Níl gach uile fhánaí caillte

Goodbye and Goodnight

2009-01-20T14:15:05Z

Hello everyone!

I have finally gotten home safe and sound :). The traveling was horrible and Newark airport seriously needs to work on their security checkpoints, but all is good and I am in the Windy city at last.

I wanted to thank everyone for reading my blog and for all the support and well-wishes. It helped a lot to know that I had people listening.

So, yah, thanks!

Also, it's so cool to have a cell phone back too.

sorry sorry sorry

2009-01-15T23:57:44Z

Hi everyone!

I am so sorry I haven't updated. Life has been a bit boring lately so journaling wasn't really at the top of the list.

However, two things are worth attention:

1. I finished student teaching and having officially graduated! I was all set and done on Wednesday. The day was amazing. I ended up just playing Scatergories with my students, as a lesson would not have been cool for a last day ;), and hung out with the staff I have become friends with. My students got me amazing presents as a send off and the staff and principal did as well. It was wonderful to leave with such amazing memories and great people.

2. I come home Sunday!! I officially leave Killarney on Saturday to stay in a hotel in Shannon (early flight) and so I will be spending tomorrow, rain permitting of course, wandering around and reminiscing.

I'll probably have some sob-story tale of remembrance for Saturday, so look for that, but for right now I am happy just to say that I have never been so sad to leave a place or so happy to come home to my loved ones.

3 days :)

Pictures!

2009-01-04T14:33:11Z

Here are some links to my pictures from Germany!

Part 1

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2151741&l=a39d8&id=31101642

Part 2

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2151742&l=816f4&id=31101642

Enjoy! :D

Proof and Pictures of the angelic hot german chocolate

2009-01-04T00:15:52Z

The best Hot chocolate ever:

Me enjoying the chocolate:

Erin ist in Deutschland!

2009-01-02T21:27:15Z

Hello Everyone!

I am writing from Duisburg, Germany! I am currently staying with my friend Ruth in her family's home and having so much fun!

New Year's Eve we headed down to a boardwalk in the town where people were lighting off tons of fireworks along the river and drinking champagne.

Yah, the fireworks were...um... interesting. People in Germany are only allowed to have fireworks once a year for the New Year. So, they are a little insane with them. Like they light them around other people, I saw way too many people standing next to lite firecracker.

Dad, you would have flipped. It was a little scary.

That's why we were away from them and having our own fun :)

My favorite part was when we wrote down our wishes for the New Year and sent them to the sky tied to bottle rockets and toasted with a great bottle of Champagne.

So, in other news :)

Today Ruth, her boyfriend Julian, and I went out to Düsseldorf and walked around seeing the shops and the sights.

And let me tell you, after going to the chocolate shop there and having the cup of hot chocolate that I did, I will never be able to have another cup without comparing them ever again.

It's like comparing humans to angels.

Amazing.

Oh, and then tomorrow we are heading off to Köln and will probably be seeing sights and castles and stuff :D

oh and I come home in two weeks!

I am sooo happy lately.

See everyone soon! I'll put up pictures in the near future I promise.

:)

2008-12-28T16:42:26Z

So, I am sitting in an internet cafe here in Killarney swathed in my own misery about Brian leaving and listening to the Mamma Mia cd.

They don't really go together I know, but it makes me feel better.

I hate being all woe is me because I am leaving very soon and heading off to visit Ruth in Germany on Tuesday, so I have it pretty good. More than good, I have had an amazing time here.

It was just nice to have someone familiar around again :)

Christmas was certainly interesting. Brian and I were for the most part confined to the upstairs because my landlord decided that her and her husband were going to have their Christmas here instead of Cork after a verbal miscommunication and, so Brian and I just tried to stay out of the way as much as possible.

We were able to make up for most of it though by renting a car and driving to Dingle and Blarney :)

It's been one of the best Christmas breaks I have ever had.

So, I am trying this new link through facebook, so you guys can see my albums fro Christmas and I don't have to just put them up here

So just click these:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2150453&l=83d81&id=31101642

and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2150455&l=cabde&id=31101642

and you should be able to see my pictures from the break :)

My next entry will hopefully be from Germany assuming I can bring my laptop unscathed with me. I'll let everyone know how that goes!

