What I've learned this past weekend:
I've witnessed someone's worst nightmare and laughed at it, which, by the way, doesn't make me a bad person...
Guinness tastes strongly of wood and alcohol (go figure)
Parrots pop up out of nowhere
Rachel knows way too many people name Sarah
The two Sarah's that I met, however, were pretty amazing
When in doubt for a costume, go for a blind Mexican fortune teller, you will almost certainly have what you need in your overnight bag
I miss my friends from home, although I would prefer it if they were here, as I never want to leave
My roommate doesn't like cigars
My other roommate likes the room freezing cold
I'm leaving (on a jet plane) for Italy with the internationally known test taster Ratchel Rodernon...
... And it's supposed to rain.
I'm going to miss my humble apartment while I'm away
Weetabix is the best thing to happen to cereal since sliced bread
The Irish are fickle and passive (Mizzoni Pizza! Probably the best pizza in Dublin! Buy your tickets today! Or this weekend! Weetabix, anytime and as a tasty evening snack!)
The French view American men as either a White Trash man with mutton chops, a beer belly, a beer hat, a dirty t-shirt and aviator sunglasses, or as frat boys who chug beer. I'm really happy that Americans are viewed so highly...
When asked to go to a theme party, you are generally given a theme, although it is INFINITELY more fun when you get to choose the theme you go as
Katie V.'s parents are sweet people
Amanda Maguire does an uncanny impression of Enrique (our Drama teacher) without realizing it...
... And she likes cheese hats and to be called Pablo
You can, contrary to popular belief, get the titles "Ice Age", "What Women Want", "Center Stage" and "The Mummy" into classroom discussion when talking about Beckett's Not I and Footfalls.
You can also incorporate the titles "Dancing in the Dark", "RESPECT", "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and "Born in the USA" into the discussion when talking about Ourselves Alone by Anne Devlin
To protest conditions in a prison in Northern Ireland, men went on a Dirty Strike where they smeared their own feces on the walls of their cells. This didn't work so they went on a hunger strike. Bobby Sands was the first to die of this hunger after 66 days of only water.
Someone came dressed as Bobby Sands at the Theme Party. However, no one knew who he was so it didn't really matter what he was dressed as.
Simon has one funky eye
And he loves stage make-up
You can tell how funny someone is by how they react to situations where they aren't in control of their own emotions and actions
A viable costume option is going naked wrapped in Tibetan Prayer Flags... Don't worry, it didn't happen, it was just an option...
Pink leopard print leggings are a LONG term investment
The people on the LUAS might actually be nice...
Antoinette is green and wears a cape
Miss Cleo is white and Mexican and Jamaican
Nora is the 80's AND Nala
Peter can make up a song about anything (What makes something a chair and being allergic to shellfish)
WOP is actually better than it sounds
So are peppers and onions
To greet people in Zulu you say Sawubona
Loosing your lucky rocketship underwear = the end of your life
The is no point to our Voice class. No. Seriously. He told me there wasn't.
Marc knows David Beckham
There are no black people in Northern Ireland
While the rest of us Americans were told not to go near the highway, especially after dark, and to be home before everyone's porch light was on and to not download rap songs onto the family computer, Irish kids our age were running barefoot through the heather while their parents worked in the peat bog until the sunset.
Yoga people like having mats...
... And apparently they like having blankets too (?)
Lowering your voice instantly makes you more intimidating and more menacing
I never want to be Catholic in Ireland and be pregnant out of wedlock...
Ryan Air will nickel and dime you for everything you ever thought of doing on their airline
IES doesn't want to wait for us to pick up our baggage from London. But are we bothered?
When you don't know someone at a party and they have an Irish or British accent ask a Gaiety IES student. When they have another European accent ask Felix. When they're American and you don't know them that means that they aren't supposed to be there or you really need to learn the names of your classmates...
Texas people are way more friendly in Ireland than they are in the States.
Butlers continues to prove itself as the best hot chocolate ever in the history of mankind
Guinness chocolate, however, tends to hit the spot if you're hungry.
The entire school of Skidmore was at the Guinness Factory and in Dublin. Not joking. I met probably 6 people that I didn't know but someone else in the group of Faude, Sway and Rachel knew. Including a Parrot (who squeals) and a rich gay/straight man from Harvard who had bugs in his room (don't stay at the Brewery Hostel for anyone planning a visit. That is also something I learned this weekend).
Rachel looks amazingly like Amy Winehouse with the Elvira wig and winged out eyeliner and a pair of pants in her head.
More people say "obvi" then I realized. I had never heard this before...
"Cool Beans" is actually a place on Long Beach Island and they sell t-shirts.
I think that's all I've learned, which, I would say, is a pretty full weekend, and we haven't even left the country yet, and it's only Sunday...
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
"I've worked with priests before. That was hard. PRAY BETTER. PRAY LOUDER."
Since the last post, I've been extremely busy, which is why it has take me so long to write again! I'm trying, honestly, I am!
I guess I'll start with the basics: I will NOT get kicked out of the country when I try to get back in after Italy. OH, and I'm going to Sicily in ten days with Rachel to sit in the sun, mash grapes with our feet and cycle around the beaches. OK :-) I'll take it! Back to the VISA.
