Irish Observation of the Day #5

Irish Observation of the Day #5 - Faucets. What. The. Heckity Heck.

Ok. So, the faucets here (at least, most of them) have separate spouts for hot water and cold water. That includes the faucets in the bathrooms, the kitchens, etc. 

Here’s the problem with that…. The water is either SCALDING hot or FREEZING cold. No such thing as washing your hands or dishes in plain old, wonderful, warm water. 

Instead, do you feel like burning the top layer of skin off your hands, insuring that they are nice and clean? Or are you feeling risky and would like to take a nice hand ice bath instead? 

I know. They both sound so tempting. 

It’s hard to decide for us too some days. 

I think this particular observation is best summed up by a picture the lovely Courtney Quist sent me:

Irish Observation of the Day #4

Irish Observation of the Day #4 - The Voice of Ireland is nowhere near as good as USA's The Voice.

Ok. So there are obviously some similarities... it is essentially the same show... except one takes place in Ireland and the other in the USA. Both have 4 "celebrity" judges, with one being the incredibly sexy bad boy but actually really sweet guy (if Adam Levine and their guy, Bressie, would sing something together I would be in heaven cause it's Adam Levine and a schmexy Irish man singer)

so you would think they would be about equal right??

wrong. so. so. so. wrong.

The Voice of Ireland, in all honesty, is just painful. I couldn't tell you who any of the "celebrity" judges are... and from talking to people who actually live in Ireland, they don't seem to know a whole lot about them either, and they all seem to prefer USA's The Voice as well.

Also... I was at least hoping for some decent singing by the people auditioning (because even if the show is not as good, you have to have good singers, right?)

Well, yes. There were some good singers. But the actually good ones MAYBE got one or two of the judges to push their buttons.

On the other hand... there was this one AWFUL girl (her voice itself I guess wasn't the worst...) BUT she would have NEVER gotten through on USA's the Voice. She sang Diamond and... ugh... I can't describe my frustration. Courtney and I literally had our jaws dropping cause we were in SHOCK that they all pushed their buttons. I tried to find a video for you guys, but couldn't. She just STOOD THERE. Nothing about it was entertaining. 

Clearly, I was frustrated.

BUT while looking, I did find my favorite performance that I have seen on the show so far (the one instance that I agreed they should turn around). Here is a link for you guys so you can get an idea of what it's like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK763Sq8MAI

The judges are also SUPER mean to each other! It's actually kind of funny... but sort of terrifying and uncomfortable too. In the US, the judges get competitive with one another and tease each other. But these guys are vicious! Especially Jamalia... she's awful. I have no idea why almost everyone picks her if they have a choice. 

Anyways, I will keep watching I am sure and maybe it will get better... but I sure hope to God that that one chick doesn't go through the next round.... cause she's terrible.

Irish Observation of the Day #3

Irish Observation of the Day #3 - DVDs are significantly cheaper.

This was one Sara and I just happened to discover by stopping at Dunnes (one of our favorite stores... sort of like a mini Super Target...) and glancing over the DVDs they had in stock. And then I noticed when they were advertising commercials on tv for DVDs on New Release.

But they are significantly cheaper. Like, New Releases, which normally run right around $20 in the US run somewhere in the range of 10 to 12 euros... or 13 to 16ish dollars. 

For example, I bought The Dark Knight Rises for 10 euros, or right around 13 US dollars. It runs for $15 dollars on Amazon.

So I saved two dollars! Yay! 

(And, as an added bonus, I now get to watch Christian Bale as Batman whenever I wish... aka one of the most attractive men on earth. Especially as Batman/Bruce Wayne.... don't even get me started on my never ending love for him... that could be another whole blog.)

Don't you dare try to tell me that's not one of the most attractive faces you have ever seen.

Therefore, Alex Beaulieu, you would love it here. Not necessarily for Christian Bale, but because of the cheap DVDs that you love even more than I do. :)

Strange observation about Ireland.... but one I figured was interesting enough to share!

Irish Observation of the Day #2

Irish Observation of the Day #2 - Every bar sells Pringles.

Yep. Every. Single. Bar. Sells Pringles.

You know the little cans of Pringles? Well, at every bar/pub in Ireland, next to where all of the alcohol is, there is a stack of those little cans of Pringles for sale.

I have yet to see someone actually purchase said Pringles... but, they're there. And that's what counts.

Maybe the Irish have a fascination with Pringles? Maybe it's just more deep fried potatoes for them (we'll get to more about that later).

Either way, fun fact for you for the day: Every bar in Ireland sells Pringles. 

So if you are ever in need of a salty, deep fried, potatoey snack while drinking a Guinness or a Bulmer's, don't worry. They got ya covered.

15 Irish Observations of the Day/Observation Number 1

Hey friends.

So, I was trying to decide whether or not to post all of these in one giant blog, or 15 little ones. I am going to do 15 little baby blogs for you guys (and by little baby... I mean they will still be a decent length because... let's face it... I could talk forever) so it's less heavy (yet fun) reading and more a quick laugh. :)

I have been randomly typing in little memos in my phone of observations about Ireland as I think of them/notice them. That list has now reached 15. There are plenty of more observations that I am sure will come in the future, but I am going to just start with these first 15. Over the next couple of weeks, I will expand on one of these topics for you guys and explain why it's on my list of quirky/fun things about Ireland. These are coming in no particular order... just in the order they were in my phone.

