Filling Free Time...

Hello hello from Cork!

Pink building on right = my apartment

The last couple days have been very loosely filled days with quite a bit of down time so not much to say other than for a few things:  On Sunday, I was invited to an Alice in Wonderland church party at a non-denominational church pastor's house!  Some of my friends had gone to mass there earlier in the day...well let's just say it was a very interesting and fun experience!  The pastor's wife, a very young energetic woman, had cooked all day!! Their backyard was very long and narrow with high hedges on either side, but probably the cutest house/backyard ive seen in awhile! hahaha.  There were a bunch of other members of the church there as well, so I got to meet a bunch of new people that were very awesome.  And, I had two very crazy encounters with people:  Barbara, a very nice young woman, had a 13 month old girl that has the same birthday as my new nephew and Godson Chris!! and her name was Christina! hahaha...It was funny!  Then, I met another younger lad (yes, I am a "lad" not a boy!) who actually knew of St. Norbert College!  Get this: his parents are the host family for all of the St. Norbert student teachers that come to do their student teaching in Ireland!  CRAZY right?!!! All in all, a great time: I'll let the pictures try and capture a little of the Wonderland feeling!

Yesterday was a little bit of a tough day for me...we just have so much down time especially my class!  I am definitely starting to learn different ways to occupy myself!  But, Jordan and I did some great cooking for dinner!  I had a wonderful meal of chicken, pasta, rice and beans, yogurt, and of course a capri sun!  Then, Jordan, Kendall, Catherine, and I watched Valkyrie so that was great! 

I think I should be a cook (Linguini?)

Today was quite a bit better!  Class was still a bit lame: our teacher is very nice but not the most organized!  After class however, I headed over to the chaplaincy building to just poke my head in and ran into Tim.  He was on the trip over the weekend and is kind of like a "retreat czar" (that was for you Ben) for the chaplaincy.  In other words, he really helps start up the discussion groups and helps Richard (the other young fella) plan the retreat weekends!  Anyways, he showed me around the other IONA society building on campus and then more around the first building!  Then, we just talked some more about the regular term and my hopes were lifted quite a bit when he said how busy the campus gets.  He said that there is so much to get involved with if you want to, so I will definitely be looking into that!  He is a great guy, and I'm sure I will get to know him even better over the course of the semester! 

After that, I met up with Jordan and Kendal to go to the library shortly where I read the Irish Times for the second straight day.  It is fun to read a foreign newspaper!  Then, we headed to the gym and i biked for 35 min: about 15 km!  (Cycling merit badge memories....)  Now, we are just about to cook a pizza and chill out for the night...maybe play some cards!  Farewell! Peace!

West Cork Journey with Iona!!

Hello hello!  This post is dedicated to Anna and Kirsten from back home because you two told me about IONA and man is it awesome...already!  I hope you read this!

Anyways, Friday night was great!  Jordan and I walked around and checked out some more pubs just to see where they were and then we ended up at a place that had a live singer and everybody was dancing along!  Fun time!!  Then, Yesterday was our trip with the IONA society through the Chaplaincy on campus!

We got on the bus at about 10 am and headed off to West Cork to check out some early Christian ruins.  There were about 15 - 20 people that went:  About 6 or 7 Irish students/graduates, about 10-15 American students, and then the two chaplains: George: Church of Ireland chaplain - very funny, sarcastic guy that cracks jokes whenever he can.  and Joe: the Catholic chaplain for campus who was also a great guy to talk to and get to know!

Mini Stonehenge!

On the bus, Jordan and I really got to know Edwina (working on her masters) and Brendan (just finished his masters) from Cork.  Brendan was actually originally from the main areas we went to throughout the day so it was like a homecoming for him!  We started off the day stopping by Drombeg stone circle which was literally a mini stone henge! haha.  Joe (Catholic chaplain) was the main "guide" you could say for that and we learned that the stone circle somewhere along its lifetime was a gathering place for Catholics to have mass!  The circle itself actually dates to about 1000 years B.C.!!!! yes B.C.!!! Anyways, we learned a lot more about that but it would take a lot of explaining so I will stop there.  However, also at this same site was ruins of a Bronze Age house and hot bath of some sort.  I guess they would use stones to heat the water for a type of hot tub!  haha...I didn't really get how it worked but it was cool!  Overall, it was very interesting stuff, not to mention the beautiful view of the surrounding area and ocean coast!  It was a great first stop!

Joe: saying as much as he knew about the circle!

Bronze age Hot tub!