Miss you all, see you very soon :)

Tis the season

2008-12-24T20:31:08Z

Happy Christmas everybody! Brian and I wish we could be home celebrating with you all!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

A very merry Christmas

2008-12-19T10:45:28Z

So, I am pretty sure I am the most dupp-able person on the planet. (i.e. I am easy to surprise).

The day of my inspection, a very harrowing and stressful day turned out to be probably the best day I have ever had.

1. The inspection went amazingly. All my inspector guy had to say was "Well, I have no negative comments. You are a born teacher and you did a very good job."

YAY ERIN!

2. A little later in the day, I was running off a small high from the events of the day and ran to jump on my bike, get out of St. Brigid's, head home and eat a whole tub of ice cream to reward myself.

Then I hear "Hey, Miss Collins?"

I turn, stop my bike, and see Brian sitting on a rock wall outside of the school.

A goofy-ass grin and a bunch of flowers in his hands. He was two full days early.

To be honest I kind of just stood there and looked at him. I didn't think he was real.

Now...

I am so freaking happy right now it is unreal!

Brian brought with him presents from my friends and my family for Christmas and an amazing care package from my friends with all the little bits one tends to miss over here in Ireland (Hello Mac'n cheese and ranch dressing!)

I seriously have the best family and friends in the world. So thanks everyone. Especailly If you knew- thanks for keeping it a secret, it's the best Christmas present I have ever gotten.

Inspector time....

2008-12-17T12:51:51Z

So my inspector is coming today to obeserve me and I have to say I am more than a little nervous.

If you don't know- the person comes in and basically just watches one of my classes and then judges me on my performance. My cooperating teacher also gives him her reflection on my overall performance and I am graded.

So with that and classes and my homework, it's a little bit stressful in my world right now :)

But....on the brightside, Brian is coming in two days!!

He will be here on Friday and we will be traveling around before Christmas and hanging out for the first time in 3 months!

I am way excited :)

I'll let you guys know how the inspection went and everything!

Happy Holidays!

Who are the Dead Poet's?

2008-12-12T11:42:37Z

I got to show a clip from Dead Poet's Society today in one of my classes and I probably enjoyed it more than they did.

None of them had even heard of the movie! What a sad, sad world.

Christmas is on the horizon...

2008-12-09T10:34:42Z

This week is going to be so hectic!

I have a ton of my own homework to do (i.e. reflections, papers, a power point, ect.) and I have the last two weeks of class for the semester! This means putting in grades, finishing up units, or in the case of my 5th years, semi-starting a unit, and lots of grading.

Why am I in this profession again?

:D Lots of prayers would be appreciated

Thank goodness Brian comes in 10 days! Atleast I have something to look forward to.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Fishy

2008-12-04T13:31:44Z

So today I recieved a present from the place we took the students to go sailing. All of the teachers who went got a present.

It was a fish.

A foot and a half long salmon to be exact.

I tried to cook some, I mean I marinated it and everything. But it wasn't until I took a bite that I remembered I really don't like salmon.

I'll give it to my neighbor I think.

Ireland can be so weird sometimes.

:D

Irish Sailing

2008-12-02T20:40:31Z

Hello everyone!

I apologize for not having written since Thanksgiving, lots has been happening. I only have the time at the moment because I have unfortunately gotten sick, so I’m not up for much else.

On Thanksgiving, the actual one at home, I went with a class of my first years and the school’s gym teacher to Kenmare on a sailing trip.

The day started out pretty bad and rainy, but by the time we got to Kenmare the sky was clear and gorgeously blue.

The girls and us teachers got dressed up in our wetsuits, overalls, jackets, and life-preservers and headed out with the sailors. They were able to give us three options: a speed boat, kayaks, or a sail boat.

See me in the middle? It's a lot of red i know...

My first trip was out on the sailboat with about 8 of the girls and the sailor guy. This was quite possibly the best part of the day for me. The boat was small, so I always had someone clinging to me, and the sailor-guy was a little mean and always tipping the boat so the girls were screaming constantly. I was pretty much laughing the whole time.

From the sailboat we also were able to see some wild seals on the small islands around the bay. The girls were quiet for this because they didn’t want to scare them away and so we were able to watch the seals dive into the waters and watch us from the distance. It was seriously one of the coolest things for me here—even if only for a moment.

