Moms Really Do Know Best

The last line of my mom's latest card to me: "Anxious to be reading about RAG Week - I think - what a place. Me thinks the potential is there for you all to come home alcoholics. Take care, and have fun." And while we're on the topic of parents... yesterday, or today for you slow people way back there in America, was/is my dad's birthday. Happy birthday to the best dad I've ever had! And I mean that.

RAG Week: Wrapup

In the spirit of moving on to new events, I'm going to make this the LAST entry about that damn RAG Week with some brief comments on what I did (except if any future career threatening photos pop up that I just have to post). Monday: U2/RHCP tribute concert was some serious craic. Definitely the best night of the week, and the pictures exist to prove it. Tuesday: Aslan concert, Mary Idol, Back to School party. Aslan is a fun, hardworking Irish band that has been at it for a long time (they're all on the wrong side of 40); I would love to take a trip to see play again somewhere around Ireland in the next few months. Mary Idol was supposed to be like American Idol, except everyone I heard perform used a guitar. Some girl who sang Damien Rice's "Cannonball" won. Fun, but it didn't deserve a much-coveted blog entry of its own. The Back to School Party was only noteworthy for the effect my hat had on the masses, which in its own right was pretty comical. Wednesday: Mundy, 70's Night, 70's Band, 70's DJ. Mundy had a few good songs, but see Just Another Reason Why Bruce Is The Boss for the real story. Aslan was much more enjoyable. The 70s band rocked out, although it was made up of just about the weirdest combination of three people than I could have ever imagined. A gay, spaztic, older frontman in white pants, a younger chic in a mini-dress and heels on the keys, and a guy in a kilt playing bass who didn't even look like he would pass even for Ireland's most forgiving drinking age. After the band, the 70s party shifted down to the nightclub, where the highlight and lowlight of the night came with the same guy. The highlight being the many pictures that people were taking next to a poor sap who had the misfortune of passing out in public, and the lowlight being the same guy chundering up his dinner rice on some of my friends' coats minutes later. Oh sweet but crusty irony. Thursday: Comedian, foam party. Comedian was in top form, especially when he was imitating how Germans come to Ireland with weather-proof everything. Right Sven? Foam party was more like a bubble party, although the fact that I was wearing a white tee and floral swim trunks among a crowd of fancy club go-ers did have it's own certain charm that I can't deny. Friday: "Diehards" night at Trinity Rooms. Understanding now why they called it "diehards," as my body had been yelling at me since Wednesday, our apartment did what anyone else who was dead tired would do: throw a party and have at it. And so we did. I don't know if I've ever said this before, but graciously, the weekend came and I could finally get some good rest. What a crazy week. Every night, the clubs were packed and everyone was body to body, well hydrated, and ready to go. Since this is most likely the only time in my life I'll be able to say the following, I'm gonna go ahead and say it. I did manage to take in at least one drink every day Monday-Sunday, leaving specific quantities to the imagination and to my pictures. And in this case, admission is not the first step toward recovery. I'm okay, I promise. Culture shocked maybe, but still in control. It was an interesting plunge into the culture of the Irish college student, but I can't say I wasn't glad that the week game to an end.

RAG Week: Back To School Party

backtoschool2 Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

Sporting my best back to school duds, I set out to recapture some of my grade school innocence in Trinity Rooms last Tuesday night. Feel free to comment on that as you see fit. The real story, however, lies in that fine piece of 100% wool that I wore on my head. It only took 20 seconds, without any story-enhancing exaggeration, for the first hat compliment of the night after walking into the club. And there were many more to come. All night, I was getting smiles and points from guys and girls alike. I can't remember how many times people took the hat off my head (I can't remember if that was because so many people did it or because of the Guinness) and put it on their head while we were on the dance floor. A few people even must have sworn they had misplaced their own hat on my head, because they grabbed it, put it on their own head, and started to walk off. At the end of the night, however, I was able to walk home with my hat, my tie (much to my dismay, the Irish proved themselves not to be knowledgeable in the Scooby Doo category, overly enamoured with my hat, or perhaps both), and my innocence. Which in a night club can be saying something.