Then, we hopped back on the bus and headed to Rosscarbery, Cork.  There, we visited a Church of Ireland Cathedral which George knew quite a bit about!  It was very interesting: I definitely learned that I want to know more about the differences between the Church of Ireland and Catholic.  I have been learning a ton about the Irish civil war and such though through the various sites I've visited and it is much more interesting than U.S. history!  Anyways, then we headed off to another small town (can't remember the name) to eat lunch at a small community center which used to be a two room schoolhouse.  Joe told us that his mother actually went to primary school there!  While there, we took some time to do a little retreat of a sort and got to know everyone a little better with some icebreakers and small discussion groups!  It was very neat to talk to other Americans about their reasons for coming as well as to the Irish about their lives in general!  The theme for the day was "Journey" haha kind of broad but very appropriate as all of us there were definitely on our own unique journeys through life! 

Church of Ireland

After lunch, we headed to Timoleague, another small city that was rich in heritage!  There, we visited another Church of Ireland church and George led us in a little prayer service.  Very neat!  After that, we headed to the ruins of the Timoleague Friary which was founded in the 13th century by the Franciscans.  You could tell that Joe loved every moment of it and was eager to share with us all the knowledge!  It was another very neat sight...then, as we were leaving we got to see the Catholic church in Timoleague at the request of Joe who wasn't leaving the city without seeing his own Catholic church!  (George and Joe have a unique relationship in which they poke fun at each other all the time about their respective churches: fun to watch! haha)

Overall, it was a great day of meeting new people and having a small spiritual aspect involved as well!  I miss retreats like that!  On the bus ride home, Jordan and I learned some more Irish slang from some of the Irish which was great.  At night, the society invited us all out to a pub as well which was another chance to meet even more Irish!  I talked to one woman that is a high school or "secondary teacher" as they call it. We talked about education for a bit which was fun! 

It was a great day again...but one thing I'm starting to realize that i miss dearly is the freedom to walk around at night alone!  But, that's just one minor thing I suppose!  However, another thing that is bugging me is Mass at the churches here.  We went to another church this morning and the mass was in English!  But, they don't sing!!!! It was hardly 40 minutes long and all the responses were spoken, no opening/closing song, nothing.  It's hard for me to get into mass when there is no singing.  So, we met some more girls there and afterward, we all talked to the priest about our talents of singing/playing piano and he said he would relay the message to the actual parish priest!  Who knows, maybe I'll be part of a music renewal in St. Vincent's parish! 

Alright, that's all for now.  I'm excited for class tomorrow - something to do!  I like free time, but not this much!  Peace!

Day off trip to Youghal!

Well, I was going to wait to put up pictures from both trips tomorrow but I have some free time now, so I thought I would give a quick run down of the day!

Elena, Ashley, and I left this morning at about 10:30 from the bus station and arrived in Youghal at about 11:30!  And man, was it pretty!  The calmest and friendliest ocean beach I've ever been to (I've been to three soo #1 out of 3!)  The waves were very gentle.  You could have taken the sound from that beach and put it on one of those "Nature sound" tapes!  haha!  Part of the beach was very rocky and fun to climb.  You could tell that it is probably covered during high tide because there were mussels and barnacles all over the rocks!  We had fun climbing them and looking in the caves!  The Weather was absolutely gorgeous.  As soon as we got there, we wished we had shorts or something (as you can tell we all rolled our pant legs up!) 

After spending about two hours at the beach, we walked into the actual town and found a great place to eat: yummmy paninis!  They are really big on paninis and "toasties" here!  After that, we hit up a local bakery for some pie...mmm mmm mm!!! 

We wanted to spend a little more time just relaxing on the beach but the bus ran at 4:00 and at 7:50 so we decided it would be better to get back....but overall, check off another beautiful place visited in Ireland!  And what's great is the fact that we spent under 30 euro again!  Gotta love Bus Eirann (the bus service)! 

Alright, more to come later this weekend from west cork!  Peace!

An Spailpin Fanac

The last two days have been pretty great!  Yesterday in particular!  Class went from 9:30 - 10:20 and then 11:00 - 12:00 again, so after class, Elena and I registered our computers for the wireless network on campus!  I'm all wired up....hahahaha!  After that, we met up with a few others for lunch and then headed over to do my bike ride!  Three days in a row now, I have gone on the stationary bike at the sports complex and gone about 8-10 km! I'm slowly working my way back into shape.

After working out, Jordan and I headed to the Chaplaincy (Iona Society) to poke our heads in and see about a trip this Saturday.  Well, we were welcomed right in by David and Edwina, recent graduates of the college believe!  They invited us in to sit on the couches and offered tea/coffee...Best tea I've ever had!(I'm really starting to like tea!)  Then, they talked to us for almost two hours just sharing places to go in Ireland and cool pubs with traditional music to check out!  It was super nice, and I really think I will take advantage of that place throughout the semester...they said people just come and drop in for an hour or two between classes and such sooo yeah!  They were super nice, and we both signed up for the trip to West Cork this Saturday where we will be making several stops at places like the Oldest church still in use in Ireland, etc! No big deal right? hahaha!  And, the whole trip only costs 5 Euro!

