Don't feed the birds

Today was a fairly low-key day. I headed into Dun Laoghaire to grocery shop at Tesco with Colleen. Now, it's true that there are two other grocery stores much closer to our dorms. However, they don't have the amazing (microwaveable) Tesco pot pies. Our dorm kitchens lack conventional ovens, so the cooking we do needs to either happen in the microwave or on a stove. I discovered the deliciousness of Tesco pot pies (steak, chicken and mushroom, etc.) almost two weeks ago and quickly went through my supply. So off to Dun Laoghaire we went.

Our first stop in Dun Laoghaire was actually a clothing store called Penny's. It is basically a discount store filled with tons of fashion and accessories. The trends over here are outrageous but fun. Never before have I been so interested in clothes, accessories, and all the different looks they can create together. Since my hair has grown long enough now to get bed head, Colleen and I decided to mess around with the idea of me wearing a hat. As you can see, I don't think it really suits me ha. Colleen was really rockin' the shades but, alas, I couldn't convince her to buy them.

After Penny's it was off to the grocery store. I won't bore you with the details, but I will say that I finally bought a mixed bag of bite-sized candy bars. Most of the time here I really haven't had any craving for sweets. But ever since last Sunday, when I had some chocolate fudge cake, I've been wanting something sweet to finish off my dinners. The funny thing is that over here, Milky Ways are actually like U.S. Three Musketeers, and the Mars bars are the U.S. Milky Ways. And they also have things called Magic Stars, which are really just chocolate bits in the shape of stars.

While waiting for the DART back to Blackrock, I decided to open the bag of candy and have a mini-Twix. Colleen was having some Magic Stars, when one accidentally fell on the ground. Big mistake. One of the many pigeons decided it looked pretty tasty, but he wasn't the only one. Soon there were two more pigeons trying to grab the chocolate star from him. In an attempt to keep the other two pigeons from taking his chocolate star, the first pigeon tried to take the whole thing in his mouth. Big mistake. The star was too large for him to swallow but too big for him to close his beak or spit it back out. The star had lodged itself so that it was propping the pigeon's beak open and he couldn't get it to move (see photo). I told Colleen the pigeon was going to choke on the Magic Star and she looked horrified. This went on for almost a minute, with the pigeon shaking its head, swatting its claw up towards its face, and so on. I'm not sure how he did it, but finally the bird had swallowed it down and closed his beak. So note to self - don't try feeding birds chocolate stars unless you want to possibly choke them.

Hang ten duuude

I was able to snag one of the seventy available spots for this weekend Surf Club trip. That's right, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I will be hanging out in Bundoran, Ireland on the West Coast learning to surf. I have never been one with great balance on things such as skateboards or snowboards, so this could be interesting.

Today was my busy day with all three of my law classes. My Food Law class is by far the most interesting. Today's class was run by Professor Patrick Wall - one of the most interesting and accomplished people I think I've met in quite some time. It was a great opportunity to look at food safety from a non-legal perspective. But don't worry - it wasn't some kind of shock-and-awe presentation that ended with me swearing of meat or anything.

Since we got out of class early, I was able to make it to the softball practice for a good solid hour. Then it was off to archery. There were so many people at archery that we were only able to shoot two arrows at a time and then had to get back in line. Depending on what line you were in determined how much guidance you received about proper technique. I unfortunately must have been in the wrong line, because multiple times I ended up having the bow string strike against my forearm after releasing the arrow - and that hurts! I'm pretty sure I'll have a nice bruise appearing in the next day or so.

As for the travel front - I'm having second thoughts about a trip to Barcelona. It seems almost certain that if I go, it would be on my own. And I read that it is apparently the pickpocketing capital of Spain. I'm just unsure of how much I would enjoy myself. Perhaps my money would be better spent renting a car and diving deeper into Ireland, rather than trying to superficially hit up more countries. Comments?

Update: Activity Clubs

I managed to narrow down my list of clubs, but admittedly still probably joined too many.

