The Last Summer of Our Lives

Until the day I retire, summer is no more. Fall will fade quickly into winter, which will bloom into spring, only to become autumn again as the leaves fall. Summer is a thing of the past, and July 1st will forever mark the start of a new year: rotations, residency, etc. No more internships, beach weeks, or excursions around the world. Nay, summer break is no break at all, just more work.

Of course I had to celebrate (hence no blog last week – I’ll have to make up for it today), so the Laabs family and the Swendimans departed on a Scandinavian cruise, docking in Amsterdam, then setting sail to spend two weeks visiting Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, and Denmark. All expenses paid (mostly) by mom and dad, but included are four course meals, all-you-can-eat buffets, and as many $5.75 imported beers as you can drink (the alcohol is on my tab). Thus, Keith, his brother, Mark, Shelley, and I must smuggle Vodka back onboard the ship in water bottles and other large volume containers in order to escape the warped boat economy.
The final exam of first year was last Thursday and congratulations to me… I passed! (with my best performance so far). I am now officially a second year medical student! When I return, I will complete an eight week internship at the Sheps Center at UNC, and then onto the beginning of the end. Grades count next year, and the Boards loom expectantly in June. Off-weeks disappear and tests will come much more frequently. In my attempt for a last hurrah, Smeltzy drove me to RDU three hours after the exam (after almost leaving my passport in the color copier at Kinkos).

Day 1 - Amsterdam. Our family is spending an extra day in the Netherlands, so I did not get to fully experience the city. However, I am greatly looking forward to walking the Red Light District and grabbing some coffee with “special brownies.” More from this city later.

Keith and I began with $150 of credit on the ship. That was quickly spent our first two nights at the Reflections Lounge, the only “dance club” on the ship. The best deal on alcohol is buckets of beer, buy 5 get 1 free for $22 on domestics and $25 for imports, plus mandatory gratuity (already I miss $4.99 six-packs of the King at Target). You know you’re not in Kansas anymore when you think $3.75 a beer is a good deal. Concerning Reflections, I put “dance club” in quotes because there are only about 20 people under the age of 27 on this cruise. Shelley and I were counting LOPs (Little Old Persons) who came on this ship to die. No joke, we think many of these people might have that exact mission. This is their funeral procession. And if the food or Norwalk doesn’t get them, they can always jump off the edge of the boat before it docks back in Amsterdam, Titantic-style.

Day 3 - Berlin. The four of us (plus Jessica, a friend of the Laabs’ family) rented a BMW to drive the Autobahn 3 hours to Germany’s capital. Jessica quickly learned how the Swendimans roll: no lunch breaks, walking only – taxis are for wimps, and finding every museum and memorial within a 10 square mile radius. We checked out Checkpoint Charlie and of course meandered over to the Starbucks directly across the way. We walked to the Brandenburg gate, and then ambled another six miles tracking down some museum that no longer exists. Top speed on the way back was 205 km/hr (probably somewhere around 125 miles per hour?), much to the dismay of mother in the back. Fortunately, we didn’t tell her our speed until after we got back to port (the perfect seat for mom apparently is right behind the driver – that way she can’t see the speedometer…).

Day 5 - Stockholm. By far my favorite city of the tour, the capital of Sweden is gorgeous. Three hours before we docked, small islands appeared port and starboard, marking the beginning of the city. Houses began to crop up along the banks, and some on islands in between. Once at port, we took a “hop on and off” boat from island to island to check out the Nobel Museum and the Vasa, a huge Pirates of the Caribbean- like war ship that sank on the way to conquer Poland after only a few minutes at sea (too many cannons apparently). This is where I was able to obtain my first white russian of the trip, which is really the only reason I’m here. The Swedish interpretation, however, does not include enough vodka.

Day 6 - Helnsinki. This is where Keith and I decided the beautiful women live, although we have high hopes for Copenhagen (and I have yet to judge the Dutch). There is nothing else in Helsinki except blondes. Really, nothing. Keith and I did manage to find some crack dealers, however.

Day 7/8 - St. Petersburg. We had two days in Russia, and unfortunately since visas for tourists cost hundreds of dollars, we had to follow a tour guide the entire trip like lemmings. But since St. Petersburg only gets 45 days of sun a year, I feel very lucky we had one and a half days of pure, unabated sunlight. We went to many of the czars’ palaces, ate Borshch, fancied the Russian underground, and pursued one of the finest art museums in the entire world, the Hermitage. Most importantly though, most importantly, the white russian in Russia was THE BEST of all the white russians I’ve had on my world tour (minus the United States of course – no worries, Phil). I was worried I wouldn’t be able obtain my dream, having to follow our guide constantly, but she let us off the leash briefly to run across the street to a pub. Apparently the powers that be weren’t too worried about us defecting.

Day 9 - Tomorrow we visit Estonia, trekking around with Shelley as our guide. Then I get to look forward to being in the cruise’s Dancing with the Stars competition. More to come on that front as I entertain hundreds of LOPs at the theater.