Birthday weekend extravaganza!

Welp, I'm off to Belgium and Amsterdam for the weekend! I'm so excited! It should be a blast. Just gotta make sure to keep my camera happy personality subdued in the red light district. Any pictures and your camera is pretty much smashed. That would be unpleasant.

Alright, I will talk to everyone later!


And my birthday is on Sunday!!! Woooooo! 22. Holy cow!



Shout out to Sara Craige today! She sent me a box of some American foods I have been craving. Chips, cheetos, peach rings, grape jelly, pop tarts, gold fish, Swedish fish, sports illustrated Olympic edition and swimsuit edition! Good lookin out Sara! Shout out of the day.

Alright, have a good weekend everyone!

Peace.

Hump Day Blues...

Ok so today was the most boring Wednesday ever.

I literally got up at 10, went to my first class with idiot woman who didn't do anything dumb today, came back to the apartment, went to my tutorial and that was it.

Nothing exciting happened today. The weather was overcast. That's about it. I've just been staying in to save up money for my trip to Belgium and Amsterdam this weekend.

I did start my paper tonight finally. It was pretty easy to finish one source for the annotated bibliography. So next week I'll finish the other two and then turn it in on Friday. I also finished my tutorial work due next Friday already, so I don't have to deal with that next week. I've just been in school mode this week. I didn't do anything for the longest time, so I figured it's time to start being productive.

In other news, I got a hole in one of my Pirates shirts today. I wasn't even wearing it, I just noticed it. I have no idea how it got there. Kinda pissed about it but I'm not gonna sweat it.

Anything else? Let me think. Nope, nothin. I ate a ton of cookies today. I've just been snacking on them all day. Probably not the healthiest thing but I really don't care. Homemade cookies are the best. Plus they've already spent 8 days in the mail, so I have to eat them now before they get stale.

Alright, that's it. I literally got nothin else. I'm tired, I'm bored, I'm going to bed.

Goodnight everyone.

London Trip Update!

Ok, now that I got a good 8+ hours of sleep last night, I'm awake and ready to write about my trip to London!

So let's begin on Friday....

So as of Friday afternoon, I still had no idea what was going on trip wise. I'm the type of person who likes to clean up my room and have everything done and clean before I go away, so I don't have to return to a cluttered room, or I don't have to think about all the stuff I have to do when I get back. So, I decided I needed to do laundry before I left. So I went to village reception Friday afternoon at around 1. No one there. A sign on the door said, sorry for the inconvenience, be back at 14:00. So 2pm. So I went back home, killed an hour, and then went back at 2:15, just to give them some cushion. Nothing. Went back at 3, still no one. Finally at around 4 I went back and got some tokens for my wash. I came back to the apartment and asked Jeremie when we were leaving. He said 6:30, the bus picks us up at the Stables pub on campus. So I threw my wash in. However, I got back and checked online. The bus to the airport left Limerick City at 6:30. The next one didn't come until like 7:20 or something. Our tickets said the gates closed at 9:15 for our flight. So I was like, dude, we have to leave earlier. So I had to rush doing my laundry. We decided to meet at the bus stop at 5:40. I didn't get my stuff out of the dryer until about 5:30. As I have mentioned before, you need two drys to make sure your stuff isn't damp. I said screw it, ran back to my room, laid everything out all over my room and ran to meet them at the bus stop. So we got on the bus, but it took forever to get into the city. It stopped for everyone, and then there were people searching for change or paying with bills. It was a pain. So we got into the city at like 6:20, and had to walk across town because the bus went to the other side of the city, not the center like it always does. We hauled to the station, got there, bought our tickets, ran out to the bus and literally got there as it was about to pull out. We no sooner sat down and he left to go to the airport. So thank God we made it.

Once we got to the airport, we got our tickets stamped and went upstairs to clear security. Of course, my bag is the one that gets checked. We were the only 5 people there at the time, and they pick my bag. Then, they proceed to throw out my acne medicine, hair wax I've had for about 7 years now (still 3/4 full), toothpaste and my Old Spice body spray. I was pissed. Not so much at the toothpaste and body spray, but that was my favorite hair gel. And now it's gone, forever. My bathroom sink looks so bare without it. So after my terrible encounter with security, I bought a cheeseburger from the bar and we sat around and waited for about an hour. Then we went downstairs and boarded the plane. We took a Ryan Air flight. They are known for their cheap flights all over Europe. It was weird not boarding right into the plane. You had to walk out onto the tarmac, around the plane, and then walk up the stairs into the plane. I've never done that before, since it was only my second time boarding a plane. So when I reached the top of the stairs, I turned around, gave a peace sign with both hands and walked in. True Nixon style baby. The flight itself was pretty good. We sat at the emergency exit isle. More leg room all the way baby. It was a clear night so I could see all the lights from the cities. Unlike my first flight, this plane flew lower the entire time, so I had a nice view. However, because it flew lower the pressure killed my ears. I still don't think my left ear has popped since I boarded that flight.

So eventually I look out the window and I see this huge mass of lights stretching for what seems like miles. In the middle of this mass there are some very uniformed patterns, some very bright rows. Then I realized, Westminster Abbey. So we were flying over London. We then landed at Stansted airport. Us Americans cleared customs before Jeremie did. They looked at our passport and that was it. They didn't take our identity cards that we filled out on the plane. Nothing. Just let us go through. And they didn't stamp our passports either, which sucked. But whatever. So I immediately found a Spar, and bought some hair gel. So I was happy. We also had to switch everything over to pounds, and that was a pain because the pound is currently raping the American dollar. So we knew it was going to be an expensive trip, but it was London, and who knows when we'll get back there. So we took the hour long bus, which was packed, into the city.

First reaction of London, DC. I don't know why everything reminds me of DC, but it does. Probably because of the general lack of skyscrapers and nice old homes and buildings everywhere. It was dark, so I didn't see much, and it was a bus station, so that wasn't too impressive either. So we got off the bus, and had no idea how to get to our hostel. So we walked down the street, asked in a bar, and they directed us toward the train station. So we went into the underground/train station and a guy there told us trains were done running. So like the rest of Europe,things close early in Britain too. Shocking. It was like midnight. The metro in DC ran until 2/2:30. How else are the drunks supposed to get home? So we walked around this train station for awhile, got to see the train yard. I wish I would have taken a picture. It was all inside, and it was very impressive. It was a gigantic old building, with columns and awesome intricate architecture all over the place. The ceiling was curved and there was mustard yellow and blue tiling all over the place. It was a site. But I didn't have my camera out because we were basically lost. So some guy told us to take a bus to this one stop, and then take a cab the rest of the way. So, we got to take a double decker bus! It was pretty cool. They aren't old school anymore. Ya know, with the car like front and then the bus in the back. Now they are like regular city buses, completely flat, but two stories and red. So Jess and I sat up top, and now I can say I've been on a double decker bus in London. So that was cool. Bus drivers in London drive like maniacs though. And the buses get packed. So we got off at our stop, elephant and castle. We tried for about 10 minutes to get a taxi, and we couldn't get any. We were on the left side of the street, saw a ton of taxis drive by on the other side, so we crossed the street, and then they stopped driving by. Just our luck. Eventually, a big pink taxi drove by and we flagged him down. He gave us a 6 pound cab ride to our Hostel, and we crashed for the night.

Our hostel wasn't bad. We paid 47 pounds for 3 nights. We were just a few blocks away from the London Eye and Big Ben. So we were in a good location. We stayed at the London Eye Hostel. The room was probably the worst I've been in so far. It was a decent sized room. But there were 7 bunk beds along the walls. The bunk beds were triple stacked, so it was a room of 21. There was nowhere to put your stuff, so I had to sleep with it against the wall. However, the beds had blinds on all sides of them, so you had privacy while sleeping and what not. We didn't spend much time in the room so it wasn't too bad. They also had lockers for when you went out for the day. So I paid the 5 pounds to store my book bag, and then once you claimed it and gave back the key, you got your 5 pounds back.

So Saturday we woke up and left by 10. We asked some really nice old lady where to go, and she pointed us in the right direction. She also remarked on how nice the weather was, which became a common theme throughout the day. According to my friend living in London right now, Danielle Fitzgeorge, Shout out, Saturday was the nicest day since she's been there in January. So we were very blessed and fortunate. It was like 50 degrees, sunny, and decently warm. Literally the perfect day out in London.
So Jess, Jeremie, Kara, Katie and I walked toward the bridge the lady told us to. As we turned the corner of this one street, there in the distance, across the bridge, stood Big Ben. Holy shit, I was actually in London. So we made our way toward the London Eye since it was on our side of the river. It was enormous. It was a ferris wheel on steroids. Once we were done taking a thousand pictures of parliament and Big Ben from across the river, we crossed and walked up to them. The parliament building is so amazing. Just the detail of the architecture all over it, it's beautiful. And Big Ben is also really cool. All I could think about was European Vacation with Chevy Chase, "Hey Kids, there's Big Ben."



So we walked around looking at parliament for a little while, and then we met up with Jess's friend John who is currently studying in London through PSU. He was basically our tour guide for the weekend. Very nice guy, lots of fun, loves THON. Just an all around good addition to our group. So he took us through St. James Park, which was awesome. Tons of exotic looking birds all over the place. It was like walking through the national mall, if the national mall had a big river and was more shady. So finally, we arrived at Buckingham Palace. The place was buzzing with people. It wasn't as majestic as I thought it was going to be, but it was still cool nonetheless. I touched the gate so I could say I got as close as I could. It was pretty cool though. Although, I was disappointed that the guards aren't wearing their red uniforms right now. They are wearing their boring blueish/gray garb. Still neat to watch them on patrol though.

After saying goodbye to the Queen, we hopped onto the underground and went to Picadilly Circus. It's basically just the British version of Times Square. Tons of shops, huge crowds, all these theatres for plays and shows everywhere, big souvenir shops, China Town, and an intersection full of people and cars, with gigantic screens wrapped around a few buildings. It was pretty neat. We decided to eat at some Chinese place. It was buffet style, but all the food was homemade. It was pretty good. We got to sit down and relax for a little while. Everything just seemed expensive though. I hated spending money because I was like, "Shit, this is a lot of dollars."

But we pressed on. After dinner we got back on the underground and went to Covent Garden. The name is misleading. It's just another big shopping district woven through a few city blocks. Tons of street performers, tons of people. It was a really cool place. Here is where I met up with Danielle!!! I was so excited to see her! Someone from home! A familiar face, abroad! Ah, it was refreshing. So we talked as we walked around, and then I decided to go back to her apartment and meet her friends. She lives in Chelsea, so across town from the London Eye. The Chelsea section is the most expensive district in London. Million pound houses everywhere. We walked down a street of homes that cost 27 million pounds and up. We also walked by a London Lamborghini dealership, and Hugh Grant's London house. Which I of course got a picture in front of. We also stopped at a Pret A Manger, which is a small Pinera like chain shop located all around London. I got a bangin turkey club there. We got to Danielle's apartment and went right to her floor. She lives on the 9th floor, so her view is amazing. You get into her room and you are looking out over London. You can see clear down to the London Eye towering over the city. It is amazing. So I got to meet her roomate Jayne, who is from Austin. I was pumped to talk to her about Texas. She said San Antonio is beautiful, and very cool, but nothing holds a flame to Austin. I don't doubt that. But I'm not too upset, because TFA doesn't have a program in Austin so it's not like I could have went there. But it's only an hour from Santone so I can hop over anytime I want. So I hung out with Danielle for a little and some of her friends. We made birthday party decorations for her friend Eric's 21st birthday that night. The party was to be held in the kitchen on their floor, and it was a surprise. Eric went out to dinner with some friends, and they were gonna call when they were getting back. However, he somehow got away from them, no one bothered calling, and he walked in nonchalaunt while we were still getting stuff ready. So, surprise ruined. It was a good time though once the "party" started. It was just 10 of us in this small kitchen listening to some music and talking. I had some alcoholic cider because apparently that's the big thing in London. It was a good time though. I left early though because I was meeting my friends at John's apartment, right downstairs on floor 8. So I went downstairs to find everyone really drunk, I spilled vodka all over the floor somehow, and then we left to go to the bar/club thing.