After getting off the sailboat, the girls I had been with went onto the kayaks and I went with three girls onto the speedboat. The girls on the speedboat couldn’t go into the water for different reasons, so they stayed on there the whole time and I was able to just enjoy the scenery around me from the fast little boat.

Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the hell out of my time with the students. I Loved being out of school with them and getting to know them a little better, but I have never been so cold in my whole life. It was wet and about 30 degrees. I think my toes are still a little frozen.

I bring this up because of what I witnessed and laughed at next.

I had the joy of watching a few of my students try to change kayaks with each other on the water. This, of course, was not successful. Three of them fell into the water promptly and floundered there until they were able to pull themselves out.

All the girls were then led to a water-trampoline out in the middle of the bay. The other teacher and I watched from the dock as the girls jumped and slid down a slide into the absolutely freezing waters of the Atlantic Ocean. You seriously have to see it to believe it. Those were brave little students of mine.

We ended the day with a hot lunch and a romp around a play ground were the girls tried to ask me about Brian and guess my first name. It was a really great day and I am so glad I went.

So, nowadays, Killarney is getting colder, though not cold enough for snow (which I hate). But everything else seems to be moving along. Ruth and Katie have both finished their student teaching and are now in Germany. Katie will be coming back from her visit with Ruth to meet up with her parents and sister and will then be going around Ireland for a little while. Amber will be here with me for the next week and a half, and Brian will be here in almost two weeks to celebrate Christmas with me. After Brian leaves, I am going to visit Ruth in Germany for the New year and will come back to Killarney for one last week of teaching before I come home.

It’s funny how the days seem to move so slowly, but everything seems to be happening too quickly. These next few weeks are sure to be amazing!

Oh, before I say goodbye, Amber and I are supposed to be going Irish step dancing tomorrow. So, I’ll let you know how that went….

should be interesting.

Bye!

Irish Thanksgiving

2008-11-24T12:20:48Z

Because we won't have time on Thursday, Katie, Amber, Ruth, and I decided to celebrate Thanksgiving a little early. The day started at noon and lots of cooking insued!

We managed to make all the regular things we would normally have with our families: stuffed basil and rosemary turkey breast, broccoli casserole, corn, rolls, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, stuffing, and gravy!

We may have had to ad-lib a few things (like french fried onions are non-exsitent here) but all in all, it really was an amazing Thanksgiving, and it really did remind us all of home. Well, it did for Katie, Amber, and I, but Ruth has pledged to celebrate Thanksgiving in Germany from now on! :)

Here's some pictures of our own little holiday:

Getting my cheese sauce ready. They don't have Velvetta here, so I had to make my own for the broccoli casserole. I'm also posing for Ruth if you hadn't noticed....

Katie and Amber getting the marshmallows ready for the sweet potatoes

Turkeys ready!

Doesn't all that look amazing!? We were very proud of ourselves.

Good memories with great friends and a bottle of wine :D

Carving is a lot harder than it looks, thank god we didn't get a whole turkey...

My yummy plate of food complete with all the fixin's

and German chocolate mousse for desert courtesy of Ruth!

I'll miss you all on the actual holiday! I'll be sailing in Kenmare with some of my students. I'm still not sure why as I'll freeze to death, but it should be an experience.

Ring of Kerry

2008-11-20T13:06:13Z

This weekend John took Katie, Ruth, and I around the Ring of Kerry. It is fall here in Ireland, so the drive around turned out to be absolutely beautiful with the orange, yellow, red, and brown leaves covering everything. We started our drive going the opposite way that the buses normally go, heading south and west rather than north and west and stopping in cities like Kenmare, Sneem, Cahersiveen , and Caherdaniel.

We first stopped to see Torc Waterfall again (it was just as beautiful)

And then we stopped at..

Lady’s View-which is named after Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting

Moll’s Gap (Moll is weirdly is short for Mary)

Kenmare, for a look around and some hot chocolate (the buildings were really colorful!)

Ireland’s supposed “best view.” Fog permitting of course, it is Ireland.

A place where we where we were also chased in our car by wild dogs who were mad I didn’t finish playing fetch with them and their rock. He's going after the rock in this picture...

The best view also had a really funny sign- apparently aliens follow the people who try to swim there.