• Surf
• Canoe
• Rifle
• Archery
• Softball

Saturday I showed up for my first Canoe Club meeting. I apparently misunderstood the email that listed what stuff we should bring. Note for the future - "swim toggles" means swimming suit or swim trunks, not swim shoes. So when I showed up without a swim suit and it was time to put on the wetsuit, I was out of luck. Fortunately one of the members was able to run home quick and bring me an extra set of trunks.

At noon we got our kayaks in the water (yeah the ocean water, which was surprisingly warmer than I expected). It took a little while but I think I picked up the paddling techniques pretty well. We ran a bunch of paddling drills and games. There was one game called Chariot. In pairs, one person got in the water behind the kayaks. The other had to stand-up with one foot in each kayak and try paddling - which was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I was the one who stood up in the kayaks and my legs started shaking after a couple minutes because I had to use my leg muscle to keep the kayaks from separating.

Our last drill was a capsize. We had to turn over our kayaks, hit the sides three times with our hands (to make sound to alert anyone around us), and then pull the cord that allows us to slip out of the boat. Finally, at about two o'clock we pulled the kayaks out of the water, changed into dry clothes, and headed to a nearby restaurant to hangout and chat. I met some fun people and had a great time. I was pretty exhausted for the rest of the day, so I mainly worked on stuff in my dorm room.

Today I'm going to go to the Surf Club meeting to sign up for the surf trip that's happening this next weekend. There are only 70 spots available, so I'll need to try hard to get there right away. Tomorrow night I'm going to attempt to make it to Softball from 4-6, Archery from 6-7, a Kayak club gathering starting at 7:30, and then Rifle at 8:30. Yeah - it could be a very busy evening. But that's what I'm here for - to try tons of new things!

Dublin Culture Night

Friday was Dublin Culture Night, when a bunch of museums and galleries stayed open late and allowed for free entry. I had been looking at the different options for about a week and decided to get a ticket to a performance/exhibit called European Dream that I thought looked, well, weird. I wanted to do something that seemed like it would be a unique experience. Here is what the gallery website said:

"Typically, Rolfe’s videos are shot with a daring economy and to exquisite effect that few in this medium can match. The reduction to one or two materials and gestures, this time with accompanying sound makes for all the more disturbing viewing. This exhibition has the effect of finding its way under the skin and leaving a deep impression.

On Culture Night, September 24, 2010, the artist will perform, once and for one night only, in the Green On Red Gallery the most amplified version of European Dream seen to-date. Booking will be essential. "

I mean, that sounds exciting, right? Adi and I went to the performance. Basically there was a large open room with three projection walls. On one wall there was a video of a golden hand closing into a fist and then opening. On the next wall was a projected photo of the inside of a building that was apparently the site of mass death. The final wall had a video of blue powder falling onto a hand and then at a certain point, another hand would clap into the powder - sending it scattering into the air and coating both the hands.

At "7:30 sharp" the artist (who looked creepy - like a man capable of eating your flesh) began his performance. For about twenty minutes we watched him coat his left hand in gold foil. When that part was finished, he took what looked like a flour scooper in his right hand and began pouring a pile of blue powder onto the table. Once there was a fairly large mound of powder on the table, the artist had his "gold" hand planted on the table and did a deep, staring scan of the audience. Then suddenly he plunged his face into the blue powder, smushing it around so that the blue covered his entire face. Then he looked up and did another deep staring scan at the audience. Finally, he came out from behind the table and addressed the audience - however he didn't have a microphone and didn't project, or even face the entire audience, so Adi and I missed basically everything he said about the events that inspired the exhibit. Then suddenly the artist seemed to rush out of the room crying. A couple of men in the front row certainly enjoyed it because they were very exuberant in their clapping. But Adi and I decided it was definitely the kind of art that is over our heads.

Next we tried to make it to Dance Ireland to get in a free lesson, but unfortunately the last instructor called in sick. Right, I can't imagine why a dance instructor wouldn't want to come give a free lesson to complete amateurs on a Friday night.