So we walked down the street causing a riot. Just yelling and what not. I was literally finishing a canned cider while walking down the street. But I didn't care. I honestly saw no police all day in London. It's like their police force is non-existent. No wonder it was so easy to blow up all those buses a few years back. So we jumped around down the street, sang the 2008 THON linedance a bunch of times, and then got on the underground. As we were on the underground, being mostly loud, American and drunk, I asked John where we were getting off at. He looked back at me and said smirking, "Ok, I'm 90 percent sure it's Leister Square. Ninety percent sure." I thought it was the funniest thing I ever heard. He was our guide, and in the tone of his voice I could tell he thought it was a much lower percentage. It was great. So we got off a Leister Square, and we exited. Turns out, he was wrong. Haha, go figure. We walked around for like 10 minutes, and then realized we were at Picadilly circle. So we found our destination, The Zoo Bar. It was hoppin. The line was ridiculously long. Thank God we were on the guest list, so we didn't have to wait as long, and we didn't have to pay cover. We got in, the place is crazy. People all over the place. The bathrooms have the dude in there who gives you a towel and suggest cologne to you from a selection of like 20 different types sitting on the counter. It was pretty cool. So upstairs they have really good music, it's just a good place to hang out and dance around or talk. However, down stairs it's like a different world. It's a grind on each other and try to make a baby dance club. I got out of their as soon as I could. It was a nut house. You couldn't walk anywhere, people constantly bumping into you, guys rubbing up on you walking by, random people stepping on your feet dancing, and awful remixed music. It was just not good. So thankfully we all decided to go back upstairs, and I had a good night just chilling and socializing. We left the club at like 1:30, and then decided to walk home rather than take a taxi because we could see Big Ben from the bar. However, first we stopped to get the most delicious piece of pizza I've ever had. It was from some Italian pizza place on the corner. The shop was situated on the corner of a fork in the road walking path. There was no kitchen or anything. The entire shop was open on all three sides, you just walked up and ordered right there, and boom pizza done in a minute or two. I got a slice of Hawaiian. It was awesome. And for 2 pounds, couldn't beat that. Picadilly was great at night. Everything still open, a ton of people everywhere. It was like Temple Bar. Although I think I liked Temple Bar district better. Although Temple bar was more spread out. So after our pizza we walked down the road, down through Trafalgar Square, almost to Big Ben. Then we decided to hop a cab back to the hostel and went to bed.

The next day, it was a different story. We left out hostel at 11 to a rainy and misty day in London. Back to the usual I suppose. We met up with John again, and we decided to do the London Eye while we were there. It was like 18 pounds, but again, when am I getting back to London? So we went on this ferris wheel on steroids, and it didn't disappoint. I'm afraid of heights so I thought I'd hate it. But it was great. The cars didn't rock as they were fastened in place, and they views were incredible. Don't miss it if you ever go to London. You could see for miles through the city.

After the London Eye, we decided to go get some food. So we went to some random stop, I have no idea what it was called, and we ate at a Ruby Tuesday/Friendly's like place. They had a deal that was a burger and beer for 4.85. So we had burgers and beeer, and then set out to the Tower of London.

So we went to the Tower of London, which is the castle that the Queens used to live in. It is also where the Royal Crown Jewels are kept. However, we missed the last tour by the time we got there, so we decided to save our money and go find the Globe Theater. But, in order to do that, we had to walk over the Tower London bridge. This is the amazing bridge you see in all the pictures. Usually confused as the London Bridge. However, that is false. It's the Tower London. The London Bridge is actually a very small bridge right next to this bridge. It's actually very boring and nothing special to look at. So we got to walk across this amazing bridge, and then we set off down the river to find the Globe Theater. It was a pretty good trek. Took us probably an hour or so, but we made it there. We didn't get to go in, but we at least got to see it. It was pretty cool to be standing in the spot where the most famous playwright of all time showcased his works. As the sun set, we walked across the bridge and got a quick glimpse of St. Paul's Cathedral. The famous cathedral seen in Mary Poppins "Feed the Birds" scene.



After walking past the Cathedral, we decided to go back to Picadilly Circus. There we just stopped in some stores, and then ate at a Mexican restaurant. After that we just said by to John and went back to the hostel. We watched the final half hour of THON live online, so that was really cool and had us excited! Then for the rest of the night Jess, Katie and I stayed up and talked to some of Katie's who were staying in the same hostel.

Our plane left at 6:35 in the morning Monday, so Jess, Katie and I just decided to pull an all nighter since we had to leave the hostel by 2:15. So we sat around, talked, and watched the first two periods of the USA vs. Canada hockey game. I didn't find out what the final result was until yesterday when I got back to my apartment. So at 2:15, a taxi came and picked us up, and we got a ride to the bus station. We waited in the rain for like 20 minutes, and then our bus finally came. I got a little bit of sleep on the ride, but next thing I knew we were at the airport. So we got off, chilled out for an hour, and then got in line to have our tickets stamped. Once we got our tickets stamped, we went to the security checkpoint. there were so many security lines. Probably upwards of 20. So I went through mine. I thought I had everything out of my pockets, belt off, shoes off. So I stepped through the metal detector. It goes off. The guy pats my chest and arms, anything sharp, any weapons, etc. I said no, it was just my Ipod I left in my pocket. So he let me walk back through and put it in a new bin. So I walked back through the second time and it went off again. I left some change in my pocket. So, I now had to be patted down, sexually, by this dude in the airport, in front of everyone. I found it hilarious, I was laughing my ass off. Then he took out this bomb wand, has a metal detector or sensor on it, and scanned me up and down with that. It was great. Gotta love airports. So after getting molested by security, we had to wait for Jess. Apparently they decided to randomly test her carry on toiletries. That took like 15 minutes. In the meantime, so girl who was also being searched next to Jess had been cleared and left. However, she left her phone in a bin. So I ran her down and gave it to her. Nothing important, but it happened. After we got cleared, we just chilled out on some of the benches, and then took the underground mini train to our gate. We got on our plane and made the hour long trip back to Shannon. I didn't sleep at all on the plane. But the view was pretty great anyway. I got to see the mountains in Ireland rising over the clouds, it was beautiful.

Eventually we landed, and I was all but deaf in both my ears. Terrible pressure. We stood around and waited for our bus, and it began to flurry and snow a little. I couldn't believe it. I wanted snow 2 or 3 weeks ago. But since then, we've had some gorgious days, and now I'm in Spring mode. So this was a damper on a great weekend. After waiting in the depressing weather, we took the hour long bus ride back and arrived back on campus around 9. I decided to skip my 9 am and 11 am. I tried to get some sleep, but I was so tired I couldn't fall asleep. It was weird. So I just went to my afternoon class that I blogged about yesterday, and then I went to my 5 pm. class too. Then last night I just hung out, made chicken, and then went to bed around midnight. Woke up today at 9 feeling great. My cold is all but gone, I still have a stuffy nose and I'm coughing because it feels like I have a tickle in my throat, but I feel 100%. I just had class all day, then went to the gym. Tonight it freaking snowed again. I'm getting sick of this already. I hope it's done now.

Also, tonight I received a care package from home! It was great! It was full of birthday cards, homemade snicker doodles and choco chip cookies, 2 bags of regular Utz chips (because of Olivia, props), an ice tray because there is no such thing as a cold drink here, and peanut M&M's. I also got some Kit Kats, Twizlers, Reese's peanut butter cups, Hershey's pot of gold, and kisses all straight from the factory thanks to my Aunt Beth. It was literally the greatest present I've ever received. I got not just a little taste of home, but a big one. It's so hard to find something to snack on for desert here, but I have that covered now for awhile! Thanks everyone at home who pitched into the package! I love you guys!

Right now I'm just hanging out, watching a live stream of American Idol. I don't have class until 11 tomorrow so it's all good.

That's it for now, I'll talk to everyone later!

Goodnight.

Beat

Hey everyone. Okay, here's the deal. I'm going to update this tomorrow with how my trip in London was. I've been up since 8am yesterday morning, and I haven't slept more than a 45 minute bus ride back to school. I basically have jet lag, for a flight that is within the same time zone. It took an hour to get to London from Shannon. Anyway, I'll update this tomorrow. I'm going to crash.

I decided to skip my first two classes this morning since they were lectures. I just ate breakfast finally, and unpacked everything. I decided to go to my 1pm class since it's the dude who doesn't put notes online or make powerpoints. That was the hardest class of my life. I would start writing a sentence, and then fall asleep by the end of it, wake up and look at my paper. It was just scribbles. I was just writing jib jab scribble by the end of the sentence. Or, I would start a sentence, fall asleep by the time he made the point and then wake up a half second later and forget what I was going to finish the sentence with. Lastly, there were the times I would start a sentence, fall asleep by the end, but my mind filled in the blanks and I would wake up with sentences like, "In 1931 the French economy crumbled because watermelon." I was literally delirious.

Needless to say, I need sleep. So that's what I'm going to do.

Have a good night 'yall!

London Calling

Okay, I won't be posting again until Monday because I'm going to London for the weekend! That is if I actually make it there. It seems that no one knows what's going on, and our flight leaves at like 9:30 tonight. Wasn't well planned. I'm crossing my fingers.


Have a good weekend everyone!

I want to rip my face off

Yeah. I want to rip my face off.

It's either that, or to have Rocky Balboa punch me in the face with brass knuckles. My sinuses are killing me. I've been so congested all day. It's horrible. I honestly want to just rip my nose off, and I'd feel fine. However, that doesn't seem to be a legitimate possibility at this point in my life, so I'll stick to my Irish Sudafed. Wow, really happy that I'm placing my confidence in drugs from a country that has only started to become technologically updated like 10 years ago.

Today was honestly the most boring day of my life, because I feel like crap. I don't want to go to the gym and infect everyone else, or go out to the bar and sneeze all over everyone's beer. Plus, I don't really feel like drinking a Guinness over a cold. Just doesn't seem like a great mix to me.

This morning I woke up. Felt like crap. My throat is always sore in the morning and then gets better throughout the day. Last night I planned to stay up and watch American Idol. However, it was on at 2am here. I fell asleep at 12:30 watching Family Guy. I remember saying, okay just a quick nap, and then the next time I woke up it was 5:30am. Oh well.

So I woke up, got ready and went to my tutorial for Euro society. I have a midterm in there in 2 weeks. I have no idea what it's going to be on or how it's going to be set up. I feel like because we don't have anything to do in our classes, I am going to fail everything. There's no motivation over here. No one cares and it drives me insane. Insane.

After class I just went to the Paddock, grabbed breakfast and read the newspaper. I also accidentally grabbed what I thought was an orange juice, that turned out to be a Fanta orange soda. So not even 24 hours into my Lent pledge, I broke it. Unreal. I'm just not going to count it. I'm going to give myself a religious mulligan.

