Failte

change

2011-03-04T05:54:00.002Z

Change of plans, change of heart, change of address...

Hello to the 8 people who read my blog!

I have been posting on here for a few years - since I moved to Ireland and had lots of people to keep informed... and it has been a great way to log my journeys, but...

I think it is time to make a change.

I thought about it when I moved suddenly from Limerick to Calgary back in 2008 and didn't blog for several months. I realised then that I am person who writes when I feel inspired and that my time in Calgary felt more like waiting (for my PhD to begin) than actually living. I didn't like that mindset, but chose to postpone my removal from blogland until I was in a better state of mind.

Once I was in SC and felt like I was moving directionally rather than plateauing, Failte was a good venue for regular updates.

Then France happened, which provided great fodder for here...

and then France didn't happen. & life got... unpredictable... chaotic... kind of spiraling downward... and I was trying to refrain from self-pity and self-criticism about my decision to leave France. I know it was the right decision, but I was definitely not inspired to write about my life's happenings.

And recently I realised that I don't enjoy only writing when I am "inspired". I want to live life, to enjoy it, to find wonder in the every day!

This change of focus, change of heart, change of "intent", I guess, well... it's allowed me to come to the conclusion that maybe I should officially put FAILTE on hiatus for now.

Maybe I don't need/want to think in terms of "tales" and "journeys", of "lessons" and "experiences" that can be journaled into this format...

so I am trying something new - we will see if it works. We will see if I decide I like the story-telling/novel-writing format better. But for those of you who have been wondering - I know a few of you have asked me personally where I have gone... my internet blogging space has found a new home...

if you are interested in finding that address, PLEASE feel free to ask! (it's a tumblr account) I will email you the new URL. I don't want to post it on here for spamming/paranoia reasons. Sorry for the inconvenience!

I heart you all :)

My mom's birthday, or...

2010-10-05T20:19:00.003+01:00

Day 15: Another French Saturday

My plan for today was to (1) come up with an abstract for a conference being held at UL (my MA alma mater in Ireland) in November, (2) plan this week’s classes, (3) mark some written work done by the students, (4) work on a translation piece I’m doing to improve my French & (5) finally get started on some grant work I wanted done before I moved... NATURALLY, that’s exactly what happened, hah.

Instead, I woke around noon and played around on the INTERNET & looking & maps of the city/region to get acquainted with bus/tram routes, etc. Turns out I can’t really do the grant-writing until I’ve printed stuff off & needed access to a printer... which is impossible to find, & my uni office bldg is locked on the weekends. SO...

I went into centre ville (town centre) to run some errands... another nice, sunshiny day... lovely! Needed an adaptor for my macbook to connect to the projectors in the classrooms & got lost in the winding streets looking for the Mac store (actually, it’s the “bemac” store... but whatever – it had my product!) & realized that it was right in the place de la Réunion that I’ve been talking lots about. Then I wandered the shops for a bit – went into H&M (it is GIANT) & got a flashdrive at Chapitres, bought some strawberries at a farmer’s market, & found some much-needed supplies at the grocery store, including a knife! I can now slice & dice tomatoes & cucumbers and be a part of the human race again. haha.

I returned home & was on skype with family for a while, then Caroline (the girl from Mulhouse who lived in SC last year) came by with more much-needed supplies (including a duvet & plates! It’s starting to feel like I’m living here & not just surviving...). Then I headed out to Claire’s place to actually try & plan.

We didn’t get much done, but we’re progressing – trying to come up with lesson plans for 6 levels of English over an 11-wk span in 2days is just not reasonable. The fact that (in the English-speaking world) she’s mostly been exposed to Brit Culture & I’ve mostly been exposed to everything BUT Brit culture (okay, not South African... but still) is both a Pro and a Con. We have a wide variety of subject matter to choose from, which makes it both fun & distracting... so it’s slow-going.

After an hour or so of “planning”, we headed over to a prof’s house for an evening with the faculty. The lady’s home we visited was beautiful! It had quite a lot of character and she’s only just moved in – cannot wait to see what she does with the place. The evening went well – a little painful at times, mostly because non of us really know one another and the guests spanned 22 year old lecteurs/lectrices right out of Uni to the Dean of the College of Arts (guessing around 60)... it was a little to “highbrow” for my comfort, but I’ll need to get used to that, eh? Thankfully, my family once again saved me and I had been “invited” to play a board game for my mom’s birthday.

