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

school's out for the summer

well, we've made it. six weeks later, we've collected our exam questions, had yet another glass of wine with our advisers, and have settled in to prepare for exams next week.

this week started with a long day of classes on monday which was topped off with a reading by the nobel laureate poet seamus heaney. it was an absolute delight to be able to sit and chat with him and to hear some of his great poems. he took us through what he called his "lifecycle" as a writer, reading seven poems, each of which he had written at a significant point in his life. he's a great man, and it was fantastic to have him with us.

on tuesday, we had an early film class, during which we discussed our final papers and expectations for the remainder of the week. stachu had a hard time explaining what he wants from us, so we've decided to wing it. luckily, we have until next tuesday at midnight to write a six-page paper comparing two films and analyzing the "irishness" and "hollywoodization" of each, so i'm not worried in the slightest. further, i thrive under pressure but have already prepared an outline complete with quotes from our readings, so i'll be writing that paper next week.

after class, we walked to dail eireann, the parliament building on merrion square. there, we had a historic tour of the building and also had an audience with a current TD (member of parliament), who talked to us a bit about his position as a member of the inactive labour party. they are a minority party and, therefore, don't have much say in terms of lawmaking. they are becoming much more popular in the polls, however, and should gain more seats and a more active role in government after the next election. he also fielded questions, a nice thing considering most of our guests have been greeted by happy silence by us (we're not the most curious bunch, i suppose). 

after the dail (pronounced "doyle" in irish), a small group of us trekked it to st. pat's to hear evensong. st. pat's has a well-known music school directly across the street from the cathedral, and the kids in the school perform nightly evensongs and masses. we were delighted to be walking through dublin on such a beautiful evening, taking in more of the sights and checking out the city that has become our home.

on wednesday, we had visual culture class at the hugh lane modern art gallery, a field trip that i've been looking forward to for some time. we cruised the exhibits, learned a lot from our professor, and even got to see an exact replica of francis bacon's studio, a current exhibition here. it was so great, and i definitely felt in my element (thanks mom!) i got separated from the group about halfway through the session, so i checked out more of the art and then made my way down the street to the dublin writer's museum, another treat for me. after filling my brain with more useful knowledge about a bunch of irish writers, i ate lunch in parnell square and mosied down o'connell street, making it back to campus just in time for history class. after class, kate, leslie and i walked across college green to the wax museum and had quite a bit of fun there. 

last night, we went to the abbey theatre once again, this time to see a production of sean o'casey's "the plough and the stars," which takes place around the time of the easter rising and the beginnings of the war on independence. the actors were hard to understand and the theatre was, once again, unbearably hot, so we were a bit uncomfortable and were glad to leave three hours later. from there, we went to a bar where we had been told we could sing karaoke, but arrived and were disappointed. after that, we made it to another bar and danced the night away.

this morning was an early one, as i had my last literature and gaelic culture classes. we've been prepped and readied for our exams. we had film class in the afternoon, and were lucky enough to watch "once," one of my favorite films and one that stachu decided not to make us write an assignment on. then, we met up with our advisers for our exam briefing and a glass of wine (they've been serving us lots of wine and doritos throughout the program, a combination that i find purely hilarious and absolutely perfect.) 

tonight, the girls and i are going to o'neill's for dinner and traditional music. tomorrow, we'll go on a viking splash tour (grandma, similar to the duck tour we took in saugatuck all those years ago!) and also hope to get to the national gallery for some art time. on saturday, we're going to go to phoenix park and rent bikes and go to the zoo, which i'm very excited about. sunday may provide a day trip to sandycove south of the city, depending on how we're feeling. monday is a bank holiday, luckily, so we have a full day to prepare exams.

our exam schedule is interesting, but not unlike things i've done at NMC or UM. we received lists of questions for each class today and will be able to prepare two essays for each class. tuesday and wednesday are each divided into three exam slots of two hours each. luckily, i only have to sit for three exams, so i plan on spending all day tuesday in the gmb writing those essays, so i have the full day wednesday for last-minute souvenir shopping and packing. i'll spend tuesday night finishing my film paper, so i'll be completely done with academics by wednesday. all in all, i feel completely able to get these last few responsibilities out of the way while still having time for lots of fun this weekend. 

all in all, i'm really looking forward to these last few days in dub-town. we've a lot planned and a lot to get done in the short amount of time we have left! of course, i'm still looking forward to being home, but i'm still here and still loving it, so i'll enjoy it while it lasts!

wax museum

xxx

the gift of gab?

once again, i've returned to dublin in the best of moods. i love coming "home" to the city after a weekend away. this past one was our last traveling weekend, and i've just returned from cork city. 

we left dubz on an 8am bus, having barely made it to the station on time. oops! but, four hours later, we were dropped at the cork city bus station and left to our own devices. we checked into our hostel (bru bar and hostel), which was a bar on the first floor and hostel rooms on the other three floors. yes, bar first, hostel second. this is the ireland we've come to know and love. we arrvied in our six bed room with only five of us (maura had missed the bus completely and would come south with another group from the program later that day). leslie, nikki, kate, and katie are from wisconsin and the girls i spend most of my time with in dublin. i am most often the odd michigander out, which makes for good fun.

