Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Been a while...
I've been back from Ireland for, like, 7 months now, but I haven't posted a thing on here. I got got kinda tired of blogging while I was in Ireland, so I didn't do it over the summer, and I was hella busy at TU last semester, but I'm good to go now. We'll see if I can keep it up for more than a couple months. :P
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The new website is up!
I finally got all my photos onto the new website, and it has a pretty good journal application, so this blog is temporarily on hold. I'll start it up again when I get back to the States in May. Until then go here if you want to know what I'm up to: http://caseyincork.shutterfly.com/
Saturday, January 10, 2009
America in Ireland
It's funny the amount of American culture I'm encountering while outside America. Though a lot of it is older stuff. I watched Sabrina the Teenage Witch on tv a few days ago. I heard Eagle Eye Cherry's "Save Tonight" in a grocery store. House is starting new with season 1 on tv this week. I never expected to come to Ireland and see Will Smith's face plastered everywhere on advertisements for the movie Seven Pounds, but there ya go. I also just finished watching a movie on tv called Orange County. I really liked it! It's really funny--Jack Black, Scarlet O'Hara, John Lithgow, and others. Great coming-of-age story. :P
Last night, a group of us (Maureen, Jon, Kate, Holly, Allie, Patrick) went out to a couple of pubs (Preachers and Counihan's), and we passed a guy playing didgeridoo. That was kinda random and cool.
The beer here is really good. I never really liked it much before, but that's probably just because a lot of beer in the US is just bad quality, and I had only tried a few different kinds. Fosters is my favorite so far.
I have to admit that I'm already starting to miss home a little. I think that might be partly because I didn't get much time to chill between finals and my flight. I was working constantly the last few weeks of school, and then any free time I had I was spent sort of frantically trying to see all my friends before leaving. I did a pretty good job of that, and I'm glad, but I wish I had had a little more time to just sit back and relax before leaving. Oh well. I can look forward to doing that this summer (though I'm sure I'm going to be working a lot since I'll be broke when I return).
At least I won't have to worry about school when I get back. As for school here, I don't think it'll be too bad. I think the uilleann pipes and bodhran will be fun, though I will have to practice, and I've heard that Intro to Irish Traditional Music is super easy. The rest of my classes are lectures that have one longish essay and one exam at the end. Not too bad at all, but after having just finished a semester that was all projects, it'll take me a little while to get back into the groove of listening to lectures, taking notes, and writing papers.
Here's the website for the photos, by the way (I also added a link to it on the right under "Links"):
http://pics.livejournal.com/caseylowry/gallery/0000cbs9
It isn't completely updated because it's taking me a really long time to upload all of the photos. I'm gettin' there, though.
Last night, a group of us (Maureen, Jon, Kate, Holly, Allie, Patrick) went out to a couple of pubs (Preachers and Counihan's), and we passed a guy playing didgeridoo. That was kinda random and cool.
The beer here is really good. I never really liked it much before, but that's probably just because a lot of beer in the US is just bad quality, and I had only tried a few different kinds. Fosters is my favorite so far.
I have to admit that I'm already starting to miss home a little. I think that might be partly because I didn't get much time to chill between finals and my flight. I was working constantly the last few weeks of school, and then any free time I had I was spent sort of frantically trying to see all my friends before leaving. I did a pretty good job of that, and I'm glad, but I wish I had had a little more time to just sit back and relax before leaving. Oh well. I can look forward to doing that this summer (though I'm sure I'm going to be working a lot since I'll be broke when I return).
At least I won't have to worry about school when I get back. As for school here, I don't think it'll be too bad. I think the uilleann pipes and bodhran will be fun, though I will have to practice, and I've heard that Intro to Irish Traditional Music is super easy. The rest of my classes are lectures that have one longish essay and one exam at the end. Not too bad at all, but after having just finished a semester that was all projects, it'll take me a little while to get back into the groove of listening to lectures, taking notes, and writing papers.
Here's the website for the photos, by the way (I also added a link to it on the right under "Links"):
http://pics.livejournal.com/caseylowry/gallery/0000cbs9
It isn't completely updated because it's taking me a really long time to upload all of the photos. I'm gettin' there, though.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Ireland!
Wow. So it's been a while since I've posted, but I've been so busy over the last week! Where to begin!