RAG Week: Bungee Jumping

bungee jumping Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

Megan and Holly must have hit their head on something hard Sunday night, because when they woke up on Monday, they inexplicably decided it would be a good idea to bungee jump from 175 feet over a parking lot later that day. I didn't join them in their insanity, but I must say I was impressed that they did it. This is a picture of Holly free-falling. Both of them survived and say they would do it again. That's some serious craic.

RAG Week: Foam Party

source of the foam Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

Failing to live up to its hype, and both its good and bad connotations, Thursday night's foam party was mostly a dud. I'm hardly a veteran of wild foam parties, but for some reason I thought there would be more foam. As it was, there was only a foam machine over one small area of the dance floor, causing a survival of the fittest for anyone who wanted to feel their heads temporarily moistened with foam. All the other international students left early, but for some reason, I was determined to stick it out. So finding myself alone, I threw my body into the fray, getting bounced around from person to person. By the end of the night, I had gotten knocked down, caught a t-shirt that was thrown from the balcony, and found myself horribly underdressed. Oh yes. MAJORLY underdressed. After talking to people who had been to these parties in the past where there would be three feet of foam covering the dance floor, I made the decision to wear a swimsuit, a white t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I even convinced my poor friend John to do the same thing. Let's just say that swimsuits weren't the choice attire for the night. On the way out the door and on the walk home, when people finally had a clear view of my shorts that looked like they came from a florist, just about everyone I encountered was laughing at me. I even had someone stopped at a red light in a car wave and laugh. Chalk another one up in the experience column.

RAG Week: Just Another Reason Why Bruce Is The Boss

bruce Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

Normally I try not to really compare anyone to Springsteen, for better or worse, but watching Mundy perform this week in our lounge gave me a point of comparison that was just too easy. After playing his first song, this guy (who was looking very Springsteen-esque in his jeans and jean jacket, actually) said he needed everyone to pay more attention to him or else he couldn't play and he would just leave. Hey Mundy, aren't you a professional musician? Don't you understand that you were in a lounge at a college campus with an audience whose attention was split with the bar at stage right? An audience who hired you to play? I've played a poolside show in front of a bunch of strangers and we were avoiding splashes from cannonballs all set. A gig is a gig, and if you have that attitude, I don't know how you got to be where you are today. Life could be a bit worse. Back to my Springsteen comparison. You know how you were begging everyone to be quiet, showing yourself to be quite insecure? On his Barcelona DVD, in front of a full arena, all Bruce has to do is give one "shhhh" and everyone in the house shuts it, just in time to hear his harmonica kick into "Thunder Road." Or did you get that move watching the Live in New York City DVD and seeing Bruce stop a song because everyone was too rowdy? You know, in "American Skin," the song where Bruce is protesting the death of Amadou Diallo? He called for silence because he was making a stand against something he believed in. You called for silence because of a bulging ego. You have some good songs, but come on.

A Nearly Catastrophic End

Last night I dreamt that I was being chased by a lightning-quick domestic alligator that I had foolishly believed to be fatally wounded and incapable of pursuing me. To avoid the alligator, I jumped a fence, but then found myself in the middle of the pit of the two biggest lions I have ever seen. Running for my life towards the next fence, with the lions chasing me, I lucked out. The lions stopped, picked up a tennis ball, and stood up and threw it past the fence like I was a dog and would chase it. I hope this isn't a bad omen for the rest of my week.

Photo Of The Day: Brian & Brian

Brian & Brian. As the more astute among you probably guessed, Brian studied at Loyola last Spring. He says he had a great time and loved every minute of it, especially going to Hamilton's. I'll take the pubs over here, thank you very much.

