European Preview

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Long-Awaited European Update

If my memory serves correctly, I believe my last official blog entry was sometime in early February, which would mean that I've kept anyone still REMOTELY interested about this blog in the dark for QUITE some time (for which I deeply apologize). Since that time, I've met SO many new/cool/interesting/awesome people, experienced SO many new things, and have made SO many memories - far too many to even begin to try and write about them all... but I shall try (in brief):

Cork: As I've mentioned, "school" in Cork has never really seemed like school. Perhaps it is different for Irish students, but for visiting students, it is well-known and duly accepted that we flock to Ireland to (in essence) take a break from school, relax, and experience a new culture and new lifestyle. In other words - no homework, no papers, no exams, no nuthin'. However, for the couple weeks before Ellory arrived, there was much indeed to due as far as school was concerned. In a span of 3 weeks, I believe I had 4 papers and a Bodhran final (a tradition Irish drum). Now, I know typically 4 papers in 3 weeks is no big problem back in the States, but after having virtually 3 months "off" from school and then suddenly having to pump out 8-page papers left and right, it was made much more difficult. Anyway, I digress - I FINALLY got it all done (the last one handed in only 3 hours before I caught my plane to Amsterdam - yes, I'm a cronic procrastinator), and it was quite the relief. In the meantime, during lost last few weeks before departure for Europe, ultimate frisbee season in Ireland was also reaching its climax. I know I haven't written about it much at all, but joining the frisbee team in Cork was probably one of the best decisions I've made in a very long time. It's been such an incredible for me to meet and get to know the Irish, be active, be outside, and experience the Irish culture in a way that would normally be impossible. In early March, we (the team) travelled to Sheffield, England to be one of two teams representing Ireland at the UK Nationals tournament. The level of frisbee was much more of what I was used to, the memories and stories are great, and the experience was unforgettable. And then, on the last weekend of March, was the Irish Intervarsities Tournament (the BIG one for Ireland). We had been spanking Irish teams all season in previous tournaments but this was for all the glory. We played unbelievable ultimate as a team, played our hearts out, and won the whole thing to be called "The Best College Ultimate team in all of Ireland." It was an amazing experience and do it with the guys around me who I've grown to love over the previous months, it was incredible - absolutely never forget it.

But, as I said, 3 days after that tournament, Ellory and I caught a plane to Amsterdam and have been traveling Europe ever since. Here's a brief run-down of where we've been (hopefully it's brief anyway):

Amsterdam: Will forever be known to me as the "City of Tolerance." Yes, your immediate thoughts linger to that of drugs... and it should, I suppose given the city. But the "tolerance" I speak of in Amsterdam goes far beyond the "coffeeshops." Our second day there we went on the NewAmsterdam tour (free! I highly recommend it) during which we learned that the government is willing to "tolderate" virtually anything as long as it makes them money (pot, prostitution, alcohol, whatever). If the government can make a euro on it, it's basically "legal" in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, it rained for a lot of our time there, but we tried not to let it get us down. We saw Dam Square, the Van Gogh museum (Ellory really enjoyed it, obviously), had a pint of Heineken (originally brewed in Amsterdam along with Amstel - also had that), bought and saw some tulips, and tried to do everything else "Holland" while we were there. Good times had by all...

Brussels: Having looked into the accomodation scene a bit late, the only place to stay for cheap that we could find in Brussels was the Thon Hotel, which we later found out was WAY the hell out by the airport, not in the city. Besides the pain-in-the-ass that was getting into and out of the city, Brussels seemed to be pretty cool. We saw everything on Easter Sunday, which is possibly why the transportation schedule was a bit goofy, but it didn't seem too bad. In summary: we saw Mannekin Pis, ate a waffel, snuck into a museum or two, saw Eggermont Park, and got out.

Brugges: Adorable little Belgian city but CRAZY touristy. I didn't even want to image what this place woulda looked like in high tourist season cause it was crawling with people pouring over maps, consoling crying babies, and cameras at the ready. We toured a Belgian brewery and got a free sample of their beer, saw two guys in full chicken costumes handing out candy on the street for Easter, saw some windmills, and skipped an awesome outdoor live concert to catch a train we didn't actually have to catch.

Paris: Easily my favorite European city yet! Maybe it's just the perfectionist inside me talking, but I completely amazed at the layout of the whole damn city - everything is strait as shit, uniform in every way, astonishingly beautiful, and lavish as all hell. After three days, we'd had a New Paris tour, seen Napoleon's tomb, toured the Louvre (saw the Mona Lisa - not all that impressive), played frisbee in a park with some random French guy, had the Paris metro system down like the back of my hand, and split a bottle of wine and a block of cheese while laying on the grass under an illuminated Eiffel Tower... unbelievable.