On the plus side, we decided to head down to Trinity College. There, we got to see the Old Library and Book of Kells exhibit. I was actually more awestruck by the Old Library. The woodwork and sheer look of the room was remarkable. They don't allow photography - even without flash. I considered breaking the rules, but with so many people around I didn't want to be a trouble maker. So the photo here is not my own and I can't claim any rights to it.

Our final stop in Dublin was also on Trinity College campus - the Science Gallery. The exhibit was Bio-Rhythm: Music and the Body. It seemed like a really great place with lots of hands-on activities. Adi and I actually tried out the acoustic bed, which had speakers and sub-woofers build into the bed so that it vibrated with the music. It was interesting but also felt gross knowing how many people had been on the bed before us, even in just that one evening.

We finally headed home on the DART, but little did we know we were heading right into traffic from the Michael Buble concert. The train was delayed probably around an hour, so I was ready to crash in bed the second I got back to my dorm. All-in-all I think it was another great night.

To Arthur!

This past Thursday was Arthur's Day, which as one gentleman in the pub explained "is like St. Patrick's Day, but without all the fighting." There are tons of concerts in the pubs around town and everyone is supposed to toast a pint of Guinness at 5:59 pm. I happened to get lucky enough that a friend (Liz) had two free tickets to Oliver St. John Gogarty's and invited me along. The line-up was The High Kings, Oliver Cole, and a surprise "studio artist"...who ended up being Tim Robbins (yes, the Oscar winning actor) & the Rogues Gallery Band.

Liz and I showed up about a half hour before the doors even opened. Once we were inside we managed to snag a great spot near the stage that also offered the comfort of some stools for sitting - or that later in the night we also stood on above the crowd. At the time of the actual toast, I did not follow protocol and instead raised a pint of Bulmer's Hard Cider. That's when the music finally kicked off!

The High Kings were up first and we couldn't have asked for a better way to start the celebration. They play traditional/Irish folk music with lots of energy and great for dancing. When Liz & I had first arrived at the bar, there were two girls that arrived soon after us and were already clearly drunk. As the High Kings played, the girls were right up in front for the whole thing, and they showed no intentions of slowing down their drinking or of realizing they shouldn't jump up and down in a tube-top. It was great.

During the evening we also made lots of new friends. One such group were the people standing in front of us. It was Ann & Paul (a married couple) and Paul's sister, Michelle. They were a riot - Ann kept yelling out "To Arthur!" after every song. They also enjoyed trash talking the second act, Oliver Cole, with us. It was really kind of embarrassing - the place was packed from the High Kings and then it was so empty by the end of Oliver Cole's set that the bar started letting people in off the street for free without tickets. I think part of the problem was that the styles of music were really mismatched - Oliver Cole plays more mellow/emo music and so it was a bit of a buzz kill after being hyped up from the High Kings.

Some of the other people we met were two women traveling around together. One was from London and the other from Melbourne, Australia. They started talking to us by commenting that they couldn't understand how I could be drinking Guinness, but that they supposed I was probably raised on it. Little did they know, I wasn't a native of Ireland. By the end of our interaction, the Australian women had asked how old I was and commented that she liked my buzz cut. When I said "thanks" and explained how new it was, she actually called me gorgeous...which always feels fabulous ha. Later in the night we met another woman from London who was in Dublin for business. She couldn't stop laughing because Paul was getting so excited (seriously, like a little school girl) about Tim Robbins being the final act.

People really did start going crazy though when it was announced. It got ridiculously packed and Tim stayed outside with security while his band set up. Another girl I met from Australia (who had fabulous leopard print pants that are best described as baggy stretch pants) did manage to get a photo with him outside before he went on stage - but she had to work for it! She just walked right up to him and asked for a photo even though he was surrounded by security. He said something to the effect of, "Really? I'm about to go on stage in, like, a minute and you really want a photo with me right now?" And she said, "Yes, I do." So he apparently answered again, "Really, you seriously want a photo with me right now?" But she didn't give up! So she said, "Yes, I want a photo with you." So he took a photo with her, though I don't think he smiled.