The trip got off to a bad start with the flights because my flight from Dallas to New York was delayed 2 hours. That subsequently made me miss my connecting flight to Shannnon, so I had to wait in more lines and get on another flight. I ended up having to change from American Airlines to Delta, so my bag didn't arrive with me in Ireland because it didn't have time to get processed and switched over. That was all a bit stressful, but it worked out in the end. I got to Ireland on Thursday, safe and sound, and my bag arrived on Friday. The Delta flight was quite pleasant--I got to watch Tropic Thunder, finally, and I watched Ghost Town. Tropic Thunder I enjoyed, but it didn't live up to what everyone made it out to be. Ghost Town, though, was VERY good. Love Ricky Gervais.
The first day in Limerick (for the IFSA Butler orientation) was nice. My new friend Bryan and I walked around a bit, taking photos and such. And then there was a free dinner where I got to meet the others in the program. My roommate at the Jurys Inn (our hotel) was Laura--she was quite nice. Pleasant company. A group of us went out to a pub called Dolans that was GREAT fun! They had a small 3 piece band playing Irish traditional music. Absolutely loved that.
The second day was filled with people talking at us about safety and immigration and so on and so forth, but we did get to go to the Cliffs of Moher. THAT was cool. Took LOTS of photos there. (By the way, I will have a separate website for all of my Ireland photos up soon. I'll link to it from here.) There were lots of signs telling people not to climb over the fence because they might fall to their death. Great fun.
On Saturday we rode a bus to Cork. Our apartment complex is really nice. The common areas for some are a bit small, but that's ok. I have two roommates--Maureen (from IFSA Butler) and Muriel, a french girl. Maureen is quite nice, and Muriel seems to be great, as well--we just met her yesterday. A small group of us went to a place called the Welcome Inn that had a live guitarist. He was awesome--took some of our requests. Along with Irish music, he played Bob Dylan, John Lennon, John Mayer, Elvis, and Billy Joel--piano man on guitar is kinda funny, but he pulled it off.
Sunday was a nice day off from orientations. Our IFSA Butler local guy Ger took us around the University College Cork (UCC) campus a bit. After buying a few groceries, Maureen and I took the evening off to just chill. We found a biopic on Linda McCartney on tv--it wasn't that good, but we watched it anyway. :P
Yesterday was actually the first day of classes, but we had orientation all day, so today was my first time to go to class. The funny thing about the system here is that we go to classes we think we might like for a week and a half, and then we register for the ones we want. It's really quite nice. If one of my prospective classes turns out to be boring or if it conflicts with other classes, then I don't have to drop out of it, I just won't register for it when the time comes. I like it better than our system back home.
The only class I've been to so far is Aspects of Irish Folklore, which is just for visiting students. It wasn't a real class session, though. The professor just talked to us for a bit and handed out a small booklet. I think it'll be fun and easy, so I'll probably take that one. Later on tonight, at 6pm, I have the history class for visiting students, so we'll see how that goes.
I'm already starting to get a grasp on the layout of the city, it's not too difficult, really, because there are so many large landmarks that let you know where you are--cathedrals, rivers, a huge brewery, a giant McDonald's (:P).
As I mentioned above, I'm going to create a separate website for the photos I take. I'll probably do it later tonight.
The trip got off to a bad start with the flights because my flight from Dallas to New York was delayed 2 hours. That subsequently made me miss my connecting flight to Shannnon, so I had to wait in more lines and get on another flight. I ended up having to change from American Airlines to Delta, so my bag didn't arrive with me in Ireland because it didn't have time to get processed and switched over. That was all a bit stressful, but it worked out in the end. I got to Ireland on Thursday, safe and sound, and my bag arrived on Friday. The Delta flight was quite pleasant--I got to watch Tropic Thunder, finally, and I watched Ghost Town. Tropic Thunder I enjoyed, but it didn't live up to what everyone made it out to be. Ghost Town, though, was VERY good. Love Ricky Gervais.
The first day in Limerick (for the IFSA Butler orientation) was nice. My new friend Bryan and I walked around a bit, taking photos and such. And then there was a free dinner where I got to meet the others in the program. My roommate at the Jurys Inn (our hotel) was Laura--she was quite nice. Pleasant company. A group of us went out to a pub called Dolans that was GREAT fun! They had a small 3 piece band playing Irish traditional music. Absolutely loved that.