I Can Learn

When I'm on my own, making dinner can sometimes be a little adventurous. Tonight, I decided to go for something a little extravagant and something I've never made myself before - grilled cheese to go with my soup. I nonchalantly asked Ellen, our resident Betty Crocker, for any advice. "Butter on the bread with medium heat and cheese," she said. No problem, Betty. Right as I was putting the buttered bread on the frying pan, Megan glanced up and offered her own suggestion. "I think you're supposed to butter the outside of the bread, not the inside." Thanks, Megan.

Photo Of The Day: Zoo-2 Gig

Bono from "Zoo-2" - the U2 tribute band. Click here for more pictures from Monday night's U2 and Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute bands gig.

RAG Week Begins

Since my last entry was about the classes I'm taking, I don't feel quite as bad about posting this. But get this. Monday morning kicks off what is known as RAG Week at Mary I. Standing for "Raise and Give," it's a fundraising/spirit week that I believe every university in Ireland has at one point in the year. Through ticket sales, they make a percentage of money that they are able to donate to local charities. Sounds innocent enough, but let me just post the schedule of events: Monday 21st February Daytime: Bungee jump, karaoke, BBQ, "Chain-Gang" pub crawl Nighttime: Zoo-2 (U2 tribute band), Blood Sugar (Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band), & a DJ at Dolan's Pub. Tuesday 22nd February Daytime: King of MIC competition, Feedback (Mary I. band) & Aslan performing in the student lounge Nighttime: Mary Idol (like American Idol) and a Back-to-School themed party at Trinity Rooms Wednesday 23rd February Daytime: Blind Date competition, Mundy performing in the student lounge, hypnotist in the auditorium Nighttime: 70's night, 70's band, & 70's DJ at Clohessey's Bar & Sin Bin nightclub (I'm not making this up) Thursday 24th February Daytime: Comedian, Battle of the Sexes, Blind Date reviewed, more live music in the lounge, and a live fireworks display at dusk Nighttime: Surprise concert at Nevada Smith's (a pub), Foam party at Market Night Club Friday 25th February Daytime: DVDs, Relaxation, Breakfast rolls in the student lounge Nighttime: DIE HARDS - back to Trinity Rooms for one final party. And perhaps the most mindblowing thing of all to this American: all week, there will be a bar set up in the student lounge at the school. I don't think I need to say much else about the whole week, except the painfully obvious. Check back for some stories and pictures; they're sure to be interesting.

Photo Of The Day: Dancers

Two new friends breaking out some dance moves; Aurelie from Belgium and Monika from Poland.

My Classes

I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression. Every once in awhile, I do have some class. Here's what I've got, with an official course description and my quick take: 1. Romantic Literature: Selections from the literary and critical works of the principal writers of the Romantic movement, e.g., Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, Keats, Shelley, etc. Craichead says: this is the only class I am taking which counts for either my major or minor, so it's probably the most important. Passing this class will finish my English minor. So far, it seems really interesting, but we haven't done much. Three different lecturers will be teaching it, so we'll see how that goes. Later on, we're reading Frankenstein. 2. Advanced Audio & Video Production and Post-Production: An advanced approach to the practical area of video and audio production and post-production. Craichead says: this class should be a lot of fun. Don't get confused, however, this really has nothing to do with audio production, other than the audio you pick up when you shoot video. We'll be in groups of 6-8, and our two projects will be making a few different commercials and then a 15 minute documentary. 3. Irish Traditional Music: Theory and Techniques: An introduction to the history and language of Irish traditional music with parallel studies in composition. Craichead says: I haven't been to this class yet, so I don't know much about it. I saw Holly's notes from the first class (which I missed) and it looks interesting enough. 4. Justice and Peace Perspectives, Gender and Religion: The social dimension of Christianity; justice, peace, and war in the Bible and in the Christian tradition; gender and religion issues. Craichead says: This seems to be an amalgamation of two courses. The main part of the course is the justice and peace part, with some additional studies about gender issues within religion. As a U.S. student studying abroad, this should be very interesting. 5. Gaeilge Ab Initio (Intro to Gaelic): Gaeilge Ab Initio is a practical Irish language course for beginners concentrating on the language. The emphasis is on the basic structures and grammar of the language allowing the students to converse in Irish on matters concerning themselves and their interests. Additional material covered includes the background and history of the Irish language, the Irish langauge today, Gaeltactai (areas where Irish is spoken as a first language), and aspects of mythology and placenames connected with the Irish language and Gaelic culture. Craichead says: This might be a hard one, but will definitely be interesting. There are over 30 of us - all internationals - in the class, so we're all starting from the same spot at least.

