AHHHHHHHH!

Good lord today was confusing.

So last night a few people came over and I was introduced to perhaps the greatest party game in history, spot got (I think?). Now I'm going to warn all of you that you are about to judge me. Go ahead. Basically you have to recite a poem and if someone catches you messing it up they get to draw a spot on your face with a burnt (but cooled) wine cork. 

 Exhibit A

Good fun.

Anyway, today was not quite as fun. Woke up and tried to organize classes. Then ran over to get my student ID. This was without a doubt the most disorganized set up I've ever seen. I entered a classroom where every other international student was basically standing in a pack, gradually shifting forward towards two guys with laptops. These guys were having a grand time cracking jokes about everyones pictures, talking everyone up and taking forever with each card. I got my card with no problem, but one guy that I was with fell victim to the ever present Irish wit that I've seen here so often. Just as he sat down for his picture to be taken the ID card guys asked him a question about something. When he looked away from the camera to answer they snapped his picture and started cracking up. They refused to take another and now his ID card has a picture of him looking up at the ceiling with a confused look on his face. Fantastic.

I then began my journey to settle my classes. I went over to meet with the international advisor and waited in line for about a half hour. When I finally reached the front of the line she closed the door in my face and said "Closed for lunch, come back later!". COME ON!

So after coming back she sent me to the geography department to figure courses out, they sent me to the programme office who sent me back to the international advisor. She then told me to go home. COME ON!

I think I finally figured out my schedule on my third try. Lets hope considering classes start on Monday. On the bright side I met a lot of new friends waiting in the neverending line for the advisor.

I don't have  many pictures yet, but here are a few to give you an idea of the people I'm meeting

Day...3? 4? Where the heck am I?

Alright I see the eco-friendly entry wasn't as popular with the crowd...thats cool. Those of you who sent me "greenify your facebook page" invites after that entry...very funny, haha, my friends are all comedians.

Anyway, what I thought was jet lag earlier in the week appears to have just been exhaustion. Today I felt jet lag. I woke up completely confused as to where I was or why I was here. I went to orientation where I went on a tour of campus. The tour guide had a voice that not even a cat could hear so really I just walked around campus in the rain making up my own explanations for what each building was. Next week should be interesting. I came back and fell asleep for somewhere between 2 and 4 hours. The days seem longer here, I can take a 4 hour nap and still feel like I have plenty of time...thats going to change once classes start I can imagine. 

After my nap some friends came over and we engaged in the traditional sharing of  favorite youtube videos, Megan had told me this would happen and wouldn't you know it it did. Charlie Bit Me and George Washington were big hits. 

Last night we went out to the Temple Bar area which is a district of the city with trendy bars and stuff....very touristy as well but whatever. Interesting observation, Europeans love the song "Soulja Boy" but don't really know the dance (I'm one to talk..) so instead they just sort of flail...I look forward to watching them again. 

Tomorrows goal is to figure out classes....UCD is very disorganized and I'm really confused as to what I'm supposed to do. So tomorrow I will figure that out and hopefully I won't end up in quantum physics or something like that by accident....

Here's looking at you, Al

One thing is for certain, Al Gore would be crying tears of happiness if he saw me right now.

An average day last week would consist of me getting up, and moseying into a piping hot shower. I would then stand in said shower for an average of 20 to 30 minutes, a mixture of waking up, warming up and soaping up. I would then emerge from the shower to a new towel, not reuse one of the 30 that I had scattered around my bedroom, and dry off. Then I would either watch hours upon hours of television or some other electronic device,  before wandering downstairs to eat a pre packaged meal and drink a few sodas that while recyclable, would probably end up in the trash instead. It goes without saying that I would be turning on every possible light in the house while all this was going on. Next I would get into my car and drive the 3 blocks to the grocery store where I would use as many plastic bags as possible for my items. I would also try and hit as many animals as I could on the way home....thats a lie. My night would end with me maybe taking another shower or a bath...just because. I would then make sure the bathroom light stays on throughout the night...just in case I forget where it is even though I've lived in my house for 21 years, and falling asleep to the television or a movie. I am single handily responsible for global warming.

NOT ANYMORE

I now make sure I turn off all lights when leaving rooms, that costs money. I also must limit my shower to no more than 10 minutes...or rather the shower limits that for me with its abrupt shut off of warm (note not hot...just warm) water. I walked the 20 minute walk to the supermarket today with my reusable shopping bags. When our hands started to blister on the way back we took public transportation. My one towel is being reused rather than stuffed behind my bed. What now Al Gore, I am no longer your scape goat, you can no longer guilt trip me into doing your bidding...Ireland has instead forced me at gunpoint to be more ecologically friendly.

I'm still blasting my heat. It's cold....and it will hurt the wallet...but dammit it feels good.