Rachel and I (on our third attempt) visited the Immigration Bureau near the River on the Monday before our VISAs expired. Both of the other time we had arrived too late to get a ticket (the first time at 1 pm and the second at 9 am) so on Monday we got there at 8:30. They started giving out student tickets at 9:30, so we figured that we'd be one of the first and that we'd get out of there in time to get to our 1:30 class. Well, we weren't one of the first, in fact we were numbers 182 and 183 and we waited in line to get the number for a half hour, got it and they said to come back in two hours to get the stamp. So we left, thinking that we'd get some coffee and study our monologues in a little cafe. We were there for two hours and fifteen minutes, got back to the Bureau and were surprised to learn that they were only on number 137. Fantastic. So we sat, me next to a man from Pakistan who continually reminded me that we were "almost next" and Rachel next to a really awkward man who kept hitting on the girl on his other side. Another hour later, Rachel is called, and I immediately afterwards. She goes to Desk #2 and I head over to #11. The man I had was young, really nice, took all my information, passport and letters, said I didn't have to pay the 100 Euro fine. I was done in 10 minutes. Rachel had a man who was nice, old, took all her information, passport and letters, didn't give her any of it back and made her pay the fine. Then made her wait for another 45 minutes to get a "non-identification" card. It has her picture, her name and her birthday, but it's not to be used as an ID card (?). So, needless to say, we were late for our class, but we are now legal. Thank god.
We're working on monologues for Acting, which is proving tougher than I thought it would be. It's great to work with Amanda, who, contrary to PLU profs (who are wonderful) really doesn't care about your ego and will tell you exactly what needs to be fixed, then will work with you personally until you figure it out. I love it!
Dad got here last Thursday and I couldn't have been happier to see him. He looks like he did (duh, it's only been a month...) and everything was just the same, except he was in Ireland! We went on a road trip around Ireland, which was amazing. We started here and took off toward Athlone in the midlands, then over to Doolin (see previous post), the Aran Islands, Cliffs of Moher, then headed back to Dublin by way of almost every small town and dirt road we could find. It was FABULOUS! Oh, and I almost got a cow wet willie. Yeah, gross.
We've seen a few shows since Galway including The Pride of Parnell Street (amazing), The Playboy of the Western World (OK) and History Boys (absolutely one of the best contemporary pieces of theatre I've had the privilege of seeing). Saturday night is Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neil and I'm REALLY excited about it. I think. It's four hours long. We'll see. Apparently they sell ice cream and pop corn at intermission :-)
We have absolutely NO food in the house. I'm talking, wheatabix, bread, honey and lemons. Ummm, not enough for anything except breakfast. Which means that I'm going shopping after class and it will spend an exorbitant amount of money. Great, just what I need!
I guess I'll start with the basics: I will NOT get kicked out of the country when I try to get back in after Italy. OH, and I'm going to Sicily in ten days with Rachel to sit in the sun, mash grapes with our feet and cycle around the beaches. OK :-) I'll take it! Back to the VISA.
Rachel and I (on our third attempt) visited the Immigration Bureau near the River on the Monday before our VISAs expired. Both of the other time we had arrived too late to get a ticket (the first time at 1 pm and the second at 9 am) so on Monday we got there at 8:30. They started giving out student tickets at 9:30, so we figured that we'd be one of the first and that we'd get out of there in time to get to our 1:30 class. Well, we weren't one of the first, in fact we were numbers 182 and 183 and we waited in line to get the number for a half hour, got it and they said to come back in two hours to get the stamp. So we left, thinking that we'd get some coffee and study our monologues in a little cafe. We were there for two hours and fifteen minutes, got back to the Bureau and were surprised to learn that they were only on number 137. Fantastic. So we sat, me next to a man from Pakistan who continually reminded me that we were "almost next" and Rachel next to a really awkward man who kept hitting on the girl on his other side. Another hour later, Rachel is called, and I immediately afterwards. She goes to Desk #2 and I head over to #11. The man I had was young, really nice, took all my information, passport and letters, said I didn't have to pay the 100 Euro fine. I was done in 10 minutes. Rachel had a man who was nice, old, took all her information, passport and letters, didn't give her any of it back and made her pay the fine. Then made her wait for another 45 minutes to get a "non-identification" card. It has her picture, her name and her birthday, but it's not to be used as an ID card (?). So, needless to say, we were late for our class, but we are now legal. Thank god.
We're working on monologues for Acting, which is proving tougher than I thought it would be. It's great to work with Amanda, who, contrary to PLU profs (who are wonderful) really doesn't care about your ego and will tell you exactly what needs to be fixed, then will work with you personally until you figure it out. I love it!
Dad got here last Thursday and I couldn't have been happier to see him. He looks like he did (duh, it's only been a month...) and everything was just the same, except he was in Ireland! We went on a road trip around Ireland, which was amazing. We started here and took off toward Athlone in the midlands, then over to Doolin (see previous post), the Aran Islands, Cliffs of Moher, then headed back to Dublin by way of almost every small town and dirt road we could find. It was FABULOUS! Oh, and I almost got a cow wet willie. Yeah, gross.
We've seen a few shows since Galway including The Pride of Parnell Street (amazing), The Playboy of the Western World (OK) and History Boys (absolutely one of the best contemporary pieces of theatre I've had the privilege of seeing). Saturday night is Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neil and I'm REALLY excited about it. I think. It's four hours long. We'll see. Apparently they sell ice cream and pop corn at intermission :-)
We have absolutely NO food in the house. I'm talking, wheatabix, bread, honey and lemons. Ummm, not enough for anything except breakfast. Which means that I'm going shopping after class and it will spend an exorbitant amount of money. Great, just what I need!
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