In the early morning, Layla and I walked over to the Peter Froggatt Centre for the international students’ orientation, day 1. We met some friends there and sat through a long list of speakers, had a coffee break, and sat through some more speakers. By that point we were running 15 minutes behind schedule, and a lot of people were late to their enrolment appointments.
We ate lunch in Cloisters, on the ground floor of the Students’ Union. There I met some new Germans including two girls in Mount Charles and a guy down at Elms . I had some tasty roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, cooked cauliflower, and yogurt.
From there we split up to do our own thing for a little bit, and met up again for the bus tour at 2:30, completely taking up the back two rows of seats. We saw some interesting buildings and got out a few times (the third time, we all wanted to just stay on the bus, but thought it would be rude…). We got a good look at downtown, the city hall with a big ferris wheel beside it, and the Parliament building which was huge and very impressive.
After the bus tour, Allison and I decided to go downtown in pursuit of cell phones. (With no internet and no house phone, I at least needed a phone of some kind. I was looking for the cheapest, pay-as-you-go phone, and ended up with a good one.) We didn’t spend long walking there, although it seemed to take forever. After asking for directions at least three times, we found an O2 store a block away from the city center, and got a couple Nokia phones with 10 pounds of minutes for only 30 pounds total! Not a bad deal. My number is—erm… Well, if you need it, shoot me an e-mail.
Allison and I took a double decker bus (8b) back to campus and sat on the top floor at the very front. Definitely cool. I was extremely pooped by then but didn’t have time to take a nap; instead I showered and ate some cereal. Once again Layla and I met some friends outside our place and walked with them to a Ceilidh (kay-lee) in Whitla Hall. I thought we were going to watch some Irish people dance and perhaps join them for a little while. I was wrong. We spent the entire time learning simple Irish dances that are remarkably similar to old English dances. For each one, we would watch a couple up front demonstrate, and then we would line up and run through it twice without music. After the dry runs, our live 3-man band would start playing, and we’d do the dance until they stopped. Between each dance we would take a quick break for drinks.
Now I’ve never considered myself a good dancer, but after a little bit of practice, I wasn’t uncomfortable on the dance floor. I knew I would make mistakes, but I learned to accept them without unnecessary embarrassment and move on to the next step.
The first one I danced with was an IFA volun
teer, wearing a full kilt and high socks combo. After that I was part of a group from my posse, and later danced with a new German friend who was a little less confident, but just as willing to learn. I definitely had a good time!
After the Ceilidh, the huge group Layla and I had amassed walked over to the Botanic Inn, or the Bot, to chill out and
have a few drinks. We staked out a corner and stayed there for maybe two and a half hours til the place closed at 1am. At the Bot I got to know some of the guys in the group I wasn’t too familiar with yet--Benny, Chris, Nicolas. I told Arne what an Irish Car
Bomb is like and he decided to try one. I asked the bartender for an Irish Car Bomb and he handed me a pint of Guinness with a shot of whiskey... That's definitely not how it's done in the States; we do it with Bailey's. Anyway, Arne had one with Bailey's which he enjoyed; he said it tasted like chocolate at the bottom as I predicted.
When the music stopped and the lights came on full, we packed up and headed back to the dorms. Sleep was nearly impossible on that awful old mattress. I tossed and turned all night, woke up several times, and nearly froze because the heater went off and wouldn’t come back on. Ugh.
One more day of getting up early, and then I can sleep in on Saturday. -sigh-
extremely sleepy,
~Catherine
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