A new beginning

It's in the early hours of the morning and I am still busy packing. Once again, I am overweight! And for the life of me, I cannot understand why.

I only had 30kg weight limit when I packed for the UK. Now for the US, I have a 46kg weight limit for check-in baggage and an 18kg weight limit for hand carry. And I still am overweight! Argh! This is really frustrating!

It's a long, long flight that I will be taking to arrive at my destination, which involves 4 flights and 5 airports with a total journey time of 30 hours. I will surely miss the non-stop direct flight from KUL-LON that I have been taking for the past 8 years. Luckily, I have a friend who will be starting the same training as me and we will be taking the flight together. As we will be sharing a house together, the time during the long journey will be spent getting to know one another better.

Somehow, the realization that I will be starting my postgraduate medical training in a new country with a completely different medical system, hasn't hit me yet. I think I am taking it as a holiday still. Maybe I am in denial. Maybe I am scared. I don't know.

All I know is that this is something new. Something unknown. An unchartered territory. It will be a struggle, it will be a challenge but it's something different. Am I making the right decision? Was it wise to pack up and leave my training post in a London hospital for an equally excellent, maybe better or worse, training post, in a small town somewhere in the Midwest of USA?

Only time will tell.

However it turns out, no regrets.

Wish me luck!