The hostess had been offering to lend me a toaster oven since I arrived, but I’d never gotten around to picking it up, so while I was there, I took it with me... and since my tram wasn’t due for another 20 mins when I got to the station, rather than sitting in the dark alone with my toaster oven, I decided to walk home... took me about 12mins!

I got home in time to join the family on skype for a game of “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?” & had a blast! I heart board games. Such a nerd.

That took me until about 1am my time, when I joined Dracula before bed.

Notice how much I accomplished on my “todo” list??? le SIGH.

not too shabby

2010-09-21T21:47:00.003+01:00

Day 14 was LONG... but fantastic!!!

I was at work by 8:30 preparing for my 9am class. The class was too big for the room & the temporary room I was assigned had another class in it, so it looked to be one of “those” days. First class – third year – was advanced beyond my expectations, so the class went by without much effort on their end, but they were all very sweet and seemed glad to be there, which was nice...

Next class was the Master’s class, which ROCKED. Well, as much as a class of 4 girls + me can “rock”. We, too, had a classroom conflict that was tougher to correct than class 1, so we didn’t get started until half past the hour, which left us with a 30-min course. Awesome. But then we talked the whole time about our research interests, places to get materials, and of COURSE, utopian studies! That last part makes me happier than usual because these students actually wanted to learn more about the topic – they were genuinely interested, yay!

Then I had a 5-hr break until my next class. I went back to the office and ran into N – the colleague I had met yesterday – and when I told her how excited I was that the students wanted to know about Utopian Studies, she was curious about it herself, so we talked and she is hoping to have me come in and talk with a few classes about the topic because it would be a good idea for a research project required by many of them... AWESOME! Then I had lunch with Claire, prepped for the evening class, and my break was over... wow.

The last class of the day was another LanSAD 2hr job, but this time I was ready. WHEW. It was another class of all girls – about 12 out of the 18 registered students – and everything went exactly according to plan!!! That never happens! I felt respected, which was fantastic, but we had fun, too... I think... they all fully participated and learned lots of new vocabulary and even took homework with them (we’ll see in a week if they actually DID it). I was bored with the generic intros and decided just to get right to work, but I integrated some “get to know you” questions in throughout the lesson... I think I pulled it off, whew! At the end of class, one girl did come to me concerned that she may not be strong enough in English to stay in the course and I asked her to keep trying and reminded her to not compare herself with the others in the class, but to look for improvement in herself - & she seemed encouraged... don’t know if she’ll return or not, but I feel like I handled things okay...

At the end of the day, X offered a few of us lifts home – so thoughtful! – and I had a supper break at home before heading into town for an evening in at Claire’s with some other lecteur/lectrices. We listened to music, did the tapas/snack thing (which is turning out to be quite an enjoyable tradition!), watched the Ministry of Silly Walks clip from Monty Python on YouTube and debriefed on our past couple days. I must say that after hearing the stories from other depts., I am really, truly grateful to be in the Dept of English!!!

SIDE NOTE: In the afternoon, I was able to talk to my bosses about possibly taking a Friday off in November for a conference in Limerick at UL... looks to be an option, YAY! Now I need to pull together an abstract and see if it gets accepted. It’s in Gender Studies, which is not my area of expertise (or even serious interest), but I did take a Gender Theory course last term and have recently written on Goldsmith at Judy Butler, which was “interesting”... so I am hopeful – and it would just be FANTASTIC if I had a reason to return to the campus!

the "i" word

2010-09-20T19:24:00.002+01:00

Days 12 & 13

So things I’ve learned in the past few days include the fact that when I have the INTERNET, I am less likely to write journal entries and more likely to watch tv shows online or skype with people live.

SO.

I got the INTERNET on Tuesday (day 12). I was up early(ish) to go to the bank – got my bank card (PTL) and my own mobile phone, woot! I spent much of the day playing with the phone before I taught 3hrs back-to-back. One was another first-year course (last one of the week, whew!) and then right into a 2-hr LanSAD block. LanSAD = languages for students of other disciplines, which means that these are NOT English majors. But they are in Arts & Humanities, so either other languages (French, German, Comp Lit), history or “the science of education”. This class had 15 enrolled and 6 girls showed up. We did basic introductions, a writing warm-up, talked about the course, and went across the hall to the computer lab to look at the English websites I mentioned in my previous post. All 6 girls ended up on hotguysreadingbooks. Hilarious! So then we* all chose a photo, described what was happening in the photo, why they chose it, what the guy looked like, and if he really was “hot”. haha. SAD.

