Across the Pond: Spring 2012 in Ireland

Hello everyone!!

So...this past Thursday I woke up early (9...but c'mon it was the weekend!) and left for Dublin with Ashling (one of my apartment mates) and Lena (who lives across the hall but may as well live in our apartment.) We rode the bus which took about 4-4.5 hours but it wasn't too bad because I slept most of the way. They also pulled over for a break halfway through. When we were driving in to the city I realized just how small Cork is! I kind of forgot what it was like to be in a big city. Dublin definitely has a different feel than Cork but I don't really know how to explain it...much more like a typical city I guess.
We booked a hostel right near Temple Bar which is a big tourist area in Dublin. It has really narrow cobblestone streets and a bunch of really good nightlife. Wikipedia also informed me that it is promoted as Dublin's cultural quarter.

ANYWAYS...
We booked a room in this hostel called Abigail's and actually ended up seeing it as we were driving in to the city on the bus, making it very easy to find! It was a pretty nice place but our roommates were really messy. I don't even want to go into it but let's just say there was a lot of hair in the shower and dirty underwear all over the place...ugh
We were pretty hungry and decided to try to go find somewhere to eat in Temple Bar. There were a lot more people just walking around the streets at night than there ever are in Cork. There were also more street performers, people trying to sell things, and even people holding up signs trying to get us to eat at their restaurants. Cork has a little bit of this but Dublin just seemed more hectic in general.

We ended up stumbling in to this place called the Old Storehouse (I think?) because they had a 13 Euro deal. You could get a main course and a pint/glass of wine for 13 Euro. The guy also said they had live music in a few minutes. Sold. It was at this point that we decided to text Olga (my other apartment mate) who was in the city with her sister for a few days! We ended up meeting them there for dinner. It was such a good time hanging out with all the girls. They are all so much fun and my abs were KILLING me the next day from laughing so much with them!
When we first got to the restaurant we were the only people there....we were starting to think that maybe we made a bad choice, but by about 8:30 the place was crazy! It was completely full and there was some great live music. I had fish and chips and tried a new beer (Paulaner) which is German and reallllllyyyy yummy.

After dinner we decided to head back to the hostel, get changed, and go back out into Temple Bar to check out the night life. We ended up going to a few different pubs..some with live music, some with cheap cocktails, some with a DJ...but overall it was a low key night! It was nice being so close to the bars in our hostel but we booked a different one for the next night because it would be too expensive to stay where we were.

The next morning we moved hostels and got one not as close to the city center. It was a really cool place (literally...the heat was not working) and a little far from the city center but otherwise perfect! We met up with Olga and headed off to Kilmainham Gaol (jail) after breakfast!
Kilmainham is a really famous jail in Dublin because it is where a lot of the important leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned and even executed.
We were able to get a tour for 2 Euro (thank you student ID!) which was really awesome! They took us through the whole jail and showed us some of the cells of the most famous or important people. We heard one story about a guy that was married in the jail's chapel then separated from his wife right after. She got ten minutes in his cell with him before he was executed a few hours later. We got to look in the cell and everything. It was a little creepy but really cool to be there.

Near the end of the tour we headed in to the East wing which was the newest part of the prison. A bunch of movies and music videos have been filmed there. Look familiar??

After seeing the East wing we headed outside and saw the courtyard where inmates were forced to break rocks. We also saw the site where some were executed (where the cross is)

Overall the jail was probably my favorite thing in Dublin!

After that we headed to the Guinness factory!! That was also pretty awesome. I'm not going to spend a long time talking about it but here goes:
I didn't realize it would be so huge! It was literally acres! The whole place is a self led museum basically and you get a sample of Guinness plus a pint at the end. We ended up meeting up with my OTHER roommate as well who had just come back from Austria with her friends. (The weekend was basically a huge reunion) We all learned how to pour our own pints of Guinness, perfectly of course, yum! Then we went up to gravity bar which is at the top of the museum/factory (oh, by the way..the whole place is shaped like a giant pint glass!) Gravity bar is a circular bar made completely of glass at the top of the "pint glass." We got to look out over Dublin at night which was awesome!!

At night we went to check out a nightclub which was alright but I'm not really into the club scene I have learned...much prefer a laid back pub with friends!!