The second day was filled with people talking at us about safety and immigration and so on and so forth, but we did get to go to the Cliffs of Moher. THAT was cool. Took LOTS of photos there. (By the way, I will have a separate website for all of my Ireland photos up soon. I'll link to it from here.) There were lots of signs telling people not to climb over the fence because they might fall to their death. Great fun.
On Saturday we rode a bus to Cork. Our apartment complex is really nice. The common areas for some are a bit small, but that's ok. I have two roommates--Maureen (from IFSA Butler) and Muriel, a french girl. Maureen is quite nice, and Muriel seems to be great, as well--we just met her yesterday. A small group of us went to a place called the Welcome Inn that had a live guitarist. He was awesome--took some of our requests. Along with Irish music, he played Bob Dylan, John Lennon, John Mayer, Elvis, and Billy Joel--piano man on guitar is kinda funny, but he pulled it off.
Sunday was a nice day off from orientations. Our IFSA Butler local guy Ger took us around the University College Cork (UCC) campus a bit. After buying a few groceries, Maureen and I took the evening off to just chill. We found a biopic on Linda McCartney on tv--it wasn't that good, but we watched it anyway. :P
Yesterday was actually the first day of classes, but we had orientation all day, so today was my first time to go to class. The funny thing about the system here is that we go to classes we think we might like for a week and a half, and then we register for the ones we want. It's really quite nice. If one of my prospective classes turns out to be boring or if it conflicts with other classes, then I don't have to drop out of it, I just won't register for it when the time comes. I like it better than our system back home.
The only class I've been to so far is Aspects of Irish Folklore, which is just for visiting students. It wasn't a real class session, though. The professor just talked to us for a bit and handed out a small booklet. I think it'll be fun and easy, so I'll probably take that one. Later on tonight, at 6pm, I have the history class for visiting students, so we'll see how that goes.
I'm already starting to get a grasp on the layout of the city, it's not too difficult, really, because there are so many large landmarks that let you know where you are--cathedrals, rivers, a huge brewery, a giant McDonald's (:P).
As I mentioned above, I'm going to create a separate website for the photos I take. I'll probably do it later tonight.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
*whew*
The semester is finally over. I am so glad. I ended up with pretty good grades, too, which is great, considering what a bad month November was. I can finally relax after working almost constantly for 2 weeks--I even stayed up for 54 hours straight at one point.
Now I can finally start concentrating on my trip to Ireland. Woo! I'm excited. I still have a lot to do to get ready, though, and so little time to do it--my flight is only 10 days away, for crying out loud! One of the things I need to do is see friends. I got that done in Tulsa, but I still have some Edmondites to take care of. I'm really glad I'll be in Edmond for the next few days so I can do that.
Man, oh, man. It's gonna be surreal. It's gonna be a blast. It's gonna be awesome. Especially after talking to Ciaran (student from Northern Ireland going to TU), I'm really pumped for this adventure.
Now I can finally start concentrating on my trip to Ireland. Woo! I'm excited. I still have a lot to do to get ready, though, and so little time to do it--my flight is only 10 days away, for crying out loud! One of the things I need to do is see friends. I got that done in Tulsa, but I still have some Edmondites to take care of. I'm really glad I'll be in Edmond for the next few days so I can do that.
Man, oh, man. It's gonna be surreal. It's gonna be a blast. It's gonna be awesome. Especially after talking to Ciaran (student from Northern Ireland going to TU), I'm really pumped for this adventure.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I'm in a perpetual state of waiting.
Well, I thought that with the coming of November, my life in general would become less stressful, but so far this has not been the case. This semester is starting to wear me thin. I'm STILL in the thick of all my class projects, so school is a bit chaotic. Band obligations have diminished slightly, but I've been skipping rehearsal some lately and I feel guilty for it. I keep staying up till the early hours of the morning (take a look at the post time below) and then waking up obscenely late. It's not responsible and it's not healthy. I have yet to fully catch up in Animation, though at least I haven't gotten any further behind. Today (meaning Monday) was the most unproductive day of the semester as well as one of the worst days I've EVER had. Study abroad forms continue to bombard me and probably will through December. I can't wait to leave on January first. I definitely need a change in scenery. Routines make me crazy, which may be why I'm slacking off so much lately--this does tend to happen in the latter half of semesters. In any event, tomorrow (meaning Tuesday) I will try to force myself to get my act together, and hopefully I can get through the rest of the month and half left of school with good grades, health, and confidence to be ready for travel. I'll be counting down the days.
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