Howth

Yesterday I made a side trip to Howth (pronounced Hoe-th) with my flat-mate Stephanie and her friend Jackie who was visiting from Spain. Its a town on the outskirts of Dublin that is on a really cool peninsula. We took the DART there which was super easy as there is a station literally next door and it drops us off in the center of Howth. It took about 20 minutes and then we were there.

We got off the train and the first thing I noticed was the smell, I'm not entirely sure what it was but it smelled really good there, probably the lack of city-smell. It's a fishing village so there was fish everywhere and lots of seafood restaurants. We walked down a pier and saw a group of people standing at the side and so went to investigate, and they were feeding seals! There was a group of 6 seals in the water swimming around and catching fish. It was really cool to watch.

We continued on the pier, found the tourist office and picked up a map, then headed off for the cliff walk. There is a trail that surrounds the peninsula walking along the cliffs and passing by a light house. We walked to the trail head, passed WB Yeats' house at some point (it was marked on our map but not on the street), and then headed down the trail. It was gorgeous, blue sky, the ocean, steep cliffs, and pretty yellow flowers on the hillside. We walked along it for about an hour until we made it to the light house, about halfway around. From there we could see Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains. We decided that was a good enough hike, and it had gotten cloudy and windy, and hence cold, so we were planning on taking the shortcut through the peninsula, but then met a bus headed back to Howth and decided that was a good enough option.

Back in Howth we looked around for a place to eat and ended up at the Fisherman's Bar and ordered fish and chips. It was really good, and a cute place. Then we took the DART back to Dublin to end our brief adventure.

Day by day

Not much has been happening lately, its been cold and drizzly in the afternoons, and most of my classes don't start until next week. On Tuesday I did find an awesome market that sells cheap produce - I got 4 oranges, 8 plums, 6 carrots, head of broccoli, a bag of grapes, and a pound of mushrooms for 6 euros, and 2 jars of nutella for 3 euros (I'm halfway through the first jar, delicious stuff) and today I finally registered myself with the Garda (and it only took 2 hours, it took my room mate 6 or 7), so I can now legally reside in Ireland. Also I've had a couple of frisbee practices and I'm getting back into the swing of it. During our outdoor practice it was so cold that I couldn't feel my hands after about 20 minutes (not good for catching) and it tried to snow on us (there were a couple of flakes but mostly just cold rain and wind). We have several tournaments coming up, one in Cork, one in Limrick, and apparently one in Belgium.

I thought I was getting sick, but I'm pretty sure its going away with the cure of lots of orange juice and sitting in bed reading. On a slightly unrelated note, I now want to go hike the Appalachian Trail, at least in a more rational manner than I have before :-P

Sweden!

Yesterday I got back from a quick trip to Sweden. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing an old friend from high school.

Friday I got up really early (4:30) to catch a bus to the airport for my 6:55 flight. It was very easy and I made it in plenty of time then waited at the gate for a bit. This was my first flight with RyanAir, which kind of reminds me of Southwest. I've heard that they have terrible service and really cramped seats, but super cheap flights. The first I didn't experience, but definitely the last two are true! On the plane I mostly slept and talked to 2 nice Irish people sitting next to me. Upon arriving in Sweden (at a tiny airport an hour outside Stockholm) I got on a bus to Stockholm and marveled at the gorgeous scenery. It is really pretty in Sweden, lots of tall trees and frost. At the bus/train station in Stockholm I got lunch and the woman at the counter scolded me for not eating my vegetables (they were tomatoes.. ick!). Then I got on a train to Uppsala to see Jaime :)

In Uppsala I found Jamie and we walked through the town then through a cool graveyard. There was a grave in there from the 1680's! Jamie lives in a dorm/apartment outside the city so we took a bus there and went grocery shopping to make breakfast tacos with her corridor-mates. Jamie and I chopped and cooked the veggies and other people brought stuff and we made delicious tacos for dinner. Then we went to a Swedish club, all of their clubs are run by student "nations" that all students have to join. People go out really early in Sweden, the place was packed by 10 and we left by 12 - really weird! Sadly I lost my scarf there :( which bummed me out.

The next morning we just bummed around the apartment and talked then went to one of the nations again (this one was a pub) for dinner then back again. I went to sleep really early because I was tired, despite a nap in the afternoon, and because I had to get up early again to go back to the tiny airport for my flight out.

The next morning was when the excitement (read sarcasm) started. I thought there was a 6:00 train to the bus station, but it was really at 7, so I missed the first bus to the airport and had to take one that got there at 10... my flight left at 10:30. I tried to sleep most of the ride so I wouldn't have to think about it, and then ran into the airport with another guy on the same flight and thankfully the airline let us check in (they technically close check in 40 min before the flight) and we ran through security and customs (first time I'd had to go through it on the way out) and made the flight. I was very thankful, and highly recommend never checking luggage if you can help it (this is the second flight in my life I would have missed if I had checked bags) but I made it back to Dublin safely and very thankful :)

The rest of that day was relax/veg (aka, finish season 1 of Gilmore Girls :-P ) and I went to bed early, too many early mornings! It was a really fun trip but I was surprised to realize how much I missed Dublin after only 2 weeks. And its good to be back in the not-so-freezing cold :D

Good News

I have lots of good news and fun times to report, the first of which (my personal favorite) is that I'm getting used to the cold! Either that or I'm learning how to dress for it, but either way, the thought of going outside no longer keeps me in my bed all day and I don't have to resort to treadmill running for fear of freezing. Also, its apparently the coldest winter in 25 years (great, I know right) but its good to know that this isn't typical and will indeed get better :)

Also, I finally figured out all my classes! In physics I'm taking condensed matter: thermal and electrical properties; condensed matter: magnetic properties; physics of semiconductors; atomic and nuclear physics, and high energy physics and also complex variables and introduction to geology (which has 2 field trips). Classes are structured really differently here, especially in the physics dept. I'll have at most 3 physics classes at a time, but they are staggered throughout the 2 terms with some going the whole time and some for only 4 weeks. I'm very glad to have this figured out and to be taking all of these classes, they seem really interesting and aren't something I could take at home.

