexy dance (as seen in Dancing with the Stars)....
Anyway, the class, oddly enough, actually have a lot of guys enrolled in it. I was expecting some really scary awkward nerds (from my ballroom dancing experience in college), but these guys were all really nice and courteous, no one was aggressive or pervertive in anyway. So that's a big relief. And a lot of them are actually international. So you've got italian, swedish, indian...etc. Not a bad thing, but i also suspect that if i develop a little crush on any of them, might not be the smartest thing to do, since 1) they dont have a car, 2) they can't legally reside here in the US, and 3) they will leave. so most likely, friend potential at most. :/ As much as i find accents cute and european culture amazing....
ok. thinking too much. gotta hit the bed now. let's hope i turn into a salsa-dancing goddess in 40 weeks!
Monday, November 1, 2010
things that have gone super downhill have come back up again :)
so a while ago, i was actually pretty pissed at certain aspects of my job. i was...i guess, dis-satisfied, for reasons i will have to go into later because it's quite late here. in a few words, dislike for some of my coworkers and people on my team, not sure if this fellowship is going where, the things i wanted to happen sort of fell through, on and on. Plus the homesickness, i was in a real emotional funk. I still remember the day when i got really upset after work because someone said something that made me feel a certain way.
but then i also believe that, whenver things turn out to be the worse, they always come back up, one way or another. Because it can't get any worse (well, actually i suppose it can, but unless i do something terribly wrong, like hitting someone with a pan and therefore getting fired). But again, i try not to make work all of my life. so even getting fired isnt' the end of the world. but i digress.
Anyway, so today i found out that the super intense guy on my team will be moving to support another therapeutic area (yippe!). I was just getting myself to accept the fact that if it's someone like that who is competitive and aggressive and two faced and always on your back, i can't expect to not have to ever deal wtih someone like that. and now he's leaving my workstream! without me actually doin anything to make it happen.
secondly, i had originally want to go on a shadowing trip in december to broaden my fellowship experience, and it was orginally agreed on, and then was cancelled by the other person due to a meeting conflict. i was really sad about that because that's a very hard to come by opportunity for me, seeing my team is not very supportive of specifically carving out things for me to do. I pretty much have to fight for all these opportunities to happen, one way or another. So when i found out today that, the shadowing is back ON again, because the meeting got moved for some reason. i was like OH YEAH! :D
another quick bit, i have realized that although i still may not love my team because of certain things they do or do not do, i can learn to get along with them by pretending taht i actually like them. therefore dissolve the unfamiliarity and animosity toward them. i still have my personal feelings toward them and i stand corrected, but we can start over. and things are already turning for the better. i just have to keep at it, by at least making a lunch date/coffee date with them each week and stay persistent. my goal is to have one 'professional lunch' with someone each week.
Lastly, i have also been pushing forever to go to a conference of some sort, and i think it may actually happen this time (fingers crossed) because my boss found a good opportunity and is going to try to push for me. on top of that, the BIG boss also approved that i work on a meeting planning. I'm also helping with a strategy lead in the team on planning a project.
Divine intervention. :) Thank you.
but then i also believe that, whenver things turn out to be the worse, they always come back up, one way or another. Because it can't get any worse (well, actually i suppose it can, but unless i do something terribly wrong, like hitting someone with a pan and therefore getting fired). But again, i try not to make work all of my life. so even getting fired isnt' the end of the world. but i digress.
Anyway, so today i found out that the super intense guy on my team will be moving to support another therapeutic area (yippe!). I was just getting myself to accept the fact that if it's someone like that who is competitive and aggressive and two faced and always on your back, i can't expect to not have to ever deal wtih someone like that. and now he's leaving my workstream! without me actually doin anything to make it happen.
secondly, i had originally want to go on a shadowing trip in december to broaden my fellowship experience, and it was orginally agreed on, and then was cancelled by the other person due to a meeting conflict. i was really sad about that because that's a very hard to come by opportunity for me, seeing my team is not very supportive of specifically carving out things for me to do. I pretty much have to fight for all these opportunities to happen, one way or another. So when i found out today that, the shadowing is back ON again, because the meeting got moved for some reason. i was like OH YEAH! :D
another quick bit, i have realized that although i still may not love my team because of certain things they do or do not do, i can learn to get along with them by pretending taht i actually like them. therefore dissolve the unfamiliarity and animosity toward them. i still have my personal feelings toward them and i stand corrected, but we can start over. and things are already turning for the better. i just have to keep at it, by at least making a lunch date/coffee date with them each week and stay persistent. my goal is to have one 'professional lunch' with someone each week.
