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 :)