Then I went home to learn that my INTERNET was working!!!!!! So I talked on Skype with my niece & grandparents – what FREEDOM!!! And then I watched the latest episodes of Rizzoli & Isles and Covert Affairs before falling asleep to Dracula**+.

Day 13 was pretty uneventful – YES! – I had no courses to teach, which was lovely... but I went into the office for a few hours anyway. I prepared for the Third-Year classes & Master’s students that take up most of Thurs & Fri, planned a tiny-bit with Claire, met a new colleague – N – who’s offered to share some French music with me to help me learn the language... and started translating an article from English into French as homework for a class I cannot attend. But I still want to learn, so I’m doing the work for practice.

Then I went grocery shopping – bread, cheese, jam, chips & salsa, and dehydrated foods that I can fix with boiling water from an electric kettle (like soup packets, mashed potatoes & ramen noodles***) before going home to enjoy the INTERNET! I talked with my stepdad and sister today... gave a video tour of the studio apartment in which I live, the giant baguette I bought and a couple varieties of cheese that make me happy.

Then I returned home to study the IKEA website and create my wishlist for when I get paid, before watching Psych & True Blood before crashing. No Dracula tonight, but I got really distracted with the features of the new phone – including Bluetooth****.

*by “we”, I mean they.

**this book feels like it is taking forever to read, but I am kind of glad because I can’t justify buying another book right now... so it’s all good! but if anyone wants to ship some English books just for fun, FEEL FREE!

+ I almost said “falling asleep with Dracula”, but figured that just wasn’t right...

***ramen noodles – the ones that cost like 7cents in the States – cost 1,05 Euros here, what?!?

****did I mention that I now have the INTERNET???????? :)

Lectrice!

2010-09-19T23:02:00.004+01:00

Day 11

I wonder how long I can keep up the every day journaling... it would be wild if I was like, “Day 294”... but I don’t have that much dedication, haha! We’ll just have to wait and see.

Today was my first day of teaching classes, yay!!!

I repeated nearly the same introductory lesson 4 times, so there is really not much to tell, but I will try:

I had 2 L1 and 2 L2 classes today. L1s are first-year English majors and L2s are (logically) the 2^nd-years. The classes were an hour each and went like this:

1) Introduced my name & email address.

2) took roll – had them spelling their names in English, fun times.

3) explained the exam expectations

4) explained that this course is an oral class, that they would be graded on participation and that I wanted to make this experience open & comfortable – I also spoke a phrase or 2 in French to show them that my French is worse than their English, which helped them open up

5) talked about me for 30 mins, where “me” included: utopian studies, environmentalism & Jason Mraz

6) one of the oral exams will be finding an English source that they would consider a “favourite” and come prepared to answer questions about it in class... I am asking for websites, but am willing to accept any English source... I gave examples of my 3 fave websites:

www.superforest.org

www.yourjoyologist.com

www.hotguysreadingbooks.tumblr.com

and one blog: www.freshnessfactorfivethousand.blogspot.org (aka Jason Mraz’ blog).

7) After that, I told the story of how I prepared for France with various vocabularies, did not think about medical and ended up in the ER (as you’ve already read in great detail) and then

8) we talked for 15-20mins about injuries/accidents/going into labour/etc... except the few students who got distracted by

9) making up stories about crashing their airplane onto an island where they met Tom Cruise who broke one girl’s heart, kissed another girl... and the guy (who made it clear that he did not kiss Tom Cruise) got acting advice & was offered a part in his next film -- & the one guy to told me that he would “love” to talk about Ernest Hemingway*, but that his throat hurt. HAH.

10) during the conversations, I would note vocabulary words on the board that I noticed they were struggling with

Overall, I feel like it was a successful day. There were some shy students, some students who just joked around (but in English, so I didn’t mind), and other students who had to be reminded that this was an ENGLISH class – but only once and then they at least kept trying, which I felt was a great beginning.

Some students have already asked to meet with me for coffee to practice more, and want to stop by my office, and if that happens, then I will feel as though I am doing my job, because it means that they want to learn and feel comfortable enough with me to ask for help.

