Although it’s been less than a month since leaving Boston, I was already on my way back – this time to attend the 3rd annual Vitrectomy Course back at my home institution. The all-star cast of faculties, combined with high-yield lectures, wet labs, and dry labs, made for an intellectually stimulating weekend. I was also excited to meet up with all the other first-year fellows whom I had interviewed with and learn where they all ended up. A friend from residency was actually in the midst of moving next door to the hospital for fellowship, so I took the opportunity to crash with her and caught up over dinner in Chinatown. The two-day course ended with a lavish dinner at the Taj rooftop, followed by drinks and mingling at the Liberty and Alibi. The late night out left me exhausted, but made for an easy flight back to Durham with my co-fellow. Back at my new home, I’ve had several chances to try out the facilities in my complex, including the swimming pool and the billiard room. I’ve also been able to catch portions of the London Olympic games while trying to hone my pool skills. I was inspired to exercise more, but I wonder how long it’ll actually last.

Fellowship orientation was a 3-day marathon of learning about benefits, salary, safety, call, coding, and compliance. Each long day of lectures was followed by an evening of filling and scanning paperwork at home. Most of the faculty had kept clinic less busy for our first week, although it was still frustrating trying to learn the new EMR system, the idiosyncrasies of the OR, and the logistics of clinic flow here. While I have gained little knowledge in retina, I did manage to conclude that vacation is only a mirage in fellowship, and that I have essentially been condemned to two years of indentured servitude. Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to spend what little time I had left with Melody exploring the local dining scene. From chicken and waffles at Dame’s, to cold fried chicken at Crook’s Corner, to the two-piece combo at Bojangles, I have learned to embrace these crispy feathered friends. Sadly, our search for Asian cuisines has been underwhelming. So far, we’ve only come across tolerable dim sum at nearby Hong Kong, overpriced bun rieu at Pho Far East, distant soondubu at Vit Goal, and Cantonese fare served by Mandarin speakers at Dim Sum House. We also tried to get started on Ezio and Altair’s final adventure, although we had little time to spend on it as Melody prepared to move on to her new life in Cali. It was tough dropping my wife off at the airport – it was nearly 10 years ago since we were last truly long-distance. On one hand, I won’t have the guilt of not spending time with her through the busy fellowship. But on the other, it breaks my heart to have my other half so far away.

As luck would have it, I was left to cover senior call on the last day of residency. So by the time I bid farewell to my friends at work on Friday, I had little time to recover before Melody’s movers arrived the next morning. The three husky men emptied our home in under 3 hours, giving us just enough time to clean the place before embarking on our road trip. We had HK Eatery for lunch, but our epic last meal left me in a food coma. I had to stop by a roadside Dunkin Donuts for a large iced coffee, which kept me wired for the remainder of the trip, even after Melody took over the wheel. We entered Virginia late in the evening, where thunderstorms had knocked out the electrical grid, making the drive to our friend’s house rather challenging. We were so exhausted that we crashed in their basement for the night with their toddler and golden retriever. On Sunday, we awoke to a leisurely brunch with them before resuming our drive down. Upon arrival in Durham, we picked up keys from my co-fellow, tossed our luggage into my new pad, then headed back out to buy some essentials at Target and Li Ming’s – the sole Asian market in the area. We spent the next few days settling in – getting the internet hooked up, setting up the new mattress, getting my Duke ID & parking, and even passing the written exam for my NC driver’s license. We also got some shopping done, including nearby Tanger Outlets, Ross, and Dollar Tree, where I could actually afford some household goods given my meager fellowship salary. The moving pod arrived a day before July 4th, giving us time to unload our stuff and unpack. The sizzling heat wave had us working up a sweat, relieved only with some cold Southern sweet tea. We spent Independence Day recovering, meeting some friends over Sichuanese food and froyo. We heard fireworks ignite outside as we fought our final battle aboard the Normandy, defeating Cerberus and the Illusive Man, and saving humanity once again from the Reapers. Although the game is over, I realized that my real adventure in North Carolina was just about to begin.