Lyon: Only stayed one night... mostly relaxed and did laundry. Coolest part: stumbling upon the ruins of an ancient Roman city and getting into another museum for free. Awful part: French train system. Let me explain... so, while traveling through France, the whole time we were there, the French Rail company, SNFC (I believe?) was on strike (still have no idea why). This meant that even though we would make and pay for a reservation for a train, it was still a guessing game as to whether or not the train workers "felt" that that train was important enough for them to work that day. Which, in essence, meant extreme CHAOS at every train station across the country, few workers, and even fewer workers without an extremely short temper, and a HUGE language barrier. There were times when the station would be loud, and announcement would come on the loud-speaker, people would stop doing whatever they were doing and listen, only to have panic ensue as the message was complete as we stood there with our backpacks on our back trying to understand what the hell was going on around us. Because of the strike, certain trains didn't arrive, others didn't leave, nobody was around to ask for help, and certainly no one around willing to outwardly help two people who spoke no French. At any rate, it was a nightmare but we FINALLY got out of that city (after actually PUSHING our way onto a jam-packed train) and got to Marseilles where we thought the train situation would be a little better...

Marseilles: NOT TRUE. Still good-ol shitty French trains, chaotic train stations, and no help to be found. The city itself was beautiful - right on the Meditteranean - and had great cuisine (supposedly). We saw Native American street performers (odd for southern France), went to restaurant that was OUT of white wine (in France!?), and watched the sunset over the blue waters of the sea. If it weren't for the damn trains - would've really enjoyed it (and I still did for the most part).

Marseilles to Nice to Ventimillies: Another nightmare of a transportation story... far to complex for right now. Can I just say: F*CK French trains.

Cinque Terre: Yay Italy (where the trains run on a somewhat "normal" schedule)! The Cinque Terre (literally meaning "5 Villages," as a short stretch along the Northwest Italian coast upon which 5 small multi-colored fishing villages cling to the rocky Meditteranean shoreline. There are no cars allowed in the villages (only a train line connecting them all underground), it takes 5 hours to hike from the first to the fifth village via a narrow hiking path that runs along the shoreline connecting them all, and includes stunning views of Italian wine country and coastline. Yes, it was pretty touristy and FULL of 50-60 year-old women eager to hit the "intense" hiking conditions (Ellory and I hiked it just fine in sneakers and crocs), but it was truly beautiful. I really hope to get some of these pictures up soon cause they're awesome.

Pisa: Wasn't here long.. just long enough to get off a train, catch a bus to the leaning tower, take a picture, eat a baguet, catch the bus back to the train station, and get on another train to Rome. The tower's okay - I did expect a bit more though... but, yes, it is leaning - quite a bit, actually. As an engineering student, I must admit it was a bit painful to see a building that cool go to waste because some designer was shitty at his job (haha).

Rome: Our most recent location. Here with John and Lourie Thavis. Saw the Roman Forum and Palentine Hill today... Colluseum, Treve Fountain, St. Peter's, and the Spanish Steps all possible locations to visit for tomorrow... crazy. Their son, Brain, is in the process of enrolling in American high school for next year so it's been really great to talk with him about what his expectations are, what it's really like (as opposed to all he knows about, which are depictions from tv, the Simpsons, and South Park - great models, right?), and just generally the differences between the Italian and US school systems. It's clear he's thought a lot about it and is set in his decision... I think he's ready for it. In the meantime, as I've said in the previous update, it's been so nice just to be in a familiar location with familiar faces. The Thavises are really great people, as we Roskes have known for a long time, and it's been great to be here with them, even if it is only for a few more days (potentially).

Anyway - it is quite late here and I'm quite tired with LOTS to do/see tomorrow. So for now, I'm sorry this entry has been a long time comin' and I hope to be a wee-bit more diligent in the future. Love ya'll!

Long Time No Blog

Yes, I realize it's been virtually an eternity since my last blog post and my time allowed to write at the moment could not even begin to do justice to the multitude of events, travels, and experiences that have compiled since...

In the time I do have (which again, isn't much... hopefully more tomorrow), I can tell you that on March 20th (almost a month ago already!?), Ellory arrived in Cork and since the 31st, we have been backpacking around Europe together. We began by flying from Cork to Amsterdam (via Liverpool, England) and have since "Eurailed" our way through the likes of Holland, Brussels, Brugges, Paris, Lyon, Marseilles, Nice, Genova, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and are now staying with our good family friends, the Thavises (John and Lori) in Rome. And we've done our best to see EVERYTHING! I'll have to write more about some of these locations and stories when time allows, but it's been awesome, crazy, stressful (at times), beautiful, and incredible.

But for now... I must just say that after being in a different city virtually ever night, spending hours and hours on trains, showering whenever we get the chance, and spending desperate 10-minute intervals of internet use at a time, it feels AMAZING to be here in Rome with good friends, amazing food, great conversation, and a warm bed for a few days. Tomorrow we'll probably sleep in (for a change) and then begin to see Rome (hopefully with a personal guide - Lori!). But, as I said - this is the first time in 14 days with a reliable and free source of internet so I expect to write more over the next couple days and maybe even upload some pics (again - maybe. haha).

