At 5:30 this morning, I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock beeping at me as it has done every morning for the last 2 years. However today, it felt different. I wasn’t getting ready for a day at the hospital of treating patients and learning, I was getting set to head to the airport to officially begin the national interview period.
As I sat on the airplane, it also occurred to me that this trip was not simply another in the series of trips I have taken in my life. After all, I wasn’t going on vacation, or to see family, or acquire medical training; I was going to visit a city (several cities in fact) that I could very well be calling ‘home’ in 3 months’ time. I don’t believe that I truly realized the magnitude of that until today. Over the next 3 weeks, I will have 1 day, and sometime less, to determine whether or not I would be happy spending the next 3-5 years of my life not only in a certain program, but in a city that in many cases, I have never visited before. Yikes indeed!!!
My interview is not until tomorrow so, I decided to spend the day walking around, seeing the sites and getting to know the area. I dropped off my bags, put on my i pod, and headed out. With in minutes, I had deviated from the route that I had planned for myself, and given the minus 20-degree weather, I felt the need to ask for directions. I was promptly told to ‘head West on South road,’ and immediately knew I was in some trouble. Now I am sure that every city has its nuances, but shouldn’t South road at least run in the North-South direction? I was determined to not let that bog me down too much. I kept walking somewhat aimlessly, when all of a sudden ‘Where the Streets have no Name,” by U2, came on my iPod. That was the second time in my life that I felt that this particular song was speaking to me (the first being in Rwanda but again, we will get to that later). 
All in all, I spent the day fighting the cold by stopping in on a pub every 30 minutes or so to get something to eat or drink, and then kept marching. I saw a lot, met some wonderful people, made a mental note of some very affordable housing in a great location, and felt very satisfied that if push came to shove, I could make a life for myself here (and hopefully anywhere).
So now, I am sitting back in my hotel room reading up on some notes I had written down for the interview tomorrow. Although good to spontaneous, I do not have the confidence to be completely unprepared. Tomorrow brings a new experience. A new hospital, a new interview, a new set of judgments and of course, another flight to another new city and interview number 2.