The next morning was a little rainy but we decided to check out St. Stephen's Green anyways. It looked like Ireland's mini version of Central Park!

We also went and saw the book of Kells (we weren't allowed pictures, though) which contains the four gospels of the new testament and was written by Celtic monks. They had some of the pages on display and the details and colors were amazing! It was a really cool thing to do for the day and pretty cheap as well.
The rest of the day was spent walking around the city and looking in all the little shops and things. We got a hot chocolate to top it off before going back to the hostel for a nap.

Later that night we REALLY wanted to find a cool pub to go to after dinner. We didn't want too many people, just a place to sit and talk. This guy at the restaurant we ate at recommended a place called The Porter House. We decided to check it out and absolutely LOVED it!! They brewed all their own beer which was really cool. I tried one called Temple Brau and it was delicious!! The place was about four floors and had really cool decor. The center was open so all the floors were basically connected. On one floor there was a band playing which ended up being really fun. At one point I actually met this guy who told me he had family in Boston. I got really excited and asked, "where?!" You will never believe this....but he said ARLINGTON!! Turns out his family lives not too far from mine. Small world. I was excited to meet someone whose family actually lived in a real place. The other night I was at a pub and a guy told me he had family in Boston. Again, I excitedly asked "where?!" He said..."Bostontown."

Overall it was a great trip! I definitely realized how much I love Cork...it is just so small and homey!! But I do also love Dublin...We'll be back for St. Patrick's day!!

Love!

Dia Dhuit!! (Literally means God to you, but is used as a greeting in Irish)

First of all...I apologize for not writing a blog in such a long time. The past two weeks/weekends haven't been really eventful (I haven't left the city.) I've just been going to class and exploring around here a lot. Therefore, this may not be the most exciting blog, but I felt like I needed to update everyone back home!

So...some more observations:

1. No one here picks up their dog's poo. I mean no one. It is pretty much everywhere and you really have to watch where you walk all the time. It's weird because they are so strict about it back home...I noticed this after walking to class every day and coming VERY close to stepping in it a few times.

2. I've stopped noticing the accents...it's weird. They just don't phase me anymore.

3. They don't have Cheez-its or Reece's. This is a rather depressing realization. I don't want to talk much more about it...On a side note...

4. I never realized that peanut butter is SUCH an American thing. I know a bunch of Irish people who have never even tried it. It just isn't popular here...Don't worry...we have our roommate from Denmark hooked on it already

5. Traditional music sessions (Trad sessions) are probably my new favorite thing. Nothing better than sitting in a pub with friends having a beer and listening to live traditional music. I know I'll miss that when I leave.

So basically for the last two weeks I've been hanging around Cork City!

One development since the last blog is that I have started my spoken Irish class, and I absolutely love it!! It is a really small class and very interactive. We are always talking and practicing everything and the teacher (Brian) already knows all of our names. Let me say...Irish is a TOUGH language. Surprisingly I think I am picking it up pretty quickly. Maybe it's because it is a very fast paced class. I already know how to greet someone, talk about how we are, talk about how other people are, count to 30, tell time, talk about the weather, and say a bunch of vocabulary. Not too shabby!

Some other things I've done recently:

Went to the Hot Beverage Society meeting on campus: Yes...they have a hot beverage society. Basically you just go and try whatever coffees or teas they have that night and sit around/talk/meet people. It's really nice! Also a good way to meet people on campus.

Played beer pong in a pub: Just so we are clear...the Irish don't know how to play beer pong. Their rules are complete crap. Let's just say...the Americans dominated!

Threw a party at my apartment: that was fun to clean up..

Went to karaoke in the city and was too afraid to actually sing: enough said.

Walked up to the Shandon bell tower in Cork: This was actually really cool. The Shandon Bell Tower is above a church just outside the city center on the other side of the river. (Probably 20 min. walk away from my apartment) Me and one of my friends decided to check it out this past weekend. They actually let you go up and ring the bells! They provide a song book that tells you which strings to pull in order to play certain songs. It was so much fun!! Then you have to put on ear muffs and walk up a reeeeally skinny staircase in order to get right up next to the bells. When you get up there and someone rings them you can feel the vibrations going through your body and see the bells as they make the noise. Crazy! After seeing the bells we continued up the tiny staircase to the tower where we were able to look out over Cork. It was really cool!!

