Rain!

Well almost a week in Ireland and it has finally rained! The temperature here has been warming up towards the end of the week to the forties, but earlier it was pretty cold. We have heard that this is the coldest winter Ireland has had in thirty years! But the good news was it was cold and dry and not rainy. Nothing new to us from New England though. I think it is much colder back home especially with all these storms you have been having. But I enjoyed the sunshine while it lasted!

I have been attending a few classes this week. My Physiology class is only for the second six weeks of the semester, and therefore has not started yet. Physics I have three times a week, and labs once a week. I am not too excited for physics. The classes are huge here with over 100 students in the lecture hall. Very different from QU where there was never more than thirty kids in a class. Physics is early in the morning and seems like the kind of course where I will need to teach myself. On Thursday the professor asked us if there was a language barrier when he found out we were from the states; he doesn’t seem too up to date. On Tuesday afternoon I attended the course- Introduction to Irish History for Visiting Students, which was really interesting. The professor changes every two lectures and takes Ireland’s history from the Great Famine to present time. On Monday I will be going to the Traditional Irish Music course, which I hope I like because I need a fine arts course to keep up with my program back home. I would have loved to take an Art course, but all I have found is Art History, which I had my fair share of in High school. I have talked to a few Irish students who have explained that Arts here is the study of education, opposed to the meaning in the states. So all in all I will be taking Physiology , Physics, Irish History, and Traditional Irish Music here at UCC. The smallest course load I will ever take!

I’ve spent most of the week catching up on sleep and getting accustomed with the city. On Wednesday the Student Union took the International Students out for a “Mystery Tour” of Cork. We went to the Franciscan Well Brewery- where they make about six different beers. Jon- you would love it! Then after they took us to a night club, which is very different than the clubs back in the states. It was funny that here in Ireland the university organizations took us out to a pub and club, but it just goes to show how the cultures are different. The music here is so random and outdated. It is nice because we know the words to the songs, but it is crazy how behind they are compared to popular music in America.  

This weekend my roommate Katie, who is also from QU, and I cleaned the kitchen which it needed badly. Then I finally cooked in it! [I have been using my friend’s kitchens the past few days instead afraid to cook in my own- that’s how bad it was]. I made chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies. It was nice to have a real meal. I have yet to master the microwave here; it has “Jet Power” with a bunch of numbers opposed to just setting it for minutes at home. I haven’t had the time to experiment with it but got a few microwave tips from Kate I will have to give a try ;)  

On Friday a bunch of us headed down to the Garda [police] station to complete our registration with Immigration to stay in the country. It is quite a walk down to the center of the city and way past it. Probably took us about forty-five minutes. We got all the way there, and found that they would not accept the school insurance card we had received because it does not have a date on it. So we are waiting for a letter from the study abroad office at QU and will have to go back another day.