So - we're here in Rome, we're safe and in great hands, and Rome should be a nice place to relax, rejuvinate (after the nightmare that was the France rail system - more later), and enjoy yet-another fantastic European city.

Ultimate!

Here's a taste of some UCC ultimate... we're wearing red and spanking Trinity (Dublin) even though they're supposed to be our "rivals." We won 15-2. I'm wearing number 37 with white undersleeves (visible getting the D at 4:30, in case you're interested, haha)... enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TrinityUltimate#p/u/0/VCd3eMEZ2yw

Killarney - Dingle

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Pictures!

For future reference, I will be posting all of my pictures here:

http://bjroskeinireland.shutterfly.com/

Enjoy!

Whether or Weather?

It's been almost three weeks since arriving in this beautiful country, and I have no idea where all that time has gone. In many of my conversations with past Cork participants (and family members), a constant trend abroad seemed to be the increased speed at which time appears to move... and they couldn't have been more correct. I'm finding "time" to be, in general, a very odd component of life here in Ireland. The pace of life is slowed to a crawl, and yet, time seems to move so much more quickly. Contributing to this realization is that while at SJU, my day would be constantly filled with with classes, labs, meetings, meals, intramurals, frisbee practice, studying, study sessions... you name it, I had it. And when I wasn't physically studying, my mind was endlessly worrying about finishing a paper, solving that last equation, or reading the last chapter for lecture the next day. Let's just say that if a measure of stress were compatible to Smokey the Bear's scale of potential forest-fire risk, low to high, I would run at Cheech & Chong levels (get it?? it's a bit of a stretch I know...). But here, with basically no homework, a seemingly endless amount of free time, and a social life which stresses people-to-people interaction over people-to-book, life has become amazingly stressless. It truely wonderful - it's given me time to think (which I suppose isn't always a good thing), time to SLEEP, time to repair and maintain relationships, and generally... just time for me. Which is admittedly nice for a change...

Now, that is NOT to say that I've had oodles of time to myself and spent it on useless thoughts! Quite to the contrary, the last 2+ weeks have been jam-packed with adventures, new experiences, and awesome people. Some highlights:

1) On the 9th (Dad's 55th... I mean...35th... birthday), I travelled with close to 80 other international students to the nearby towns of Youghal and Ardmore (about an hour east of Cork). Some brief history - Youghal is essentially the old Cork. Back in the day (as you can tell, I'm REAL cut out to be an historian, not), Youghal used to be the center of commerce and trade on Ireland southern coast. But as ships became larger and needed deeper water to port, Cork became favored due it's deep natural port (the ships could come all the way up to the city and unload their goods) and the city of Youghal steadily declined in wealth and popularily. Despite all this, the town remains vibrant, with a beautiful waterfront, many small shops and cafes, and a picturesque hillside city layout sloping down to the harbor. Ardmore's claim to fame came (alliteration!) in 416 AD when St. Declan's ship was said to have been guided by a bell perched atop a floating stone, until the stone came to rest on the shores of current-day Ardmore. There, St. Declan began preaching Catholicism (15 years before St. Patrick!), built a monastery, and the town formed around it. Upon arrival in Ardmore, we were given a 2.5+ hour tour of the monastery, the remnants of St. Declan's hermitage, and walked along the cliffs bordering the nearby coast. It was my first good view of the Irish shoreline and the views were stunning (there are pictures somewhere). All-in-all, a fantastic way to spend a Saturday afternoon... and the best part: totally free!

2) Fact: the Irish LOVE to talk about the weather. Sun, rain, ice, clouds, fog, you name it - it's still easily the number one topic for conversation-starters amoung locals. For a country that I was told rarely dipped below freezing and was fairly even 50/50 rain/snow, Ireland has certainly seen its fair share of abnormal weather lately. Last week, we went through a series of a few days in which it was sunny for 2 days, pouring rain for 2 days, snow for a day, followed by cloudy and windy (I should also have some pictures of the snow somewhere). Now, being from Minnesota, weather is not at all a big deal for me, but apparently it is for the Irish. The whole country is in a state of turmoil after unforseeable freezing temperatures burst watermains (including the one to my apartment, no drinking water for 2 days!), iced over roads, and left many residents throughout the country stranded and waterless. Ironically, the government sold massive quantities of sand and grit in the autumn in the hopes of making some profit, only to be caught grit-less when ice covered every major road in Ireland during winter. As many of the smaller villages are connected only via small farming roads, many residents have been stranded for days at a time and the country is going crazy. Once again, for a Minnesotan, the whole ordeal is slightly rediculous (yeah, it got down to 30 degrees and 1/8 inch of snow fell, so what?), but it's also quite sad to see a government handle a situation so poorly...