It was a pretty crappy cold day so we decided to try out the nice warm cafe above the English Market for lunch. The Farmgate Cafe is literally right above all the butchers and vendors in the market and get a lot of their food straight from downstairs! Lena (the friend I was with) got Lamb Stew and I got this REALLY yummy grilled chicken. It was probably the best meal I've had out since I've been here.

So...my life hasn't really been THAT eventful for the past two weeks, but the weather hasn't really been good for traveling. This weekend (starting Thursday) my roommates and I (with some of their friends/relatives who are visiting) are all going to Dublin!! We have our hostel booked and are in the process of making a list of what we want to do while we are there. We are figuring we will do more than one trip there (one or more when it gets nicer) but I'm excited to see it for the first time in a few days! Also, I recently booked my flight to London in February so I'm looking forward to that!!

I'm probably forgetting a bunch of things that I've done....but I will definitely update this when I come back from Dublin and it will be FAR more interesting I promise!

I miss everyone back home but honestly I don't really feel homesick! (yay!) Maybe it will come but...not so far!
Hope everyone is doing well!

Well, I think it is safe to say that I feel completely settled here. Walking around the streets and going to shops a few weeks ago really made me feel like an outsider. Now, I know where all the streets/pubs/shops/best places to go are, and I really feel like I'm starting to fit in. When I went grocery shopping early in the week it really hit me that I am living abroad!

Tuesday classes were pretty good, just like Monday. I picked up a spoken Irish class on Mon/Wed/Fri which is nice because now I actually have more to do during the week. I have Thursdays off though, so that's good. Right now I'm trying to find a balance between work and play. I am definitely not slacking in my classes...but not working nearly as hard as I do at home. First of all, the classes just don't have as much work. At all. Second, I only have to get like a 40 or 50 to pass the class (it won't affect my GPA at home and only counts as pass or fail.) So, I'm learning a lot in my classes but definitely focusing more on traveling and getting to know Ireland and Cork.

Tuesday night is the big night to go out here. Most of the Irish students go home on weekends so the big nights are Tuesday and Thursday. (Good thing I picked up a Wed. at 9 class....) This past Tuesday was the most fun I've had in a while! My roommates and I all decided to go out together and ended up kind of hopping from pub to pub. It's funny...each pub here has its own personality. The first one we went to was kind of quiet and we were just talking and laughing and hanging out. The next one was a bit louder, with a DJ, and we met some guys there who suggested that we check out yet another place (with live music.) We ended the night at a pub that is actually more of a theater with bars inside. There was a local rock band playing all night and we had so much fun dancing and hanging out! When the place closed, we went outside and found a guy playing the banjo and singing in Irish! It was about 2 or 3am and everyone was just dancing in the street. Of course we had to join in and it was so much fun!!

Ok...now I get to the part about the chippers. First things first:
Chips: aren't like chips in the U.S. Here, chips refer to fries.
Chipper: a place that has fries and other sorts of fast food. This can be McDonald's or a "real" Irish chipper. (YUM)
Becky: someone who does NOT EVER eat at fast food places like McDonald's or BK or Wendy's or anywhere really.
Becky in Ireland: eats at a chipper probably three times a week.

It's a funny thing that happens at night when everyone leaves the pubs...
No one really wants to go home, so instead they go and get food together. McDonald's happens to be the only place that is open when the pubs close so everyone ends up there. Honestly, the place is CRAZY at around 2am. It looks like Walmart on black Friday. I find myself getting sucked into this every night after we leave the pubs...it is horrible! My roommate and I have decided that we will limit ourselves to getting "chips" once a week.

Basically, I'm eating a lot of bad stuff....BUT I am also walking 30 minutes to class most days and also going to the gym so...it isn't too bad I guess!

Friday my friends and I decided to check out the Jameson whiskey distillery! It is in Midleton, Co. Cork, which is about a 20 minute bus ride from where we are. We arrived in the late afternoon and were able to take a tour of the distillery right away. It's a really big place and most of the tour takes place outside going from building to building. There are so many buildings involved in the whiskey process! We had a really great tour guide and I actually learned a lot about whiskey and the process. And of course included in the tour was whiskey tasting. We were able to compare Jack Daniel's, some sort of Scottish whiskey, and Jameson. Then we got mixed drinks with MORE Jameson. Let's just say by the end of the tour I was.....dizzy.