So this afternoon I just had class until 2 and then came back to the apartment. I don't have tissues, and my nose was leaking like a faucet in class, so I went to the bathroom, got toilet paper and used that to dab it so I wouldn't have to use my hand like I did in my 10am tutorial. It was gross.

So this afternoon I just made myself a ham sandwich and watched American Idol from last night. I've gotta be honest, I really like this season. I'm not really a fan of many of the girls. Like, if one of them won I wouldn't be upset, but I wouldn't be jumping for joy either. Everyone keeps saying how good the girls are this year, and that a girl is going to win. So we'll see. I personally like all the guys this year. If any one of them won, I wouldn't care. There's not one person I look at on the guys side and say, my God I can't stand him. I really like Jermaine Sellers (black dude with the big coke bottle glasses), Tyler Grady (70's dude), John Park (asian guy), Big Mike, and Andrew Garcia (probably the front runner right now). So I was happy with the top 24 decisions. Really no shockers. Of course they'd take Andrew over the big dude, he was only 16. And I felt bad for the black chick who is on her third try. She had an amazing voice and stage presence. I honestly don't think they kept her on because she spent 6 days in jail for unpaid traffic tickets. That's a shame. I hate it when Idol does that crap. Also, notice how they hid that Chris dude with the Justin Guarino fro? Yeah, and did you notice how they didn't announce Tim Urban making it? They just showed one quick clip of him half crying and hugging someone? Yeah, because he didn't make it. Chris had a standing contract with some boy band and he was kicked out, so Tim is taking his place. I don't care too much, but it was shady on American Idol's part.

Then after my Idol fill, I went to Irish Folklore. It was a bore today.

After that I just came back here, made spaghetti for dinner, and then eventually went to Spar and got orange juice that tastes absolutely disgusting, pineapple juice, Capri Sonne and Haribo gummy coke bottles. I love those little coke bottles. They remind me of when I was little and my Nana used to take me to the farmers market and let me get any candy I wanted. I usually got those. So every time I eat them that's what I think of. Gotta love memories like that.

Ok, I saw Milan's status on Facebook yesterday. He said he drove from Philly to Lebanon just to get fasnachts, and then drove right back to Philly. This makes me sad. No one here knows what the hell a fasnacht is. No one. Where am I? I have no idea. I miss the United States though. That doesn't mean I'm not enjoying myself and taking advantage of my opportunities over here, but I miss the US. Nothing wrong with missing the homeland. And it's not just my family and friends I'm missing like crazy, it's just the little things. Like, Europe is awesome. Everyone should try to see it if they can. But once you live in Europe, the honeymoon phase wares off. Things here just annoy you instead of making you think, "Oh wow, that's so cool and new to me." I know that I could never live here. Like, I could never pack my things, get a job, and live over here. Never. I just like the US too much. I like how I turn left across traffic, not right across traffic. I like how there is a tv channel for literally everything. I love how people know technology and can help you solve your tech problems (except Pierre was the shit. Props to him). I like people that actually help you when you go to the store, instead of walking right past you as you are clearly confused. I love American sports so much more than rugby and gaelic ball. I love how drinks are ice cold and coke isn't flat. I love burgers and hot dogs. I love actually knowing what I'm talking about in class. I just love the US of A. Ireland is cool, and I can't wait to see Europe. But I miss the red white and blue. "Some folks were born, made to wave the flag, oohhhh that red white and blue."

Also, I love how in America the Olympics are a big deal. I saw Sean White, Davies and that ski chick all won gold last night. I didn't see it because I'm about 15 thousand hours ahead of Vancouver, so I was passed out. I hate that I haven't been watching any of the Olympics, but I can't do anything about it. They are on from like 7 to 9ish here. And then they cut off until about midnight. Then the good stuff comes on at prime time USA and it's about 2am here. I could go upstairs and watch it in the kitchen/living area but it's like 3 degress up there all the time, so I'd rather just get the updates from CNN.com. Kinda pisses me off that it's like 3 degrees upstairs, because it's usually because Theo or Nelson opens a window to let the room clear of steam from cooking, and then it gets mad cold. Yet, we can't turn the heat up in the house? Makes no sense. I'm really sick of the heat coming on from 5-8am and then again from 7-10pm. Dumb.

Alright, that's all for now. I have an appointment at 11:15 with the nurse tomorrow so, who knows what she's gonna say. Then I want to do wash before I leave for London this weekend. I also have a paper due March 5th that I need to start next week. Won't be hard at all, I just need to do it!

Alright that's all for now.

Take care everyone!

Sickness

Hey guys.

Sorry I haven't done this regularly since I got back from Dublin. However, I have come down with some type of a head cold. Everyone has it here. It's going around. I had a teacher cancel class at 9 yesterday morning because he was also sick. However, he didn't let us know until we showed up and an aide came in and told us we didn't have class. So I lost an hour of sleep due to that. Wasn't too happy.

Anyway, the past two days have been pretty boring because I have been sick. I've been going straight from class back to my room and staying in all night. Usually watching tv online. I have no work to keep me busy since there is no homework here, and going to the gym while your sick is a big no no, so online tv has consumed me.

Like I said, yesterday I woke up early,went to class and then didn't have class. So I went to the building that my next class was in and hung out in Starbucks with some friends I have in my first class. Then I went to Irish society where I sat next to a guy I met from Boston, Jessie, who plays for the Syracuse mens hockey team. He's a real cool guy. We chatted about hockey a little bit. A subject I'm always more than willing to discuss. After class I went back to my apartment to eat lunch, and then got ready for my tutorial I had in about 40 minutes.

A quick side note. I've noticed here that Irish construction is highly efficient. They've been repaving, bricking crosswalks, bricking sidewalks, etc. since I've been here. When they start a job, it's usually done by the time I get past that spot in the afternoon. Where as in America, it would probably take them all semester to complete such a simple project. The labor work ethic seems a little more efficient and fast.

Anyway, so I went to Irish Folklore which was a bore. Then I decided to skip music and go back home. Before I did though I walked with my friend Katie from Michigan to the farmers market. I picked up some eggs and some chicken breasts for dinner. Katie's a real nice girl, I met her on like the first day of orientation. She used to be my neighbor, but her Irish roommates were so loud that she got switched all the way across campus. Now she lives with a bunch of Canadian med students. I have the same problem that she was having. Right when I'm about to go to sleep at like 1 or 2, the chicks right next door to me start carrying on. It's like clockwork. I don't know what they do from 8 until 2, but at 2 all hell breaks loose. Thank God my computer works and I can put tv on and drown out the sound of their annoying voices. Can't stand it.

So last night I sat on my computer and then made dinner. I pan cooked one of my chicken breasts with garlic and onions, and then made some spaghetti buttered noodles. But instead of me usually straining the noodles and then just putting butter on top of them once they're on the plate, I put the noodles back in the pot with the butter and mixed it that way. They tasted so much better than doing it the wrong way.

As I ate dinner I watched coverage of the Olympics. It's weird here because it's a British news channel, so the American team isn't in the spotlight. They are also very critical of the American team. They hate Bode Miller, they constantly bash the US mens hockey team, and they kiss Canada's ass like crazy. It's kinda sickening. For example, last night I was watching the US mens hockey team play Switzerland. We didn't overly dominate the first period, but we had control and pace of the game. However, the commentators completely bashed the US team, saying they looked sluggish and Switzerland could easily win this game, and the US team wasn't destined for anything this year. It was annoying. Then they cut away from that coverage and went to the Biathlon pursuit. This is where the winner of the sprint from the day before starts and then depending on what time you finished behind him, that's when you can go. Well, an American and a Canadian were let go 20 seconds too early by their gate keeper. However, the announcers made it seem like it was the Americans fault but in the case of the Canadian, it was the time keepers. It was unbelievable. They were like, "Oh, Legurlec(Canada) is in the top 5. It's really actually ashame though, I mean it wasn't his fault. You almost have to pity him. It's the gate keepers responsibility." However, when talking about the American they said something along the lines of, "Yeah, he really should have been aware of his time. He's gonna be docked time no doubt, but that's what happens in this sport." The Canadian dude got docked time too and ended up 11th so it wasn't a huge deal. It just pissed me off though. I haven't really got to watch a whole lot of Olympics though just because A. No one cares about them over here, B. They are on at like 2am. I don't feel like watching a heat of mens figure skating at 2:30 in the morning. Sorry. All I know is that Germany just took over the lead in the medal count. Oh and that's another thing. In the states, when we show a medal lead graphic, it's by total number of medals. Over here, whoever has the most gold's is first. So Germany is still winning, but that bumps us to 4th or 5th. It's odd.

On the coin collection front there is some big news. I got a Finland 2 Euro coin this weekend, so that's my first from the Scandinavian states. Jeremie told me it is very rare to get those coins on the main land or anywhere that isn't a Scandinavian country. So I'm happy about that. Also, there are a lot of mumblings going on right now in the European Union about the state of Greece's economy. Greece's economy is in the crapper. It's tanked. Basically, it's pulling everyone else down now too. It looks bad on the EU, and it hurts other nations. So, there are serious talks going on right now about whether or not Greece should continue to use the Euro. Many are urging them to form their own currency again because it's not worth it have the Euro right now. That'd be cool if they did switch eventually since I have a bunch of Greek Euro coins. Not only that, but people are starting to talk about Ireland getting rid of the Euro too because it isn't benefiting them. That'd be crazy if that happened.

I was pissed last night because I wanted to watch American Idol, so I stayed up until 2 since Fox.com said new idol tonight at 9. Yeah, thanks for not having your facts right on the website idol. I missed the first hour and then said screw it. Thankfully there's a website I visit that updates new tv shows every night so I was able to watch the full two hours tonight. I thought it was dumb how they even had it 2 hours long last night. They did two hours and then had to stop halfway through decisions for the top 24. It was dumb. Just do an hour of which rooms made it through, and then tonight do two hours of who got in the top 24. That would make more sense.

Anyway, today I woke up with a sore throat again. I was debating skipping my first class but it was with idiot so I couldn't. So I went to class, and this old woman walks in. She walks up to the computer at the podium, logs in, puts down the projector, turns on the lights over us (thank god) and then looks at us and says, "You're not my class are you?" Haha, nope. She was in the wrong place. It was pretty funny. Thank God for that woman though, we could actually see what we were writing today. So then idiot shows up, goes through her terrible presentation, and that was the class. After that I came back home, made a sandwich and then went to my tutorial for idiots class. Like I said last week, it was a different woman today. I can't even remember her name, definitely either Spanish or Italian. Couldn't understand a word she was saying because her accent was so thick. So she gave us an article to read and then gave us a question to discuss in groups. The question was, "How did the crisis of the 1960's in Europe affect integration? How important was the crisis to the way the EU is today?" So we read it and I got into a group with the two closest people to me. My group was me, Sean from San Diego and Aileen from South Dakota. Haha, 3 American's who had no clue what the EU was like today. So when she asked us for our answer, we tried to answer the first part. That was at least in the article. However when it came to how has it affected the EU today, I laughed and said, "We honestly know nothing about the EU." Then she consoled us and told us, "Oh, it's okay. Don't worry you're fine. It's okay, don't worry. Trust me. You'll get it." Then for the rest of the class she focused all her attention on us like she pitied us. On a side note, idiot struck again even when she wasn't in class. The teacher started talking about our essay and said this is what your professor wants: A definitive argument, and she wants you to answer the question. The prompt I was going to pick for my essay was: "Discuss the integration process in Europe between 1945 and 1957." How exactly do I answer the question on that one moron? What's my argument? She's so dumb I can't stand it. When you're not enthusiastic and you give your students the sense that you don't care, why should we care? So I don't.