Maybe I've Finally Found My Audience?

As most people know, I tend to have a very quirky (read: lame) and dry (read: stupid) sense of humor. Well, Thursday evening, I went to an improv comedy workshop on campus. I had been talking to the girl who was in charge earlier in the week and she invited me to come out and give it a try. My roommate Holly does improv at Loyola, so we decided to go together. I really had no intention of participating much, but since there were only five or six others there, simple observation just wasn't a viable option. They got me to join them in their "warm-up," and it kind of took off from there. Next thing I knew, I was on all fours, a washed up horse who just couldn't hack it anymore. Much to my surprise, people actually sometimes laughed when I did something - and it seemed to be the genuine kind, not the this-guy-is-so-lame-it's-funny kind. There's more. In a few weeks, there's something in Dublin called the Irish Student Drama Awards. At the end of the night, Deborah (the girl in charge) was asking who could go to Dublin to take part in this. Huh? All the colleges in Ireland apparently send their drama society to this week-long festival, and each school also can send some sort of "side project." So while the drama society at Mary Immaculate is sending a group that's doing a play, the improv group seems to be the side project. The drama society pays for travel and accommodation for the night that we are there. Currently, they're waiting to hear what date they are assigned. And yes, they want me to come with them. To recap: I joined an improv group and am possibly going to Dublin to compete. Unbelievable. I guess I've come a long way since my first "your father wasn't a window maker" joke. Or maybe I haven't.

Valentine's Day Recap

I didn't really think this day would be blog-worthy, but as it turns out, it seemed to be a major day in the Irish culture. Just as big as it is in the States, if not bigger. I'm used to seeing signs in all the store windows and everything, but what really took us, was the fact that nearly everybody seemed to be carrying around flowers. We were walking home from school on the night of Valentine's Day, and it was amazing to see how many people were walking around with flowers in their hands. Talk about some last minute shopping. What did my Valentine's Day consist of? Omelets, french toast, mimosas, wine, no flowers, and Hugh Grant. The roommates and I cooked breakfast for dinner, hung out, and watched Notting Hill. Don't ask me for a recap of the movie, though, I think I slept through most of it.

Photo Of The Day: River Shannon

A view of the River Shannon and the surrounding countryside, from on top of St. John's Castle in Limerick.

Marathon Pre-Planning?

Walking to and from school twice in a day, which happens most weekdays, is about an eight mile committment. I could rent a bike for the semester, but the way I see it, this is a decent way to build some leg strength if I decide to start any serious training for next fall's Chicago Marathon once I get home this summer. That, or work off any Guinness that happens to fall into a pint class in front of me.