As for the music of Tim Robbins & the Rogues Gallery Band, well...I guess in my opinion, it's a good thing he's such a fine actor. Actually, the music really wasn't bad but the members didn't really seem in sync with each other - so maybe they'd just been toasting to Arthur quite a bit before arriving at our location. I've uploaded two short snippets of the performance on YouTube, so you can judge for yourself.

Tim & Band - snippet one

Tim & Band - snippet two

All in all - it was a fabulous night. I'm already disappointed I won't be able to be here for the celebration again next year. Cheers! To Arthur!

The inaugural post...it only took a month.

This revamped blog was long overdue - on Saturday I will have been living here for a month already! Don't worry, I won't try to make up for lost time by writing some ridiculously long post all at once.

My goals for this blog are to make it easy for people to keep up with what's happening in my life, have something I can look back at to help me remember this experience, and hopefully not bore anyone. As I recount some of the things from my first month here, the initial posts will likely be a mixture between recent and past events - but I'll do my best not to have it be confusing. I will also be creating an online photo album that I will link to, so as not to overload this site with photos...which I love to take photos.

So, in an attempt to not go overboard, I will simply share what's happened the last couple days.

Yesterday I worked on a presentation I had to give today in Food Law and then I attended my first class of Arabic Level 1. It was challenging and I'm going to need to practice, but I think it's going to be a fun language. I already caught myself practicing the letters while I was sitting in my Employment Law class today. Hopefully when I return home I can take the next level at the U of M or find someone to practice with.

Today I went to my Media Regulations course and we're learning about defamation. It was painful at times because the professor would ask a question and there would be dead silence for at least 20 seconds...which is a long time in that situation. I felt like saying "Bueller...Bueller" but restrained myself. Then it was off to Employment Law: Contracts for two hours, which as I mentioned was clearly so enthralling that I decided to practice Arabic.

The strange thing over here in Ireland is that Law is an undergraduate degree AND they don't have to pay tuition to go to school. So as you might guess, the level of enthusiasm and engagement by the students is not quite the same as back at the U Law School. But that's fine - I'm still learning new areas of law and it's nice not feeling so much pressure.

After lunch I had my Food Law class. Today there were four of us doing presentations - each on a different article we were assigned. The class is a nice mixture between law and food science/nutrition students. But it was funny the first day when he asked for volunteers to do the presentations this week, because the 4 of us that volunteered were all American law students. Since we only have to present once and it's worth 20% of our grade, I was happy with the idea of getting it over with. I won't bore you with the topic of my paper, but let's just say it was more difficult than I thought it would be. So when the professor complimented all of us on our presentations, I definitely felt a sigh of relief.

This is considered "Fresher's Week" here at University College Dublin (UCD) and so all the social and sports clubs have booths and are trying to get people to sign up. But over here, everyone has to pay to join clubs - not just sports clubs but any club! Granted, most of the social clubs only ask for 2 Euros, but it can add up quickly. I also realized there are way more sports clubs I'm interested in than I could ever possibly join. At this point I'm seriously considering the following:

• surf (when else would I learn to surf?)
• mountaineering (they do hikes every weekend and free use of the climbing wall)
• canoe club (kayaking trips every week)
• lacrosse
• archery
• rifle
  
• ultimate frisbee
• sailing
• tennis
• softball

Each sports club costs 10 or 15 Euros to join and they have certain practice schedules, along with various weekend trips/competitions. So obviously I will need to think carefully about the time commitment and what I can realistically be a part of before signing up.

At 5:30 pm the school hosted a "Buddy Social" for all the international students. They've assigned us to groups with about 5 other international students and 3 Irish student "buddies". Colleen and I went initially only for the free sandwiches (food is expensive here) and coffee (yes, I've finally started drinking coffee). But I was pleasantly surprised when I met some of the other students in my group. There were my two Irish buddies - a guy and a girl - who have apparently been friends with each other since they were 14, a girl from Germany, a girl from Singapore, and a guy from France (who is also studying law and told me I should visit Toulouse, France). They were all very nice and personable, so it sounds like we might get together again to hang out.

Well sorry for such a long post - I will try to break it up more in the future and make it more interesting with photos or something. Anyways - Cheers!