Lastly, i have also been pushing forever to go to a conference of some sort, and i think it may actually happen this time (fingers crossed) because my boss found a good opportunity and is going to try to push for me. on top of that, the BIG boss also approved that i work on a meeting planning. I'm also helping with a strategy lead in the team on planning a project.
Divine intervention. :) Thank you.
Halloween and somethings i've done lately
Quick update about my Halloween:
SUPER DUPER FUN Field of Terror: a farm where they transformed cornfields into haunter hayrides, haunted barn, and haunted corn field maze. :) It's like your all worst nightmares rolled into one, with abandoned buses/boats, zombies, dead animals, trailors, psychos, obstacle course... LOVE IT!
House party: Was really fun. met a super nice girl who talked about Jersey Shore and the whole italian american phenom with me a lot. and they served home-made taco's (yum).. then
Triumph: a brewery in Princeton. I FINALLY got to try the pumpkin ale, which was super yummy! not really made with pumpkins at all, but it tasted like October! and i entered the halloween contest as a 80's girl, where as my friend entered as a dead bride. It was good to meet new friends.
Sports bar in Princeton: again, a fun place to hang out and watch sports. the new people i met in the group were super nice and charming. we also checked out...
Twist: a yummy frozen yogurt place in downtown princeton. Did i say they serve mochi and tapioca in your frozen yogurt?? I can eat that stuff forever.
Alchemist and Barrister: a charming little restaurnat/bar in princeton. Must have been like a hundred years old. The decor is so retro with exposed red bricks and hardwood bar/floor. Serves kick-ass traditional food, like london-broil.
Halo Pub: NOT a pub that serves alcohol. Rather, the most famous is their ice cream. The best of the 3 places in princeton (compared to The Bent Spoon as well as Thomas Sweet). the ice cream cakes they serve come with smiley faces too. so delicious!
Winberie: likst Alchemist and Barrister, also a charming little antiquish looking bar/restaurant that serves really good italian food.
Tortugas: probably considered by the locals the best/authenic mexican in town. BUT, coming from California, my bar is a little higher. so i would say it's a 6 in my book. Not the best fish taco i've had but acceptable. There's plenty in baja california that can kick Tortuga's butt. I would say, leave the mexican food to the californians.
The Bent Spoon: a somewhat overpriced organic ice cream place that will burn a hole in your pocket.
Thomas Sweet: not a bad choice for machine whipped (?) ice cream but a bit on the sweet side for me. not sure if i ordered the wrong thing.
Sakura Express: love the big portion of fish, esp in their sashimi lunch/dinner. not super authentic but tolerable. Again, you can't compare everything to back home.
I think that's it..for Princeton for now. :)
SUPER DUPER FUN Field of Terror: a farm where they transformed cornfields into haunter hayrides, haunted barn, and haunted corn field maze. :) It's like your all worst nightmares rolled into one, with abandoned buses/boats, zombies, dead animals, trailors, psychos, obstacle course... LOVE IT!
House party: Was really fun. met a super nice girl who talked about Jersey Shore and the whole italian american phenom with me a lot. and they served home-made taco's (yum).. then
Triumph: a brewery in Princeton. I FINALLY got to try the pumpkin ale, which was super yummy! not really made with pumpkins at all, but it tasted like October! and i entered the halloween contest as a 80's girl, where as my friend entered as a dead bride. It was good to meet new friends.
Sports bar in Princeton: again, a fun place to hang out and watch sports. the new people i met in the group were super nice and charming. we also checked out...
Twist: a yummy frozen yogurt place in downtown princeton. Did i say they serve mochi and tapioca in your frozen yogurt?? I can eat that stuff forever.
Alchemist and Barrister: a charming little restaurnat/bar in princeton. Must have been like a hundred years old. The decor is so retro with exposed red bricks and hardwood bar/floor. Serves kick-ass traditional food, like london-broil.
