Classes, River, North Coast....

**As of last Tuesday I am finally enrolled in the 3 classes I need to take here at Queen's. I'm taking Anthropology of Modern Social Dance, Twentieth Century British Theatre, and Intro. to Film Studies 2. I'm hoping as the semester goes on that these classes will grow on me, especially the first 2 I mentioned. The descriptions they gave me online are pretty much the opposite of what these classes are about, so hopefully all will end well at the end of the semester. I only have class Monday-Wednesday, however that may sound very nice, the catch is that here you spend a lot less time in classes and a TON of time doing outside readings and research that you have to find/figure out on your own (definitely a change from academics in the States).

**Last Wednesday afternoon, my friend Sinead (from Philly, part of my IFSA program) and I went down to the Queen's Rowing team's recruit session at the boathouse. We were asked to join last week so we thought we'd go see what it was all about. After being introduced to the girls we went down to the storage barn and the 2 of us, 3 other recruits, and 2 current team members carried the boat out, flipped it over, walked it down into the Lagan river, attached the oars, got in, and pushed out into the water. Let me tell you this whole process is a lot harder and more challenging then it seems or appears!! We spent 2 hours out in the water in the rain learning different skills and practicing rowing. I was told that I looked like I'd rowed before and that it usually takes people a month to get to where I was currently. However, even with the compliments and pressure to join I'm still not sure if it's the right thing for me to do here. The girls were all super nice, I don't know if I love it enough to row down the river a couple times a week (2 early morning practices as well) I may try another practice this Wednesday, I just can't decide.

**This past weekend the 100 other American students studying in Ireland through IFSA Butler Univ. program were up here in Belfast for a Northern Ireland trip. We enjoyed dinner Thursday night together at their hotel and then left early Friday morning to ride up to the North Coast. Our first stop was the Carrick-a Rede rope bridge, a narrow rope bridge a couple yards long that goes between the mainland  and a small island, and hangs 80ft above cliffs and crashing water from the sea. It was a great experience, I was quite scared at first but as long as I didn't look down it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. 2nd stop as the remains of the Dunluce Castle; it was really cool to walk around this place and take some interesting pictures. 3rd and final stop was the Giants Causeway; absolutely stunning!!!! Definitely a must see if you go to Northern Ireland. There are over 38,000 perfectly smooth and almost all hexagonal rock pillars piled all together along the water. You can walk over them and look out into the sea, it's completely breathtaking and pictures just don't do it justice. After a long day and lots of walking, I enjoyed the bus ride back listening to the P.S. I Love You soundtrack on my iPod (I found it quite fitting for the day).

**On Saturday we enjoyed a Black Taxi tour around Belfast learning about the "Troubles and Conflicts", and had the opportunity to sign the peace wall. After that a couple of us went to St. George's Market and enjoyed fresh food, music, and looked around the different booths. It was a gorgeous, sunny day (a rarity here) so we decided to take a boat tour of the Titanic harbor. Let's just say it was interesting haha, a little bit too long, and too slow for us, but we enjoyed the beautiful weather on the deck. Later that night we went to 2 old pubs in the city and listened to traditional Irish music, and enjoyed our time together before my Dublin friends headed back to their schools.... Overall it was great weekend!!

Beautiful coast

 Me on the rope bridge

Castle remains

 Giants Causeway

Unforgettable Super Bowl!!!!

Well I bet you're all wondering if, how, and where I watched the Super Bowl last night........

I watched the game live at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin!!!! That's right, I was lucky enough to attend the U.S. Embassy's 2011 Super Bowl party, and it was awesome!!! (minus the ending score...)

Yesterday morning I hopped on a train from Belfast to Dublin and met my IFSA friend Sarah at the train station in Dublin. We walked around, had lunch, then went to find our hotel down the road from the Embassy. After checking in we just relaxed, watched TV, and took a nap for awhile. Around 10:30pm we left for the party, walked down the road and waited in line to go through security. After that we were ushered through the courtyard and into the building. Inside they had a big projection screen showing the game, couches and folding chairs to sit in, and snacks and drinks for us. I was very happy to purchase my Superl Bowl XLV special edition Terrible Towel that they had specially shipped over from Pittsburgh for this party! There were around 100 people there and pretty much all but 2 were Steelers fans :) It was so cool to be surrounded by all these people wearing black and gold and waving their Terrible Towels proudly all the way over here in Ireland!!!! Awesome feeling to be a true Steelers fan. It was a rough game to endure and quite painful in the end to have to leave at 3:30am with my head down in disappointment and my Terrible Towel hanging off my shoulder. I couldn't help but feel that terrible superstitious Steelers guilt that if I would've been home in the Burgh watching this game like every other game/Super Bowl we would have won. I know this sounds stupid and ridiculous, but c'mon true Steelers fans out there you know exactly what I'm talking about, don't tell me that if you don't wear your "lucky" jersey or something for a game that we lose you don't have that small "what if?" question in the back of your head; and feel partially at fault for the loss. haha, oh the trials a fan must face.... Win or lose the Steelers had an excellent season, I love them no matter what, and I had one of the most unforgettable nights of my life!!!!

