3/31/09

Three Weeks' Worth

Well.

My paper is finally done. I'm so relieved. I really feel like I had no idea what I was talking about. But it's over, and I don't have to worry about it anymore. Now I can focus on my remaining three papers, two presentations, and one test (and planning for spring break). Fun fun fun...

So I owe you three weeks' worth of updates. It's going to be a long post...

Right after I posted my last (real) update, I finally got the package that Mom sent me. It was so nice to get something from home. There were a lot of things that I appreciated in there, but probably some of the most important things were a can of pumpkin and a set of American measuring cups and spoons. Carrie, Sarah, Louise and I had decided that on March 14th, otherwise known as Pi(e) Day (get it? 3/14?), we would make several pies and extend a general invitation for people to come partake in the pie goodness. We made homemade crusts, and we made strawberry, pecan, banana pudding, apple, and pumpkin pies. Unfortunately, only two other people were able to come, so we had a LOT of leftover pie. That was basically all we ate that day...


I was so glad to get real peanut butter!


the mess in the kitchen



Sarah, Judith, Yuki, Louise, and Carrie enjoying pie!


That evening, the International Link people invited all of the international students over to someone's house for an Irish music night. It was really interesting to hear all the different kinds of music that they played, with the variety of instruments. I took videos of some of the songs, but my Internet connection isn't strong or fast enough to let me upload them here, so I think I'll have to wait until I get home to do that. They provided dessert and coffee for us. Anyone care to guess what the dessert was? Yep. Pie. We cracked up when we saw it, but after that we couldn't even look at it.

That week was Saint Patrick's day. Everyone has the day off, because of the holiday, so we were able to travel. Sarah planned a trip for all the international students that were interested to Dublin for the day. We took a bus from the University at 6 am, and arrived in Dublin around 9:30. We walked around a bit, and then attempted to find a good place to watch the parade. It was absolutely insane- people would push their way to the very front, and parents would make other people move so that their kids could have a good spot. Other parents just let their kids crawl in between people's legs to get up front (which was actually pretty funny). We finally found a decent spot, and proceeded to wait for an hour and a half for the parade to actually begin. By the time it started, we were all beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic. The parade was pretty good, though. It wasn't what I was expecting- I guess I had pictured something like the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, but it turned out to be more like a carnival-festival atmosphere (you'll see in the pictures).
























the Saint Patrick's day parade

As soon as the parade was done, we made a beeline for the nearest restaurant. We were lucky- some people waited around a bit more to see if the parade was really over or not, but we were able to get seated right away. The place turned out to be an American-style fifties' diner (complete with the tiny jukeboxes), and I was able to eat my first hamburger since I left the US. It tasted absolutely fantastic. Then we went and explored Dublin. Parts of the city were ok, but parts of it were basically mosh pits. In one particular block, you couldn't control where you walked- you just had to go where the crowd pushed you. I think we would have liked to see some more of the city, but a lot of the things that we would normally see were either closed or extremely busy. We ended up just walking around a lot, which was ok. We ended up getting back to the University around 11 that evening, so it was a pretty long day.

the huge crowd

Up until that week, the weather had been pretty much the same: colder, very windy, rainy and overcast, with the occasional burst of sunshine. The past couple weeks, though, have been really nice. The temperature has been higher, and that week we didn't have any rain. The flowers all started to really bloom. One day, Louise, Carrie, and I went to the daffodil garden to take pictures. I loved seeing all the bright colors next to each other! It felt so refreshing. . .










the daffodil garden at the edge of campus

So now I'm working on planning out spring break. The first week, I'm going to be traveling around the UK with Carrie and her mom. We're going to Scotland, Wales, and England. The second week, Carrie and I are going to meet up with some of her friends that are studying abroad in London and we're all going to travel to Italy. We'll fly to Milan (in northern Italy) and work our way down to Rome. I'm really excited, but I'm realizing what a pain it is to plan out trips (thanks for always doing it, Mom and Dad)! I'll be glad when it actually starts, so I can just relax and enjoy it. I'm not sure that I'll have Internet access during those two weeks, so I'll actually have a legitimate excuse for taking so long to post anything! Ha!

Anyway, normally I would be done, but I'm waiting for all the pictures to upload, so I might as well add this in. I promised that I would teach you some Irish phrases, so here goes! You may already be familiar with some of them, but I figured I'd just cover all the bases.

chips- french fries

crisps-
chips

wee-
small, little. However, the usage is not limited to this definition. It seems like it's used to describe almost anything and everything. Example: "I'm going to take a wee trip," "I feel a wee bit tired," "Pass me that wee book" (even if the book is a dictionary)

craic/crack-
fun, good times. This is particularly humorous to us Americans, as our common definition of that word is significantly different. Examples: "What's the craic?" ("what's up?); "It was good craic." You can have a lot of fun with this one...

crikey-
just what you would expect. It's not quite as common, but still heard much more often than it is in the US. (I think of you, Allie, whenever someone says it.)

cheers-
thanks; goodbye

ach- oh. Typically used as "ach, yes" or "ach, no." Basically, it's just really fun to say.