Sneem (pronounced Shneem)

During our stop in Sneem, we stopped in a small diner and I had Shepard’s pie for the first time here! It was delicious; even if it did need a lot of salt (most Irish food seems to anyway).

and we finished the tour at Rossbeigh beach.

Where we also met the cutest puppy ever. He was must nicer than those stupid other dogs.

And finished up in Killarney with some Irish coffee!

The car rides with John, Ruth, Katie, and I are usually full of random singing (this trip it was songs from the Sound of Music and West Side story), Katie and I asking John what different things are in Irish (like “John, how do you say ‘Give me cake?’” John giving us these phrases usually results in us running around saying things like “kiddies agus ponies!” and stupid things like this), and car sickness.

At this I feel absolutely terrible. John has gone out of his way to be unbelievably nice to us, and even though I sit in the front and try my hardest, I always seem to dissolve into terrible sickness. I totally blame the tight, small, and windy Irish roads because it wasn’t just me this time- Katie got sick too. But all in all, the trip was amazing and we got to see the most amazing views and some puppies too :)

Internet goodness

2008-11-15T16:12:33Z

I am so excited!

Katie and I are currently over another COST student Amber house. She, like Katie, is from Ohio and we have all been hanging out lately and having tons a fun. Amber is also joining us for our makeshift Thanksgiving this upcoming weekend.

I probably won't be coming home with an Irish accent because I seem to only hang out with Americans and one German :)

Anyway... we are currently stealing internet at her bed and breakfast and I am having way too much fun with all the fast internet access.

I also get to webcam and see Brian for the first time in two months!

YAY!

Thank goodness for modern communication.

Tis lovely in the classroom. Right?

2008-11-11T13:35:57Z

I have to say, walking into a classroom and asking my students "Ok, are you guys excited for your presentations?" and having them reply "YAH WHOOO YAY!" is quite rewarding :D

But, on the other hand, being in a classroom and hearing "miss miss miss miss miss!" for like 20 mins is not fun. I am barely called Miss Collins, only MISS!

And it usually results, like during the middle of my poetry lesson recently, in something like this:

"Miss miss miss!?"

"yes?"

"Did you vote for Obama?"

"You know that has nothing to do with the topic at hand hun..."

"Oh, I know, just interested."

Oi.

Finally, Finally. Erin talks about her fall break

2008-11-10T23:08:33Z

Ok, I am finally going to talk about my fall break, and all that happened- though it really wasn't that exciting. Not as exciting as home seems to be at the moment.

Let me just say that I am so very jealous of all my friends and family for getting to be in Chicago when Obama was elected. I hear Grant Park was amazing.

Driving North

Before the break came up, Ruth told me and Katie that her boyfriend Julien was coming to visit her and that they had planned a trip around some major sites in Ireland. She invited us to go on the first leg of the trip (drive there, we take a bus back) and we readily agreed. So, early Sunday morning, we set out north heading for the first stop on the trip- the Cliffs of Moher.

We took the car along some pretty normal Irish roads (meaning windy, crazy, and random) and saw many things- namely cows and sheep and stone walls- they kind of make Ireland what it is and are pretty much always there. But we also saw some dogs in the sky, or as normal people know them- rainbows. Not, I'm not sure why the Irish call them that, but they were HUGE! And we could see where they ended! We kept asking Julien to drive and find it, but unfortunately a crock of gold was not in store for us. We did get to go on a ferry though. We took the car onto a ferry in order to cross into Shannon and continue our drive. It was really cold, but very pretty.

The Cliffs of Moher

We finally got half way through the drive and arrived at the Cliffs of Moher just in time for a storm. The wind alone was unbelievable, but what's interesting about the Cliffs is that you can literally watch a storm come right at you. Fighting the wind to the ticket counter (unfortunately it's sideways so the wind can attack you) we were all ready with our money when Julien spotted the coming surge of wind and rain. We jumped behind the stone ticket counter just in time, and huddled so the storm couldn't touch us, well, except for Katie. Katie decided to brave the rain and wind and get her tickets- which ultimately got her right side completely and utterly soaked. Julien bought Ruth's and my ticket, so we were only slightly soaked and we all waited in the visitor area until the storm passed.