After that class I had music. Totally pointless. As usual.

Then I came back here, grabbed a hot chicken roll for dinner, had some pasta with it, and that's about been my night. Ugh, I'm just bored. I have nothing to do since I'm under the weather. I'd like to go to the gym but I don't want to feel even worse and I don't want to infect everyone else. So this is my life for the next however many days.

Oh and Lent started today. I decided I'm going to give up soda for Lent. This will be the second year in a row I give up soda. I did pretty good last year. I know I cheated once for my 21st birthday when I had a coke and rum, but other than that I was pretty good. I gave up bacon two years ago and I did a phenomenal job. However, bacon isn't bacon here, and I'm gonna eat rashers as much as possible so screw giving that up.

And pitchers and catchers reported today. Siked.

That's it for now. Hopefully I start feeling better so I can do things and my days aren't as boring. It's not that bad, I don't need to see a doctor or anything. It's just a head cold. Probably allergies. After all, it was like 55 and sunny here for most of the day. Trees are starting to bud and flowers are coming up in patches all over campus so, it's probably my body adjusting for the change.

Have a good night!

Peace.

Dublin

Hey Everybody!

Wow, okay, so it's been since Friday that I last posted. That's because I had a big trip to Dublin this weekend and then just tried to crash last night once I came back.

Okay, so where to begin.

Alright, so, I got up at 7am on Saturday. I took a shower, packed a book bag with some toiletries, underwear, an extra shirt and a travel book. Me and my group met at 7:30 at the bus station and then hopped on the city bus and rode that into the city center. On the trip was me, Jess, Kara, Andrea and Tess. Yeah, it was all girls because I really have no guy friends here, and Jeremie's girlfriend was here this weekend. So, we took the bus into the city center and then walked 3 blocks to the bus station. Once we got there, we bought our 19 Euro round trip tickets and then grabbed something to eat at this little cafe in the bus station. I just got a rasher sandwich with ketchup. Always a good way to start the day.

So our bus arrived on time and we departed for good 'ol Dublin. The bus wasn't crowded, just like my trip to Galway, so we all got our own seats and were able to spread out. I really don't remember any of the ride there because I passed out about 10 minutes into my journey. The next time I woke up we were just outside of Dublin.

So we started to enter the city limits, and the first thing you see is the Guinness factory. It's pretty awesome. It's absolutely enormous. You don't realize how big it is until you are standing right next to it. The factory takes up probably close to 20 city blocks. It's probably the size of Hershey Park and then some. So you immediately pass a set of big black doors with Guinness in gold written across it. You knew you were in Dublin. All the sudden you are driving along a river down the middle of this city. My first impression of the city was, "DC." It looked exactly like Washington DC. No skyscrapers, everything brick or colored facade. Lots of historical buildings, or big granite or stone building with fancy architecture and cobblestone streets. It was pretty cool. So we decided to hop off the bus in the middle of the city, rather than take it to the bus station a couple blocks further.

The hotel Andrea booked online said, "Adjacent to the Temple Bar." Temple Bar is a section of Dublin. It's divided into a bunch of different sections. North side, South side, etc. But Temple Bar is a section in itself. However, "The" Temple Bar is the famous bar located in the heart of this section. The one with the red facade. It's famous. Since the directions said "adjacent to the Temple Bar" we assumed it was right next to it. So we just walked around until we found that. Turns out, there is no hostel right next to The Temple Bar, just another pub. So we were lost in Dublin trying to find our hostel. It was really cool to be standing looking face to face with this image you've seen as a famous landmark all your life. It was pretty cool. Not the coolest facade I've seen here, but it was historic, so it was crazy to be right there.

We decided to just start wandering around to find this place. We asked several people, and they all pointed us across the river to the other side. Once we got there, we walked 2 or 3 blocks down and decided we were going the wrong way. So we stopped in at an Australian travel agency and the girls asked them for directions. Turns out, these women apparently don't specialize in travel, because they led us in the wrong direction again. We just wondered around the city for 45 minutes looking for this place. Finally, we decided to cross the river again and look around. So we did and we decided to just stay on the main drag along the river. Finally we found our hostel. It was sort of adjacent to Temple Bar district, and it was nowhere near the directions the people we asked gave us.

We stayed at the Four Courts Hostel. It's named so because it's right across from the Four Courts building, which is basically the Irish Supreme Court. It was sooo much cleaner than my last hostel. The service was great, the place was clean, it was great. So we booked our hostel and then went to our room. Again, a thousand times better than my last hostel. Nice beds and sheets, a huge window right in the center of the room that stretched the height of the wall. You looked out and saw the court building. It was a very pretty view. And we were in good walking distance of the touristy section of Dublin.

So it was about 1:30 in the afternoon until we got settled into our room. So we quickly decided what we wanted to do. It was an overwhelming thumbs up to go to the Guinness factory first. It's really the one thing everyone wants to and must see while in Ireland. So, we set off to find the Guinness factory.

We walked around for about 45-50 minutes looking for the Guinness factory. We reached this block where there is nothing but huge warehouses and steam stacks all over the place. We knew it was the factory. We just didn't know where to enter. The Guinness factory resembles a max security prison. It's got enormous cement/brick/steel walls all around it. Not only that, but many sections are reinforced with barbed wire or spikes. They really don't want anyone getting onto the premises. Like I said, the Guinness factory is definitely at least the size of Hershey Park. So we walked all the way to the main gate where the Guinness trucks roll out, and we realized we were at the wrong spot. So I asked the guy at the security booth where to go and he very unhelpfully told me, "Go straight, turn right." Thanks dude. He just told us to go exactly where we came from, but didn't say where we would actually find the factory tour entrance. So we trekked back up the hill and came to the same street we were previously on. However, looking left, we noticed a big sign saying "Storehouse, this street." I mean, we missed it sure, but the security guy wasn't helpful anyway. So we continued down the street toward the factory. Once you turn the corner where the sign points you, you think you are going down a shady alleyway. Because in essence, that's what it is. A shady alley. You walk through a wide alley of cobblestone, with big brick warehouses rising above you. About 100 yards down the alley you come to an intersection. Turn to your left and it's just more road into another street. Look right and you are standing at the world famous "Guinness factory gates." The huge black wooden gates with Guinness scrolled across it. It was amazing. We took a ton of pictures, touched the door, it was awesome. Again, it was one of those moments when you always see it in photos, and then you are there and you feel like a little kid on Christmas. So we continued down the road until you can't go any further, and you turn right. Here you find yourself on a pretty busy foot traffic street, because this is where the Guinness Storehouse is. The street is lined with horse drawn carriages, and people are walking all over the place. So we finally got to enter the storehouse.

You enter by walking down into what seems like the basement. Once there, you must stand in a line like you are waiting for an amusement park ride or something. The line weaves through the room. Tickets were pretty cheap. I paid 11 Euro with my student discount. Included in your ticket is a free pint of Guinness. Full glass and all. The freshest Guinness in the world.

So once you get through buying your ticket, you go through some doors, head upstairs and find the lobby. The lobby itself is impressive. You have this huge glass looking thing right down the middle of the floor, the huge store is off to your left and there is a wall of all the different Guinness bottles on your right under a glass case. In the middle of the huge glass structure you have huge monitor screens that resemble Guinness being poured into a glass. All the swirling and what not. Then in the very middle of the floor, under reinforced plexi glass they have the actually lease and loan that Arthur Guinness himself signed. It was pretty awesome.

From there the tour is self guided. There are 7 levels in the storehouse. Each level has a different theme. Ingredients on the first, brewing on the 2nd, transportation on the 3rd, then advertisements, etc. etc. It was really neat. And the huge glass structure I mentioned, it's actually in the shape of a beer glass. If you were to take away the storehouse, you'd see a glass that resembles a Guinness beer glass. It's the world's largest beer glass snaking through the heart of the storehouse. It's awesome.

So on floor 4 we got to try a really small free sample of Guinness. They have to people there pouring small glasses. You're supposed to follow the video on the screens in the room. The video is of a Guinness guru and he tells you the perfect way to drink a Guinness. I just drank mine. I didn't follow the vid. Finally after we got all the way up to the 6th floor, we had the option of learning how to pour our own Guinness. But if you poured your own, you had to drink it in the restaurant area there. You couldn't go upstairs or anything. And we wanted to go to the Gravity Bar, so we said screw it and went upstairs. You ascend up these wooden stairs and all the sudden you are in a room with 360 degrees of windows. Windows the entire way around. It's the top of the beer glass. Here you can look out all over Dublin and see everything. It was like Willy Wonka. It was so beautiful. And it was so cool being in that room. Everyone is in there, it's packed, you have to work your way to the bar and then they tear the bottom of your ticket and give you the freshest Guinness you will ever drink in your entire life. It was liquid heaven. It truly was a milkshake of beer. It is so much better than any Guinness I've ever tasted. Guinness is all about who pours it and how long it has sat in the barrels. It sucks in the states because it's just not as fresh. Guinness is meant to be drank almost right away.

So after we finished our Guinness we went down to the gift shop. Everyone collects something when they are traveling, so I've decided I'm going to start as well. I decided that I'm going to start collecting salt and pepper shakers from the different countries and cities I visit. They are pretty cool, and will be a cool conversation point for any dining room or kitchen. Plus they look awesome. So I decided to get my first set: salt and pepper shakers shaped like Guinness beer glasses. Haha they are pretty cool. It looks like the Guinness is in the glass. It's all black with the foamy head at the top. Well worth it.

After our awesome tour, we decided to go back and get ready for the evening. I decided I didn't want to change cause honestly, who cares. So we then went out for fish and chips at Beshoffs. My travel book recommended it. It was like a fast food fish place, but it had a huge and really fancy sit down area. So I got the fried cod, coleslaw and fries. It was amazing. The cod was so fresh. They say it's the best fish and chips in Dublin. I believe it.

After we ate there, we decided to do a Dublin pub crawl. It was called the backpackers pub crawl. You pay two euro's before 7, then show up at 8 and pay 8 Euros. Those that don't pay before 7 have to pay 11 Euros. The deal is however, that you get a free shot at every bar. So it evened out. However, they took you to the most expensive bars. The first pub they took us to, they took us into the basement. Didn't even leave us with the crowd up at the main bar. It was so dumb. Then they passed out free shots of tequilla. Not bad. However, you couldn't get a pint for under 5 Euros, and my friends gin and tonic cost 6.90 or something like that. After that we went to another pub. A little better. I decided not to drink here, since I got a 5 euro coke and rum at the first pub. Here they passed out some fruity strawberry shots. I don't know, but it was good. We took our shots at the middle of the bar and then walked back to our seats toward the front of the building and to the right of the bar. However, two of the girls went to the bathroom. So then the girl in charge came around and was like, oh I have 3 shots left, these must be for you. So Kara, Andrea and I just went with it and took the shots. I was getting my moneys worth. After that the chick took us to some bar that was like a night club. It was pitch black, neon lights everywhere. You couldn't walk it was so packed. At this point, we decided to bounce and left the tour. Word to the wise, don't do the tour. Just go to Temple Bar area and do your own thing.

