I love London in pictures

Some people get homesick and I every once in a while get the travel bug. I'd love to see the world in all it's glory at some point in my life, but if I would be allowed to travel just to one country I would probably alway choose England . I'm a proper Anglophile/Britophile.

I like British history, I loooove the British accent. All my favourite bands/artist (present and past) come from the island and I definitely enjoy their food. What?! Also, I am a big Jamie Oliver fan since I was 11 or twelve basically.

I enjoy visiting the South of England as well, but London, it is just fab. It is so buzzing and full of live, but there are a lot of places far off the touristy track. Hidden littel gems.

I've been there quite a few times and it never gets boring there is alway something new to explore. I may write some day about what I think everybody should do/see while in London but for now I thought I'd just post a few of my favourite photos that I have taken in the last year or so of London. Okay maybe a recommendation or two along the pics.

Walking along the Thames when the sun is shining is one of the best things in the world

 If you have some time. Take a boat from one of the piers in the City to Greenwich. You get to see some of the Sights from a different perspective. Try to board the boat on it's first stop so you can take the best seats. Believe me it is really annoying if you've got a stranger's head in each shot :-)

The Tower and the Gherking

My favourite bridge in the world

The Tower Bridge looks so tiny compared to the Shard but none the less it is one of my favourite builings. And you can walk on top of the Bridge. The floor is see-through so maybe it's not everyone's cup of tea

 I took the right picture while having a stroll along the Thames. If you have time I'd definitely would recommend a walk from Shakespear's Globe towards the Houses of Parliament

Facebook "Friends"

I wasn't planning on writing a blogpost today as I have already reached my yearly limit of 2 blogposts. Say Woooot?  

Today I read something annoying on Facebook from an old classmate of mine. She wrote " I've you've got a BMI above 20 don't wear shorts it looks aweful. Thanks"*
Now to the annyoing bit: it wasn't meant as a joke. Usually I would have said that is a dumb joke but she was dead serious. (Stating in the comments and having written other posts along the lines of "I can tell you 100 reasons to be skinny") Let the shitstorm begin. (In which I decided not to participate)

My BMI is above 20. Do I wear shorts? yes! and why the heck not? Did people feel personally attacked? Yes But did I feel personally attacked? No, not really. Did this statement non the less make me feel uncomfortable? Yes.

She has of course has the right to express her opinion but I equally have the right to not agreeing especially if it hurts people and is frankly just a bit silly .

I don't want people in my life who make me feel bad about myself or who just provoke a tiny bit of self-doubt when I shouldn't have this feeling. Not the most body-confident person here. 5 minutes of considering all opportunities I used the unfriend button for the first time of my life.
I have to say I did feel a bit guilty at first. But we have never been close friends nor have I  spoken to this woman in years. Reading the comments, she wasn't minding hurting some of her friends' feelings. So I decided that a facebook "friend" like her is not worth that I feel bad, even if it is just for 5 minutes.

As Miss Taylor Swift already said: Haters gonna hate hate hate hate.
On that note: Shake it off! And use the unfriend button ;-)


*Note: a BMI up to 24.9 is considered as normal weight and as perfectly healty. Below 18 is underweight may indicate an eating disorder.

How I started to give a F*ck and got a chunk more confident in 2 weeks (Tips at the bottom)

I recently had to do a medical clerkship for my studies and I chose to do in the surgical ward of my local hospital. I had done a clerkship there 1.5 years before and honestly it was awful.

At that time I felt like everybody was thinking that I was naive and stupid and genreally not capable of becoming a good physician.And I put myself under pressure and I felt like I failed at quite a lot of tasks. Drawing blood and doing peripheral venous lines , there was a 50-50 chance that it went well or I had to get somebody to help me. The physicians weren't angry or anything but the nurses made snide remarks which didn't help. (not all but 2 or 3. The nurses from another ward were totally lovely though!)
There were other students there as well and although I realised that they needed a couple of attempts, they just weren't asking for help as I was, that wasn't any solace.

Why did I choose to go there again?Probably laziness as I wanted to do something surgical related and that was the nearest hospital. And a small part wanted to proof that I am not a total idiot (98% laziness, 2 % the idiot part)

In the meantime I had done a clerkship in which I had probably the most useful advice: " pretend that it is an emergency and that you are the only person who can do it. It doesn't matter how many attempts you need in drawing blood ect. as long as you get the result!"

So I started on the first day with those wise words in the back of my mind and a different attitude:  I just cared less. I decided to give a fu*k what everybody was thinking of me as long as I tried my very best. If things weren't going the way as I wanted them to go, I would try again. If the doctors treated me like an idiot I would never return there. I'd stay polite towards everybody but wasn't going to take sh't from anyone.

And what happened: suddenly I improved a LOT I mean really a LOT. Not everything was working at first attempt but I politely explained to the patients that I was still learning and was giving my best to make it the most comfortable for them as possible. The patients were really supportive saying that everybody has to learn their profession and that they didn't mind another attempt. Et voilà sometimes I had to try a second time but often the first attempt worked.

I know it is often hard to care less and to stop worrying so much. It took me one year and a half to realise, but i one can manage it, life is so much easier.

What helped me a lot was taking deep breaths and taking my time in preparing everything. I looked twice if I had everything I needed and I didn't rush anything. I tried my best to create a calm environment by having small talk with the patients and explaining them before hand that I might need a second try. It worked wonders.

Stay polite, stay calm and try your best and put to much pressure on yourself. And it is okay to need several attempts.
And that's the story how i got mor confident.

Sidenote how I manipulated my mind/ tips how to stay calm and start the day with a better feeling: I got myself my own tourniquet as a lucky charm and another lucky charm im my bag. That helped a lot. " Nothing can go wrong i've got the lucky charm in my bag :-)" So get yourself a lucky charm (as potterhead: a pocket patronus)
I woke up and said to myself: 'today is a good day' at least twice and repeated that every now and again. Your brain starts eventually thinking that this is a good day.
It works similar if you smile( especially when you look into a mirror) your brain starts thinking you smile because you are happy and puts you in a happy mood.
I applied makeup. That one may sound vain but I normally doesn't do that out of sheer laziness. I applied some powder and a bit of mascara-done. I felt a bit more special a bit more pulled together and more confident.
I listened to some of my favourtie songs on my way to work and had a good sing-along in my car. Nothing better than some awesome music to lift the spirits. Thanks to The Luka State, Everything Everything, One Night Only and the Rifles

Hope that might help.