Half-eaten and still that much!

Well, then Jordan and I went in search of a few of the pubs they mentioned just to see where they were and got a bit discombobulated (I've Always wanted to use that word in a sentence!!!!!) But, we ended up running into apparently the best "Chipper" or Fish n Chips spot in town.  Jordan got it and it was a ton of food so I ate some of it! SOOO goood!  And, don't worry, we found our way back easily thanks to my navigating skills!

Best banjo ever!

Now, on to the night!  The best night here yet!  Jordan, Caroline (From Norway), and I met up with Elena, Amy, and Chelsea at An Spailpin Fanac, a pub that was mentioned by the people at the Chaplaincy!  ANd, WOW! It was what I picture an old school awesome Irish pub to be like.  Little nooks and crannies all over and then the traditional music! WOW!  They were awesome!  We were there from 9:30 until 12:30!  The group apparently plays there Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights.  The music was so fun to listen to and then when we were starting to leave, they decided to keep us around by singing some John Denver: "Country Roads" hahah! We were all singing at the top of our lungs!  Then, they played "Wonderwall" and "Business time" by Flight of the Conchords! hahahaha sooo great!  Finally, at about 12:30 the pub owners got them to wrap it up (the pub was supposed to close at 12!)  All in all, great night!  I can't wait to visit the pubs in Galway too because apparently all of them are just like that if not even more traditional!

Tomorrow, Elena, Ashley, Roger, and I are heading to Youghal (pronounced "Y'all" hahaha) for the day which should be fun!  So more pictures to come from that and then the trip to West Cork with the chaplaincy on Saturday.  Full weekend!

Well, all for now!  And, just to let you know, I'm sitting in the coffee shop across the street currently enjoying the free wifi! Alright, peace!  And also, check facebook for videos of the music...they wouldn't upload to here!

First Days of Class

Hello hello!
The last two days have been pretty full of class, meeting new people, checking things out, and trying to plan travel in the future!  Yesterday morning, I had my first class.  All of the students in class (36 I believe) showed up to the lecture hall at about 9:15 for a 9:30 class.  Typical American timing correct?  Well, our professor didn't show up until about 9:40, and when she arrived we expected her to have the keys to the room but nope she didn't! haha...soo we all had to wait for another 15 minutes for a campus security guy of a sort to come and unlock the room.  Then, she introduced the class schedule for the next four weeks (pretty easy and awesome): Monday through Thursday from 9:30-12:30 with a day field trip on next Thursday to Bunratty and a three day trip the following weekend (Thurs-Sat.) to the smallest of the Aran isalands: Inisheer.  After briefly describing the class, she told us we could "disband" for the day.  So, we all got out of class at 11:00 haha! 

I met a few more cool cats in my class including Ashley from upstate New York, Roger from east coast somewhere, and Ben and Delaney from Minnesota!  Ben went to St. Thomas Academy.  Well, after class, my friend Karen (in my class) and I took a walk around for awhile and visited the International Education office (very nice people: good to know in case I need something!).  After eating lunch at my apartment, I finally visited the all volunteer run cafe across the street and found my bus buddy that I met on the way down from Dublin last week, Kelly.  We talked for a half hour or so about what she's doing there and how I'm doing and such.  I think that place will be nice to go into every once in awhile and just chill!  After that, I stopped over at my friend Elena's apartment (she's in my class too) and we had some good talks on our faith lives actually.  I think we will be great friends! 

The rest of the day included getting my UCC ID card, which is very cool!  I then used it to go to Ireland's biggest sports complex for awhile.  The rest of the night was filled with travel plans and all sorts of stressful stuff followed by a movie!  Movies are always good!  All in all, a pretty good first day!

Today was a very fun and interesting day as well!  Class was very cool as the topic of today's lecture was Matchmaking and Marriage Customs!  Very very intriguing!  We all loved it!  During the class, we had a 40 minute break from 10:20-11:00 so Elena, Ashley, and Roger and I sat together at a cafe at the student center and got to know each other a bit more which was fun!  Then, on our way back to class, I finally got to punch this tree: 

I'm not sure what kind of tree it is, but there are two of them in front of the library!  They are the coolest looking trees and you can literally punch them because they are soft!  I didn't believe Jordan when he told me this, so yesterday when I was walking by by myself I wanted to punch it but I figured I would look quite silly.  But, today those other guys were all with me so I did it and IT IS SOFT!! It's sooo cool!