The Fourth Tenor

Tuesday night, in an effort to meet some people and perhaps get something else to laugh about (like I don't have enough), I decided to stop in and join the choral society. That's right, folks, me join a choral society. Now, my singing voice has never been confused with Carreras's, Domingo's, Pavarotti's, or even Hunter's, but I figured I couldn't do too much damage when I could hide behind people who actually knew what they were doing. When I walked into the room, sweaty and out of breath from a two mile jog from my apartment to make sure I was on time, I saw an Irish friend I had made sitting in the front, so I quickly sat down next to her to avoid any additional embarrassment. After picking up a copy of the music, we did a few vocal warmups (as if my voice was going to get any better?) and signed our names under our voice range. Not seeing a choice for "none, thank you very much," I decided upon tenor, not that I really knew the difference between a tenor, baritone, barista, or bartender. So we start going through the piece, Georg Friedrich Händel's "Acis and Galatea," voice by voice. Worrying more about my close proximity to the teacher upsetting his cochlear harmony than where everyone else was sitting, I failed to notice a very key part of this worldwide choral secret society -- all the dudes sit in the back. Finding myself surrounded by girls, I sheepishly got up and motioned that I'd probably be better off in the back with the other guys. Once I recovered from my poor self-placement, I was able to do okay, even though there were only two tenors that night, myself included. I followed the other for most of it, but in one chorus, there were two tenor parts, and I actually ended up with a mini-solo. Brilliant. I'm still undecided whether I'll make the choral society a regular Tuesday evening happening or not. Either way, there's an improv group that I was invited to that meets on Thursday night. If anyone knows my lame comedy, that could either be awful or awesome. Stay tuned for that report - it's bound to entertain.

Photo Of The Day: Adare Town Park

Go here for more pictures from my trip to Adare - a place one guidebook billed as "Ireland's prettiest village."

(Much More Than Merely) Luck of the Irish

Just a quick shout to my friend and true Irishman Tipper O'Brien back home, who recently ran an amazing 4:04.74 in the indoor mile at the Iowa State Classic, finishing fifth out of a field of 75 at a major NCAA meet. Wow!

An Irishman's Philosophy

There are only two things to worry about; either you are well or you are sick. If you are well, then there is nothing to worry about. But if you are sick, there are only two things to worry about. Either you will get well or you will die. If you get well, then there is nothing to worry about. If you die, there are only two things to worry about. Either you will go to heaven or hell. If you go to heaven there is nothing to worry about. But if you go to hell, you'll be so damn busy shaking hands with friends that you won't have time to worry!

Intelligent Cross-Nationality Conversation

Tonight at the pub, at a table with one other American, three Belgians, a German, and a Pole, we were having a discussion about how we describe, in our own languages, the various sounds that roosters make (just go with it). You should have seen the look on one of the Belgian's faces when we told him that the rooster goes "cock-a-doodle-doo." I don't think I've laughed so hard in quite a long time. You really had to be there, but this is my blog, so don't complain.

What Would YOU Do If You Were Tired and Wet?

St. Patrick may have driven the snakes out of Ireland, but he sure didn't do anything with the dogs. They're all over the place. And they're always wet, thanks to the constant spit that is called rain around here. Anyway, on Thursday, I was in my class, in a stand-alone classroom building (kind of like a kindergarten building). Sure enough, a dog comes waltzing in through the door, plops himself under a chair about 6 feet away from me, and takes a load off. At the end of the class, the professor says, "Well, I suppose I've gone far enough for today, I've managed to put even the dog to sleep." And this is the same lecturer who cursed us out. It's a shame that I don't think the class is going to fit with my schedule. My blog will suffer without it.

Bunratty Castle

Bunratty Castle Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

In the second leg of my World Castle Tour 2005, I visited Bunratty Castle on Wednesday. The placement office arranged a trip for all the international students on Wednesday. It was quite different than St. John's. In this one, the various rooms, halls, and galleries were all preserved in such a way that you could see exactly how they lived 600 years ago or whenever. It came complete with drawbridge, murder hole (when an enemy would enter the castle, boiling water would be poured on their head before their head would be chopped off), dungeon, moving eyes in a portrait ainting (sweet!), slits in the castle walls for archers, winding steps that would be hard for any invader to navigate with any speed, lord's throne, holes in the main hall walls for watchmen to keep an eye on the king and the people, fire pits, battlements, and just about everything else that makes a castle as awesome as it is. This castle in particular was guarding a peasant village, which was replicated and part of the tour. I've got some good pictures that I promise I'll get up soon.