It was really cool though, getting to see all of the processes that go in to making whiskey. Seeing the barrels that have been sitting there for 18 years is amazing! Of course after they feed you all of this whiskey they usher you in to the gift shop...FILLED with breakable and expensive items that drunk people are bound to bump into or drop. Bad idea Jameson....bad idea.
After taking the tour we decided to head home. There isn't much else to see in Midleton except the distillery!

Later Friday night I had plans to get a "proper" tour of Cork from the guy I had met the night before. He said he would show me all the best places around Cork city that you can't get to just by walking. He picked me up on his (SORRY Mom and Dad) motorbike...but don't worry, I had a helmet and biker jacket and everything! He took me all around the city and showed me stuff that I didn't even know was there. We also went up on the other side of the river into the hills where the BEST views of the city are. It was SOOO much fun and really pretty!! It was definitely the best way to take a tour of Cork Of course the tour ended at an amazing Irish chipper...!

Saturday we decided to venture out to Cobh (pronounced Cove) which is where the Titanic took off from. It was originally called Cove, then the name was changed to Queenstown, and changed back again to the Irish version of Cove (Cobh.) So obviously it is right on the water, which means it was freezing! We started off at this heritage center which basically had the whole history of the Titanic (really interesting.) After checking out that place we walked around the town but found that there wasn't really much open since it was the low season. We were freezing and found shelter in a restaurant where we got soup and tea. Perfect! The town was still really pretty despite being cold and kind of dead. We checked out a cathedral up on the hill in town before heading back home. It wasn't the best trip we've taken but still not too shabby!

Last night I went to the "cinema" for the first time since I've been here. We saw a movie called "Goon" which is a hockey movie that I've never heard of. One thing I noticed is that the commercials/trailers at the beginning of the movie last for MAYBE three minutes. It is awesome! They should try that in the U.S.

Tomorrow is my first spoken Irish class I'm really excited to see how it goes. Next weekend we want to take a trip but we haven't decided where yet. Maybe Galway? Also, Sabrina and I found out we are taking the Ring of Kerry trip that goes in the first weekend in March. Can't wait!

Love to everyone back home!

Before I jump into what's been going on here...a few general observations I have made:

1. Girls here ALL wear jean shorts (or "hot pants") with black tights underneath. It doesn't matter how cold it is or if it is raining. They always are either wearing that or something else that looks nice. Now...I have seen girls in the US wear jean shorts and black tights, but when I say "girls" I mean EVERY OTHER GIRL on the street/on campus. It must be a big fashion trend here. Also, everyone has really cute shoes. Jealous.

2. Everyone walks fast. Again, EVERYONE. No matter where I am walking, if there is an Irish person behind me, they will pass... quickly! It's really weird because I used to think that I walked fast. Aren't they supposed to be leisurely here?!!

2.5 Irish TV shows are hilarious and odd. Nuff said.

3. I am just starting to realize that I need to look the opposite ways when crossing the street, and pass people on the sidewalk to their left. Before, I just assumed that people walking towards me would pass on the right like cars in the US....nope.

4. Everyone says that they can smell an American from a mile away. When I tell people they are like, "oh yeah, I could tell you were American even if you didn't speak." Some lady even told me I looked Italian. I don't know what it is but apparently Americans LOOK American.

5. Surprisingly, they are strict about IDing people when it comes to pubs and clubs. I have been ID'd every single time getting in (the age is 18) and got ID'd the other day buying alcohol at the grocery store! But if you order alcohol inside a pub or restaurant, you never get ID'd.

6. Some slang:
Rashers: bacon
ALLEGEDLY, a bang on: a good guy
Eejit: Just idiot with a fun accent. I had no idea what it was the first time someone said it.
Craic: fun (pronounced crack)
Langer: an idiot, basically.

7. The coffee is kind of shitty. I bought instant coffee but I've been getting tea lately too.

Now that those things are out of the way!...