And if for some reason you don't believe my story about this amazing adventure check out the photos the Embassy photographer took last night and see if you can find me in the crowd :)
Embassy Super Bowl Party

Leaving the hotel, ready for the game!!!

Fun Stuff!!

Not too much has happened since my last post, except for the fact that I still don't have a 3rd class to take, oh and my birthday!!! haha Went out to dinner and movie with a couple friends, thanks for all the lovely wishes from back home :)

Differences:
* Well the obvious driving on the opposite side of the road (I've almost been hit multiple times!!)
* Although they speak English, the accents are so strong and slang words are used in every sentence that I usually feel like an idiot asking people to repeat what they said more than once so I can understand
*Stay at school and go out every weeknight staying up till like 3am (loud!), then everyone goes home on the weekends to work and have mommy cook them meals and do their laundry... nice haha
* You can't split checks, and they don't have to-go boxes. (some restaurants will, but they give you an annoyed look when you ask)
* Classes work as 1 Lecture a week plus sometimes 1 additional seminar/tutorial everything else is all outside, independent readings/research that you think pertains to the specific subject.... scary!!!
* Being a Professor is actually a higher rank than a Doctor, most "tutors" are Doctors here.
* What's a curb??? Here curbs are pretty much another part of the road; they drive and park on them!
* Mercedes Benz, BMW, Range Rover, Porsche... all pretty much common cars.
more too come.....
New Vocabulary:
Trainers---------------> Tennis Shoes
Jumper----------------> Sweater
Wee--------------------> Little
Heya-------------------> Hello
Cheers-----------------> Thanks!
Bog--------------------> Bathroom
Snog-------------------> Kiss
Bake-------------------> Mouth
Crack/Craic----------> Fun/Plans... yes I was confused when asked me if I had any craic
Biscuit-----------------> Cookie
Poke-------------------> Ice Cream Cone
Bap--------------------> Bun/Roll
Soda-------------------> Soda Bread... not a drink!
Black Stuff-----------> Guinness
What about ye?------> How Are You?
Cheerio---------------> Good-Bye
Bangers & Mash----> Sausage and Mashed Potatoes

Oh and I forgot to mention... Weather: 1, Elaina & Umbrella: -1!!

2nd Day of owning this umbrella & the intense wind snapped all the wiring on my walk to my dorm

My Starbucks birthday latte & cupcake I treated myself to

Start of the Semester

I'm going to rewind a little and talk about this past weekend... On Saturday there were 5 of us planning on going on the school run to the local grocery store, Tesco. The bus was supposed to leave at 11am and when it wasn't there at 11:30am we went to find out what was going on only to be told that it wouldn't be there till 12:30pm. We re-grouped an hour and a half later and went off the Tesco Extra (kind of like a really nice Walmart).  What made the trip extra fun for us was the fact that you enter, grab a cart and the push the cart onto a travelator (sort of like an inclined people mover at the airport) and the carts wheels magnetize to the belt so you can let go and your cart doesn't roll away. We were all very amused by this!! Saturday night a group of the international students went to the Odyssey Arena to watch a Belfast Giants hockey game. It was a lot of fun, but let's just say it really made me miss the NHL. Last week I met a guy who's from Squirrel Hill and of course loves all the Pittsburgh sports teams so we had a great time talking about the Penguins and noticing all the crazy differences. I mean c'mon this team has their group of own old school cheerleaders (who are very entertaining to watch hahaha). Overall we had a lot of fun, and may try to catch another game before their season is over.... Sunday I went to a church that was recommended to me and enjoyed it, went out to lunch, and hung out the rest of the day.

Monday was the 1st day of classes for Queen's. I dropped the 2 classes I needed to in order to have Fridays off to travel with my study abroad program, and attended my 1st class at 4pm. The class was nothing what I thought it would be like and not at all what it said in the description online. It's called The Anthropology of Modern Social Dance, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, but right now I'm still enrolled in the class... Tuesday I had a class at 1pm called Twentieth Century British Theatre, not exactly my chosen interest, but I guess we'll see how it goes. After that I went to my Shakespeare In Performance class. It was full of 3rd year students (our equivalent to seniors) the professor walked in and said, "this is your last semester here and this class is very tough and demands a lot from you because this is your last chance to show us what you can do before you're on your own!" Whelp I definitely don't fit in that class,  so I dropped it and I'm currently looking for a new class to fill that spot. Some options I've found are: Film & Sound, Creative Writing (Drama), Practical Photography, and The Beatles ( not sure what I'll take because some of those are also 3rd year/advanced classes).

I am very happy to say that I have found the closest Starbucks to campus, about a 5min walk. I was surprised and excited that my Gold Card works here, so I can still get my discounts on certain drinks... I'm sure I will be spending a lot of time there :).... I enjoyed almost a full day of sunshine yesterday for the first time since leaving Pittsburgh over a week ago. However I guess 1 day is all I get, because today it was super windy and raining. I was forced to buy an umbrella before leaving the student union this afternoon and it proceeded to almost break 5 times on me before reaching my dorm.

Cheers!!

My cart on the travelator.

 A video of the amusing cheerleaders doing the "routine" they do after a goal...