I decided to invite some friends over for tea and tart. Not just any tart, no. I made my mother’s special Melktert, which is directly translated as Milk tart, which is kind of like a cinnamony custard pie. Melktert is a traditional Afrikaaner South African recipe, and no child in South Africa grows up without Melktert and Rooibos tea (and marmite, which I always skipped) as part of their Special dietary supplements.

The point of my writing about tart was actually far from tart eating itself. My point goes back to a phone conversation with my friend and classmate, with whom I will be offering myself up to a bunch of teenagers at an English high school in Espoo in about one and a half weeks. Our Mission? To preach to the young that they really should stop smoking, because it is not nice…I thank you all in advance for your messages and wishes of good luck…seriously, we need it. What particularly aroused my attention during that phone call, was that she disclosed something that I found most disturbing.

Apparently, she was looking for a placement for her clinical practice in mental health starting in spring. She found a ward that interested her, and started debating whether or not to book for it (We use a crooked and pathetic booking system called ‘Jobstep’ to book all our clinical placements). Then, one cheerful day, she decided to have lunch with a bunch of classmates, held at this one classmate’s apartment (lets call her ‘classmate 2′). When she (lets call her from now on ‘classmate 1′ while we’re at it) mentioned to the rest of the classmates that were present that she was thinking of booking this one place, classmate 2, who was hosting the occasion decided that she wanted to book that very placement that the other one was planning on booking.  Upon this classmate 1 said

‘You’re not serious, I was planning on booking that’

classmate 2 responds ‘I don’t have a placement yet’ upon which she turns on her computer and logs into Jobstep. Classmate 1 looks on in dismay as classmate 2 inadvertently stabs her in the back. Classmate 1 tries to reason with classmate 2. Classmate 2 sucessfully manages to book the placement. Classmate 1 is rather speechless, and does nothing further. Neither do any of the other classmates intervene or have anything to say. Classmate 2 continues haphazardly and everyone enjoys lunch together. Everybody seems to be happy and blissful despite the rather controversial events of before.

When I heard this, I said ‘She did WHAT??? And you just let her do that?’. Alright, its not like the end of the world is going to fall upon us because of this event. In retrospect, its not such a big loss at all. What disturbs me though, is that classmate 2 shamelessly and unfairly did something that in my eyes can only be described as immoral. Does classmate 2 even understand that what she did was immoral? perhaps or probably not. Apparently no one bothered to make it clear to her either that it was wrong.

I have kicked fellow classmates out of my group for not participating or producing any work (I have zero tolerance for slacking, but it has never been anything personal). I have warned another classmate about plagiarism, who misunderstood my intentions and went on to tell everyone what a terrible person I am. Some classmates came to despise me. Yet they never really bothered to ask me what and why I did the things I did. And this is the punch line…’classmate 2′ can go ahead with sheer treachery with half of the other classmates witnessing, and everyone is fine with that? Please, tell me if I have completely missed the point.

I have worked very hard so far. My grades usually show that. When Our tutor teacher mentioned a week ago that The two best students of all time will be offered places at the ICU ward at the Helsinki University Paediatric Hospital  (Lasten Klinikka) next term for our paediatric placements, my heart jumped and the ambition in me manifested itself in my superficial facial capillaries, and I secretly told myself that I will get that place. I would not say that I really deserve that place, but I admit that I would really enjoy working in such an environment (I would like to either specialize in ICU, OR or ED). But am I so driven by ambition that I will get what I want at other people’s expense?

I guess I would not be writing about this if I were not aware of the dangers of ambition. I trust that God will guide me to where He wants me to practice next autumn. I give it into His hands. I pray that my fondness for tart should not turn into lust. That whenever I have my tart, I shall share it with friends gladly.

I was paid the greatest compliment today by my friends  who ate generously from my special tart and even took some home. The stuff is so rich that I could not possibly finish large amounts by myself.

If you’d like the recipe, send me an email. Pictured above is what’s left of my (mother’s) confectionery masterpiece.

Health Tip: Not forgiving leads to bitterness, which is detrimental to wellbeing. I recommend  a generous application apology and acceptance, and furthermore forgetting. For best results, finish off procedure before sunset. I wish everyone Happy forgiving and loving week! Shavua Tov!

By the way… in the spirit of spontaneity I declare the week of Love and Forgiveness starting Sunday, 2 March.