3) Departing the US, I knew I needed to make an effort to use my time wisely and get involved in as many things as possible. I also knew beer is quite high in calories. I also knew UCC had an ultimate frissbee team. These three realizations seemed to collide quite brilliantly: I should join the team! It would keep me fit (more like GET me fit), get me out of my comfort zone, and help me meet to new people (particularly the local Irish students). So far, that's exactly what it's been and I couldn't be happier! I made contact with the captain of the team - he told me where/when beginner practice was - I went - he saw that I was decent - he invited me to the advanced team practice - I went - he saw that I was decent again - and now I'm on UCC's Ultimate Frisbee Varsity team and will be going to tournaments all over Ireland and possibly the UK (and their short on handlers, yay!)! It's been pretty surreal. The team practices 3+ times a week and also has a social gathering of some kind every week (last week we went to the pub, went bowling, and then went to the club) so it's also been a great way to meet new people and see a side of student life I wouldn't normally. I hope it continues to go well but I'll keep you posted... I'm just really excited about it!

4) Posing not really as an event of recent date, but as more of a cultural observation, is that of the presence of US influence throughout Ireland (and Europe, it seems). Even though we only get 4 channels and all four are run and owned by the Irish, there seems to always be an American program on at every point throughout the day - whether it's Oprah, or Ellen, or Desperate Housewives, or the Simpsons, or American Idol, or Scrubs... we're everywhere! People love talking about Hollywood, about American celebrities, about US politics, fashion, news, etc. I was amazed! Even in my Energy & and Environment course, we spend almost the entirety of a 3-hour lecture talking (although not so crudely) about why the hell the US didn't sign the Kyoto Protocol (I'm the only American in the class so I had the opportunity to find out just how deep my chair really was) and why Americans continue to have cheaper gas prices and still drive SUVs. It's so weird to think that while in MN, months would pass before I heard anything about Irish news, and yet here, the news about the US is engraved into everyday Irish culture. It doesn't make sense to me why the rest of the world is so in-tune to the US, and yet we really don't know shit about the rest of the world... our ignorance scares me.

I need to sleep... but please know that I am completely safe, the water is back on, the "freak" weather has subsided, classes are going great, pictures have been and will continue to be uploaded to facebook (I just gotta find a way to get them to you... I don't think that last link worked, did it?), I'm missing people helplessly, but I'm loving it here!

Weekend plans are uncertain... possibilities: Galway, Dingle peninsula, Limerick, Kinsale, Cobh, wherever!

More soon...

Love Ya'll!

"Study" Abroad

In all my weeks/months of preparation for this experience delicately entitled "study abroad," it occurred to me upon further contemplation, that I actually hadn't thought a great deal at all about how the entire experience was formed on a basis of receiving an education. In the weeks before my departure, my mind raced with thoughts of the opportunities, experiences, and travels I would be able to enjoy outside the classroom, that thoughts about what lie within the realm of study were put immediately on the back burner. That being the case, let's just say that upon arrival to Cork (and to the University here), that burner suddenly received a burst of natural and was cranked on high heat! ...but not really. Let me start at the beginning...

Monday was orientation for all the "freshers" (as they call us). This meant that 150+ (most of us Americans, yes, there's a TON of other Americans here) gathered in the Student Centre (notice spelling) for an extremely long day of pamphlets, handouts, various professors speaking to butter up their courses so as to get lazy Americans to take their easy courses, and presumably important people getting up to a microphone and telling us things most of us (or at least I) already knew. Now, I know that sounds a little harsh, and I guess I don't mean it to be... but I wish I could've had the time to explore other things around campus or speak to specific people one-on-one to get my questions ("queries") answered. If nothing else, the fact that I could basically predict what was going to be said next, by the president of the international student office at the microphone, speaks volumes about OUR study abroad office and how well they prepared me for my time here. Over the last several days, I must admit that I've been VERY impressed at how relatively seamless the whole transition was, thanks to strong communication ties and two very flexible professional institutions (SJU and UCC).

Anyway... school. Yes! I AM actually going to school here (it still even sounds weird to me)! Monday was orientation, although classes were still held that day... some even during our countless hours of orientation. But throughout the rest of the week, I've been attending classes and doing my best to get myself accustomed to the campus and student life in general. Fortunately, the system in place here is such that students are able to sit in on as many classes as they want to for a week's time before we;re forced to chose what 5-6 classes (here they call them "modules") we actually want to register for and take for the rest of the semester. Luckily, I had an outline of the modules I wanted to take in advance so I didn't have to spend all week running around from classroom to classroom, sitting through lecture after lecture, before decided what to take. However, this type of system does leave a lot of wiggle room and deciding on a final schedule is not/has not been easy.

Here's what I got so far: 27.5 credits (5, 5 credit classes; 1, 2.5 credit class):

1) Sociology of the Environment: I've only sat through one lecture (because the other one was during orientation, lucky me) but I'm SO sad to say that that's exactly what the entirety of the class will entail - Lecture. I can't say that I've ever taken a stickly "sociology" class before (although there's always a sprinkle of it in other classes I've taken) so most of the material is new and the first lecture seemed interesting (including Aristotle's Great Chain of Being and the social structure of nature). The class is small (if only it was discussion!) but the prof just talks and talks, seeming to pretend as if he's in the classroom by himself and soothing himself with the sounds of his own words. Dull, but I think I'll still find it interesting.