Halo Pub: NOT a pub that serves alcohol. Rather, the most famous is their ice cream. The best of the 3 places in princeton (compared to The Bent Spoon as well as Thomas Sweet). the ice cream cakes they serve come with smiley faces too. so delicious!
Winberie: likst Alchemist and Barrister, also a charming little antiquish looking bar/restaurant that serves really good italian food.
Tortugas: probably considered by the locals the best/authenic mexican in town. BUT, coming from California, my bar is a little higher. so i would say it's a 6 in my book. Not the best fish taco i've had but acceptable. There's plenty in baja california that can kick Tortuga's butt. I would say, leave the mexican food to the californians.
The Bent Spoon: a somewhat overpriced organic ice cream place that will burn a hole in your pocket.
Thomas Sweet: not a bad choice for machine whipped (?) ice cream but a bit on the sweet side for me. not sure if i ordered the wrong thing.
Sakura Express: love the big portion of fish, esp in their sashimi lunch/dinner. not super authentic but tolerable. Again, you can't compare everything to back home.
I think that's it..for Princeton for now. :)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Because I'm gonna kick your a** at work...
Disclaimer: angry posts make me sound bitcher than i actually am. :)
So today is another classic day which totally reminds me of why i really hate any social event limited to only fellows from my company. I can only take it in small doses. another minute spent with them after 1 hr makes me want to hurt myself (or one of them). people are still pretty cliquey, and i really just can't' deal with these 23-yo east-coasters who think they are the hot sh*t just cuz they got in the fellowship program. Everything they say, intentionally or not, sounds childish and extremely douchbaggy. there's this girl who has expressed multiple times that when she interviewed for my position she found out that there is no way she'd want to do this (my job). and today she expressed it again (what a rude thing to say). and it's been 3 months and whenever i go to the social gathers they act really aloof (even my roommate can vouch for that). I've said this before and i'm going to say it again, i suspect that a lot of the animosity/unfriendliness towards me is due to the fact that they are jealous of me and what i get to do on my job. I don't like talking about what i do in front of them because i always get that sour expression (then don't ask!). i'd be missing lunch or their social gathering for a couple days then when i do show up, i'm asked why i have been 'missing in action', and when i said i've been off site in this meeting with another company who we do our joint adventure for our drug with, i get this 'look'. Weekly I am sitting in meetings only 2nd year fellows or senior management get to go to. The medical information fellows (who pretty much sit at the call center all day and write response letters for customers) prolly hate that they can't dip their pen in my ink. It's so much easier for me to plug myself into one of their projects (and i have) jsut so i can put that on my resume. i've also been reaching out to other departments and requesting for projects with regulatory/marketing/clinical operations. I dont think i'm competitive unless i'm challenged/pissed. and that's when i get competitive with the boys. since i dont see them AT ALL as romantic partners it's much easier for me to show them down. I think if anything it gives me more incentive to make them feel worse about their positions and feel scared about what i can become. I already kind of gave them a taste of what i'm capable of during my presentation to the whole group last week (the general comments i got was that i really kicked a** during my presentation in front of the fellowship class and appeared confident). Well, because i really wanted to show my coworkers my capabilities i finished the presentation 3 weeks before the date and consulted multiple people within the company and rehearsed it for 3 nights straight to memorize the slides. So yes, be very scared. if you dont' want to play nice, i won't play nice with you either.
and this anger is only directed toward people who work in my immediate company. some of the other fellows are pretty cool from the other companies, and some of them are of course, still douchy. the ones who are super douchy are generally 1) younger because they did the accelerated program (which is a total unfair lie because there's no way you can decide you want to be a pharmacist in high school and receive a pharmD without going through college. no wonder the doctors don't respect us because the east-coast pharmacy students are like in their 20s and don't know anything about life) and 2) very ignorant because they've never seen much out side of Jersey. they've never seen much of california or anywhere else in the world. and they have WAYYY too much jersey pride considering the ****hole they live in. The NORMAL fellows are usually from out of state and are well-traveled and have seen the world and know that people can be DIFFERENT.
and the ironic thing is: i'm not dying to have the things they have. i dont care about plainsboro and this place filled with bad drivers and little civilization. I'm doing this just so i can get awesome experience to put on my resume and move on to the next thing. my dream job is never to work in pharma. it's to become a travel channel correspondent and share my life with the people who i love and not jealous freaks who are so self-absorbed.
