Back safe & sound from Galway!

Lots of video and photos coming your way in the next few days!

Sneak peak(s):

Illini in Galway

Countryside

Cliffs of Moher

Headed to Galway for the weekend and visiting the Cliffs of Moher!

I will update my blog with videos, pictures, and everything from the past week when I get back on Sunday -- sorry for the gap in between posts, I've been meaning to update but I've been busy with classes and booking trips.

Cheers :)

Hypotheticals and Food Passion

I am, as many people are, intrigued with hypothetical questions. If anyone has read / heard of Chuck Klosterman, I'd argue that Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto is his best book, but I'm probably biased as there is a section of 23 Hypothetical Questions in that book that I'm obsessed with. (If you want to check the 23 Hypothetical Questions out without purchasing the book, someone blogged about them with his/her answers in red here. Favorites to point out: #12, #15, #6).

Anyways, one of the hypotheticals that I am constantly asking myself and changing the answer to is - if you had to lose one of your senses, which would you choose?

People say you study abroad to "find yourself" and "seek answers". Well I found my answer for this question.

I couldn't lose my sight, Europe is too mystifying.

I couldn't lose my sense of touch - there's so much to do here.

I couldn't lose my sense of hearing, Irish music is wonderful.

I couldn't lose my sense of taste; two words: "magnum bar". (it's an ice cream bar here, clearly sent down from heaven itself and made with 100% love).

...But I could definitely go with losing my sense of smell -- all the food venues smell so delicious and its always so tempting; I'm always hungry (my stomach is already smaller I'm pretty sure). Excuse me for being American, but I'm used to Cheesecake Factory portion sizes, where 1 meal can last you a week but you eat it all in one sitting anyways.

Speaking of delicious and tempting foods...

Guinness Stew is amazing.

Here are some places online where I found some recipes, if you're ever tempted to try it out:

- http://homecooking.about.com/od/soups/r/blss129.htm

- http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/beef-and-irish-stout-stew/Detail.aspx

- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/beef-and-guinness-stew-recipe/index.html

(St. Patrick's Day meal, anyone?)

Irish Music

(ending with the song "Galway Girl" that you might recognize from the movie P.S. I Love You)

Or view it by clicking here.


Irish Dancers

Or you can view it by clicking here.

This is how my day started.

But let me explain --

We visited Saint Michan's Church in Dublin, which if you didn't click on the link before to see -- it's not known for it's decor. Nope.

It's known for the mummies underneath it.

Very cool, worthwhile visit though. The mummies pictured above are each 400 years old -

said to be (from left to right)

- a nun

- a criminal (notice the hand is cut off)

- anonymous female (?)

And this guy that I'm pictured with below is 800 years old.

He's a Crusader. What a stud.

& the strangest part wasn't going into (what looked like) storm cellars to climb down into the dim-lit caves below the church. No, the strangest part is that Crusaders are buried with a hand extending out (so the living can shake their hands). Traditionally, it's good luck to touch the hand of a dead Crusader. So, incase you were wondering -- you can't tell very well by this picture, but yes... I am touching a dead guy's index finger.

Next stop:

Guinness Storehouse!

Guinness Girls :)

You can't go to Ireland without drinking a Guinness. These people like their Guinness so much, it's probably even a law.

Anyways, I will be putting a video montage up soon of the Storehouse, so I'm not going to bore you with any details. Plus, I believe there are at least 5 people that I know of that follow this blog and are going to experience it for themselves in March, so I don't want to ruin any details for them :)

However, I will say that the best part of the tour by far is at the tail end of it -

Grabbing a free pint of Guinness at the top of the Storehouse, overlooking the entire city of Dublin from all angles. Breathtaking -- it honestly made me take a step back and for the first time, truly appreciate being in such an amazing city.

The pictures don't capture the whole feeling, but they certainly attempt to:

We got there right as the sun was setting; perfect.

(The view will also be on the video, once I edit it and put it up!)

Afterwards, we were treated to a 3-course meal

(Guinness stew is the bomb - don't believe anyone who tells you differently)

& traditional Irish music and dance. I'll put those videos up right after this post. You might have even seen them before you got to this post.

After, we went to a pub in town - O'Donoghues - for a pint or two and headed back to UCD.

Some were more worn out than others...

Videos up soon!

Excerpt from Chad Vangsness's blog:

Chad = University of Illinois student that is at UCD

with me & will be traveling a lot with me.

He likes to update with stories that make fun

of me, mostly, but I don't blame him.

"Lets talk about the prices of things in Ireland: Everything is expensive except bananas.. They must grow those things here or something. I thought bananas were only from Brazil or something. Those things are 10 for 1 euro. Thats the best deal on this entire continent... I am going to eat sooooo many bananas.

On the expensive side of things.. Scotch Brand tape remains to be the biggest rip-off... 5 euro for a puny roll of tape...Thats over $6.50 in Ammurica... Looks like I won't be doing a lot of taping this semester which is really disappointing."

Clubs & Pubs: Late Night Dublin

It's no mystery, the Irish love to drink. In Dublin itself, there are just over 1,000 pubs. Don't believe me? You can check them all out yourself by clicking here.

One of the societies that students run for University College Dublin arranged a late night for study abroad & erasmus students (new to the term? 'erasmus' is just a fancy word for a European exchange student).

They took us to a place called Dicey's - a late night club that prides itself on its pub-esque feel.