When we were finally able to make it up the hill to the cliffs we were blasted by more wind and one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. The ocean stretched out for miles and miles on end. The Cliffs were so large, you could barely see the seagulls swooping and diving near the water down below. At the innermost points the wind was so powerful against the cliffs that it pushed water from the ocean up and over, drenching everyone who walked by. It was truly amazing.

Galway

Galway was a really pretty town and it was lovely to actually see a real city again. Galway is seated on a bay and is really tightly jammed together—this makes it especially easy to get around. Ruth, Julien, Katie, and I were able to meet up with a friend of Ruth’s family, a professor at the University of Galway, and he helped us with our hostel arraignments and maps and stuff. He was amazingly helpful and really nice and all the information he got us helped us wonder our way around.

We got to walk all around and visit a beautiful cathedral named Saint Nicholas’, where I was able to say a prayer for the anniversary of my Uncle Tom’s passing, walked down through the Claddagh, and hung out in all the shops and stores. Galway is really a shopping town; there are a lot of shops to visit and way too much temptation—this also applies to the bars. We found a bar named Tigh Coili’s had an awesome night out.

Katie and I had to go home for the few days after we came home from Galway, to catch up on work and enjoy a few lazy days, while Ruth and Julien made their way around Ireland on a quick try-to-see-all vacation. We agreed to meet them in Cork, their last stop, for a day trip and travel to see the Blarney stone.

Cork and Blarney

Cork was beautiful and not at all what I expected. It was much bigger than Galway and though it was just as jam packed, it felt more spread out and was really pretty.

The best part of the day was going to Blarney. Because it was November, there were not many tourists, and the day had absolutely beautiful weather. We were able to wander around Blarney castle, weaving in and out of the 600 year old ruin’s rooms and scarily small stone staircase, and climb slowly to the top to see and kiss the Blarney stone. The castle was much larger than I had expected (about 3 stories tall) and walking through all the cramped rooms made it was hard to imagine what life must have been like there.

We got to the very top of the castle and walked around the rampart to the small man at the opposing end. To try and explain this: Imagine the side of a castle, there is a section that juts out at the top, now imagine that the bottom part of that jut is missing. The bottom part of the overhang is the Blarney stone. A wonderful older man helps you lay on your back, with your shoulders and head over the edge (not a pretty site if your scared of heights) and you kiss the Blarney stone. You are backwards and upside down basically, but it’s a great experience and a ton of fun.

The rest of the day was spent wandering about the grounds of Blarney castle and checking out all the funny, very touristy things, they had to offer (wishing steps, druids stones, and the like). It was really the best tourist thing I have done here so far.

Sorry this has been so late in coming, things have gotten really busy. We might be doing some more tourist stuff this weekend, and I promise to update sooner on that. I hope everybody is having a wonderful November!

Interesting (i.e. hard to pronounce) Names of Ireland

2008-11-08T11:34:28Z

Well, the ones I have come across anyway.

Cliona: pronounced "Cleana"

Niamh: pronounced "Neev"

Caoimhe: pronounced "K-wee-va"

Aisling: pronounced "Ash-ling"

Beibhinm: pronounced "Bevin"

Aoife: pronounced "E-fa"

Eilish: pronounced "A-lish"

Eimear: pronounced "E-mer"

Roisin: pronounced "Row-sheen"

Then I also have a few other international students names that are interesting

Iratxe: pronounced "Eh-rat-che"

Olatz: pronounced "Oh-lat-z"

Nermine: pronounced "Ner-mean"

Alya: pronounced "Al-e-ya"

Fun, huh? I still am constantly butchering a few of them, and I know there are more crazy ones out there. Enjoy!

GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!

2008-11-04T11:40:41Z

Hey everybody!

So I hope everyone gets the chance to vote. I was able to vote absentee here in Ireland and am very happy about it! I hope you all get off your butts and vote too! There are no excuses aside from grievous bodily harm!

peace. love. vote!

Yay for fall break!

2008-11-03T11:45:14Z

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in about a week. We had fall break here in Ireland, so Katie, Ruth, Ruth's boyfriend Julien, and I were busy being as touristy as we could be. I will post more later about what actually happened during our trips, but in the mean time, here's some photographic proof of what we did :)
Oh, by the way, we went to the Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Cork, and Blarney.