So today is another classic day which totally reminds me of why i really hate any social event limited to only fellows from my company. I can only take it in small doses. another minute spent with them after 1 hr makes me want to hurt myself (or one of them). people are still pretty cliquey, and i really just can't' deal with these 23-yo east-coasters who think they are the hot sh*t just cuz they got in the fellowship program. Everything they say, intentionally or not, sounds childish and extremely douchbaggy. there's this girl who has expressed multiple times that when she interviewed for my position she found out that there is no way she'd want to do this (my job). and today she expressed it again (what a rude thing to say). and it's been 3 months and whenever i go to the social gathers they act really aloof (even my roommate can vouch for that). I've said this before and i'm going to say it again, i suspect that a lot of the animosity/unfriendliness towards me is due to the fact that they are jealous of me and what i get to do on my job. I don't like talking about what i do in front of them because i always get that sour expression (then don't ask!). i'd be missing lunch or their social gathering for a couple days then when i do show up, i'm asked why i have been 'missing in action', and when i said i've been off site in this meeting with another company who we do our joint adventure for our drug with, i get this 'look'. Weekly I am sitting in meetings only 2nd year fellows or senior management get to go to. The medical information fellows (who pretty much sit at the call center all day and write response letters for customers) prolly hate that they can't dip their pen in my ink. It's so much easier for me to plug myself into one of their projects (and i have) jsut so i can put that on my resume. i've also been reaching out to other departments and requesting for projects with regulatory/marketing/clinical operations. I dont think i'm competitive unless i'm challenged/pissed. and that's when i get competitive with the boys. since i dont see them AT ALL as romantic partners it's much easier for me to show them down. I think if anything it gives me more incentive to make them feel worse about their positions and feel scared about what i can become. I already kind of gave them a taste of what i'm capable of during my presentation to the whole group last week (the general comments i got was that i really kicked a** during my presentation in front of the fellowship class and appeared confident). Well, because i really wanted to show my coworkers my capabilities i finished the presentation 3 weeks before the date and consulted multiple people within the company and rehearsed it for 3 nights straight to memorize the slides. So yes, be very scared. if you dont' want to play nice, i won't play nice with you either.
and this anger is only directed toward people who work in my immediate company. some of the other fellows are pretty cool from the other companies, and some of them are of course, still douchy. the ones who are super douchy are generally 1) younger because they did the accelerated program (which is a total unfair lie because there's no way you can decide you want to be a pharmacist in high school and receive a pharmD without going through college. no wonder the doctors don't respect us because the east-coast pharmacy students are like in their 20s and don't know anything about life) and 2) very ignorant because they've never seen much out side of Jersey. they've never seen much of california or anywhere else in the world. and they have WAYYY too much jersey pride considering the ****hole they live in. The NORMAL fellows are usually from out of state and are well-traveled and have seen the world and know that people can be DIFFERENT.
and the ironic thing is: i'm not dying to have the things they have. i dont care about plainsboro and this place filled with bad drivers and little civilization. I'm doing this just so i can get awesome experience to put on my resume and move on to the next thing. my dream job is never to work in pharma. it's to become a travel channel correspondent and share my life with the people who i love and not jealous freaks who are so self-absorbed.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A very good Sunday...
I have been going into the city for 3 consecutive weeks now. And everytime right before I would sort of dread it for no apparent reasons, sometims laziness, sometimes just plain old social anxiety. But I always come home feeling great about having decided to join my friend in the city. I will chronicle my other adventures in my next few posts, but the following is what I did today in the Big Apple on a very cold and rainy day:
Missed the Susan G. Komen 5K walk/run for Breast Cancer: because i really couldn't wake up to catch the train at 612am on a Sunday morning, so i slept in for the cause.
Broadway on Broadway:
This is a once a year event during which different broadway musicals would showcase a piece of their music. This year was no exception. we got quite lucky and stayed close to the side of the stage. Kelsey Grammer was there to present some of these singing/dance numbers. Some of my favorites: Phantom (of course), The Addams Family, Chicago, Billy Elliot, Memphis, In the Heights...etc. Although i almost got pedal edema from standing too long, it was REALLY enjoyable.