I think I left off before we went to the English Market..
I set out looking for the English Market thinking it would be this huge thing in the middle of the city that couldn't be missed. Actually, it was a little bit hidden and I almost walked right past it. However, the inside is huge! There are all these different vendors ranging from bakeries, to chocolate vendors, to butchers (who hack up whole pigs on the spot) It was kind of overwhelming at first, but a really fun place to grocery shop! You get what you want from each vendor and pay them separately which is a little hard but it works. I got some "splurge" things like fresh pesto sauce and cork made marmalade! I will definitely be going back again at some point but for this week I'm going to Tesco (the local supermarket) for my grocery shopping.

Other random things that I've done since I've been here include wandering around with my roommates looking for late night dessert, pub hopping (including a ride on one of those bike taxi things), and venturing out to find notebooks.

The night that we went out (thursday??) we went to a place called Crane Lane because it said in my guide they would have live music. They didn't....but they still had drinks! Yay! So we met some Irish guys there that we had met Tuesday and went to another pub, which was fun, but more about dancing (and really loud) We just wanted to talk and have fun so we went to a place called Old Oak (on bike taxis) which ended up being really fun!

I finally feel like I'm getting to know the city, but I still kind of feel like I stand out. We'll see if that changes!

Friday night (I think)...we had a roommate dinner! Olga made this really yummy soup/stew thing and we bought wine and bread and it was really nice! Then I introduced Olga (who is from Denmark, btw) to Jerry Springer. Oh, yes. They have that here. It was late and it came on TV. She said she had never seen it so we watched, and she thought it was so funny! Ah...such good TV.

Saturday morning was our trip to Blarney! It was me, Sabrina, Olga, Katie, and Mary Ellis (so many new friends!) The bus station is about 5 min walk away from our apartment and we thought the bus left at 10:10 so we left early to get tickets. Turns out it wasn't till 11 so we just waited around until then. Surprisingly, Blarney was only about a ten minute ride away from the city! It was a cute little town (you can see the whole town center if you stand in the middle) and the Blarney castle was beautiful! We explored for basically the whole day, (kissed the stone!) and walked around the gardens and surrounding areas. It was a really nice way to spend the day. I didn't realize the gardens around Blarney castle went so far. Also, there were other attractions on the grounds such as the wishing steps. If you make a wish and walk up and down backwards with your eyes closed thinking ONLY ONLY ONLY about your wish, then it will come true. It doesn't help that they are old stone steps that are sort of broken. They are also located next to a waterfall and are damp/have slippery algae growing on them. Good thing none of us fell! I can't tell my wish because it wouldn't come true

Sabrina and Olga at Blarney!


Wishing steps!!

After spending the day exploring the castle and grounds, we headed to the woolen mills shop. I definitely want to go back here! They make all sorts of sweaters and other things that would make great gifts and souvenirs.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a really lazy day! (just like at home lol) I realized that I don't have to feel guilty if I'm not doing anything. (I guess that's a very American thing to feel) Sometimes it's nice to just relax, wander around the city, and not care.

Today was my first day of classes! They were all easy to find considering I had explored all the buildings on campus last week. One is at the Enterprise Center which is across the river so it's a really nice walk. It was a social work class and we broke into small groups to talk which was nice. There were about 40 or 50 students and I think I was one of the only Americans? So that was cool. There are two professors, both really nice ladies, and the class today was just an introduction but seems cool. After that I registered for the spoken Irish class, so I'll know Thursday if I got a spot or not and what time the class will be at! My next class was sociology of law. I met a kid in that class that was French, and there were two other Americans in the class (one goes to UMass Amherst) The others were all Irish but there were only maybe 15 in the class if not less. The class was a little confusing at first cause the professor (really nice guy) just jumped right in, but it got better. I think having a background with social and criminological theory will DEFINITELY help in this class. (He talked a lot about theorists)

The only problem I had today was during my break on campus. I went to the on campus cafe for lunch and got it for there instead of "take away" or to go. Then I wandered around for like 10 minutes but couldn't find a table anywhere in the whole building. They have this HUGE building and a big cafe with barely any seating. I think other people were having the same problem. I eventually had to go back and have them wrap it up for me which was a huge pain in the butt. Then, since it was raining, I had to go to some random academic building and eat my lunch on a random bench. While I was eating another lady sat down next to me to eat too. I think she had the same problem as me at the cafe! Lol.