The Cliffs of Moher. I have never in my life felt wind like I did here. People have literally been blown off to their deaths here.

We thought we were going to be blown off!

Another pretty picture of them.

Crazy blue Atlantic ocean

Galway!

Sitting with Oscar Wilde and his son of the streets of Galway

St. Nickolas' Cathedral in Galway

Cork city

In Blarney Castle, heading through the dungeon

It was a really small dungeon. We crawled through most of it.

Blarney Castle from the front (It's really really big)

On our way up to the Blarney stone. It's at the very very top on a detached ledge. Yah.

Me kissing the Blarney stone! (see the overhang? It's a long fall, so thank god for those bars)

Kissing goodbye to the blarney stone- my most favorite tourtist stop yet.

That's all for now! Hope you enjoyed them!

A series of words

2008-10-23T11:20:45Z

There are many words here in Ireland that they use on a regular basis that are not so often used at home. I thought that I would divulge a few of these as they are quite amusing.

Lovely- the word lovely in Ireland is used to describe pretty much everything that they find nice. My writing is lovely, the car is lovely, the weather today is lovely. It's like their substitution for cool or awesome or nice. It covers everything.

Criac- this is an Irish word meaning "fun." It is pronounced like the English word crack. So, needless to say, it is really hard not to laugh when you hear teachers asking each other "did you have some good craic this weekend?" or "Wow that's some craic isn't it!?"

Brilliant- a while back at home, there was a Guinness commercial with these male Irish characters. The characters were always shouting that everything was “BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT!” Little did I realize how often or charismatically the Irish actually use this word. The commercial actually had a spark of truth. Like lovely, the word brilliant is used as a descriptor for most everything-people, cars, actions, ect. I cannot begin to express the amount of times I hear people saying “ohch yah, that’s brilliant it is.”

I'm sure I hear more, but these are the ones that came right to mind. I am constantly asking for them to explain certain words to me, as there are pretty much different words for everthing over here (like boot for car trunk and trainers for gym shoes).

I'm happy I don't get embarrassed asking questions or I would never understand anything people say.

Update!

2008-10-20T21:00:44Z

I am putting this entry behind a link because it is a little long.

Just...

(

Teaching:

Things are going pretty well I think. Emphasis on I think. If there is one thing I am definitely learning about being a new teacher, it is that most of the time you really have no idea what you’re doing. Your lessons are totally subject to any number of factors: the students’ mood, the weather, time of day, the subject of the lesson, my attitude, the activity, what subject the students have come from previously—I mean I could go on and on. It would be interesting if it wasn’t so terrifying.

But, like I said, I think I am doing ok. I haven’t come home crying, I only feel overwhelmed half of the time, and I can generally get everything school-related (aka grading) done when I need to get it done. This doesn’t apply to my own homework though (if you didn’t know- student teaching is also a class, so I have homework and still am a student with deadlines of my own). I will be using the break coming up to catch up on that.

I like what I am teaching. Currently, I am teaching my first years about drama- and having them come up with a short play, and teaching my second years about poetry- through Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein- and having them connect their stories’ issues to their own lives. I am having a little trouble with my fifth year international students though. I am helping them with their language fluency in writing, reading, and speaking, which sounds rather easy but the girls are at all different levels and keeping things interesting and challenging enough is starting to wear on me.

I am also keeping myself kind of busy. I was involved in helping with an all-Ireland poetry competition and tomorrow I get to help out with the international club at our school. We have students from (get ready for this) Malaysia, Egypt, Denmark, Spain, Germany, the United States, Lithuania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. And I guarantee I am forgetting a couple. Most of these students are here because their families moved here and some are here on scholarship or student exchange. Some have great English, some have barely any. I am way looking forward to meeting up with them tomorrow because I absolutely know what they are all going through and I am so interested in their experiences so far. It’s nice that I know a whole bunch of them (I teacher like 9 of them already) so I already have a connection to them.

Living:

For your enjoyment, I have amassed a small sampling of things odd and awesome about random things in the Land O’ Green:

Odd/Weird/Annoying:

1. There are no street signs anywhere. Well, they’re there, but the Irish hide them. There are stone walls all over Ireland (literally, they have probably been here since before the people were here) and you have to look on or around them to figure out where you are. So, if you are driving and trying to figure out what the street was you just passed, you have to stop the car, get out, and walk a ways down that street to look for a plaque in the stones (its also the same color as the stones)

2. The amount of potato, turnip, and carrot consumption. Period. I mean, I love potatoes but it’s ridiculous. Oh, on the same thought, also the lack of spice on their food. I have come to believe that either they have never heard of it or just plain refuse to use any.