2) Introduction to Traditional Irish Music: Although I haven't actually had this class yet (it only meets once a week and, whattaya know, it met during orientation!), I'm still pretty excited for this course. It's my only "true" module dealing strickly with Irish culture and tradition so I'm hoping to squeeze as much out of it as I can. Unfortunately it's an introductory course so I don't know that we'll get into much detail but considering I know basically nothing about Irish music, I'm thinkin' it should still be fun.

3) Feminist Philosophy: I realize that I'm halfway across the world and enrolled in a foreign university, but apparently it wasn't enough distance to get away from having a class (or two) with other Americans... and I mean a LOT of other Americans - I'd say 90% of the class is our CSBSJU group alone. The prof is very knowledgable about the subject and I think she teaches philosophy in a way that is thought-provoking and free, rather than just spitting it at you. Again, I know nothing about feminist thought and I can easily forsee a good conversation or two arising throughout the semester so that's enough to get me excited for it!

4) Celtic Saints: exact opposite. Still TONS of Americans... this time probably 97% of the students are from the US, but the prof is bone dry. I don't mean to be harsh, but she's a 70-odd-year-old woman who seems to hunch over the overhead as if using it for support, speaks toward the ceiling as if to have an engaging conversation with the light fixtures (do they respond to her? could be...), and snaps at anyone who whispers. Ohh and did I mention she went on about St. Patrick for 3+ hours. Yeah, it was awesome.

5) Energy & the Environment: this is the module I wasn't so sure about. It took me forever to figure out where/when it was being offered and when I did find out, I was less than overjoyed: Thursday nights, 7-10pm. Now, Thursday nights are THE nights to go out around here (because all of the local students vacate Cork and travel home on the weekends) so I wasn't thrilled about having to be in class all night. And after finding the classroom (in an 0ff-campus building WAY north of campus at 7:00 at night), I was even less thrilled to discover I was easily the youngest person there. Apparently, the class is strategically placed at night so that working men taking classes to receive their Environmental Management degrees can be enrolled in the class as well. This means that I'm stuck in a classroom with maybe 3-4 older UCC students and 10+ men in their 30s/40s. Swell, I thought. BUT, as the class began, I knew I had to take it. There are only 6 lectures (I'm done in early March), the course involves two field sites to a wind farm and a landfill gas project, and the final four lectures are specifically on wind, geothermal, bio-, and ocean energy, respectively. I'm pumped! There's nothing taught like this at SJU and renewable energy is pretty much what I want to do, so why not do it here in Cork! I suppose things could go horribly wrong but I'd like to think that seizing the opportunity while I'm here will be well worth it once I return to the states.

6) The other 2.5 credit class is simply a half-hour bodhran (a traditional irish drum) lesson with one of the music profs. I met with him to arrange a time for my lesson, he seemed like an energetic guy with an accent so thick I could barely understand him, and I enjoy drumming so I think it should be quite enjoyable.

But baring the time spent engaged in school-related activities, other aspects of life here have been developing as well and things are beginning to become familiar (finally). I'll admit that the initial stages of adjustment to life here were not entirely smooth and I had my doubts. I hated not knowing where I was half the time, or knowing where buildings were on campus, or how to get to the pub that people were at after night class. But in the last week, this place has really taken hold and I'm not at all intimidated to call it home for the next 5 months. I now know my way around faily well, know where to go with questions, and have people here to support me when I need them... which is always a comforting feeling.

Days have been filled with classes, walks around town, getting legalized as a temporary citizen (got a fancy new ID to prove it!), grocery shopping, etc... while evenings have passed via Catchphrase, poker playing (also known as the Roske-donating-his-euros-to-his-classmates game I've discovered), and hours of socializing at the pub. I gotta say it - the Irish know how to do it! I'm coming to realize that there's really nothing to be found wrong (and everything right) about sitting around a table and enjoying a beverage and excellent conversation with friends. I can't say enough about the pub atmosphere... it's truely the best thing since sliced bread.

Anyway, I am quickly succuming to the temptation of sleep but I hope to write more soon (if that's even humanly possible....tomrrow maybe?) and I know I don't have much in the way of pictures yet but it's on my list, believe me. Let's see... future things to write about (more for my reminder): weather, frisbee, US influence, Youghal/Ardmore (pics?). More tomorrow... Oiche mhaith!

Dublin Pics

Here's a snap of the north bank of the River Liffey that runs through the heart of Dublin... as you can see, BLUE SKY!








Darcy and I enjoying one of our first authentic glasses of Guiness...







This is a pic of the guitar player at the pub on New Years Eve.. happened to be named "Brian" if you are curious... he was bald, loud, friendly, possibly drunk, and about as Irish as it gets...











Four Courts Hostel in Dublin... solid first place to call home












This is a fraction of "the boys" on the bus from the airport into Dublin city

Popping the "Cork"

First things first: this city is amazing! ...the people, the atmosphere, (not so much the weather), the culture - everything is phenomenal.