It's really interesting, because a lot of these "clubs" are situated on otherwise very quiet-looking streets. This street (that is filled with clubs in their main and basement levels) just looks like a normal street filled with old apartment buildings.

Inside Dicey's

University of Illinois students - Chad, Bridget, Brian, Elissa, & I

Questionable picture of us mocking the sorority "shoulder pose & head tilt". Diana (third from left) seems to have succeeded.

My only possible explanation for this picture is that this drink must belong to a erasmus student... Europeans can be strange.

3:00 am McDonald's. Incase you were wondering, ... it does not taste the same. I blame the Europeans for being so healthy; all the fatty goodness that us Americans know and love in their McDonald's seems to have been 'revised'.

Fun fact: they call fries "chips" here, and chips are called "crisps".

Making "I'll have a cheeseburger and chips, please!" two different orders in Ireland and America.

Down the street from Dicey's is a club called Coppers - which is apparently known for its young crowd & super sloppy drunks (according to my roommate, it stays open the latest out of all the popular clubs in Dublin, so you can probably see how that reputation happened -- I believe it stays open until around 4 am?)

Anyways, here is a hilarious YouTube video that she showed me about Coppers.

(I realize that some of my audience consists of people under the age of 10. Just a warning - probably not something I would advise them to watch!)

PS - "shifting" & "scoring" means "kissing" in Ireland

(I absolutely love the end of that video, so hilarious.)

PS, promise to have an eventful update tomorrow - we're going to Saint Michan's Church (apparently there are mummies?!), The Guinness Storehouse, out to dinner, and enjoying some traditional Irish music & dance.

Also, I still promise to update soon with pictures of my campus as well as some hilarious Irish slang!

Until then! Thanks for following :)

Schedule

Monday

No class

Tuesday

International Marketing @ 1 pm

Cross-Cultural Management @ 3 pm

Wednesday

Marketing Communications @ 11 am

Irish History Course @ 6 pm

Thursday

Organizational Behavior @ 3 pm

Friday

No class

I am a very lucky girl.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears

After some serious Google-ing of "where to watch American football in Dublin, Ireland" we were able to find a place (one of the only 3 bars in town) that played the Bears game on Sunday.

Will we be doing the same thing next Sunday to watch the Bears beat the Packers?

You betcha :)

To come:

- pictures of my campus at University College Dublin

- slang, sayings, and words of Ireland

Photos from the City Tour of Dublin I took on Sunday 11/16

Notes:

- the green plants everywhere (!).

- the pictures of the park shown is Saint Steven's Green, donated by the Guinness family

Vlog 1

I promise I will get better at this.

As before, if that is not working you can view this video by clicking here.

"I didn't get a chance to see you before you left and I just want to tell you as I'm sure you know, to take ridiculous amounts of pictures. You can take pictures of buildings and sights and everything that's fine, it's a good way to document where you've been, but don't forget to take pictures of moments, take pictures of memories. If you accidentally break something or spill something take a picture. Get pictures of you and your friends laughing and dancing. Take pictures of the good times you have and the stories you're gonna tell because when you look back on this trip, that's the stuff you're going to want to remember. At least that's what I would do. Be safe but more importantly, have fun."

The First 24 Hours

Enjoy!

Incase the video above isn't working, you can go directly to the link by CLICKING HERE.

Hello, Dublin

Why yes, I am American. What gave it away? The obnoxious tourist picture I just took on this bridge? Or the accent?

Putting a video up of "the first 24 hours" soon.

Things I am Going to Miss in Spring 2011

10. Unofficial. Yes, I realize I will be in Dublin for Official St. Patrick's day, but I'd rather have the best of both worlds. Anyone want to fly me back for that first weekend in March? No?

Ryan, Kevin, Christine; Unofficial 2010

o9. 50 cent refills at Silvermine Subs. No, really, I'm serious. How else am I suppose to get my caffeine fix for under a buck?

o8. This guy.

Chief. (Photo Courtesy of Chase Gunderson.)

o7. Texting. I know that makes me sound like a melodramatic teenager, but it will be a big adjustment.

o6. The 2010-2011 U of I Men's Basketball season. Let's just call this season a warm up for my senior year. Sorry, Demetri.

o5. DVRs & my favorite TV shows. I might even miss watching Glee. Okay, fine, I will miss watching Glee.

o4. Cheeseburgers. Pizza. Fries. Anything American, greasy, and available in huge portion sizes.

o3. All good things associated with 907 S. Wright Street, including living with some of my best friends in college all at the same time.

Roommates, Fall 2010; me, McKenna, Breanne

12's

[see attached video: snowball fight on the main quad with Chi O's at 1 am in December. So college.]

o2. Family parties. (read: losing to a bunch of drunk Gundersons in euchre or being embarrassed by Uncle Mart, and loving every minute of it).

Uncle Dirk, Grandpa, Rhett, Mom

Chase, Blake, me, Uncle Mart

o1. Family, loved ones, and friends -- and the comfort of having them all so close by.

"The Last Supper"

The Cheesecake factory on 1/08 with the whole family before my departure on 1/11

My boyfriend Kyle & I

My best friends Christine & La Boyda

The next time I update this blog, I will be in Dublin! Hopefully I'll have a video for everyone. Wish me luck getting both of my bags & my carry-on from the airport!

Happy Birthday to my Dad 1/09

and my Grandma! 1/10

Snowball Fight footage (as mentioned in reason o3.)