3. The weather. It rains everyday. Even on days that are sunny, expect rain.

4. Driving on the wrong side of the road. Ok, Britain, Ireland, and Australia are the only places in the world where they do this and I knew to expect it when I came, but I literally always feel like I am about to get hit by a car or that I am going to step out onto the road accidentally and die.

5. Hot showers are only available when the heat has been on in the house or it’s a relative day. Which it kind of never is.

6. Ridiculously narrow and windy streets everywhere—including cliffs.

7. Maths. They don’t separate the subject like we do when talking about it, and refer to it in an unnecessary plural.

8. All you seem to hear is American music in the bars or the shops. It’s a little unnerving.

9. They put corn on their pizza. Also, an American pizza is apparently pepperoni and jalapeños. Yah.

Awesome:

1. The view. Pretty much everywhere you go, there is a view and it’s amazing. But, I was commenting on how gorgeous the coast was near Dingle and how I couldn’t believe that there wasn’t more housing, and John, the nice man who took us there replied that I hadn’t seen it in the winter. And now considering that the weather man here reports on the Gale force winds every night, I kind of understand. It’s still ridiculously beautiful though.

2. The people are really nice. Everyone I have met so far had been so gracious and welcoming it’s been easy to get settled.

3. My roommate Katie and the German student teacher Ruth are amazing. I am so happy to have people I can talk to and who are going through the same thing I am, and who can look at the country we are in and all be confused about the same things. I have definitely met some girls that I will talk to in the future, and I am actually going to Germany after Christmas, and after Brian leaves, to hang out for the rest of the holiday with Ruth.

4. No food tax!! It helps with the outrageous exchange rate I have to pay.

5. All the accents are cool. Especially the kids because they are so thick.

6. The McDonalds doesn’t make you feel like an obese tub o’ lard. The menu is cut down and slightly healthier.

7. The TV programs. We have some that now that we watch religiously and believe me it’s going to turn ugly when I have to leave.

8. The history. It surrounds you where ever you go and unlike at home, the history dates back over a thousand years and is just, like, hanging out. It’s amazing that any of it has lasted as long as it has. For example- on Facebook and on an earlier post here in Livejournal—I put pictures up of a monk oratory that has been here for 1,300 years old. And if it wasn’t for invaders and the like, more would be here standing like they did when they were first built.

So, I have just typed a lot and my fingers are tired. So I hope you enjoyed my…observations. I’ll probably be talking more about all sorts of things and happenings and such.

Miss you all! Will update again soon

erininireland @ 2008-10-20T14:00:00

2008-10-20T13:01:28Z

Ireland would be so pretty if it didn't rain so much...

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erininireland @ 2008-10-14T16:17:00

2008-10-14T15:41:54Z

Hey everyone!

Katie and Ruth were invited out by one of the teachers at St. Bredan's, named Mr. O'Shea, to take a trip to the Dingle Penninsula. They asked if I could go as well, and on Sunday we all took a drive out to the coast to see the sites.

It was amazing. We kept thanking Mr. O'Shea because without him, we never would have been able to see anything.

We first went to Inch beach, where the tide was out. The view is indescribable. It looks out into a bay.

This means Ruth, Katie, and Erin were here in Irish
"Bhi Ruth, Katie, agus Erin anseo"

We then went on to Dingle city and took the absolutely terrifying ride on the roads to go to the famous Dingle Penninsula.

It was REALLY windy.

The rest of the day was spent in the Dingle aquarium (where I got to touch a sting ray!)

Seeing the strange random sites

(yes, this is water flowing over a bridge as opposed to under it

And finally visiting beautiful ancient runes. This is a 1,300 year old Oratory. It is STILL waterproof! My roommate Katie kept saying that she wanted to steal a stone out of it :D

and this is the ruin next to the oratory- the symbol represents the sun. Something then do not really have here.

I'll post more later about what I am currently doing during the week- we don't do or see things like this often :D

Peace and love