Anyways, the rest of class was just as interesting: I could tell you all about Irish matchmaking and marriage customs!  Very cool, yet very ridiculous societies these Irish lived in!  We ended up getting out at 12:00 so another short class...haha! 

After class, we met up with Jordan, Kendall, and Chelsea and had some lunch.  Then, after a few more stops around campus, we headed over to the sports complex where I successfully did a workout!  On the bike and running a bit!
Now, Jordan and I just got back from grocery shopping and are cooking up some mini-chickens for dinner, yum! 

I finally got a picture in front of the main quadrangle too (Look up)!  There is a superstition that if you walk across the pathway in the lawns (look at picture) you will not graduate!  I haven't seen anybody do it!
 

Alright, off to eat and then figure out some cool place nearby to go visit on Friday with Elena and Ashley!  Peace!

Gaelic Mass and Gaelic Football!

Well, today started off with a surprise.  Jordan and I had researched for a local catholic church nearby last night, so we were all ready to go to mass at St. Peter and Paul's parish about 10 minutes walk away.  Mass was at 10:00, so we showed up at about 9:50 or so.  However, when we reached the entrance I looked at the mass times and noticed something surprising: 

10:00 - Irish

12:00 - Latin

7:00 - English

Hhahahaa..so I turned to Jordan and said, "Well, I guess we are going to have an experience!"

It turned out to be just that.  We entered the back of the church (BEAUTIFUL CHURCH - pictures to come in the next few weeks sometime for sure)  and right away an older man approached us and started speaking Gaelic.  I think he quickly realized by my nodding and pretending like I understood that we had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, so he asked "You only speak a little Gaelic?" And, I responded with a "Umm not at all...haha"  He laughed and showed us where the worship aids were with all the prayers and readings written on it.  It was a huge church but the congregation was very small.  It was quite an experience though!  I caught a few parts of the mass through looking at the aid and watching everyone else, but it was interesting.  I really got to admire the beauty of the church!  Short mass though - only about 40 minutes.  An experience to last a lifetime.

Jordan and Amy (Elementary Ed teacher)

Later on in the day, we decided to head to a pub to watch the Gaelic Football Semifinal between Cork and Dublin.  And man was this awesome!  Jordan, Catherine, Kendall, and I actually ran into a few more girls on the street on the way.  One of them was a girl we had met Friday night, Amy, who is also an elementary education major  She and the other two were all from Iowa so I felt at home (Kind of...midwest at least).  They came with us, and this was great because I learned that one of them, Elena, is in my class for the next four weeks! And, she is completely new to the whole pub/bar scene like me!  It was great learning about Gaelic football which is a really fun sport to watch actually!  The pub was packed, and everyone was wearing their red jerseys and shirts so I felt a little out of place with my green shirt (I thought Ireland was green).  Cork was losing the entire game, but came back and scored the winning point in the 69th minute (70 minutes total)!  It was EPIC!  All in all, another pretty great day after getting a huge feeling of homesick initially in the morning.  Again, it's that keeping busy and meeting new people!  One day at a time, and taking whatever comes at me in stride!  

Class starts at 9:30 am tomorrow morning, so I am sure I will have more to say tomorrow night!  Thanks for reading. 

Orientation and KINSALE TRIP!!!

Hello hello!  Yesterday (Friday), was Orientation day for international students.  We had a long day of speakers, welcomes, etc....but it wasn't anything too special unfortunately.  I headed over to campus with my roommate Jordan and a bunch of girls from my apartment building at about 9 in the morning.  We got there a little earlier, but started to meet more people right away. There ended up being about 150-200 students at this orientation!  All american except for one girl from Norway whose name is Caroline...she was very nice and fun to talk to!!!  The program consisted of welcomes from the International student offices, the student union, and others including each early start class professor talking briefly talking about the class.  There are 8 different classes the 150-200 students are broken into, and my professor seemed very cool and energetic.  She got me really excited for the class!  And, she had all the boys in her class raise their hands and there are 6 of us!  Its a new record apparently...But us men are definitely outnumbered!  I bet there were 130 girls and 25-30 guys at most!  The rest of the speakers were not too exciting, but we did find out some valuable information about classes, technology, and sorts.  The tour was not done very well either but it was good to get a full look at the layout of campus. 

I did get a nice surprise during the day when I met a girl that will be in my class starting Monday.  We started talking, and I quickly found out that we have definite potential of being great friends.  She is a Religious studies major and education minor....so we share two loves: religious studies and of course teaching! 