It'll be fun. I promise. :)

Irish Observation of the Day: #1 - Nothing is ever fully dry. Ever.

Literally, everything is damp. And if you have a wet towel from getting out of the shower, it doesn't matter if you lay it over the heater, hang it over the door, whatever. It will never be fully dry, and you just have to accept that. 

And every morning, when you want to be warm and toasty in some warm and toasty clothes, forget about it. When you first grab those "warm and toasty" clothes, they will be cold. And damp. Eventually, your body will just adjust/you'll warm the clothes up and you'll be fine. But that just out of the dryer toastiness that we all love? We don't get that here. When clothes come out of the dryer, you are rejoicing if at least your underwear feel dry! (mine did this time. score!)

And you don't want to just run the dryer again... because it costs you THREE EURO for a single wash or a single dry. It is five euro for both... but if you want your clothes to be fully dry, you better have some cash on you to do that every couple of weeks. Otherwise, you do like I do, and cover your apartment with semi-damp clean clothing for a few days until it's at least not as damp so you can put it away.

This also means that instead of just wearing your jeans three times before washing them like you do back in the states (which you already lie about because you are afraid people will think you are some freak that walks around in their own filth all day), you wash your jeans/yoga pants not based off of how many times you have worn them, but based off of when:

1. You run out of underwear, and therefore, need to do laundry anyways.

and

2. They are literally so stretched out you now need to go buy a belt to keep them up. (that includes yoga pants).

On the plus side, my hands have never felt so soft before!!! :)

The Adventure of Registration

Alright, first of all, ya'll at Concordia who are always complaining about registration?... You have NOTHING on Irish registration (and I think, generally, the rest of the world).

Let's talk about where I am this second. I am in line, at 8:30 in the morning. I have been here for just over 40 minutes now... and we have another 2 and a half hours before we actually get started registering.

So I got here over three hours early for registration....

And I am at the back of the line (for now at least). 

On a freezing cold floor.

With some German girls speaking German by me (which actually is pretty cool).

AND MY BUTT HURTS!

And get this. There are only 3 spots per class. And I would say I am at least number 50 in line.... crossing fingers no one wants the same classes I do!!!

Feeling bad for the people who thought showing up an hour early would be super early.....

Cause I thought 3 HOURS was early. Oy.

So, please know, when I come back to Concordia, and registering is a matter of waking up in the early hours of the AM, grabbing my computer, staying in my warm and cozy bed, logging on, typing in some numbers (at its worst, taking half an hour), and then going back to sleep, I will be REJOICING. (on my way rejoicing to sleep)

#studyabroadregistrationproblems

The Subject of Alcohol. Yes. I am actually writing about that.

Ok. To start, some of you may have just cringed that I would DARE be writing about booze! Cobbers drink water, right? Well, that is part of the point of this particular post.

Alcohol is so taboo to discuss in a public setting in the states. Especially at Concordia. For example, when that one chick on facebook posts a status like, “Omg! Margaritas and Dirty Martinis all night at da club wit my gurls!” we all look at the screen and say, “I’m judging you. So hard.”

And DON’T EVEN THINK about mentioning it on campus to students! Holy goodness. As an OL, it’s just something you don’t really discuss with your clubbies, unless they ask a specific question about it.

And FOR A FACULTY to mention drinking/going out…. Woah. Slow your boat guys.

All of this is fine and dandy and just the way we do it in the States, specifically at Concordia. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with it, it’s just how we do.

…..Ireland is not this way.

First of all, they’re approach to drinking is a lot different than in the US. The legal drinking age for beer and wine is 16, and hard liquor is 18. It’s just a part of their culture. So much to the point that IDing you is rare, because honestly, they don’t care. Everyone drinks, and is very open about it. For example, I saw a family of two teenage boys and their parents at the pub. On a Friday night. Dad was buyin’. ……WHAT?! The idea of going out to a popular bar on a Friday night with my parents and brother with my Dad buying me drinks all night just blows my mind. We don’t do that in the states. We do, however, do that in Ireland.

As I said, everyone does it, and they are incredibly open about it. So much so that it comes up in everyday conversation. All of the time. In what we in the states would deem totally inappropriate venues/situations to bring it up in.

Such as with your taxi driver.

And in the checkout line at the grocery store.

And college orientation.

And college tours.

And the bank while you are opening a checking account.

During orientation, every other sentence has been someone with a knowing smile saying, “You’re going to have a great time in Ireland!” Now, in the US, people may say something like that, with that same knowing smile… but usually, they would just leave it there and let you interpret as you will.

Nope. Not in Ireland. To follow that, they’ll say something to the effect of “Make sure you go out on school nights during the week, because that’s when all of the Irish students are here! So if you need to do work, do it on weekends. But you won’t really need to do serious work until a week before finals. So don’t worry about it. Just go out and have fun! And don’t worry about morning classes, everyone (including your professor) shows up really late anyways.”

