Life: Idiotropic

While most Gillrathians are quick about getting down Christmas decorations by the first of the year (there aren't that many - just the occasional wreath or the inflatable Santa hanging out of upper story windows), the autoshop here isn't so efficient. Their gaudy red car covered in lights held on by clear packing tape is still sitting there in front of the shop, in plain view of passers by, and in plain view of my house. Thank goodness they don't turn on the lights. It's quite garrish.

In contrast, my tulips are still pretty! :)

My first year here I griped continually about the weather and vowed to keep my mouth shut a while and just deal with it. Well, let me complain just this once that while I am extremely grateful for our last few days of sun, the painful, bitter cold has lasted long enough and I am done! Go away winter! I'm ready for spring as are the farmers who have all lovingly preaned their fields and perfumed them with cow poop (gotta love the smell of spring).

Today I did warm myself with a latte at my favorite cafe and enjoyed a visit with an Italian and a Turkish friend. We talked about Christmas, family, and universities. I learned that in Turkey there is one day each year when all the students take a test. All students prepared take the same test on the same day. This is THE test. If you score very high, you can choose what you want to do. If you score low, then your choice is made for you. What was explained to me is that you look at where your score falls on the list and that will essentially tell you what your choices are for career and if a university is in your future (so careers are ranked according to difficulty and your score determines what jobs your capable of?). If you can't live with your score, then you can wait a year, study harder and take the test again. My Italian friend said that unlike our system where you can take a test like the MCAT and then apply for several schools, they also all take the same test on the same day and you can only apply for one. So, if you don't get in, too bad. It seems harsh. There's also a limit of how many doctors can be trained - we have a limit too, but it's a bigger number. She said theirs is something like 100.