Day 2, Part 2

I just hung out with a bunch of other Americans....80% of them were from New Jersey. Hooray? Just for a lark I mentioned Bruce Springsteen, that got a bunch of people going. Study abroad? yeah right.

Day 2

Wow, I'm excited so many people checked in to read the blog! Anyone who knows me knows I love to talk about myself so that was a great boost to my ego. Keep it up!

Yesterday I mainly settled myself in. A roomate arrived and we oriented ourselves with the university and went to meet the study abroad advisor. The building where most of the offices and classes are in is so big that there are lines painted on the floor leading to the different sections. You pick a color and follow it. The one we chose led us to an elevator but failed to tell us whether to go up or down. We went down and ended up in a boiler room. Haha, very funny Ireland.

One of our neighbors stopped by last night to say hi and told us to watch out for lights and music because that meant PARTY. That would be great except for the fact that I entered a light coma at around 8pm. The last thought that ran through my freezing cold head was "Wow, this must be what the Pilgrims had to deal with" because it was still DAMN COLD. When I woke up at 4am however, the only thing running through my mind were the lyrics to the Canadian pop group B4-4 classic, "Get Down", so lord knows what happened during the night. It was nice and toasty warm though, thanks heater.

This morning my roomate and I headed into the city to pick up basics, she needed sheets and stuff and I needed someone to keep me awake. (side note, I have notoriously awful jet lag, basically I'm exhausted 24/7 for the first week). That introduced us to the Dublin bus system, very efficient. I bought a pillow because the one they gave us here is about as thick as my sweatshirt. I was proud of myself for buying a pillow but as I stood at the bus stop starring at the time table, pillow stashed under my arm, I realized there must be a giant red, white and blue arrow over my head with neon lights flashing AMERICAN!

We got back and found another roomate, also cool. Some other Americans from the building next door came by and we went to lunch. Very nice, felt popular. My jet lag was at a peak though and I'm pretty sure they thing I'm an anti-social snob who laughs at inappropriate moments due to the fact that i basically spent lunch starring off into space and laughing whenever I realized I needed to get into the conversation.

After coming back to the flat for awhile and settling in (read: Light nap while others were productive) we went back into the city for a pint. How cool does that sound...come on, you know it sounds cool.

We went to a pub that I can best describe as an old mans bar. Not too many youngins there but oh well, they served alcohol. More importantly they had heat. So we hung out there for awhile. Then took the bus back, not so efficient at rush hour, it is here that I see the merits of Septa. 

Now we're cooking dinner and then taking it easy. One roomate came in from California this morning and god knows how long she's been up. 

Keep up the comments. Let me know if you have any suggestions for things to do/people to see!

I can't feel my toes

And I'm here!  

The flight over was excellent! I hate flying but this one was only about 5 hours which is pretty awesome. I met some other Americans on the plane who are also going to school here this semester, so that was pretty cool. I got off the plane in the biggest haze ever. I couldn't even figure out what day it was. After three tries I finally found the taxi station and got a cab. We then had a hell of a time finding my building as its tucked back a little. So to pass the time we discussed Brittney Spears. 

Warren, the cab driver, seemed to think that fault lay with Kevin Federline. I told him he was wrong and that KFed was actually coming out on top in this situation. Apparently they're getting told different information over here and Kfed is still a failure. Who knew! We then discussed Nicole Richies choice of baby name, he approved and thought it was "cool" but was a little confused as to how she was a celebrity. I kept it to myself but thought that he had no place to talk considering how big Jordan is over here.

It was weird to see Dublin at rush hour. It was still dark at 8 am. Now I havn't seen 8 am in awhile, but I'm pretty sure its not usually dark. That will take some getting used to. Also, crazy amount of Sprinters (vans) my inner account rep got kinda giddy at the sight of dozens of Sprinters going throughout the city. 

Once I got to my dorm, the housing office was closed, again my inner account rep turned on and I thought "someones a failure" but within 20 minutes someone came hustling down the path and welcomed me. So all was forgiven. 

My apartment is FREEZING. And electricity is highly regulated here (damn hippie Europeans) so we have to be careful about what we leave on and off. I think I figured out how to turn on the hot water with help from my sister. Yes I frantically e-mailed my sister wondering if she knew how to get hot water...shes good for something. 

I'm still completely out of whack but I'm going to try and get things set up.

One Week!

Alright, officially one week from tonight I will be in the air to Ireland. GAH. 

I'm not sure if anyone reads this blog...other than Sarah's one comment....but audience participation time is here! Any suggestions for things to do while in Ireland/Europe. Where have you always wanted to go? Where do YOU want a postcard from (ps if you want a postcard send me an e-mail with your address)?

My laundry pile grows higher, and the time to pack all of it gets shorter....