Having had trouble sleeping in my new, cold bed the first night, waking up and shivering my way to the shower was not at all enjoyable... BUT, we were soon dressed in layers, the sun was out, and were wandering the streets of "our fair city" (for dad). Miles (another fellow CSBSJU student) had been in Cork already for several days and acted as our personal tour guide for much of the morning. Because we had no groceries whatsoever, he showed us the way to a local tea shop called Cafe Gusto where we all ordered the breakfast special, complete with juice, tea or coffee, or waffles or pancakes (and for only 5 euro!). I opted for the apple juice, pancakes, and tea combo... for the price, not bad at all.

We spent the remainder of the morning investigating other shops and attractions within City Centre. The English Market is a HUGE market (implied) in which fresh fruit, meat, veggies, fish, you name it, can be found. Everything is reasonably priced, presented by locals, and is FRESH. Venders line small isles bustling with locals getting their morning groceries, and the whole place reaks of Irish culture... it's fantastic.

We then found some more essentials: an ATM, a sort of "Target" replacement (department-store-esk), and larger grocery store before returning to Leeside to begin cooking with all our newly found ingredients. I've discovered that Pat (Sitzer) is a pretty reasonable cook (although I guess I'm not hard to beat considering I consider myself a sort of consesuer of such delicacies as Ramen, Mac & Cheese, and frozen pizza), and he also makes a mean Irish stew. We chopped up potatoes, carrots and onions and added them to chunks of beef we had bought at the market, threw them in a pot in the oven, and waited until dinner... hoping it was going to be delicious.

Unfortunately, deliciousness comes with time (with stew, at least), so I took the opportunity to burn time and get lost, litterally. I'd been in the city once that morning, and kinda knew where my aparment builing was, but not much else... so I went on an adventure. I headed into City Centre, to find it even more crowded than it was that morning: people everywhere, cars going in odd directions (almost got run over 4 times, i'd guess), lights, buses, buisnesses still lined with Christmas sales signs, everything.

As I wandered the streets, about as lost as I thought I could get, I was still overtaken with a sense of belonging there.... no matter where "there" actually was. It didn't really matter where I was in the city. I was in Cork, Ireland... half way around the work from home... at yet I still felt AT home. I knew absolutely nothing about where I was, what I was looking at (most of the time), what time is was, where I was going... it didn't matter. It was so liberating. I think I'm going to really love this place.

I lost track of time but I must've wandered for another hour or so before meeting up with friends and returning to Leeside to dive into the stew that awaited... and MAN was it good. A cheap bottle of wine supplemented the meal nicely and the 7 (or so) of us just sat, talked, and enjoyed our first hearty meal together... it was lovely.. and felt very European (don't really know why...).

After busting out the CatchPhrase (and a couple more glasses of wine) we headed across the river channel to a city-renown brewery called "The Franciscan Well." It's a 3 minute walk from Leeside and after hearing from past participants about the place's fantastic beer and great atmosphere, we knew we had to check it out. Without getting into TOO much detail, let's just say that it is my belief that we will be frequenting the Well many-a-time in the future. The beer was excellent, the atmosphere was great, and the conversation - engaging.

While we sat at the pub and talked about anything and everything, it made me realize how truely honored and thankful I am to be a part of this group of students. Everyone is so happy and excited to be here, they're smart, honest, converse well, are opinionated, passionate, driven, and I think really exemplify what an engaged college student represents. Now I'm not saying I directly possess these qualities, but I consider myself fortunate to be able to partake in an experience such as study abroad with such an elite group of people my age... I think I'm going to really enjoy getting to know them all better and learning from them in the next 5 months.

Today... was Sunday (right? gheesh) - the day of rest. And MAN, did I rest. It probably wasn't a good idea, considering I should be trying to get used to the time difference (6 hours), but I slept until about 13:15 this afternoon. I'm bold enough to say that it wasn't my fault, however; our bedroom is finally warm(er) (after 2+ days of the heater blowing on full heat), I had no travel obligations for the first time in 5 days, and well.. I was tired! no matter...

I had breakfast (with supplies I bought yesterday, although our toaster is shit) and settled in to watch some hurling, which happened to be on one of the 4 channels we get here. Now, normally, i would be quite dissapointed with myself for wasting the majority of a Sunday afternoon in my pj's in a foreign country watching hurling... but I coudln't resist. My escuse(es): 1 - it was cold, rainy, and looked completely uninviting outside; 2 - it was hurling; 3 - it was cozy. Hurling (for those of you unaware of what it is... i certainly wasn't) is a sport kind of combining soccer and field hockey in that each player is given a stick that looks similar to one used for field hockey, and tries to score a lacrosse-sized ball either into a soccer goal (scoring 3 points) or through two uprights above the soccer goal (scoring 1 point)... team with the most points after 75 wins. Anyway, the whole game was announced in Irish (Gaelic) so of course, neither Darcy or I actually knew what was going on half the time, but we decided it really didn't matter because.. well.. it was a sport. We realized that as sad as it is, we're not quite sure how we're (Darcy & I) are going to live without SportCenter for 5 months...