Once we left, Andrea and Tess went back to the hostel. However, Jess, Kara and I went to Temple Bar district. I wanted to get a drink at The Temple Bar. I have to mention here, that Dublin is awesome at night. Everyone is out, all restaurants and bars are hopping. It was like NYC. It was great. And you felt safe too. Everything is within a 5 by 5 block perimeter it seemed like. If you wanted to go to this bar, you just hopped over a couple of blocks. It was awesome. People playing music on the streets, people eating outside, music blaring from in the bars. It was just a really cool atmosphere. It was the place to be.

So our first stop was The Temple Bar. We walked in, and it was just like, "Holy crap, I'm in THE Temple Bar." It's really crowded inside, and the bar tenders have no patience. "What do you want? What do you want?" So we decided to do a shot of tequilla. As we were standing there, Jess was playing with a coaster and the bartender literally smacked it out of her hand as if to say, "put it down." We like to steal coasters from the bars we go to, but they weren't playing around at this one. So we got our shots and did them, and then just left right away. Now I can say I have had a drink in The Temple Bar in Dublin. So that's pretty cool.

After that we walked down the street to look for another place. We decided to go into this one place that looked like a nightclub type deal. It was called Bushkers or something? I don't know. So we went in there. Really cool vibe. A huge oval bar stretched down the entire middle of the building and then up at the very front there was like a dj and a dance floor. It was packed. They had purple and blue neon lights all over the place. So we just did one more shot and then decided to stay there and kinda just hang out for a little, listened to the music, etc. Then we left at like 1:30 and headed back to the room.

We got back and the room was aparently freezing. I wasn't that cold, but the girls were cold. I can't get cold sleeping anymore, no matter what I'm always hot. So that's a plus. So we went to bed, got up in the morning, checked out and then headed out into the city.

We immediately went to the Christ Church Cathedral. It was a huge beautiful stone church that was right up the street from our hostel. So we saw that and then decided to go to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The famous St. Patrick's Cathedral. So we kept walking and then decided we were close to the Dublin Castle, so we stopped there first instead. It was pretty cool. It just sits right in the middle of the city. You wouldn't even realize it because it's tucked behind buildings. Unfortunately the building wasn't open for tours on Sunday, but we got to go in the courtyard and what not, so that was good enough. After that we decided to try to find St. Patrick's. We walked for a little while and then found it. I stopped quick to grab a hot chicken roll at a super mart, and then we headed right down the block to the cathedral. It was gorgeous. Just really majestic. A huge stone Cathedral, with a huge beautiful courtyard of green grass and blooming flowers already. It was amazing. Definitely something you must see while in Ireland. And being a Catholic made it even more special. It was great.

After that, the girls decided they wanted to go see Whelan's Pub. The bar from "PS. I Love You", with Gerard Butler and Hillary Swank. So we walked for about an hour aimlessly through the city, and then finally found the damn place. It was closed. So we got pictures of the outside. It's just a pub. It's small. It wasn't anything special. I wasn't thrilled about seeing it, but whatever.

After Whelan's we headed back into town, grabbed food at McDonald's and then decided to leave. We had really great weather all weekend until we left. It was chilly but not frigid. And it was partly sunny and cloudy the entire weekend. However when we left it started to spit a little bit, but that was about it. So we went to the bus station and missed the 2:30 bus by 3 minutes, and waited for the 3:30. Then we got on and got back here last night at around 7-7:30. I just passed out on the ride back again.

Overall Dublin was cool. It wasn't the greatest thing ever, but it was neat. You just need more time to see everything. There's a ton to see. It sucks because unlike in the US, everything is closed on Sunday, so do your museum stuff on Friday or Saturday and then do Guinness on Sunday. It's open every day. Also, we didn't get to go to Jameson, but we heard it wasn't that good. I will be visiting Dublin once or twice more yet, so I'm just going to have to find out by myself. I'd also like to go in Trinity College and tour some museums. I have time so I'm not all that upset that I didn't see everything.

Today I just had class all day and now I'm about to go to bed. I am getting sick. My right ear itches, my throat is sore. I think I'm getting another ear infection like first semester. I don't know what to do? I'm like screwed.

Oh, and today I got cards from my Nana and Papa and my parents! That was the highlight of my day! I miss them all! It's always great to receive mail from family.

Alright, I'm going to bed.

Goodnight all.


It was neat, but not the greatest place. Everyone thinks Ireland, Dublin, but Galway I thought was a lot cooler. This was like Washington DC. It was a city. It was awesome because the night life was great. Everything was open until 2 am. Even restaurants. So people go to the pubs, get drunk and then eat all the amazing looking food from the small bistros and cafes that line the Temple Bar district.

Left at 8:30, got there around 11:30-noon. Tried to find our hostel for like 45 minutes.

Tried to find guinness for 45 minutes.

Found guinness. Guinness tour.

I've decided to start collecting salt shakers from everywhere I go.

After that stopped back at hostel. Then went to Beshoffs.

Pub crawl. Then Bushkers.

This morning Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, St. Patricks Cathedral, Whelan's from PS. I Love you. Then back down to Oconnell street.

Hey everybody!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. It was a loooong night, and I didn't get in until like 2 or what not, and then was way to tired to write.


Ok so I guess I'll get you caught up on what's been happening. Yesterday, I had 3 classes. They started at 10. So I woke up at 9, got ready, and headed out to my first class. I had my European Society and Governance tutorial. It was a pretty good class. The teacher is a pretty cool guy. Probably like mid 30's early 40's. He understands that some of us are foreign exchange students and may not care too much about school work this semester. Haha. It was also pretty cool how he stood up for the USA. We were talking about countries being policemen of the world, and he said that the USA got a bad wrap for taking control. But he said, someone has to do it. Decisions need to be made, and there needs to be a country that takes control and shows leadership. However, many mistake this as us just trying to take over the situation and do whatever we want. So that was pretty cool, to hear someone not American stand up for America.

After class I went to the Paddock to get breakfast. I wanted a rasher sandwich. Just rashers, on a white baguette, with ketchup. That's it. So I got my sandwich, and then the guy asked me if I'd like anything else. So I said sure, I'll take 2 poached eggs. He proceeds to put the eggs on the sandwich. I was not expecting this at all. Definitely a lack of communication. So, he puts them on the sandwich and I go to my seat. I have no idea how this is going to taste. It was delicious. Who would have thought putting basically dippy eggs and rashers in a sandwich would be good? But it was amazing. I guess it isn't so weird over here though. The guy in front of me got rashers, sausage, a hash brown, eggs, and mushrooms on his baguette. So pretty much everything can be a sandwich over here.

After breakfast I had my European Society and Government class. The teacher is cool, so it wasn't too bad. I did notice something during the class however. I've been picking up on this a lot recently. You'll be sitting in a class, and it will be like 10-5 minutes before it ends. People who have class in the same room right after, will walk into the class and sit down and wait. It's so weird. People just walk in with 10 minutes left and sit down and chill there. You would never do that in America. It's not as weird seeing it happen anymore, but at first it was really strange.

So after class I returned home and just chilled out for the afternoon. I had class again at 4, so I didn't have much time to do anything for 2 hours. I touched up some photos but that was about it.

At 4 I went to Irish Folklore for the first time. I missed it last week due to my immigration appointment. The class is supposed to be 2 hours, but it only went about an hour and 20 minutes because our professor said it was just too long. Haha. The class itself wasn't bad though. It's pretty interesting. We learned about Irish funerals. They are pretty much just huge parties. The body sits at the house for 3 days and they have a huge party around it. They stop all the clocks, don't go to work, etc. It's a grand time. They find it disrespectful if people don't fight either. If you go to one of these wakes the family expects you to get drunk, fight, play games, etc. They also smoke pipes in honor of the dead because in Irish folklore, the Virgin Mary apparently smoked a pipe at her parents funerals. How bizarre is that? Only in Ireland.

So after class I hopped over to Subway with Jess quick and grabbed a bite to eat. We then decided that we were gonna go to the Stables later because it was a late bar. So instead of it only being open until 11:30 pm, it was open until 2am. So I went home and chilled for a little, and then went over to the Slippery Rock girls' place before we went out. There we listened to random songs on Youtube including, "Say La Vie" by Bewitched and of course Justin Bieber. Haha. So after that we walked to the Stables. It was a pretty good night. I just drank rum and coke all night because I didn't feel like drinking beer. I was hanging out with my buddy Kobe from Belgium for a little and then I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was this guy I met at the gym earlier in the week. Haha, it sounds gay, but it's true. I was doing some type of lift he never saw before and he asked me what muscle group that worked. I said triceps and he was like oh cool, and then he said, "Are you from America?" I think I mentioned something about this guy before. Anyway, we got to talking about Ireland and stuff and he was a nice guy. So when I feel this tap on my shoulder I turn around and it was him and his buddy. The guy's name is Eddie, and his friend was Ger. They were cool guys. We ended up talking all night about what I thought of Ireland, differences between America and Ireland, etc. It was also pretty cool because Ger and Eddie would buy rounds for the three of us every time our drinks got low. The guy I sat next to on the plane to Ireland told me guys always buy rounds for their buddies when they go out. This was the first time I ever experienced it. Every time our drinks got low, one of the two would ask what we were drinking and they'd go up and come back with a new one. It was great. I also found out that Ger is a far decedent of William Wallace from Braveheart. For one his last name is Wallace. And secondly, he can trace his family back to Scotland 4 generations ago. Haha it was pretty cool.

Eventually Jess wanted to leave with our friend Andrea, and I decided to leave as well. So I said bye to my buddies and headed back to my apartment. The walk back was pretty comical, as Jess ended up tripping and falling. It was quite the site. Once I got back to my room I went online and watched a live streaming of a movie channel. I ended up watching "New York, I love you." Shia Lebouff is in it, as well as a couple of other big name actors and actresses. It was actually pretty good. I definitely want to get it on DVD.

Today was a boring day. However, it was beautiful again. High 40's, sunny, getting a little bit warmer. It's great. The sun stay up until about 6:10 now, so it's just starting to feel like the beginning of Spring. I can't wait for it to get warm here. It's gonna be great!

So today I woke up at around noon, and immediately started editing photos. I did that until about 1, tried to get a shower and didn't because it was freezing. So I hopped over to Spar and grabbed a hot chicken roll, and a Snickers and Mars bar. I am starting to love Mars bars. They are delicious. So I got back, ate my sandwich and played with my photos. I finally finished editing my photos from Saturday in Galway, and posted them online. One hundred and sixty six photos. Wow. That's a lot. Haha, but I know I have even more from day two.

At around 5 I went to the gym. I lifted for an hour and then ran for a half an hour. I got back just as Jeremie's girlfriend Flora, who is visiting for the weekend, made us some awesome Rissoto. It was great. She didn't like it, but I thought it was amazing. As she cooked, we talked about our studies and where we live. She said she is studying law, and she said the American legal system is very hard to learn. Haha, she didn't get how each state can have different laws. She said it was such a pain. I had to agree. Over dinner we talked about Paris and her studies some more. Theo joined us for dinner too. Wearing the same shirt as always of course. After dinner I did the dishes and Flora presented us with a fruit salad her and Jeremie made earlier in the evening. It was so good. Apples, bananas, kiwi, peaches. It was great. Around that time Jess and Kara stopped by and ended up staying until we went out at 10.

Tonight we just went to the Stables for international students night which is every Friday. Tonight they had a Valentine's Day theme. There were red balloons everywhere, and hearts on the wall. We didn't get there early enough, but tonight they played a networking game. When you walked in the door you were given a name tag with a famous persons name on it. Then throughout the night you had to find your celebrity match. So they had like, Carrie & Mr. Big, David Beckham and Posh Spice, Barack and Michelle. It was pretty neat. So we just hung out for an hour or two and then returned home.