after settling in our tiny room, we set out to explore the city. we grabbed lunch at hillbilly (authentic fried food straight from the american south--some of the best fried chicken i've ever tasted, actually.) we traipsed around the city for awhile, checking out st. finbarre's cathedral and other city sights, and then popping into a-wear for a bit of shopping (8E jeans? okay!). After a nap, we headed downstairs (too convenient) for a drink and then went out on the town.

on saturday, we woke up for breakfast and then made our plans to visit blarney castle, a 20-minute bus ride out of town. we made it to the town of blarney and explored a bit, eventually ending up at the castle. the grounds were enormous, so we took our time getting to the castle. so much green to see! it was quite a bit warmer than normal, too, so we didn't want to make the trek too quickly. 

to get to the blarney stone, you have to climb 100 steps in a spiral staircase built for infants. seriously. it's tiny. but, we made it too the top, were rushed through our kissing of the stone, and went right back down to grab some lunch. we ended up at the blarney woollen mills, a huge outlet store that had a cafe and restaurant built in. much to our delight, the outdoor cafe was serving grilled chicken, burgers, and sausages. it was a purely american lunch, and we were incredibly happy to indulge. then, we sat in the park for awhile before catching a bus back to cork. after a nap and a pizza dinner, we did a light night out on the town, making it back to bed by midnight.

on sunday, we had planned to do a bit of shopping before heading back to dubz. much to our dismay, the entire city was closed at 11am. THE ENTIRE CITY! but, that meant less money-spending, so we grabbed the noon bus to dublin and made it back for a quiet evening at home.

now, i've just finished my second-to-last literature class with james ryan, a great short story writer. i've been the star pupil in that class, engaging in conversation with the professors and generally sharing my opinions. it's been nice to make myself known in that respect. i'll head back to campus soon for history, critical issues, and gaelic culture. then, tonight, we have our reading with seamus heaney! this is the event i've been most excited about, since he's a poet laureate and nobel prize winner. such an amazing opportunity! tomorrow, we'll have film class and then a visit to the dail eireann, the parliament of the republic. then, the girls and i have decided to head over to st. patrick's to hear the children's choir sing evensong at mass. very exciting. on wednesday, we have class and then we'll be going to the theatre. thursday is our last day of real classes. that evening, we will receive our exam questions so that we can spend the weekend preparing. luckily, the essay exams we sit for are open note and, therefore, i plan on writing full essays beforehand. i feel like having this extra preparation will help me to succeed! also, i only have to sit for exams in lit, history, and gaelic culture, as our film final is an outside essay. so, this weekend will be chock-full of essay writing, but will also be one of enjoying dublin for the final time. we're planning a full day in phoenix park on saturday, and i'll be doing a ton of museums on friday. luckily, we don't have anything to do on monday, as it's a bank holiday and they've given us the day to continue preparing our exams. then, we'll sit tuesday and wednesday for exams, and wednesday night is our big reception for the closing of the program. all in all, we will have an incredibly busy, incredibly exciting next ten days. i can't believe we're nearing the close of the program so quickly! but, i'm sure i'll be too busy to think of anything but the next day, which will make the flight home all the more anticipatory.

guinness factory

cork

blarney castle

xxx

two weeks and counting

oh, this bittersweet feeling. i've never felt it so overwhelmingly before. because yes, i've had the time of my life here in the dubz and i've made great friends and learned SO much and had so much inspiration...but i think i'm ready to be home. not that i'm longing for home or wish i were getting on a plane tomorrow...just that i'm ready. and in two weeks when i'm on that plane, i will feel content in knowing that i have had the time of my life. if that makes any sense.

this is week has been an intense one. on monday, we had a lot of class. it seemed like a lot because we only had two days of class in belfast and london was a serious weekend, so monday was just a long day. i've gotten a pretty nasty cold that i'm chalking up to the london underground, too, so i've been dragging a lot for the last few days.

tuesday was another full day. we went to the irish film institute in the morning and sat through three shorts and a feature. the shorts were great. the feature was horrible. that's the bottom line, unfortunately. after that, we went almost immediately to film class to spend another 2.5 hours watching a movie, "michael collins" with liam neeson. while i really enjoyed this film, i was also exhausted and it was incredibly difficult to spend the whole day watching movies. ugh. that night, our program hosted a book launch for terence brown, a professor of english here at trinity and one of our lecturers early on. it was hard to sit through his explanation of the book "literature in ireland," (he has a very raspy, hard-to-understand voice that is difficult to listen to) but we got free wine so that was a nice incentive. the girls and i went out for dinner and drinks that night. though i had thought that i would head home early, i ended staying out late. thus, my cold has only gotten worse. my fault.

wednesday was class as usual. in visual culture, we've moved from our lecturer on ancient celtic art to a new lecturer on modernism and post-modernism in ireland. which i absolutely adore. the lecture was engaging and we're going to the hugh lane (modern art) gallery next week, which i am incredibly excited about. last night, we had a guest lecture on child abuse in the irish catholic church. not the most pleasant of topics, to say the least. once again, this was very difficult to sit through because of how sad all of the facts are. 