Time Saving Technique #14

It rains here. A lot. And not the kind of hard rain where you instantly put up your umbrella. Just the slow, steady, annoying, spitting, it-hasn't-stopped-for-72-hours kind that tricks you into thinking you don't need an umbrella. To save time in the morning, I think I'll start carrying shampoo in my backpack and just lather up on the two mile walk to campus.

White House Poetry Revival

Wednesday night, I joined a few friends from Maryland to go to a free poetry reading at, you guessed it, a pub. By the time the poetry started, the small place was packed, and we were definitely the youngest, most American-looking ones there. The host made us feel at home though, and even dedicated a poem to us that described what it was like to call this land home. The first part of the night was open mic format, andanyone could sign up to go read. The second part was a featured poet, who this week was a poet named Grace Wells, a poet from England. I'd never been to a true poetry reading before, so I don't know how it compares, but it was a great night, learning a little bit about the culture and life in Ireland. The pub, called The White House, has this poetry revival thing every Wednesday night. The intimate atmosphere made us feel like we belonged, so I'm sure I'll be heading back there on some Wednesday nights in the future. Maybe I'll even read a poem one night. http://limerick.com/whitehousepoets/

A Typical Tuesday

Every week, Mary Immaculate sells discounted tickets to a club called Trinity Rooms - every Tuesday is "Mary I Night," and it's a fundraiser for the Student Union. I went with Holly and Megan, but really didn't expect to enjoy it enough to want to come back very often - dancing is never really my thing. In the spirit of trying to meet people, I went along, though. Let me just say that I've never seen anything quite like this. It's a Tuesday night, and there's people -- all around my age -- from wall to wall. The club itself looked like it came directly from a movie (someone compared it to a club in the film Blade, but I haven't seen that). Dance floor, huge DJ booth, laser lights flying around the room, fog machines, strobe lights, good dance music, different levels for anyone who wanted to sit, and smoke-free air (like everything else here). And the best part? People don't really have much rhythm here, especially the guys, so I didn't feel as stupid as I usually do. The three of us had a great time, and next time I'll try to take some pictures of this place. Just a typical Tuesday night for Mary I.

Early Bird Special

To celebrate after our first day of classes, the roommates and our friend Bryn decided to sample the Irish pub dinner cuisine. Problem was, we didn't leave our apartment until 7:30. As we quickly found out, just about every pub stops serving food at 5pm, or even earlier for some. The only places we could find were either really fancy Chinese or Italian restaurants or fast food. Determined to have some real Irish food, and after walking around for a good 45 minutes, we finally ended up finding a pub that served food at that hour, back at Dolan's, the place we went to on Friday night with the international group. I tried honey baked Limerick ham on a baguette and vegetable soup, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with the taste. I was so tired by the time we finally got home that I was asleep by 10:45 -- quite a rarity, for anyone who knows me. The lesson learned: they definitely don't eat dinner as late around here than is available in the States, and considering the steep price that we had to pay, even for the pub food, eating out will most likely be a much rarer thing than we are used to.

A Warm Welcome

scorcese Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

On Monday, the first class that I sampled was one called "Irish Prose and Poetry of the 19th and 20th Centuries." So there I am, sitting alone in the front of the room so I can hear the professor as best as possible, and he finally comes in, 5 minutes late (common here). He sets his coat and bag down, leans on the podium, and with an Irish accent as thick as the Guinness, delievers a deadpan "to quote Martin Scorsese's film Goodfellas, in about the eighth minute, shut the fuck up." Got that one loud and clear.

St. John's Castle

castletower
Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

Probably within a half mile from my apartment is King John's castle, from the 12th century (who hasn't seen one of those, right?). So on Saturday, Sven and I went to pay a visit to the infamous king's castle. It had a lot of history behind it, in strategic location on the River Shannon and having changed hands many times between Normans, English, and Irish. It was cool to read about all that and see the remains of the original castle walls actual ruins from 11th and 12th Limerick dwellings (just don't ask me to recount all the history behind it).