This morning I am getting up at 7, and then catching the bus with the group into the city at 7:30. Then at 8:30 the bus leaves for Dublin for the weekend! We are only going to be there until at the latest 6:30pm Sunday, but I'll be back there at least 4 more times so I'm not worried. I'll get a day and nights worth of Dublin in. It'll be fine.

Alright, It's 1:18, I have to go to bed if I'm gonna get up soon.

Goodnight everyone! Have a good weekend, I'll update you on Sunday night!

The doors

The doors in Ireland, are difficult to come into contact with. Ya see, every other door in this country is locked. Literally every other door. So if you are walking up to a pair of double doors and you notice that everyone insists on just walking out of the left side, it's probably because the right side door is locked. It's so dumb and so annoying. Daily here on campus, I go to cut around people and the door is locked. You have tons of students trying to file through one side of a door. It becomes so congested, no one lets the other side go once their side gets on a roll, it's ridiculous. Even at the main cafeterias, where there are hundreds of students. It drives me absolutely insane, I can't stand it. That's my observation of the day.

Ok so today was an ordinary day. I woke up at 9:30 for my 11am class. Then set my alarm for 10 and went to sleep for another half hour. I didn't get to bed until 4am last night because the idiot girl that lives in the apartment next to me came back drunk with her boyfriend and they screamed at each other all night. Then I put my ipod on to drown them out, fell asleep for maybe an hour, woke up, turned it off, now they were just blaring the tv and laughing. I was furious. I hate how they party nearly every night here. I can't stand it. They have to party during Tuesday and Wednesday here because everyone goes home on the weekends. It's dead here. There are zero Irish people on this campus on the weekend. It's ridiculous.

So I headed off to class this morning and was pleased to see how nice it was outside today. It was probably somewhere in the mid 40's, sunny, the grounds keepers just mowed the grass so it smelled like Spring. It was great. I can tell it's getting there. Flowers are starting to bud and spring up at different parts of the campus. The grass is getting greener each day. I can't wait for the Spring here, it's going to be so pretty. Definitely beats the 40 thousand inches of snow we are getting back at home right now. Haha, ok I lied. I really want snow! I know, I know, it's a blizzard. But to me that is awesome! I love blizzards, and harsh winters. I just really love snow. And I miss it. Every winter I would wish for a blizzard like we had back in 2003 or whatever, or '96. Now the year that it happens, I'm gone. And to add to it, the next two years I'll be in San Antonio, where it hasn't snowed since 1985. It better snow over the holiday breaks I have.

So the first class I had today was idiot's class. She once again, put up one projector, kept the lights off over top of us, and kept the lights on right over the screen. She also did a great job of putting a ton of information on each slide and then clicking to the next one almost immediately, so you had to race her while she spoke. It turned into a game. She just reads right off her powerpoint pretty much, so as I was writing I'd read to see what bullet point she was on, and try to beat her to the bottom. I was doing well until it got toward the end of the class and she started speeding up to cram everything into the last 5 minutes. I'm honestly worried about my grade in this class, because she's such a moron, I have no idea what we need to know for the test at the end.

After class I had a two hour break. I came back to the apartment, stopped at Spar and got a hot chicken roll, drank a coke, listened to some tunes, talked to Emily, touched up some pictures, and then headed back to my next class at 2. My 2pm was the tutorial for idiot's class. Like I mentioned, a tutorial is just someting you have once a week that is supposed to extend off the lesson plan and give you more insight into what you are learning. It's not taught by the professor but rather by someone else. I don't know if they are professors or what. Anyway, of course, idiot finds a way to screw up something she doesn't even teach. Ok so this week we learned about stagnation and the lead up to integration. Next week we are going to learn about supranationalism and integration. So instead of learning about stagnation and the lead up to integration in tutorial today, we learned about supranationalism and integration. Next week, we are going to back track and learn more about stagnation and the lead up to integration. Makes absolutely no sense why she can't just keep them together. So today we learned about a ton of stuff we didn't know, because we haven't been talking about it. Also, this class has a ton of Irish poli sci majors in it. The class is about the EU, so of course we talked about it today. I realized that I know absolutely 100% nothing about the EU. Not 1 thing. I have no idea who runs it, what type of governing body it is, what powers it has, nada. It'd basically be like an Irish person coming to America and taking an American history course, but he already had to have prior knowledge of American government. If he didn't he'd be lost. Like me, I'm lost. I've never taken a course even remotely close to learning about the EU. I almost feel like in order to take this course you needed to know at least a little. I hope I'm not screwed.

So after this class I decided to go home before 4pm class. As I walked out of the building, I pulled out my Ipod. It was in it's case, and i was starting to unravel the headphones. I decided to hold the door for a girl, who pushed it as I was holding it, I turned quick, my Ipod in the case fell and I had the headphones in my hand. I yanked them up but it was too late, I heard the smack of plastic on pavement. I hit the very top of the Ipod, right where the white meets the color part of the Ipod, on a stone. It dented it just a little right above the screen. I was furious. I wanted to cry. Just because my parents got it as a gift for me, and I freaking drop it within a month of having it. It's not too bad. It still plays. Olivia said if I would have cracked the screen Apple gives you a new one. It's not that bad or noticeable, but it's right on the top and front and it's gonna drive me crazy. It's just how I am.

So I went home for like 20 minutes, and then went back to music class. What a joke. I sat there and drew pictures out of my Sporting News Magazine. Why go to a class where taking notes doesn't even matter, because she puts them up online? Stupid.

After sitting through that nightmare, I just came back to the apartment and chilled out for the night. I'm tired, so I didn't feel like doing anything. I made dinner, which turned out awesome once again. I pan seared chicken, made string beans and made buttered noodles again. The chicken was difficult to make, but I managed. It's been in the freezer for a couple of weeks, and I forgot to defrost it this afternoon. We usually put our stuff in the fridge at lunch time and then it's thawed by dinner. Well I didn't do that, and I pulled out this rock hard piece of chicken. So I threw it on the skillet to warm it up. It started browning on the top, but it was a huge piece of chicken. It wasn't gonna cook through. So once I warmed it up and it was nice and tender, I cut it in half, and then cut my halves in half, and then skimmed off some of the tops and threw them all in the skillet. They cooked up in no time. The chicken turned out excellent. It was a lot juicier than I thought it was gonna be. I thought it was gonna be tough but I proved myself wrong.

So that was my night. Now I'm just getting ready to go to bed. It's been an uneventful, but long day.

Peace and Love.

You can't find plain potato chips in Ireland.

Seriously. Come over here and try. You won't. The only plain chips I have found are Pringles, and quite frankly, I hate Pringles. I like crunchy, crispy, potato chips. Like Utz, Herrs, or Lays. Here everything is cheese and onion flavored. Literally all chips are cheese and onion. At all the convenience stores and the Spar, they have bags of chips on the entire wall of the counter. However, even though there are about 40 different brands, they are all only cheese and onion. And then after you eat them, they leave your breath kickin. It's terrible. Somebody please mail me some freaking chips! I miss plain chips!

Ok so today was just an ordinary day. Woke up, got ready for the day. Just had some cereal for breakfast, watched the news before I headed out. Had to laugh as I rinsed my bowl out, because the weather came on. A completely different girl I've never seen before. Figures. The turnover rate for weather people here must be ridiculous. I know I harp on it all the time, but I'm not gonna let it go. They look absolutely clueless. It's great! Also, while watching the news this morning they showed Jeff Carter's hit from last night. I had to laugh that a hit in the NHL makes international sports news. It was a huge hit, clean too, but to make international sports news? Slow news night around the world.

So today I started my morning with my music tutorial. I'm playing the Bahrain, like I mentioned before. I'm becoming better. Still not good by any means, but better than before. I'm starting to get the hang of it a little more. It's hard to play. I know it's just a stick and a drum, but today we started triplets, and it's so freaking confusing. Once you get the triplet down, you all the sudden forget how to do just a two beat. It's definitely frustrating, but it's only the second week so I'm not worried.

After my tutorial I had Irish studies. It's an interesting class. We talk about how Ireland is trying to dig itself out of it's economic hangover, ever since their economy has started to tank like everyone else's. They are coming off the "Celtic Tiger Economy," and now everyone is kinda panicking because shit went south real fast. It enjoy the course, the teacher's pretty cool too. She's a young woman who walks around and knows how to hold the attention of the room. She throws a joke in every now and then. She's cool.

After Irish studies I just went back to my room, touched up some of my pictures that I have yet to upload, and ate lunch quick. Then I headed back on to campus for my Irish Folklore tutorial. This was the chick who last week completely forgot about our class and didn't show up. She showed up today. Today we made Saint Brigid's crosses. These are very symbolic in Ireland. You've probably seen them before. If not, just google it. Anyway, we made them out of fresh reeds that our teacher picked for us. We needed 30 reeds each. You had to somehow weave 4 or 5 reeds into a cross, and then continue to rotate the cross counter clockwise, while weaving in more reeds every turn. It was supposed to look really uniformed and symmetrical, but mine just looks all over the place, and seems like it's falling apart. All the reeds are going to be completely dead within the next few days so we'll see what happens once it drys. You're supposed to put it above your door, and it keeps you safe or something. And if you put it under your bed it makes you fertile. My door frame is very thin, and I'm not trying to be "fertile", so I just put it on the shelf above my computer. It can keep my electronics safe from harm.

After Irish folklore Jess and I walked to music class, where we met the group. That class is also painfully boring. Could not stand it. The teachers here have like 50 slides a powerpoint. Then, they whip through the powerpoint and you can't write everything you wanted. Then they tell you, "Don't worry about getting all these notes, I'll post them online." All the tests are based off the notes, and all the notes are pulled straight from the powerpoint, and all the powerpoints are online, so why go to class? It's stupid. Drives me crazy. Definitely not one on one and discussion like I'm used to. I feel like I am learning nothing in 3 of my classes, because my teachers are terrible. Irish Studies and Europe Society are good. The other ones though, ugh, I'd rather drink turpentine.

After music I decided to head to the gym. Like I said yesterday, I'm just going to start packing my stuff in my book bag and then go straight there after my classes. So that's what I did. I went to the gym at around 3 and lifted first, then did some speed work on the track. I stayed for like a little over an hour or so. By the time I got out, I was starving. I hopped over to the on campus Spar located in the middle of the commons, and got an egg salad sandwich. It was surprisingly good for one of those prepackaged sandwiches that sit in the cooler all day. It was only 2 Euros too, so you can't beat that.

So I ate my egg salad sandwich on the way home, got back to the apartment, jumped on the computer, talked to Emily, touched up some pictures, etc. I have to laugh. I have been talking to Emily about my apartment in San Antonio, and how excited I am to have my own place. I have been looking online for like, plate ware, and beer mugs etc. I constantly tell her, "Oh look! Pittsburgh Pirates salt shakers! Oh look, Miami Dolphins plates! Oh look, a Washington Capitals door mat. I'm totally going to be all about decking this place out in sports memorabilia. It's funny though, because I get so excited about these stupid knick knacks, and Emily just sarcastically says, "Great." She's just mad because when she comes to visit, she's going to be in the ultimate bachelor pad. It's gonna be sweet. I want a table hockey game too. Like the ones where the players are on sticks in a bubble. That'd be fan-flippin-tastic.Kara facebooked me and asked if I wanted to go to this Irish music thing tonight, and I declined, because I was starving and needed food. Well, like an hour later, her and Jeremie appear at the apartment. They just got back from the dance thing, and were waiting to go to the stables. I told them if they wait for me to eat I'll definitely go, so they did. I wanted to crack open my bottle of wine tonight, but we don't have a corkscrew. I didn't realize it was corked, because it was only 4 Euros. I thought it was twist off. Apparently not. So now I have to find someone with a corkscrew so I can drink this at some point. My idea for wine sparked Jeremie to run over to Spar and get a bottle of red wine quick, which him and Kara finished by the time I was done with my meal. And my meal, was freaking awesome. I swear,I am a great freakin cook. I can't wait to show off my skills to Emily and my parents. I am a master at pan seared anything. Tonight, another pan seared pork chop, more string beans fried on the stove, and buttered noodles. It was delicious. Kara was impressed. She said, "I didn't realize you were a chef!" Haha, and I'm not. But I'm definitely learning my way around the kitchen, and I think next week I'm gonna start trying to cook off some recipes, rather than just eyeballing everything.