I do feel like I need to offer a more structured environment in future classes, because there were times when they were just at a loss for ideas, but I think I can do it ONCE I HAVE INTERNET and can prepare film/tv/music clips!!! argh.

We shall see how tomorrow turns out... I have a 2-hr class of non-English majors in the afternoon and I am a little concerned about how to fill up that much time on the first day of class... but I refuse to be anxious. I have been given such little guidance that I will not allow myself to worry about expectations.

In other academic-related news: I ran into D** after my last class and I want to take several of his classes, one of which is a sort of a translation from English-into-French course to help me with French vocab that conflicts with one of the classes I’m teaching, so he was like “just tell Ellen*** that you will be working with me on a big transatlantic project between Princeton and Sorbonne (I think? – some major French uni, at any rate) and that you need that block of time to be changed” and I was like do you HAVE a project like that, because count me in! I will ask Ellen if it is possible... people seem to think it is... and maybe that project really does exist, in which case, I will be so excited! I intend to attach myself to this guy in whichever academic fashion I can because he has so much I can learn... I intend to get as much out of this French experience as possible, & that includes networking in Academia. Even if I don’t get the schedule change, he has given me the homework for his class... should be enlightening! I hear from his students that he’s pretty harsh & his standards are really high... so I aim to seriously apply myself. And hopefully he won’t tell me I’m an idiot.

After all that, I met up with some colleagues at a pub in town (that also sold coffee, which rocked) and then we migrated to Sara’s place after a pit stop at the grocery store for what I called Alsacian tapas (a little bit of everything... sort of a sampler of Alsacian foods) and the group of us had a nice visit!

I have finished Firefly & Serenity, plus it’s late & I am exhausted after the teaching day, so I think I am going to read a bit of Dracula and then crash.

Have I mentioned how I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL I GET INTERNET IN MYPLACE????

*I have no clue where he pulled Hemingway from... maybe because I’m American? But I found it entertaining... and he told me all of that in English, so it was alright :)

**D = the C18 Oscar Wilde/4 Weddings & a Funeral Scottish guy blend who fascinates me. In case you’ve forgotten. Or maybe you don’t care. oh well!

*** prob self-evident, but just in case: Ellen is responsible for the timetables and classroom assignments in our dept

Lazy Sunday

2010-09-17T11:35:00.001+01:00

Day 10

Apparently, sunshiny weekends are unheard of here, so I am making up that this weekend was just for me!

Today, I slept in & watched more Firefly before heading out around 2pm to meet Caroline, a girl from Mulhouse who was attending school in SC last year – we had met up for coffee in Columbia (I know I blogged about her, but since I’m not online as I write this, I am not going to link to that post...) – and she’s back here completing her Master’s in English this year.

Turns out, Caroline works at the Chapitres I mentioned in my last post, which makes sense, seeing as how she’s a lit girl, haha. Also turns out that she’s hoping to write her thesis on dystopic fictions... when she used the word “dystopia”, I giggled. Also turns out, she’s read Tom Moylan’s work & quoted him in her thesis introduction... small world say “what?!?” So I gave her a few names & have told her about next year’s Utopian Studies conference in Cyprus. Yay!

As we talked, we also wandered the city... in the sunshine... SO MUCH BETTER than midnight strolls down prostitute row*. I took photos of the Onion Festival, a few buildings and old cobblestone streets, and some “art” in centre ville before we decided to walk along the river, which was beautiful. I will not be taking that walk any alone any time soon... and prob never in the dark... but for our purposes, it was a nice stroll. We came across a group of teens/young adults who had designed graffiti and were spray-painting their designs onto a wall along out path, so naturally I convinced Caroline to ask permission for me to photograph them! We walked past my apartment building, so I took some photos of the outside of the building from across the river, as well as some photos of the river itself... and a giant waterslide at the city’s outdoor pool (that’s right by my house) before we ran into Sara and Emma jogging on the paths... this city is like a crazy small-town!

After a little more wandering and a stop at the McDs for some wifi, we headed back to centre ville for supper.

We went back to where the festival was being held, because we figured there may be places open on a Sunday there (& we were right)... so I had my 1^st Alsacian meal. Let me just say that the Alsacian’s eat EVERYTHING. Brains, frog legs, veal head... so I had vegetable soup & salad with a cheese sampler.