This will probably be my last update until I get back from my travels, because I probably won't have anything else to write about, but if you ask really nicely then maybe I'll update Friday evening or something.

Missing you!
Lots and lots of love and hugs!
Erin

3/27/09

I'm still alive, I promise!

Hello all!
I'm so sorry for not posting for so long, but actually, life hasn't really been all that interesting until the past week or so. I know that's not an excuse, though, and I admit that I fully deserve all the "pathetic" and "lame" comments that Andy's been giving me. I can't post much more than this right now (I have a big paper due Monday that I need to start writing). I promise I will post a big update on Monday evening. If I don't, then you can... think of something to punish me. I don't know.
In any case, I'll have something more substantial up soon.
Love and hugs!
Erin

3/9/09

Belfast

Once again, I fail at updating my blog in a timely fashion. At least I'm only a week late this time... right? Yeah, I know. Excuses, excuses...

Two Fridays ago (Feb 27), I decided to go out to the one spot our campus that actually has some beauty to it to take pictures. One of the corners of campus has been transformed into a daffodil garden in the memory of someone, and whoever designed it actually did a really nice job (unlike whoever designed the rest of campus). It's built on a hill, and there are stone pathways, with lots of trees, a couple ponds, a waterfall and stream, bridges, etc, and (of course) lots of daffodils. The daffodils weren't blossoming when I went, though- it was still too cold. However, there were plenty of crocuses and snowdrops! It is so nice to see flowers again. I hope that they're starting to come up for y'all in Ohio!


Then on Saturday (Feb. 28), Carrie, Louise, and I went into Belfast. The weather wasn't that great- colder, very windy, and occasionally rainy. It wasn't horrible, though, so we still walked around a lot. There was a new indoor/outdoor mall there called Victoria Square. It was absolutely amazing! I know, I know, you're thinking something like "Please tell me you didn't go all the way to Belfast, in NORTHERN IRELAND, just to get excited over some shopping mall." But let me tell you, friends, this is no ordinary shopping mall. It is absolutely gorgeous. Whoever designed this did a fantastic job. The architecture is simply beautiful. There's a glass canopy covering a good part of it, but pedestrian streets go straight through the middle of the mall. In the center, there's a huge glass dome at the top. A glass elevator takes you up to an observation deck, and you can look out 360 degrees over the Belfast skyline. If you're feeling brave, you can look over the edge of the observation deck, and see the six stories of escalators and stairs and shops below you. I loved it!

against the Belfast skyline

the view down from the observation deck

the view of part of the mall from one of the bridges

one of the entrances

We got lunch and then decided to walk around Belfast. That's basically what we did the rest of the day- just walk around and see some of the landmarks. It was interesting to learn more of the history and background of the area. I didn't know that the Titanic was built mainly in Belfast!

the Belfast clock tower

Daffodils! Spring is coming!

the old customs house for the Belfast port

Apparently, the old custom house steps used to be a popular place
for speeches and gatherings. The statue is supposed to commemorate
this, though it mainly just makes a good thing for tourists to mimic.


random works of art near the shipyard

The "H&W" stands for Harland and Wolfe, the shipyard where the
Titanic was built. The two big yellow cranes are known as
"Samson" and "Goliath."

I had only heard about these in legends and myths. I had to traverse
the Atlantic to see one with my own eyes! Lo and behold, a toilet
where you have to pay!


St. Anne's Cathedral

There are murals like this all over Belfast, mainly dealing
either with the Troubles or with peace.


the Belfast Wheel and the town hall

It began to get pretty cold, so we headed back to Victoria Square for something warm to drink. At that point, we still had a couple hours until our train arrived, so Carrie and Louise decided to attempt to invent three-person checkers. Needless to say, it didn't work out very well... at all. By the time we were done, it was dark out. At that point, we discovered that they light up the big glass dome with lots of bright colors at night. It looks amazing against the dark sky!

Louise, Carrie, and I with our checkerboard coffee table

the glass dome at night (the observation deck is the tower to the right)

All in all, it was a good day, but an exhausting one. That week, nothing really spectacular happened- it was a fairly boring week. I had two presentations due, so it was nice to get those out of the way and be able to focus on other things. This past weekend, we just relaxed and hung around our apartments.

I don't know how much any of y'all keep up with the news, but there have been a couple "events" in Northern Ireland recently. On Saturday evening, a couple of morons from an IRA splinter group followed a pizza delivery car into an army barracks. They opened fire as some soldiers were getting their pizzas. Two British soldiers were killed, and two other soldiers and the two pizza delivery guys were seriously wounded. This has the potential to completely upset the peace that has been prevalent for the last twelve years here. Please, could you pray for the families and friends of those attacked, and that the peace will come again? Everyone's on pins and needles. Coleraine is a peaceful enough area, so I don't think I'm in any danger, but it could absolutely affect the students who aren't from this town. Anyway. Prayers please!

I was going to take a leaf out of Andy's book (blog?) and teach you some Northern Irish phrases, but this is already really long. Oh well, that will give you something to look forward to... ;)

Love and hugs to y'all!
Erin