Tomorrow I have my other two classes and I need to go grocery shopping. Besides that I really don't have many plans. Tonight at this place called Sober Lane they have beer pong. Could be interesting? My roommate and I are thinking of checking it out. I'm not sure what will be going on this weekend but hopefully a trip somewhere! (I also signed up for the Ring of Kerry weekend and am waiting to hear when I'll be going!) I can't wait to see more than the city...although I do love this city!!

<3

I guess I left off the day before orientation...
Orientation was pretty cool, but the first half was extremely boring...it was all lecturers (we got made fun of for calling them professors today...?) that were basically urging us to take their classes. Like I said, pretty boring. The second half of the program, a bunch of students got up to speak about student union and all the clubs and societies that they have here. I might join a club but I haven't decided yet. The students who got up to speak were hilarious and mostly just made fun of each other the whole time. They told us all about drinking and how we should not attempt to keep up with the Irish. Good advice I think. Most of the people at orientation were American, but there were a bunch of European students too. We were all assigned a time for a tour and then given a time to go and get our ID cards. We had a little wait in between so we went to subway (they are everywhere here) and then went back to get our IDs. Now I'm official

I have a few basics but I still need to go grocery shopping...hopefully we can go to the English Market tomorrow.

At the orientation they told us how to register (sort of) but it was still SO confusing. Here, you don't actually sign up for classes...the first week you look at a timetable and see when the classes are offered. Then, you go to the class, hope that you like it, and then register for everything a week later. It's really weird...So far, it looks as if I will only have classes on Mondays and Tuesdays (and then whenever they decide to make the Irish language class) It's awesome because I figure I will have some time to do day trips or something during the week. The system here is just so much different but they keep stressing to us..."don't freak out, we will take care of everything." So I don't feel so bad. It's just weird because I still have no class all week. I have to wait till Monday! Feels odd.
The students at orientation told us that if we wanted, they were hosting a social later in the night for all the international students.

We didn't really know where we were going, we just knew we had to meet on campus at 8:15. We got there and there was a good amount of people which was nice. We ended up walking to a bar/club place that they had rented out the bottom floor of for a little while. It had ping pong tables and shuffleboard and a really good DJ. AND, of course a bar, which I could actually go to and get a drink! Crazy! The orientation leaders ended up buying a ton of pitchers of beer for everyone and we turned the ping pong tables into beer pong and flip cup. (Only at Irish orientation...) It was so much fun because a lot of the international students had no idea how to play. We ended up meeting some really nice Italian guys and a girl from Slovakia. One of my favorite parts about being here is meeting people. Everyone is so nice and fun to talk to.

We stayed at the bar for a while dancing and playing games but then decided that we were going to try somewhere else for a while. We really wanted to meet some Irish people and figured another pub or club that wasn't rented out would probably have more of them! The people who ran the bar we were at didn't want anyone to leave and started giving us free jello shots to try to get us to stay lol. We went with the Italians and the girl from Slovakia (and our little American group of me, Sabrina, and a friend I met through her, Katie) to a place called Rearden's. Somewhere along the way we picked up a kid from Montreal...
I had read that it was a really fun place to go (the bar, not montreal) so I was excited. I was a little surprised when we got ID'd going in, and they almost didn't let me in without a school ID. It was weird but I played dumb and international and got my way out of it easily. When we got inside we got a table and sat and talked for a while. Sabrina and I decided that we wanted to meet some Irish people and made a plan of action. We literally just went up to the bar and found some (cute) Irish guys and said, "Hey are you from around here? We're just wondering what some good pubs are in the area." The minute they found out we were American, it was like everyone wanted to talk to us! It is so easy to make friends I also tried my first Jagerbomb (sorry mom and dad)

So now I have a few Irish friends (yay!) who taught us slang which were not sure is actually correct. Oh well.
They also thought it was the weirdest thing to eat a bagel with butter. (I got a bagel with butter at a shop and the woman looked at me like I was absolutely crazy) hmm... I do have to say that the butter is SO YUMMY HERE. omg. Dunkin's needs to get somma that.

Today I got an Irish phone so I can text my friends who have phones in the country without paying a gazillion trillion dollars. I still have to grocery shop, like I said, and then get settled with my class schedule. Other than that I am doing great Hopefully I'll be doing some sort of trip this weekend and I shall post pictures!

Hope everyone is good back home.
Love!<3