More good news is I joined the Ultimate Club so lots of frisbee for me (and its actually structured this time, and no light posts or trees :-P ). I went to my first practice today and it was in the gym, which is new and makes the game a lot quicker. I will probably feel it tomorrow but it was lots of fun and I'm looking forwards to more in the future.

I also saw Sean which was really good. One night we had a pint of Guinness (the stuff really grows on you, its quite good) then took a bus over to UCD and Sean made tacos. The bus system wasn't as scary/difficult as I've heard, I guess being used to one that's never on time and doesn't go many places left me with very few illusions about what a good bus system is. Tacos were tasty and partially fulfilled my need for Texas - food is a start! And then another day when he was in the city center he stopped by and we went to Porterhouse and almost saw a live band which was setting up while we were there but was playing later.

My final good news/excitement is travel! I've already got several trips planned that will be a lot of fun. This weekend I'm going to visit Jamie in Sweden and I also bought tickets for a trip with Kristin to Amsterdam, Belgium, and Switzerland during the last week of my break. Also in the books is a trip around Ireland with my sister then going to either England or Scotland, and another trip to Scotland sometime in Feb. I'm so excited about these, and getting to take advantage of lots of cheap flights around Europe :)

Other things I've been up to include opening a bank account so that I can exchange lots of money while the exchange rate is good as well as to avoid transaction and atm fees, doing laundry - our laundromat is hidden behind what feels like a secret passage and looks pretty cool but is kinda annoying when you're carrying nearly all of your clothes, I've also been making cookies and cooking in general, watching Gilmore Girls (one of my flat-mates has all of the seasons and the others assured me that now that I've started watching them it will be impossible to stop, kind of like crack), and reading, currently Dubliners, soon to be something by Oscar Wilde (I know its cliche to read Irish authors in Ireland, but whatever).

Hope everyone is doing well, I miss you guys a lot! Talk to me on skype or facebook so I can know what's up with everyone at home and abroad :)

My First Week

I've officially been here a week (technically a week and a day) and things are finally settling into place. I have internet in my dorm now (yay!) with working skype and email, I have (most of) my classes figured out, and I've started to meet people, both Irish and exchange students. I'm taking two, maybe 3, physics classes - the equivalent of Modern 4 for the physics kids, and hopefully one on lasers or semiconductors; a math class, complex variables; a geology class which has 2 field trips, and currently a history class but I'm not sure about that one. I'm also currently taking an Irish language class that isn't for credit, just for fun.

Yesterday I went to my first pub with one of my flat-mates and her friend. It was really fun! And today I wandered around Dublin and saw two cathedrals, Christchurch and St. Patricks, and Dublin Castle. I didn't go in any of them, but they are really cool buildings and I got to wander around a bit, Dublin streets take some getting used to as they are a bit haphazard. I think I'm starting to learn my way around Trinity College area though.

Things I've noticed about Ireland
* jay-walking is a widely practiced habit, as long as the car won't hit you its fine to run across streets
*Energy conservation is a big thing - everyone turns off lights and even the outlets have on/off switches! and most people use reusable bags for grocery shopping, and stores use paper bags instead of plastic
*Sunrise is at 8:30, sunset at 4:30
*Friends re-runs play almost constantly

Realizations

So I've realized a couple of things since I've been here, the top two are that I hate bureaucracy and I'm pretty dependent upon technology. I'm still not officially a student because of some clerical thing that the fees office didn't know I'm not supposed to pay tuition, but its being sorted out and hopefully I will be tomorrow. Also because of that, I still don't have internet in my dorm and have to walk to the internet cafe. So it really makes me think about how much I'm online :-P

Aside from those details, things are going well. I have my first classes tomorrow, which will be interesting. I think I'm going to be taking 4 physics classes, 1 math class, and either a history or geology class. We shall see, once I'm actually a student and can find out if stuff transfers. In the meantime I've been wandering around Dublin exploring places. I found another really cool park that's even closer to my dorm, as well as a history museum and natural history museum that I will have to go visit soon. Also, we had our orientation yesterday and I met lots of international students. A couple of us went to a crepe restaurant for dinner and had yummy crepes. I've also met almost all of my 7 suite-mates and they are all very nice. They drink a lot of tea and I have been as well. I made my first batch of chocolate chip cookies in our kitchen.

Overall, its really cold here, but I'm learning how to stay warm, everyone is very nice and helpful, and I'm looking forward to the semester getting underway!

I made it!

Hello everyone! Hopefully life in the US is going well. I made it to Dublin after 16 hours of travel but without a mishap. It took a while to find my dorm because only one of the doors was unlocked, but I made it inside at last. I have a single room that shares a bathroom and kitchen with 5 other rooms, right in the center of Dublin. I spent most of my first day getting situated, buying food and sheets and putting all my stuff away. I then slept for 14 hours (I'm pretty sure I've never done that before).

Today I finished up shopping and wandered around the city a bit. There's a pretty nifty park called St. Stephen's Green thats about a 10 minute walk from my dorm and plenty of shops nearby. I start school on Monday, so just plan on wandering some more until then. Happy New Year!