In the afternoon... we decided that some activity might actually be a decent idea. We gathered, and walked southwest toward where the University was.. just to scope it out and get a feel for knowing our way around UCC before classes actually began. First impression: the campus is beautiful! Green grass everywhere, tall trees (which so far, have been a rarety), gorgeous architecture, and inviting atmosphere. It is Sunday afterall, so not many of the buildings were open (although we did manage to venture down to the computer labs), but being able to finally associate visuals with names of buildings for where my classes are supposed to be and just walking around the university I've been planning to attend for a year now, was comforting.

Tomorrow, orientation begins! ... at a much earlier hour than 13:15, I might add. Therefore, I believe my mother would think it wise of me to try to get some sleep... so I shall do thus!

More tomorrow (probably)... cheers!

In the Beginning...

... God created Guiness (or so the Irish would like to believe!).

[btw: this turned out to be a novella, so althought I encourage you to read it in its entirety if time allows, feel free to skip around if that suits you better...basically, do what whatever you want]

After 50+ hours of travel and tourist voyages, 9 of us walked the final six blocks from the bus station to our final destination: Leeside Apartments, County Cork, Ireland - our home for the next 5 months and hopefully the place of many-a-future memory.

So about those 50+ hours...

the whirl that is the last 2.5 days are some of the most memorable of my life-to-date, yet my exhausted mind is in a slightly elevated state of amnesia.. so bear with me.

First of all... none of this actually seems real. If feels like I've been in Ireland for 2 weeks and MSP seems like and eon ago. I remember airports, stiff legs, card games, and shitty airline food... but it's all a blurr. When we arrived at the airport (MSP), I was relieved to see Pat (Sitzer) there... just someone I know was going down the same path and who I know we could "bounce" off eachother. We checked bags, met eachother's families, and said our goodbyes. Sidenote: Goodbyes were weird: I knew I was saying goodbye for 5 months, but it never felt like it. It felt more as if I was headed out with some friends for the weekend and I'd be back in a couple days. This is/was obviously not the case. I don't know... yes, it was tough, but I'd like to believe that I've had enough time on my own to know what I was getting myself into and knew I could handle it... even though it was rough... whatev

I watched familiar faces fanish for the last time as I removed my shoes and belt for security (forgot my Irish cell phone and set off the alarm... whatever) and then it was on to gate E6. There we found the reminder of our travel group and I was once again delighted to see some friendly faces.

The flight to Chicago was short (I thought). I didn't really know what to do with myself. Part of me wanted to journal, another wanted to read, another wanted to listen to tunes, and and even larger part of my wanted to sock the woman next to me who couldn't seem to get off the phone with her "honey" and who was talking about how much she "misses her honey" and... you get the picture. As you can imagine, it didn't exactly foster any trend of positive thought as to what I was leaving behind in Minnesota.

We arrived in snowy Chicago and I was quickly reminded of how large O'Hare really is. We took a tram from concourse 1 to concourse 5 and were soon bording an Aer Lingus flight (conplete with our first taste of true Irish accents... compliments of the captain and stewardesses) that I REALLY hoped had the "umph" to jump the pond. This time I was seated between Darcy (my good friend and roommate) and what I guessed to be an 16/17 year-old girl, decked out with piercings, tattoos, leather boots, the works, and clearly wanted nothing to do with me except to check what time it was now-and-again. Again, I found myself unable to do anything productive except dumb my brain by staring at the audio-less screen showing endless episodes of Top-Gear and Friends and guess with Darcy as to what the actors and actresses were actually saying. MAN, that was exciting (not). Darcy, Pat and I eventually got to some card-playing and onward to some napping and music listening (for me, at least). The 7+ hour flight didn't actually seem that bad as we were told to buckle up to begin our decent into Dublin. As we decended below the cloud-cover, the morning sun began to break up the fog and green pastures lined with small rock walls became visible - my first sighting of Ireland (wish I had a picture... sorry Mom).

We landed, exited the plane, got through customs (the guy REALLY didn't like that I was in HIS country until the end of May... maybe it's because I had to keep saying "WHAT?" into the speaker because his accent was so thick and I wasn't accustomed to it yet)... retreived luggage (minus Pat's guitar), boarded a bus for 6 euro, and were soon checking in to the Four Courts Hostel on Merchant's Quay (pronounced "key") in Dublin, Ireland... unreal.

By this time, we had built up quite the urge for a decent meal... so we figured: why not have an appetizer.. the Irish way... i.e. Guiness!! We found what was advertized to be "The Oldest Pub in all of Ireland" not two blocks away, settled into the back room by the fire and some locals, ordered a round of Guiness for the 7 of us, and clanked glasses... if nothing else, a reassurance that we had finally arrived on Irish soil.