So, after I finished my dinner, we went to the Stables. However, the entire time I ate dinner, and we walked to the Stables, a semi-drunk Jeremie started using my ghetto slang on Kara. Apparently, he has been calling her "shorty" all day. He's also been calling girls "biddies" too. Tonight he was calling Kara a skank and a trick. I didn't teach him skank, but I taught him trick. Haha it was hilarious. However, I had to tell him that it's not formal to use any of these words, and that he should only use these around friends. Kara told him they only say these things in rap videos. Haha, I was having fun with it though. After he kept calling Kara, "boo", I taught him how to say, "Play on playa." Hahaha, then I taught him that instead of saying "hi" he should say, "Yo what up." He was getting really good at it! I know it's not the best English I can be teaching him, but it's part of the culture. That's what happens when you get to a new country. You learn the slang and cuss words first. It's not like I haven't taught him a ton of other words already, so I don't feel that bad. I just have to let him know when it's okay to call someone a "biddie" or a "shorty." It's cool though. I really want to help him learn English. At first when he would make mistakes like, "Tomorrow, we going to go make the wash," I would just say "Oh, okay, I gotcha." But now, I correct him without even thinking twice. Like tonight, he said, "Jess and I go make wash tomorrow." And I immediately said, "No, you are going to go do wash. Not make it." We've become such good friends that it's just okay for me to correct him now right away. And he doesn't get offended, because he truly wants to learn. It's great! I had to laugh though because Kara was pissed about it, and she told our buddy Neal from Canada about it at the bar tonight. Neal laughed and said, "You're in Teach for America, and this is what you are teaching him!" Haha, he then told me he was going to write a letter to Obama.

So we got to the bar and grabbed a pint of Guinness each. I only drank one tonight, just wasn't in the mood tonight. Everyone else was getting pretty drunk though. Tuesday night is like "Open Mic" night, but the people playing were not amateurs who just decided to grab their guitar and sing tonight. They were legit. Every person was really good. So we sat and listened to the music, and listened to Jeremie call people "shorty" and say, "What's up playar!" Haha, it was great.

Tonight I also heard from my parents! It was great to hear from them. My Mom has been stuck working basically around the clock ever since the snow hit. She felt bad that she didn't call, but she was never home. It was good to talk to them finally. I miss them, and my sister. And I miss Sophie too! I can't wait to get home and have her go crazy. She flips out whenever she first sees someone she hasn't in awhile. After spending nearly 2 months at home over break, and spending everyday with that dog, I miss her so much! She's lazy, and she just follows you around the house and then sleeps, but she's great! I'm looking forward to seeing her again!

On the way home, Pierre and Jeremie decided to beat the shit out of each other. In joking of course, but nevertheless, they were kicking the crap out of each other. All while Pierre had a cigarette in his mouth. It was a classic scene. Two French guys beating each other up, and one guy not letting go of the cigarette in his mouth. Crazy French bastards!

So then I got home and I've just been relaxing ever since. I got to watch American Idol on live stream tonight, so I was pumped about that. That just ended like a half hour ago, so I'm gonna head to bed now. I don't have class until 11 tomorrow so I can sleep in! I'm so excited!

That's all for now. Take care everyone!

Double Dip Monday!

So, I haven't updated this in a day, so I guess I'm gonna have a double dip exclusive. And rightfully so, I was up until 3:30 am today watching the Superbowl. But I'll get to that a little later.

So yesterday started off as another lazy Sunday. I woke up at 10 and went straight to the laundry house. It cost me 10 Euros just to do wash. Can you freakin believe that? At Berks, it cost me a $1.50 a wash and dry. It's so ridiculous here. It's a little over 3 Euros each here. The washers here are tiny. Literally half the size of anything back home. This is probably so they can get more money out of the students, by having them do more loads. I had to do two anyway, because I had a ton of white and darks. Then after you wash your clothing, you throw it in this enormous cylinder on the wall. It's beastly. Doesn't even look like a dryer. So you throw everything in there because it all fits, and then you hit dry. However, you have to dry twice because your clothes are still sopping wet after one cycle through the drier. Ugh, it's a pain. However, I did my laundry, and I'm happy once more.

In between doing laundry I watched a little bit of the Arsenal and Chelsea game, made some scrambled eggs and rashers, and then watched a bit of the France and Scotland rugby match. I'm really starting to get into soccer. It's so much easier to follow over here. I look forward to the weekend because there are games on all the time. It's literally like our NFL, with games being played on Saturday and Sunday. And it's religion. They break down every aspect of the game on Sky Sports. It's great. I'm starting to really love it. I can't say I support a team, maybe that will come with the season, but I just love to watch it. It's exciting. A lot of people wonder how you can watch something that is 0-0 for the longest time, but it's very strategic, and the moments when the ball enters the box, it's intense. I've been debating purchasing tickets for a game, and I was going to cave and go see Manchester United vs. West Ham United on the 27th at Old Trafford in Manchester. However, they just moved the game from a Saturday to a Tuesday night. So stupid. Now I'm searching for other games. I probably won't go, even though everyone keeps on telling me I'm being an idiot for even debating the subject. Everyone keeps saying, "When will you ever get to see an EPL(English Premiere League) game ever again?" And they are right. Maybe I won't. It's not like the next time I travel to Europe I'm going to have time to go to an EPL game. And plus the next time I go to Europe, I plan to go somewhere other than England or Ireland. So we'll see. Tickets are like 70-80 Euros though. And I'd just feel guilty buying them. I do have a Visa gift card I have yet to use, but who knows. My Mom would be pissed. I can hear her telling me to save my money already. Which is funny because I haven't heard from my parents since Thursday night. So whatever, maybe I'll just buy them anyway.

So after my laundry, I decided to clean the kitchen. Why? Because Jeremie and I are the only ones who wash dishes and clean up after ourselves. Honestly, Nelson and Theo just leave plates dirty for days. It's gross. We don't have a dishwasher. We also don't have a lot of plates. When you are done with your meal, rinse it off, put some soap on it, and scrub it. Takes less than a minute. But no, they cook, leave their stuff everywhere, and we end up having 4 plates in the sink dirty. So Jeremie and I have to scrub them before we can eat. It's ridiculous. Plus Theo takes stuff to his room and never brings it back out. He's starting to get on my nerves. Even though he just got back from NYC after a week(which was amazing), and told me how much he loved Times Square, he just doesn't know the word hygiene. And he's a klepto.

So I scrub down all the plates and wash everything in the sink. Then I clean off our disgusting wood counter tops that have random gunk all over them. I clean out the toaster, the oven, the burner, scrub the other counters, scrub the entire sink, the table, clean out the cupboards, scrub the fridge face, dust the floor. I just cleaned everything. And then 20 minutes later, Theo came in, made tea, and you would think a bomb went off. How you get a counter top that messy making tea, I have no idea, but Theo did it, and then I had to walk away.

Yesterday in the afternoon, I got a ring from Pierre. He had good news for me. He backed up my entire hard drive, and then just reformatted my entire computer. So, now I am back on MY computer. I know, I know, well your Mom just bought you a new one. Yes, I am aware. And once I get that one, I'm gonna use it. But for now, I have all my music back and important documents. Plus I can finally upload and dump pictures. So I'm happy. He did an amazing job. He worked on it for like two days. He found 123 viruses on my old computer. And the registry was destroyed. So basically, this thing was a POS. But he revived it! It's alive, It's alive!

So last night rolled around, and I still hadn't showered and ate dinner. So it was about 7:30ish, and I was leaving to go watch the game at 9. I needed food ASAP. It was too late to thaw something, and I didn't feel like cooking, so I asked Jeremie if he wanted to order out? He said yes, so we decided to order Chinese food. However, Jeremie only has 20 seconds left on his card, and we have in time found out that you can't use your house phone to dial out. That costs money. So, we decided to go to the reception, and there we met a young lady who let us use her cell phone. Thinking I was going to be talking to an asian person, I was surprised to hear a very strong Irish males voice greet me on the other side of the line. We ordered Chinese food, from Irish people. So the dude got here at around 8. It cost us both around 8 Euros. I got General Tso's chicken and Jeremie got some type of Chili fried chicken. His was much better than mine. Mine was good, but the chicken wasn't breaded like it is in the states. It was just smooth, with a really thin crust. And the sauce was not good at all. But it was food, so I can't complain. While eating, Jeremie and I were flicking around the 10 channels that we get and came across Sky News. We got to see the explosion in Connecticut, which looked pretty crazy. It took up like 15 minutes of the news hour over here, so it must have been pretty substantial. After that they mentioned something about the Superbowl briefly, but it was about how crazy and silly America gets for the game. The segment showed people dressed up stupidly for the game and crazy fans. It was pretty much poking fun at us for liking it. It actually left me kinda sour. But then the weather guy made up for it. So a map comes up showing the UK and Ireland. The guy already looks lost. The map shows winds coming down through the countries from the North East. The guy goes, "Uh, okay, as you can see wind and cold air moving through. So, it's probably gonna be a cold week. I would imagine." Wait, did a weather guy just say, "I would imagine." You have to be certain! You can't just say, "Eh, could be sunny, maybe not. Who cares, I'm a weather guy in Bipolar Ireland." So he starts going on about the week ahead. Gives no true facts, figures, numbers, highs and lows, precip, nothing. Just says, "I think this should be a cold week. Especially tomorrow. A little sunny too I suppose." Honestly? I guess in order to be a weather guy in the UK or Ireland, you have to be able to put a suit on by yourself. That's it. Verbal skills aren't really essential, because a bag of potatoes sitting up there could have done a better job. I look forward to the weather every time the news is on, because no one cares, and no one knows what they are doing.

After dinner, I got a quick shower and then Pierre and Kobe came over to go out and watch the game. So the 3 of us and Jeremie decided to head down to the Stables to watch the Superbowl! It was much different this year. There was no hype, and I almost forgot about it completely. It was very un-American. I tried to watch an online stream of the NFL network yesterday but it was way too choppy, I couldn't keep it on. This was Kobe's first American football game viewing, so that was exciting! Pierre and Jeremie told me that they were both rooting for the Saints because New Orleans used to be a French city. Haha. I thought it was a pretty valid reason! So we walk the 20 minutes onto campus to go to the Stables, we get there, and it's closed! Unbelievable. So, we stand there, almost lost. We didn't know what to do. Kara was on her way to meet us, so we had to wait for her. While waiting, Pierre said, "Let's go downtown to Flannery's!" Flannery's is a big pub downtown, and they have tons of really nice tv's all over the place. They were open late tonight for the game, so we decided to go there. Kara decided to go with Jess, so the four of us guys hopped into a taxi bus and went downtown. However, on our way there, Jeremie and I realized a problem that we completely forgot about. Ya see, as we were eating last night, Theo kept coming in and looking at our food, like he wanted some. Even though, he cooks a steak literally every 2 hours. So finally after asking us questions about this and that, he asks if we want to go drinking tonight. I didn't want to, because he is annoying when he drinks. He gets really drunk and obnoxious. Like the last time, when he took a can of Guinness, shook it up, and then opened it in our kitchen. And then Jeremie and I cleaned it up. So sorry if I wasn't too keen on drinking with him anymore. So before we left Jeremie went and asked Theo if he wanted to come with us to the Stables. He said not now, but he'd be there in 45 minutes. Woops. We don't have his number either, so Theo may or may not have walked to Stables last night. I have no idea what happened.

