things i'll miss about ireland: the list

1. SPAR.
2. open intox.
3. bars that stay open until all hours.
4. southern fried chicken. (it's strangely better here.)
5. history.
6. accents.
7. being mistaken for an irish person.
8. the fashion sense of most people. (crazies.)
9. being able to walk everywhere.
10. little tiny cars.
11. ginger babies with accents.
12. pubs on every corner.
13. being propositioned for money in public areas. (just kidding.)
14. words like "realization" being spelled with "s" instead of "z."
15. dance music. club music.
16. georgian architecture.

things i miss about america: the list

1. people regularly wear deodorant.
2. the ketchup is not sweet.
3. the toilets flush, for the most part.
4. air-conditioning.
5. sam adams, and leinenkugels, and even oberon.
6. single-faucet sinks.
7. reasonable water temperatures.
8. real mayonnaise, not miracle whip.
9. fresh vegetables.
10. my car, and driving.
11. cooking.
12. good coffee.
13. credit unions.
14. fresh water.
15. american dollar bills.

leaving on a jetplane...again.

the day i have been both looking forward to and dreading is approaching too quickly for me to fathom. i'm genuinely blown away by how fast the time has flown. has it really been seven weeks? have i really done everything i've done in those seven weeks? it sounds impossible, but i guess it must be true. seven weeks ago, i moved to ireland and proceeded to meet amazing people, see incredible sights, travel fantastic places, and do ridiculous things. truly, it's been a complete pleasure, dublin. i hope you'll let me come back soon.

this weekend turned out to be a bit of a bust in terms of daytime things. we did end up going on the viking duck tour, which was absolutely fantastic. literally the best 18 euro we've spent, by far. our driver, vinnie, made these absolutely hilarious jokes and was completely adorable. we got to see bits of dublin we hadn't yet seen and learned far too much to remember. we giggled a lot and generally had a damn good time. friday night was quiet: we decided to stay in and attempt some semblance of studying. most of us hung around on facebook and ended up watching a movie. i woke up on saturday to rain, so we canceled our zoo plans in favor of studying, again. these people...apparently we're a lot more motivated than we've made ourselves out to be this whole time. i spent saturday writing my film paper, catching up on emails, and watching yet another movie. saturday night was a g'un, and i spent most of the day sunday sleeping. (like i said, this weekend was a crazy bust). luckily, we had monday to study as well, so i did a lot of actual schoolwork yesterday. i wrote outlines for all six of my papers and did a lot of highlighting in different articles and stories that supplemented my essays. i've come down with another little cold, so after ordering chinese take away again last night (this is our one true love. we look forward to chinese food night for days.) i climbed into bed and attempted to get some sleep. luckily, i hadn't psyched myself out about finals as much as a few of my friends did, so i got a solid eight hours of sleep and woke up refreshed, though sinffly, this morning. i got a beautiful big breakfast just like mom taught me and was ready to hit the desk for six hours of writing. i sat down at 9 am to write my two lit essays and got up a little over an hour later, realizing that these exams were absolutely nothing to be afraid of. the next two sessions went similarly, and i rocked through both gaelic culture and history and now i'm sitting here, completely done with the "study" portion of this study abroad.

as for the next day-and-a-half, i have some ideas. i plan on getting some souvenir shopping done this afternoon and will have tomorrow completely free for last-minute outings (maybe we'll actually make it to the zoo...). tomorrow night is our program party with our advisers, which we are incredibly excited about (kate and i even bought new dresses for the occasion.) supposedly we will be singing karaoke with them. which is just about the most hilarious thing i can possibly think of at this point.

and then, i hop on a plane at 10am on thursday! strange. so strange. i honestly just can't believe it. i'm happy, i'm sad...but i'm ready. this trip has been amazing, and i can't wait to share stories and see friends! i can't wait to hear about every else's summers and i hope they've been just as meaningful as mine has been. of course, i'm looking forward to the food and the beach, as well. it's the little things that i've been missing.

bis donnerstag! xxx