One thing of note: to attack the castle, English invaders dug mines under the castle walls. Then, to weaken the walls, they would put flammable material in the mines, and set the whole thing on fire. In response to this, "countermines" were built on the inside as a means by which they could prevent this underground attack, so a lot of fighting was done under the castle.

Among other things, the corner towers of the castle offered great views of the city and surrounding landscape, which is where the above picture was taken.

Orientation Wrap-Up

guinness
Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

After our day-long orientation on Friday, the school arranged a trip for us internationals to a pub that night (Fr. Salmi, get on that). The place was called Dolan's, and yes, the Guinness is as good as people say it is. There were two paid "gigs" (everything is gig, not show or concert) going on in some backrooms that night - including a Pixies cover band, Brother John - but we all stayed in the main part and mingled. Later on, eight or so people came in off the street with their guitars, drums, and flutes, sat down around a table in front of the fire, and jammed to and sang some traditional Irish music. The only stoppage in their music was when a kilted bagpiper came in from off the street, pumped out some tunes for about 10 minutes, collected some coins (even the other musicians chipped in), and went on his way to find another pub to play in. Friends were made, fun was had, and perhaps the best part of the evening? SMOKE-FREE PUBS.

Mary Immaculate

mary immaculate
Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

School starts tomorrow at Mary I. Apparently, we go to whatever classes we want to try and make our final choices by the end of the second week. I'm not sure what "modules" (what the classes are called here) I'm going to be trying yet, but there's a Gaelic heritage class that would be both appropriate and interesting. They have modules in English, French, Gaeilge, geography, German studies, history, Leann Duchais (Irish Heritage), math, media & communication, music, philosophy, psychology, and theology & religious studies.

It's interesting that every student in their third year who is in the liberal arts school either studies abroad or has an internship in Ireland doing work appropriate to their field.

From what I can tell, most classes are in lecture format (with a lot of people) with a smaller, 10-15 person tutorial each week. For such a small school (2,500), I was surprised to hear that lectures with more than 100 people aren't uncommon.

The campus itself isn't very big, but it's definitely going to take some getting used to. We had student guided tours on Friday at our orientation, and I got a bit turned around.

It opened in 1898 as a school for teacher education and has grown steadily in the last 10-15 years.

We met the president of the Student Union, Tommy, and it seems like they are there to genuinely try make any aspect of student life better. Basically, it's a group of upperclassmen or recent grads who get paid to work for the students.

Things I learned about campus dining:
-Cafeterias are called canteens.
-If you had chips and biscuits, more than likely you'd be having fries and cookies.
-There's a charge for condiments (and for bags, at the supermarket).

Holy Irony, Batman!

Ireland. A chance for new experiences and new people. After meeting my first roommate, Sven from Germany, I went onward to knock on the remaining two doors. What did we have behind door #1? Megan and Holly, two girls from Loyola that I'd met once or twice before. And door #2? Ellen, my good friend from Loyola, sleeping peacefully after her long trip from Chicago. Laughing, I slipped Ellen a note under the door telling her to change our pre-planned meeting place that evening from the complex lobby to our living room, before taking a well-deserved nap of my own. I hope Sven isn't too intimidated.

A Handicapped Feeling

bathroom Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

I didn't notice right away, but as one of my roommates was quick to point out, I have been graciously given the "handicapped" room. The door is huge, the bathroom has hand rails, and the shower is at floor level. They must have known I was coming.

Ireland launched

After a long, mostly hassle-free day of travel with planes, buses, and cabs, I arrived at my apartment safe and sound. I haven't seen enough yet to make much of a judgment, and still haven't really gotten much good sleep in two nights, but I'll be back soon to give much more news.