Last night, Jordan and I headed over to the entertainment the student union had set up for us at a local entertainment/pub complex!  Super FUN!  Considering the normal charge to get in is 15 euro and they got us in for 3 euro, it was awesome.  There was pool tables galore, then we got to go bowling, and then karaoke!  Not to mention having my first guinness ( I think I like Murphy's better just fyi)  I ended up meeting quite a few more girls (surprise surprise) including two more girls from the east coast that are in my class for the next four weeks!  Jordan and I teamed up to take down the bowling championship on our lane and my friend Catherine and I rocked karaoke dancing up a storm!  The Irish students from the student union were a riot as well not being afraid to show off their lovely dancing and singing skills!  All in all it was a great night!













Nowww, a little bit about Jordan and I's trip today!  KINSALE, IRELAND!!!! woohoo! Simply put, it was gorgeous.  We took the 9:45 bus from the Cork bus station (10 minutes from our apartment) and arrived in Kinsale at about 10:30!  It was an awesome day full of Irish Beauty, Irish history, and Irish food! And for those of you who don't know, Kinsale is a small Irish fishing village that is rich in history with the two Irish forts: Charles Fort and James Fort as well as Desmond Castle. 


We started off the day eating an Irish breakfast at Dino's.  I had waffles and Irish honey with a cup of fresh roasted IRISH coffee..haha!  Good good! 




Then, we moved on into the city to check out Desmond castle which is also home to the International Museum of Wine.   I guess Kinsale was a huge port used for wine transport!  There was a lot of information on the Irish wine familes and such.  We also learned a lot about Irish history.  I won't go into detail because it would take too long to explain but, the Battle of Kinsale is actually known as one of the biggest, if not the biggest battle in Irish history.   The Irish and Spanish, who were fighting together, were taken over by the British crown!  Desmond castle was used as a prisoners of war several times throughout the wars! 

 We also had the opportunity to talk to these three Irish men about late 1500s-1600s warfare which was very interesting!  Jordan knew a lot more than I did...but I just nodded and looked like I knew what they were talking about!  Some pretty cool swords and armor though!  haha! 

After that, Jordan and I ran into Carmelite Church, a Catholic church run by the Carmelite sisters!  It was gorgeous!

Then, we took the Scilly walk along the coastline up to Charles Fort...SOO AWESOME!  I don't really have much to say about it..and the pictures don't really do it justice.  The fort was built around 1677 and is the newly improved star-shaped style (I learned a lot about the history of fort building and the advantages of this shape of fort!)  Basically, it was awesome and beautiful!

Fort from walk!

Outside of the fort - had to climb down some walls to get here!

Looking back at Kinsale from the fort! The walk was along the coastline on the right

Looking out to sea from inside the fort!

 We ended the day sharing an Irish pizza (It was made in Ireland so it is Irish!!) and peppermint tea..yum yum! 
All in all it was a great day!  And didn't spend more than 30 dollars for it all!  Crazy!  Tomorrow should be fun picking a church to go to and then watching the All-Ireland Gaelic football semifinal match between Cork and Dublin in a pub!  Talk to you all soon! 

First night and Day 2 Beginnings

Last night, my flatmate Jordan took me to my first pub "The Washington."  It was an experience walking into a pub and ordering a beer for the first time (Murphy's beer by the way).  We ended up spending about 45 minutes there talking to Jack, a local student originally from Cork.  I guess yesterday was a big day of tests for all Irish students.  We talked to him about education in Ireland and about the Irish view of us Americans.  He was very friendly and quite funny!  He was hard to understand at times too...the Cork accent is quite unique.  Then, I met a few more girls, one from Minnesota in fact!  (There aren't many guys here...in fact I've only met one other American guy besides Jordan.)  Then, I hit the hay and slept until 11:00 this morning, a good 12 hour sleep which was needed! 

When I woke up, Katie (from Minnesota) and Kendall (from Maryland) and I walked to UCC campus and saw a few of the buildings.  It is a pretty easy walk to campus and the entire campus is gated in so you can't really miss it!  Very pretty campus too!  We went into the Glucksman Art Gallery and saw some interesting artwork too!  After that, we decided to get lunch at a pub for the experience.  Ham, cheese, and pineapple panini with fries!  Quite pricey though, so I don't think I'll be doing that often.  Now, I think I might head out and walk around some more...maybe find a local church or cathedral since some people asked for pictures of the nearest cathedral (that's you Dad).  Later, I believe a few of us are just watching a movie and relaxing before a long day of Orientation tomorrow.

Fellow Minnesotans!

 Here are some pictures of the campus and the apartment by request:

 
Maybe more tonight!