Soundtrack Sunday (Again): Good Life - OneRepublic

I know, I knooow, I failed to post on Saturday again. This past week was an exercise in "how many things can I put off until after my test?" and the answer was "everything I was supposed to do". So I've been playing catchup all weekend and haven't gotten around to writing a blog post until now. In addition, A LOT has happened in the last seven days. In fact, it's going to take multiple blog posts to cover all of the events of the week.

I will start with the biggest announcement, and the one that inspired my song choice for today. We had our international rotation picks on Friday, and I am official going to JAPAN in April of 2015!!!! This is exciting on so many levels!! It will be my fourth continent to visit, my fifth country outside the United States, and my second time studying abroad. The song I've chosen is one of my favorite travel songs, and I especially like to listen to it when I am packing for a trip. 

(This song does have a swear word or two. Please refrain from panicking.)

Good Life - One Republic

I have been to most of the places mentioned in this song.

This pleases me. 

There are so many things I want to see and do in Japan. We will be staying in Hiroshima, but will have the opportunity to travel to other cities. I plan to visit Tokyo and Kyoto for sure, and Nagasaki if I have time (hooray for bullet trains!). I will be there during the Cherry Blossom Festival, so I definitely plan on attending some of the events. Some other things I want to do are visit Mt. Fuji, experience a traditional tea ceremony, visit some of the castles (obviously), and see a traditional Japanese theatre production.

Mt. Fuji

Matsumoto Castle

Painting of a Japanese tea ceremony

I also really want to visit Disneyland Tokyo! I may stay an extra day or two after my rotation just to do this. I would love to visit every Disney park before I die!

Disneyland Tokyo - because you are never too old for mouse ears

ALSO on Friday (it was an emotional roller coaster of a day), I found out my first real pharmacy rotation. We had turned in our priority picks earlier in the week. Basically, we ranked our top three rotations that we really wanted and that are hard to get. Then, all our papers go in a stack, get mixed up, and the people in charge of scheduling our rotations start from the top of the stack and work down. I got my top choice priority pick, so I must have been near the top of the pile this time. I'll be doing a cardiology rotation at the VA here in Memphis with Dr. Parker in January of 2015. This is probably the most sought after rotation here in Memphis, so I am ecstatic that I got it!

Here is what my rotation schedule looks like so far. Next up, I'll find out where I will be for my three required rotations. I will update and repost this list as I find out more of my schedule.

I got both of the things I ordered in the mail on Thursday, so expect to see a post with those soon. They are both awesome and it was so nice to have packages waiting for me after my test! Also (I am just full of news today), I finally reached the ring in my Diamond Candle, so I'll be posting part two of my review this week as well. I will leave you with one more picture from my future host city of Hiroshima. 

Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima