I wanted to put up a new post, but really don't have much to say. Nothing too exciting has been going on, other than the beautiful weather we have had the last couple of days! It has been quite sunny and a very comfortable temperature for this time of year. Becky and I went to the city center yesterday to pick up a few things and take advantage of the beautiful day, and then later that night we went to the 'cinema' to see Slumdog Millionaire. It was a very good film, and I found myself taking particular interest in it with having a friend living there doing a similar program as myself. Today is cloudy and windy and though I haven't yet, I would expect to run into some rain today.
I have signed up to join the Outdoor Pursuits Club along with a group of friends and we are going hillwalking on Sunday! I can just hear the chuckles and various comments I would be receiving from my family if I were telling them face to face but yes, I know I'll be outside and I'm sure I'll be able to handle it, so keep your comments to yourselves :) Joke amongst yourselves all you want. In orientation they said this club was a great way to see Ireland because they travel to various places in the country, and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. It's an all day excursion and I am very anxious.
As I said, not much has been going on, just class and other routine activities. I believe tonight my housemates and I are planning on going out and becoming better acquainted and I am looking forward to that as well. I'm sure in the next couple of days I will have more to share. Ta ta and enjoy your snow ;)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
The real thing
Ok, so here it is. The official start to my blog. From the top...
All three flights went as planned. St. Louis to Chicago was about an hour flight, Chicago to Dublin was right around seven hours and then from Dublin to Shannon was a mere 25 minutes. We (A group of International Students) were picked up Tuesday afternoon at the airport and taken to the university. We were greeted by what I have come to expect everyday...rain. Not just a light sprinkle, but a decent pour. The bus drove us to the top of Kilmurry Village and Ruth, one of the ladies from the international office said "See ya Thursday!" We were left in the cold and rain to decipher for ourselves the next step. We stood under the balcony of the main reception building for about five minutes until someone came to unlock the door and give us our keys. By this time, though I was exhausted because of the traveling and lack of sleep, I was still able to smile the entire was to my house (#67) through the rain. Upon entering the doors, I met housemate #1, Allaster, a second year student from Ireland. We exchanged quick hellos and I headed to my room. I had every intention of getting settled right then and there, but once I saw the bed I knew it was calling my name. I took a short nap and then headed to The Stables (the campus pub) to watch the inaguration with Craig, a Truman student. Once the speeches had commenced, we joined another table with a girl named Anne Marie, a student from Wisconsin, and her friend Alison. We talked over a pint getting aquainted with one another. A little later in the night, we were introduced to two Irishmen named Will and Dunken. These two were very nice gentlemen and had just as many questions for them as they did us. We asked questions such as, "What is the University like", and "where are the good pubs in town", "what are you studying", so on and so forth, and they asked us "Do you really have fraternities like in Old School," and "Have you seen the movie Anchorman?" While proceeding to quote both movies for about five minutes. Both movies have comical quotes, but hearing them in an Irish accent makes them even better. We left Stables around 11:30 and headed home where I meet Anika, housemate #2, who is a study abroad student as well, but has already been here a semester.
The next day, a group of us had decided to go into Limerick City to get various things we all needed. There I met a whole group of new friends. Matti, Katarina, and Anu, all from Finland, and then Lisa and Mecky are German. All five are studying to be English teachers and speak wonderful English especially for it being their second language! It's really amazing. That day I also met Robert from Alabama who is a roommate of Anne Marie. Though he is currently living in Alabama, he has lived in Latvia and Finland, as well as various other places I'm sure. We took a bus into the city which was about a 15 minute ride. We decided that we were all pretty hungry and wanted to eat. The Finish kids had been here since Sunday and had already scoped the place out a little. They said they knew a great burger place that they wanted to take us to. My first thought was "Oh great, I didn't come to Ireland to eat the burgers," but rolled with it anyway. We walked into the resturant, and what was it? None other than Eddie Rockets, a '50's' themed resturant. The American kids found it quite amausing the others got such a kick out of it. We told them that the states were crawling with places like this, and they explained to us that they had nothing like this in Finland or Germany and thought it was 'just like the movie' and 'so stylish.' Nonetheless I was amused. Upon heading back to campus we decided to meet up later at Stables. This time, we met three more Irishmen,Rob, Mark, and Owen. I'm not sure how to describe....they were very nice boys, everyone here has been nothing but nice, but interesting to say the least. I intorducted myself to them and told them I was from the midwest. Rob then shot out questions like rapid fire, trying to deciede if I was a red neck or not....first off, "Are you a red neck?" No. "Have you ever shot a gun?" No. "Have you ever killed an animal?" No. "Have you ever shot your brother?" No. "Do you live in a tralier?" No. "Do you wear vests?" No. "Do you own a catapolt?" No. I'm sure he had more for me, but stopped there and just decided for himself that yes indeed I was a red neck!
Going forward from that night, nothing too grand has happened. Along the way I meet housemate #3-6. Erin is from New Jersey and this is her first semester her as well. She and I have been spending a lot of time together, going out and meeting people and the final two housemates are Liam and Emma, both from Ireland. The three girls are upstairs and myself and the two boys are downstairs on the main floor. We each have our own rooms and share two bathrooms. We have a living room and kitchen that we all share as well. Our rooms are what I would consider 'jail cell' size :) But perfectly livable for one person.
Everything has been going great so far. Today was the first day of class, and I only had one, my econ class, and tomorrow I have an Irish Folklore class as well as Government and Politics of Ireland. I'm looking foward to both of them. I apologize for such a long first post. I promise to be more timely and less wordy on my next one.
Oh before I end, a few random things...
1) The Irish LOVE Obama! There has not been a day were I have not heard his name multiple times from people, not the TV or some other form of media. They are very excited for his term(s?). Adults and students a like. Living in the U.S. I often forget what an influence our government can have, but here I am reminded everyday!
2) While I was sitting at my desk today, two horses(?) came galloping by my window. I put a question mark at the end because I am not sure if they are actually horses. They had the face of a horse, but were somewhat shorter than an average horse and had much longer hair. I will find out what kind of animal these are and get back to you.
3) No, I have not had Guinness yet. I am not ready for my own. I've tried other peoples, but I know I could not finish one. I have so far had Carlsburg and Fosters beer as well as Bulmers Cider. Fosters tends to be one of the cheaper ones out at the pubs and the cider is just tasty.
Any who...now that I have the internet I will stay on top of my bloggin and picture posting! I don't have a lot of pictures yet because I like to take them on the sunny days, and well we've only have two of those. I do that mostly for my benefit because I am sure I'm going to remember the rain, but I think it will be nice to remind myslef that there were sunny days too :)
All three flights went as planned. St. Louis to Chicago was about an hour flight, Chicago to Dublin was right around seven hours and then from Dublin to Shannon was a mere 25 minutes. We (A group of International Students) were picked up Tuesday afternoon at the airport and taken to the university. We were greeted by what I have come to expect everyday...rain. Not just a light sprinkle, but a decent pour. The bus drove us to the top of Kilmurry Village and Ruth, one of the ladies from the international office said "See ya Thursday!" We were left in the cold and rain to decipher for ourselves the next step. We stood under the balcony of the main reception building for about five minutes until someone came to unlock the door and give us our keys. By this time, though I was exhausted because of the traveling and lack of sleep, I was still able to smile the entire was to my house (#67) through the rain. Upon entering the doors, I met housemate #1, Allaster, a second year student from Ireland. We exchanged quick hellos and I headed to my room. I had every intention of getting settled right then and there, but once I saw the bed I knew it was calling my name. I took a short nap and then headed to The Stables (the campus pub) to watch the inaguration with Craig, a Truman student. Once the speeches had commenced, we joined another table with a girl named Anne Marie, a student from Wisconsin, and her friend Alison. We talked over a pint getting aquainted with one another. A little later in the night, we were introduced to two Irishmen named Will and Dunken. These two were very nice gentlemen and had just as many questions for them as they did us. We asked questions such as, "What is the University like", and "where are the good pubs in town", "what are you studying", so on and so forth, and they asked us "Do you really have fraternities like in Old School," and "Have you seen the movie Anchorman?" While proceeding to quote both movies for about five minutes. Both movies have comical quotes, but hearing them in an Irish accent makes them even better. We left Stables around 11:30 and headed home where I meet Anika, housemate #2, who is a study abroad student as well, but has already been here a semester.
The next day, a group of us had decided to go into Limerick City to get various things we all needed. There I met a whole group of new friends. Matti, Katarina, and Anu, all from Finland, and then Lisa and Mecky are German. All five are studying to be English teachers and speak wonderful English especially for it being their second language! It's really amazing. That day I also met Robert from Alabama who is a roommate of Anne Marie. Though he is currently living in Alabama, he has lived in Latvia and Finland, as well as various other places I'm sure. We took a bus into the city which was about a 15 minute ride. We decided that we were all pretty hungry and wanted to eat. The Finish kids had been here since Sunday and had already scoped the place out a little. They said they knew a great burger place that they wanted to take us to. My first thought was "Oh great, I didn't come to Ireland to eat the burgers," but rolled with it anyway. We walked into the resturant, and what was it? None other than Eddie Rockets, a '50's' themed resturant. The American kids found it quite amausing the others got such a kick out of it. We told them that the states were crawling with places like this, and they explained to us that they had nothing like this in Finland or Germany and thought it was 'just like the movie' and 'so stylish.' Nonetheless I was amused. Upon heading back to campus we decided to meet up later at Stables. This time, we met three more Irishmen,Rob, Mark, and Owen. I'm not sure how to describe....they were very nice boys, everyone here has been nothing but nice, but interesting to say the least. I intorducted myself to them and told them I was from the midwest. Rob then shot out questions like rapid fire, trying to deciede if I was a red neck or not....first off, "Are you a red neck?" No. "Have you ever shot a gun?" No. "Have you ever killed an animal?" No. "Have you ever shot your brother?" No. "Do you live in a tralier?" No. "Do you wear vests?" No. "Do you own a catapolt?" No. I'm sure he had more for me, but stopped there and just decided for himself that yes indeed I was a red neck!
Going forward from that night, nothing too grand has happened. Along the way I meet housemate #3-6. Erin is from New Jersey and this is her first semester her as well. She and I have been spending a lot of time together, going out and meeting people and the final two housemates are Liam and Emma, both from Ireland. The three girls are upstairs and myself and the two boys are downstairs on the main floor. We each have our own rooms and share two bathrooms. We have a living room and kitchen that we all share as well. Our rooms are what I would consider 'jail cell' size :) But perfectly livable for one person.
Everything has been going great so far. Today was the first day of class, and I only had one, my econ class, and tomorrow I have an Irish Folklore class as well as Government and Politics of Ireland. I'm looking foward to both of them. I apologize for such a long first post. I promise to be more timely and less wordy on my next one.
Oh before I end, a few random things...
1) The Irish LOVE Obama! There has not been a day were I have not heard his name multiple times from people, not the TV or some other form of media. They are very excited for his term(s?). Adults and students a like. Living in the U.S. I often forget what an influence our government can have, but here I am reminded everyday!
2) While I was sitting at my desk today, two horses(?) came galloping by my window. I put a question mark at the end because I am not sure if they are actually horses. They had the face of a horse, but were somewhat shorter than an average horse and had much longer hair. I will find out what kind of animal these are and get back to you.
3) No, I have not had Guinness yet. I am not ready for my own. I've tried other peoples, but I know I could not finish one. I have so far had Carlsburg and Fosters beer as well as Bulmers Cider. Fosters tends to be one of the cheaper ones out at the pubs and the cider is just tasty.
Any who...now that I have the internet I will stay on top of my bloggin and picture posting! I don't have a lot of pictures yet because I like to take them on the sunny days, and well we've only have two of those. I do that mostly for my benefit because I am sure I'm going to remember the rain, but I think it will be nice to remind myslef that there were sunny days too :)
I've made it!
I know this is coming a week late, but I'm here! I arrived safely on Tuesday...as scheduled but have not had an internet connection until today. I am about to leave for class, but upon arrival will have stories to share :)
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