so, an intense week. i'll be making my way to film class soon to watch yet another movie, "the wind that shakes the barley." after that, luckily, we're finally going to the guinness storehouse, which should lighten the mood of the week. i'm planning another early night tonight to try and shake this cold for the weekend, our last travel weekend! a group of six of us are headed to cork and blarney castle for the weekend, which should be great fun. i'm really looking forward to the weekend, but also looking forward to getting back to dublin for our last week of classes and exam preparation. 

i cannot believe how fast this time has flown. i feel like i entered my dorm for the first time just yesterday, so it's hard to believe that i'll be leaving the city for good in a couple of weeks. i'm excited, i'm anxious, i'm sad, i'm happy...it's all incredibly bittersweet. i'm having a hard time focusing living in the present, thinking a lot about what the month of august has in store for me at home. so, my focus will be concentrating on ireland, enjoying the last of my time here and attempting some sense of sanity before going crazy with exams and packing and goodbye parties. it's been a good run, but it's not over yet! i just have to keep reminding myself of that. 

xxx

WINNING LONDON

oh, london. you will always been one of my favorite cities, and one that i just can't get enough of.
we, a group of five girls from michigan, left belfast at 8am, and couldn't be more excited to leave. our flight was an hour, and our train trip around london was another hour, so by the time we got to our hostel in paddington, we were exhausted. and starving. (see, a theme!) so, we raced back out to get lunch at a hole-in-the-wall pub, which was perfect. then, we all went our separate ways. i had thought that i'd try to make it to cambridge to see emerald, but then found out that she had rehearsal all day, so i went to the national gallery instead. they had a great exhibit on about modifications and restorations, which was incredible. i got to see van eyck's "the arnolfini portrait," which i've strangely studied in more than one class. i also got to see van gogh's "sunflowers," which was literally a dream come true. i love that painting with a passion, so it was an incredible experience.
after the gallery, bianca and i met back up with marah, laura, and maura to go to the london eye. i had already been, but i decided to go again just to check it out. it was still so much fun! from there, we headed back to the hostel for a bit of a rest.
after checking in to our six-bed room at the hostel, we had noticed a bunch of stuff left by our roommate, so we spent the day quite curious about her. when we returned from the eye, she was just getting back as well, and we clicked immediately. she's an aussie named hannah who is traveling for the next four months, having just graduated with a degree in communications from college in newcastle. over the weekend, we got to know her quite well. she's a great girl and we all had a lot of fun together. she's actually coming to dublin in a couple of weeks, too, so hopefully we'll be able to meet up and go out again together.
friday night, we were exhausted, so we found some dinner and then went to bed. well, we TRIED to find food, but it turns out that most pubs stop serving food after 10, so we ended up at mcdonald's. oh, well. sometimes, food is food.
on saturday, we woke up pretty refreshed. the girls had all made other plans to do touristy things, and i went to cambridge to spend the day with emerald. we had so much fun, catching up, walking around cambridge shooting pictures, et cetera. she even took me punting on the river cam! we realized that we've been writing to each other for about 10 years now, which is insane to think about. but, i value her friendship so much and was so glad to be able to spend the entire day with her!
saturday night, we went to dinner and to a club. it was just marah, maura, hannah and i, so we made a great little group. we danced the night away with some guys in the british air force, finally making it back to the hostel around 4. but, the late night was well worth it. the club we went to, the roadhouse, played a great mix of music and, at one point, even had a live cover band. too much fun was had that night, that's for sure.
on sunday, we went to see the changing of the guard together, but got bored before the change actually happened, so we found a coffee shop to sit around in. then, we went our separate ways once again, the girls going to see the peter pan statue in kensington gardens, and i decided to go to the tate modern, which is a place i've wanted to go for ages. i walked along the south bank for about an hour, just taking it all in and realizing how much i do love london, huge city or not. i made it to the tate to see a great exhibit called "poetry and dreams," which i absolutely adored. (mom, look it up. now.) then, i hopped on the tube (which, by this point, i had navigated to near perfection. i realize that, the more confident i become with myself, the easier public transport is! yay!) i made it to the tower of london to meet elise and goli (a friend from home) for lunch at the hang, drawn, and quartered, a pub i ate at during eurochorale. after a bit of time with them, it was time for me to head back to the hostel to pick up my bags and meet up with the girls. we made it to heathrow with an hour or so to spare, the perfect amount of time to get through security (where they took my hair cream AND sunscreen, much to my dismay) and get to our gate. the flight was easy and we made it back to trinity by 11. i crashed after unpacking, so happy to have made it "home."
i realized today after class how much i truly love this city. i feel completely at home here and i really don't want to leave. having two weeks left is very bittersweet. i am looking forward to august in traverse city. for now, though, i'm focused on what time i have left here, trying to make the most of it!
now, i'm off to plan a weekend trip to cork and the blarney castle. more on thursday!
london calling
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