Wednesday, October 18, 2006

how classes differ

one of the nicest things to get used to here is how much different classes are than at smith. at home, i had classes daily until 3pm. sometimes not on fridays. but here, each class meets for only one or two hours every week. therefore, i have monday, wednesday, and friday off, with each only having one class in the mornings. however, this comes back to bite me in the ass on tuesdays and thursdays, because i'm doing so much during the day that i don't have time to just... sit.

the other major difference is the work load. each class here has one, maybe two essays, and a final exam, whereas at smith, we'd have papers all throughout the semester, and barely exams. therefore, i'm spending a lot of time to myself now, but will probably have to study, or something, come exam time.

Monday, October 16, 2006

bunratty

i forgot to post this picture, it's from a few weeks ago, and atop the castle in bunratty.
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love chris

Thursday, October 12, 2006

languages classes

dia duit (god be with you,) conas atá tú (how are you?)

i promised myself after taking latin for an ungodly amount of years that i wouldn't take too many languages classes again. however, that's not working out so well... i'm enrolled in both old and irish here in cork. i actually really like the modern language, and i'm trying to practice while here.

as for old irish (the language spoken from c. 400-800ish,) it serves as the only redeeming quality for having taken so many years of latin. i know my grammar. poor Ifer, my roommate, has no grammatical experience and is swimming in nominatives and accusatives, genitives and datives.

in any case, i'm sitting between classes on Ifer's computer waiting to go home and take a power nap before hitting the clubs tonight. i like the scene around corcaigh (cork,) and thursday nights shall henceforth hold a special place in my heart. by this i mean it's students' night.

slán,
chris

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

line 'em up, line 'em all up...

if there is one thing the irish love to do, it's queue. any and every opportunity for a queue is taken with relish. i've actually watched folks walk past a perfectly working ATM on the street to join the queue at the next one over. it's as if the community act of impatiently waiting in line is a bonding experience that they can't miss out on.

this having been said, i spent all of today and yesterday wandering all over cork city for one queue or another trying to get my PPSN (social security number) and a job. the ss office is worse than the DMV office back home. it's just not my deal... i'm so glad i brought a book. the good news, though, is that i'm waitressing at a place just around the corner.

much love,
chris

Monday, October 02, 2006

homestay weekend in kerry

butler, the program through which i came here to cork, sent us all out on a homestay weekend in castleisland, kerry, where we were placed with a "real" irish family to better understand the irish culture.

during the few days they sent us to limerick for our orientation, they did a lot of preemptive explanation as to what to expect during our homestay. they were telling us these things to clear up misunderstandings that might occur, in such a way that i might do as if we were to go for a month or more. more to the point, though, is that as these "situations" came up in conversation, i found myself thinking, "oh, we do that...." "yup, familiar...." "oh is that where that came from?!"

for example, tea. they were talking about how they would offer tea at every 20 minutes, and even after the denial of the offer, it was to come eventually. the game that is played between host and guest was also spoken of, where tea is denied the first two or three times, but then accepted. both parties know that tea will eventually be on the agenda, but first they dance around the subject.

sound familiar?

and then, i went to mass, and the first thing they did was list off the people who have passed within the county and anyone any of the congregation knew who had passed. and we wonder where this "when i'm gone..." culture comes from.

while i enjoyed the weekend, it served more to enlighten what aspects of our family life come from this place more than to help me "understand the irish culture."

apparently i'm terrible about getting this thing started.

to begin:

don't expect capital letters. i just don't feel the need to highlight anything special. and i'm lazy.
expect lots of song quotes. if i'm updating in a stream of consciousness type deal, they are within my s.o.c. dig? i'll "quote" 'em or something.
do expect lots of travel news and random stories.
do expect comparisons of where i am to what it's like in the states.
expect my friends' names to appear. i'll introduce the first time, after that, up to you to remember who is whom.
i'll try and update this more regularly than i email. if it's been more than a week, shoot me an email being like "chris, stop being lazy, or busy, and do it."

i'll put this on the user info or whatever it's called as well.

from henceforth, the adventures of one and one half wandering jew. minus the half and minus the jew. so actually the adventures of a wandering... me.