Chelsea Market:
Another awesome indoor market which i LOVE (right after the ferry building in SF, Quincy Market in Boston, and Redding Market in Philly). Basically a huge antiquish building with different vendors and restaurants inside where you can casually walk through and buy foods you want to have. We decided to stop by the Lobster Store where they sell fresh seafood. i picked a super worthy sushi/sashimi combo for only $15, and my friend ordered a made-to-order crab sandwich. We then got coffee on our way out.
Bloomingdale:
Definitely a good dept store if you want nice, fashionable, and pricey clothing. I dont have the savings right now to splurge on something like that. To be quite honest all the brands they carry in Bloomingdales are very pretty pieces, but i gotta stick with my Jersey outlets with Ann Taylor, Loft, BR for now until i have the luxury to buy pretty 'play clothes' again. I dont know how people in nyc can afford to dress chic everyday.
Ten Ren Tea Time:
YES! went to tapioca milk tea in Chinatown because we were both craving it big time. Me living in Jersey and am just really deprived of chinese food/beverages. Everytime I'm in Chinatown i want to buy/eat everything. I dont even have Pho around where i live! and i miss all the HK style BBQ ducks. Anyway, the tea was really yummy. such comfort food on a rainy day.
Last Stop - Tai Pan Bakery
A Chinese bakery in Chinatown. We both got Asian bread (i got pineapple bread, bbq pork bun, and some egg tarts). I have to say that asian breads are still the better tasting breads out there. I devoured 3 of these 5 buns i got right after i got home.
In between these stops, i definitely caught up with my friend about everything: career, relationshiop, school, people at work, own expectations...etc. We then headed back to NY Penn station where we bidded each other farewell. (sigh). I miss my all my friends. I feel really lucky that I am close to these people who keep me going through it all.
Missed the Susan G. Komen 5K walk/run for Breast Cancer: because i really couldn't wake up to catch the train at 612am on a Sunday morning, so i slept in for the cause.
Broadway on Broadway:
This is a once a year event during which different broadway musicals would showcase a piece of their music. This year was no exception. we got quite lucky and stayed close to the side of the stage. Kelsey Grammer was there to present some of these singing/dance numbers. Some of my favorites: Phantom (of course), The Addams Family, Chicago, Billy Elliot, Memphis, In the Heights...etc. Although i almost got pedal edema from standing too long, it was REALLY enjoyable.
Chelsea Market:
Another awesome indoor market which i LOVE (right after the ferry building in SF, Quincy Market in Boston, and Redding Market in Philly). Basically a huge antiquish building with different vendors and restaurants inside where you can casually walk through and buy foods you want to have. We decided to stop by the Lobster Store where they sell fresh seafood. i picked a super worthy sushi/sashimi combo for only $15, and my friend ordered a made-to-order crab sandwich. We then got coffee on our way out.
Bloomingdale:
Definitely a good dept store if you want nice, fashionable, and pricey clothing. I dont have the savings right now to splurge on something like that. To be quite honest all the brands they carry in Bloomingdales are very pretty pieces, but i gotta stick with my Jersey outlets with Ann Taylor, Loft, BR for now until i have the luxury to buy pretty 'play clothes' again. I dont know how people in nyc can afford to dress chic everyday.
Ten Ren Tea Time:
YES! went to tapioca milk tea in Chinatown because we were both craving it big time. Me living in Jersey and am just really deprived of chinese food/beverages. Everytime I'm in Chinatown i want to buy/eat everything. I dont even have Pho around where i live! and i miss all the HK style BBQ ducks. Anyway, the tea was really yummy. such comfort food on a rainy day.
Last Stop - Tai Pan Bakery
A Chinese bakery in Chinatown. We both got Asian bread (i got pineapple bread, bbq pork bun, and some egg tarts). I have to say that asian breads are still the better tasting breads out there. I devoured 3 of these 5 buns i got right after i got home.
In between these stops, i definitely caught up with my friend about everything: career, relationshiop, school, people at work, own expectations...etc. We then headed back to NY Penn station where we bidded each other farewell. (sigh). I miss my all my friends. I feel really lucky that I am close to these people who keep me going through it all.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
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