We then returned to Four Courts to rest (only to whind up taking a four-hour long group nap). We woke up, showered up (with hot water... unbelievable right!?), and got ready for our night on the town - New Years Eve in Dublin. After some sandwiches and cheap beer from the local "petro station," and a couple quick games of pool with two guys from Vancouver, Canada who had been backpacking Europe for months they said, we started walking east towards Temple Bar and the epicenter of Dublin nightlife.

We found a quaint pub on the corner of Parliament Street (if anybody cares enough to google it or something... forgive me if I throw in random street names or directions but it's sometimes how I remember stuff) and nested in with a Guiness to listen to a live musician who got the place rockin'. This guy played everything... I mean everything: he sound-checked with Green Day, got me singing with "Take Me Home, Country Road" (gheesh, i never thought all those John Denver vinyls would actually come in handy mother!), and concluded with numerous traditional Irish drinking songs which got the whole pub arm-in-arm singing along at the top of their (probably) alcohol-filled lungs. I couldn't possibly write enough about how perfect and surreal the whole atmostphere felt that night. I looked out-of-place the way it was... but to be looking around the pub wide-eyed at the guitar player, the locals, the lighting, the guiness advertisements everywhere on the walls, I must've looked like a fat kid in a candy store. I still can't believe that was real.

My head eventually found my pillow back at Four Courts, even though it took what seemed like decades to fall asleep for some reason. But, apparently I did, and sure enough, my alarm blared at 9:00am, forcing me to leave my nice warm sleeping bag (btw: good choice to purchase one before I left home... it's COLD here).

We got some free hostel breakfast consisting of toast, milk, and cereal before packing up our things. Initially, the plan was to catch the 12:00pm bus (also known as just "12:00" European time... you'll get more of it) to Cork, but an ice storm had hit overnight, leaving ALL the sidewalks, roads, and the airport runway completely coated in 1/8 inch of solid ice. Therefore, all the buses were cancelled to Cork until further notice and the airport was cancelling all fights. The hostel host was polite enough to help us (people are really nice around here) by calling the bus station to see what the deal was and was told that the bus company was going to "re-evaluate" the road conditions at 13:00 (1:00pm) and then we would have to call back. So, we busted out cards and played some 500 (Yes, 500, Ellory) before 13:00, and called the station to hear that buses were back up and running with a bus to Cork departing at 14:00.

We had 30 min to get to a bus station that was a 15+ minute walk from the hostel... with full packs and luggage... AND extrememly icy sidewalks. Needless to say... for as bright as our "tourist beacon" shown before, the wattage was now cranked up rediculously high: 9 people waddling along busy Dublin streets with backpacks, some carrying luggage, suitcases, you name it, and rushing to catch a bus... I'm sure it a visual massacre of tourism at its finest.

We reached the bus station, I bought a ticket for 11 euro, and hoped on the coach bus with 3 minutes to spare. As the bus began to depart Dublin and the surrounding metropolitan area, I began to get my first glimpse at Ireland outside the big city... and it was beautiful. I don't know why, but for some reason I wasn't expecting much topographic variation, but was delighted and awed to see snow-capped "hills(?)" with rolling green pastures at their base in the distance and the whole countryside was shrowed in mystery by mist. I wanted to stay awake so badly, but I was exhausted and my logic told me I would have plenty of opportunities in the future to see rural Ireland and to give it all the alertness it deserves.

4.5 hours passed relatively quickly as an abundance of street lights in the distance told us we were nearing Cork. It was dark so I couldn't see much of anything, but at least I was able to make out larger buildings and get a feel for how the city around us might look... I suppose I'll get a better look in the morning. We hoped off and completed the 10 minute walk to Leeside Aparments, our new home. I called Josephine, the Leeside landlord, who kindly welcomed us, showed us our rooms, gave us keys and bedding, and made us feel quite at-home... which was pleasent. The rest of the evening I've spent jumping from room to room, greeting and hugging other CSBSJU students who have arrived here already, talking about our previous travels, and building excitement for the days to come. It's so nice to be here...

As I've said... none of this seems like reality and I'm a mental "flubber:" bouncing from memory to memory, thought to thought, trying to get my brain mentally organized. I've been anxious about making sure all my travel arrangements are in order for so long that the last few days have just felt sort of robotic - catch flight then, board bus then, sleep now, eat whenever you get the chance, shit! we have 2 minutes to catch the tram! (you get the picture). I've just recently begun to feel the emotional sonar waves of last spring, returning to me and forcing me to remember what it was like to be away from Ellory for an extended period of time. Of course, it's not at all enjoyable to experience and I HATE thinking about but I'd like to believe I'm stronger for it...

So... to end this novel (sorry if you're still reading!)... I'm in Cork, I'm here, I'm safe, I'm with good friends, and (so far) I'm in a great country. The next few days will be interesting as I begin to settle in for my new, albeit temporary, life here in Cork. Again, sorry for writing so much...

I love you all and I'll try to continue to write (although probably in shorter amounts!) in the near future... peace and Happy New Year!