On the tour of the campus, I counted how many times our student ambassador mentioned alcohol/going out. Let’s just put it this way... I stopped counting. Within the first five minutes, we were at about 15. And the second place on our tour was the College Bar. Which is similar to the Maize (instead of Maize fries, we have College Bar “crisps” or potato chips. There is crack in them… I’m sure of it). Except with a full bar. That is open all day. And according to our tour guide, is awesome for starting your night off when going out downtown, especially on MONDAY and THURSDAY nights.

……………………………………………………..

Our group went to the Bank of Ireland to open banking accounts over here. Courtney and I got this lovely lady that was helping us. She was dressed incredibly professionally, and it is a nice bank. A very classy business setting.

We got some wonderful recommendations from her about which pubs to go to. (We didn’t ask for this, mind you, she just told us like it was part of her job).

The next day, when we came back to put money in our accounts, she saw us and the first thing she said was, “How’s the head girls?!”

….I’m sorry. Did she just ask us how hungover we are? At the bank?

Recommendations are one thing, but that took us to a new level. She also sat us down and asked us about our night the previous night. When we told her we were exhausted so we ended up just staying at home and watching TV and going to sleep, she just shook her head and was like “I don’t believe you for a second. Don’t be shy. What did you do?”

…..No. Really. We stayed at home. And went to sleep. We were tired.

She was like, “Oh. Really? Well, then be sure and go out tonight because you’re probably nice and well rested!”

And then proceeded to give us a whole new list of recommendations.

And that was just one lady at the bank. There is also a guy and woman who seem to be managers (?) or something who came and talked to the students during orientation. They walk around and kind of supervise. We had essentially the same conversations with them.

It’s just crazy to me how different the attitude towards alcohol and partying is over here. I’m not saying one way is right or wrong, I’m just saying it’s different. A new experience.

First Adventure: Getting a Taxi

So I have essentially been copying and pasting this into messages to people who are asking me about how it was getting here. Beyond almost missing our flight in Chicago to Dublin, not knowing where the heck we were supposed to go to find our bus to Galway, ALL OF THE WETNESS OF IRELAND (literally, you walk outside and your hair is soaked even though it's not "raining"), and the whole mess of me and my roommates trying to figure out how our kitchen works, this is my first full length story for you guys.... trying to find a taxi in Galway. Enjoy :)

We got into Galway.... and the people on the bus were telling us that taxis will be right at the bus station and we can take those to our apartments....

....but there were no taxis....

so we asked the counter where we could get a taxi and they were like "you'll have to go to the square, which is that way..."

.....thanks chick.....

so we just started walking.... with all of our luggage (as if we didn't already look american enough...)

and couldn't figure out how to get a taxi, because you don't hail them here like you would in the states....

and we were wet... and cold.... and lost...

so I finally was like "screw this!" and went into a rent-a-car shop.

the guy was like "can I help you?"

and there's me... soaking wet, on the verge of tears, like "Hi. I'm a stupid american. and I'm with a group of equally stupid americans. and we're studying abroad here this semester. we thought we could get a taxi from the bus station.... but we don't know how to get one. so... since I'm a stupid american, can you please tell me how I can get a taxi to Dunaras Village?"

......the guy just looked at me like "....ok...." with so much pity.... and he goes, "Sit down."

so I did.

and then he pulls out his phone, calls someone, and is like "Hey! Sean! Yeah.... I have a very nice american girl who needs a ride. She has five friends too... can you help them out?"

Literally, two seconds later, two taxis pulled up all ready to take us, and they were the NICEST men you have ever met! Our was Sean, and he was so nice and was telling us what things are and how we get places, and then he gave us his card and said, "Give me a call if you need anythig! ANYTHING at all! Any questions, if you need a ride somewhere, whatever. Don't hesitate to call me!" and took like 3 euros off of our taxi fee.

So. nice. I could have cried.

That's my first big story of Galway :)

Now, we are off of to our first Orientation! It will be my first time in actual town since first arriving. A group of people from Concordia went out last night to eat, but apparently it's like a 40 minute walk to the main part of the city (about 30 minutes to campus), and I was exhausted and jet legged and just wanted to sleep... so I was a party pooper and went to bed. But I'm happy I did, because I feel very adjusted now! (at least sleep wise...) The other adjusting may take a few days :)

New Year. New Adventures. Here we go!

Today, we begin a new year. 2013.

Today, I also begin a new adventure. I am headin’ on over to Ireland, baby! The fact that we have actually reached this day blows my mind. I remember starting the countdown back in freshman year… thinking that spring of junior year was so far away! Now here we are, and we’re just about to head off on our journey!

Essentially, I am praying that we just get through today. Between flying internationally, jet lag, hauling 3 bags across Ireland, figuring out our living situations, getting things we need when we land, and the bajillion other things I have running through my head, I am stressing a little bit. It will work out fine, I just hope it all goes well.

Next time, I will be officially posting in Ireland… and hopefully somewhat sane (keeping fingers crossed!).

To a new year and new adventures! Cheers!