So we arrived downtown and walked into Flannery's. It's an awesome pub. It's set in this old stone building in a row of old stone businesses. You walk through these huge wooden doors and you are in this outside patio area. They have huge heat lamps above you on the stone facade and columns, so it's actually a little warm. This is still outside. Then they have nice HD tv's all over the walls, and tables and bar stools, it's really cool. Then you go in, and it just looks like one of those classy expensive bars. And it was. Every beer was like 4 Euros. You walk in and the bar is on your right. Cherry wood floors all over the bar, very low lights, really this awesome feel to the place. Then on your left you can step up on a landing and they have some comfortable seating up there. Then from that landing there are stairs that go up to more seating, but that was closed. It was awesome. On the wall right above the landing they had a really nice HD tv and then a huge projector screen. So everyone just stood at the bar and in the area up to the landing and watched the game. So right when we walked in, we saw the girls from Slippery Rock. Tes, Lisabeth and Andrea. So we went up on the landing and sat with them. We got there early enough that the waitress was still walking around with a promotion. Sign your name, give your email, get a free pint of Coors Light. Hell yes I will sign! So I was American, and I drank Coors all night last night.

The game. Okay, it was weird. Over here, we don't get to see the same coverage as you guys. So we weren't watching Gumble, Marino and all those guys. We had to watch Cecil Martin and some old British guy broadcast live from some booth in the nosebleeds. Cecil Martin is this huge dude with Lil Wayne dreads, who can't really talk properly. He has a bit of a lisp and talks out the side of his mouth. It was a painful night. So, the pre game was watching these two idiots talk, and then they cut to the live feed. The game itself was the American announcing crew, so that was good. Queen Latifah and Carrie Underwood sang, and all the Americans in the bar belted out the songs of the homeland right with them. Jeremie kept on laughing as I sang the Star Spangled banner. He was like, "It iz so long!" Haha, oh well. So boom, game time. Finally. The Super Bowl, in Ireland. The bar was packed. From what I could tell, no one knew anything about football. However, the Saints got an overwhelming amount of cheers when they were introduced, and the Colts and Peyton were booed. So, I picked the right bar. I myself was rooting for the Saints last night. I'm so sick of hearing about the Manning legacy.

So the game starts. Colts jump out to a 10-0 lead. Pierre keeps saying, "Ah man, itz not looking good man." But I reassured him that 10 points is nothing in American football. So the first stoppage in play came and I was very sad to see that we would not be seeing commercials. Because of copyright and region, we were just taken to a studio where someone like Jim Nantz talked to a former European Football league tight end and SMU's assistant coach. Yea, SMU. Random. So no funny commercials to talk about today. Just terrible analysis from 3 random people. Never take Chris Collinsworth for granted ever again people. I'd take anyone over what I had to sit through last night. Everyone constantly complains about commentators in America, I do it too, but not anymore. These guys were clueless. Analysis was terrible, and very spotty. They just didn't seem to know a whole lot. Instead of breaking down routes, they'd say, "Yeah, he dropped it. He should have caught it instead." Great, thanks. Cue the bag of potatoes. Maybe they hang out with the weather guys?

So the Saints finally strike, first half starts winding down. The half ends with the Colts up, and Jess, Kara, Pierre and I decide to go to Burger King. Yep, it was an American night. So we went to BK, I got a cheesburger for 99 cents, and it was glorious. We sat down at a table, and two random Irish people decided to sit with us. A guy and a girl, both a little older than myself. They start asking us about where we are from, etc. Kara asks if we look American, and they both said yes. However, they looked at me and said, "He could pass as an Irish lad." That's the 3rd time I've gotten that since I've been here. Apparently it's not a great compliment, because Irish people don't think they are very attractive. We asked them how they can tell we are American, and they said just from mannerisms, our teeth are white and usually straight, our shoes, jeans, ipods, purse style. And then when we open our mouths and speak it's a dead giveaway. They said we have a funny accent too. Haha, I didn't even know we had one! Then they taught us some random Irish slang, like how to say hey or how are you. Depending on where you are in the country, it's all different. Just like in the states. So, we finished our meals and went back to the pub.

The second half was amazing. You all saw it, so I'm not going to go into analysis. But, I gotta say, the Saints defense was rattling the Colts. Peyton Manning seemed lost at the end of the 3rd quarter. How does the greatest QB today not aware of the play clock running down? I kept saying to Andrea, someones gonna force Manning to make a mistake. I said that starting in the 3rd quarter, and didn't stop until Porter finally got that pic to seal the deal. Why the Colts ran the same exact play over the course of 3 downs, I have no idea. 1st play, slant to Collie. Second play, incomplete. Third play, slant to Wayne picked off for 6 the other way. When Porter picked that ball off, the place erupted. Everyone jumped up and down, I was out of my seat. The place went bonkers. Everyone was flipping out and cheering. It was insane! Complete craziness! It was an event. Everyone was dancing and celebrating. We watched the final minutes tick off because after all, it was Peyton, anything could happen! So we watched the clock tick down to zero and the Saints are the 2010 Super Bowl Champions. I love seeing the players react and hoist the trophy, however, seeing as how this was Ireland, as soon as they ran onto the field, video feed terminated. So I never got to see the team celebrate or hoist the trophy, which sucked.

So we ran out into the street as the bar let out and scrambled for a taxi. Pierre, Jeremie, Kobe and I all split one back to the apartments. When we got back, Jeremie and I noticed that the kitchen light was on, and Theo's bedroom light was on. So we snuck into our rooms as quiet as possible.

I went to bed last night at 4 am. The game lasted until about 3:30. It was ridiculous. Quite the experience. But ya know what, it was the Super Bowl. So who cares. Last night I went to bed with only 2 or 3 beers in me, but I think mixed with the Burger King and Chinese, it did a number on my stomach. I tossed and turned all night, felt like I was going to throw up constantly. Then when I finally got to bed, I had the craziest dream of my life. I wanted to write it down but I didn't. From what I remember, I was in the Middle East. Pierre was there with me. Some Hezbollah dude's stole Pierre's jacket. Pierre thought I stole it and got pissed at me. Then I ended up in a field with all these people, and there were huge, literally enormous bumble bees flying around stinging everyone. Then I was at a strip mall and these Hezbollah guys stole my jacket and then told me it was for the Sultan. I was pissed. Then it got really random. Ok, remember that autistic kid who scored like 20 points in 2 minutes 2 years ago in a high school bball game. I watched that video a day or two ago. Well, the Hezbollah guys in my dream sent him after me, and I ended up kicking the crap out of him in a huge kung fu battle, which took place in a warehouse that was filled with school desks. Yeah, random right? And then the dream ended. And I actually feel really bad that I beat that kid up, but I told myself that it was in self defense so. Get off my back. You people weren't there, you didn't see that crazy look in his eyes!

So I had class this morning at 9. I was well aware of that going out last night. It was only a lecture. Tutorials are the ones you cannot miss. Plus, all teachers put their powerpoints up online anyway, in case you miss class. So, when my alarm went off at 8 and I woke up profusely sweating and groggy as all hell, I laughed and said, "Ha, guess I'm not going to that class." So I reset my phones alarm for 9:30, for my 11 am class. What seemed like a minute later, my phone goes off. It's 9:30. Reset for 10. Then at 10 I finally got up. I had to sleep off my Super Bowl hangover. I cannot operate on 4 hours of sleep. Sorry Issues in Contemporary Irish Society.

So today I went to my 11am with the idiot. Who is truly and idiot. I honestly have no idea what this class is about yet. It's supposed to be about the politics and government of the EU, but so far we've just been talking about European integration and the effects of the coal and steel industries. But anyway, she is an idiot because on literally all of her slides, "steel" was spelled, "steal." For example: "The coal and steal industries of Germany..." I want to punch myself in the face with a branding iron. I can't see how I am going to make it through a semester of hearing her monotoned voice read flash cards. And I noticed while looking around me in this class, no one takes notes. Like, nearly everyone just sits there. They kids all around me have 1 page of notes for the last 3 classes. Not even a full page. I have about 12 already. Am I missing something? Do they not take notes, is it not important? I have no idea. It confuses and scares me at the same time.

So after class I went to the Stables and grabbed lunch with Kara and then Jess joined us. Then after that I had class with my cool professor who just makes fun of Italy the entire time, because they were terrible at fighting during WWI. Then this afternoon I came back to my room, dabbled on the computer and then went to my 5pm.

My 5pm is in the middle of nowhere. It's in this really cheap and crummy building that looks like the inside of a decaying hospital. It's ugly, has eerie lighting, and at points the hallways get really tight and small and it's only wide enough for one person to walk through. It's odd. So I had my tutorial. It was pointless. We talked about Lost, and what we would do if we got standed on an island. Then we talked about citing books in essays. I don't get how they relate. The girls that I worked with, who were both Irish, asked me what my name was. I said Matt, and the one girl laughed and said, "Oh my, that's such an American name." They knew right away too. Haha. I guess I have it written on my forehead.

After class I went to the gym. I decided that since it takes forever to walk there, I'm just gonna start going after my last class of the day, since my classes are right by the gym. However, there was a problem today. I went at 6. Six is when alllll classes are done. The gym was packed. I couldn't get on the track, the weight room was filled with macho dudes in reeeaaallly short rugby shorts. It was a mess. I did get to lift for about 45 minutes though. But they don't use machines at all over here. Everything is basically free weights. It kinda sucks. And for the size of the campus, the weight room is literally the size of a basketball court. Half of that is strictly weights, and half of that is treadmills and ellipticals. It makes the Berks weight room look heavenly. So don't bitch about the facilities anymore at Berks, they are so much nicer than anything they have here.

After the gym, I came back and made a pork chop, some string beans and some potatoes. It was a pretty good meal if I do say so myself. I'm becoming a master at pan searing meat. Pretty much because I don't feel like waiting for it in the oven.


Theo's on the phone right now and just said, "I want 1 pizza and another 1." Then I heard him say, "yeah, 2 pizza."

Ah, good old University of Limerick.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll have some pictures up soon? Flickr has a bandwidth max though, so there won't be many.

And how about those Washington Capitals? Lucky number 14 against the Pens yesterday!

Alright, that's it for now. Woo, long update.

Alright, talk to you again tomorrow!

Edit: Okay, so I just wrote this but... I was just informed that tickets were purchased for a group of us to go to Brussels and Amsterdam for my birthday weekend! Yay! I'm excited! It was only 20 Euro roundtrip to fly to Brussels on Friday the 26th, and then we can take a train to Amsterdam at some point Friday or Saturday. So woo! I have 3 flights booked in my name for 3 new countries! London, Denmark, and Brussels! I'm becoming such a well rounded traveler, haha.