I attempted to order in French & bombed. I ordered out drinks, but instead of saying “we would like”, I said “you (plural) would like” & told the server what to eat... but he loved that I’d tried... I think. Plus, every time he walked by our table (and only our table), he would burst into song, which I found highly entertaining!

Now I am home, packed & ready for my first day of classes, with my outfit all laid out & it sounds like there’s a storm a’brewin’. I am about to continue Firefly... Nathan Fillion... ‘nuf said. Not a bad day at all. :)

*FYI: I learned that there is not so much a “prostitute row” as several “prostitute corners” scattered around the city... the above phrase is more for poetic emphasis.

My 1st Saturday in France...

2010-09-15T17:46:00.001+01:00

... where I was conscious!

Day 9

Today was a Saturday, which doesn’t mean much to me because I am not on any kind of schedule (yet), but it means that people who are on a schedule flood the streets... especially when it’s sunshiny. And it was!

I was feeling much better, and I needed to get some school supplies (chalk, non-permanent marker, notebook, file folders) and the only place I knew might have all of them together was Chapitres*. They did, but it literally took me 30-45 minutes to find a ruled notebook! All of theirs were either graph paper-ish or had a billion lines going in both directions... like nothing I’d ever seen... I did find a section of ruled paper, but the paper was grey and the lines were white & that just made me crazy. Plus, I was hopeful that if I just kept looking, I’d actually find recycled paper – I kept running across one or 2 in each brand... and sure enough: I was able to find what I wanted... patience is my primary lesson in Alsace, and I’m learning slowly. If I just take my time and look carefully, I am usually able to find what I need...

Then I wandered through a festival of sorts!

I was in the Place de la Réunion that I mentioned in my previous post – the place with the historic buildings and round courtyard and fountains... and there was an Onion Festival today! Yep... basically there were lots of tables selling stuff (mostly wine, plus a really great farmer’s market), a dance floor set up for some traditional dancing of some sort, about a thousand people (not exaggerating), and people throwing onions, haha! It was a joyous occasion & I do not understand the cultural importance, but I did notice how happy all the people were, which was lovely!

Then, after a stop at my local McDs for wifi access, I went home to do some planning.

Later, Claire texted me for coffee so I went back to Réunion to join her – the festival was still going strong – and we discussed plans for the term – I think we’ll be alright, whew! We shall see when the students are involved just how good our term will go, but I feel okay for now, which is a good sign. Right?

After coffee, Claire & I wandered Chapitres (again), then she introduced me to a fantastic grocery store (I’m going there as soon as I get paid!) and we visited her flat** before going over to Sara’s place.

At Sara’s, we were joined by Emma (another Scottish girl) and the four of us enjoyed some pizza*** and girl-time (read: creating identities for Sara’s stuffed animals, watching YouTube videos, and talking about boys, while listening to the “nostalgie” radio channel in the background...) before we were joined by others a couple hours later. By then it was already 11 and I didn’t want to miss the last tram, so I only stayed until 11:30.

Overall, a good day, completed by 2 lovely episodes of Firefly (Out of Gas and Ariel) and a few pages of Dracula. I love days like this!

NOTE: One thing I’ve noticed while wandering the stores in Mulhouse is the fact that each place has its own, very specific, style of music that defines the attitude of the shop. It’s not Muzak, like back home... but the atmospheres are very distinct and the music choices are (mostly) enjoyable. Well, there is one grocery store that plays teenage club music – reminds me of Cilena & Brittney, and makes me roll my eyes (in fun)... haha!

*Chapitres is the French “Chapters” – a bookstore similar to Barnes & Noble, but without the Starbucks inside.

**apartment for the non-British inclined

***trivia: French pizza does not include pepperoni, fyi. tonight’s pizzas were (1) white sauce, sliced potatoes and ham and (2) tomato sauce, red & green peppers, onions and what looked like chunks of pepperoni stick, but not.

It's about time!

2010-09-14T13:14:00.002+01:00

Day 8

Today wasn’t much of a tale, but I guess that’s a good thing considering all the junk that’s happened in week one, right? I, myself, am grateful for the change of pace and the opportunity to share a very UNremarkable day... whew!

From 9-4 I was in meetings. The End.

hah.

But I really was. As far as stories go, I met another couple of faculty members in the English Department, and one of them is my official “new favourite person”. There has to be one in every group, right? So this guy’s name does NOT begin with an “M”, which makes my attempt at using initials easier... his is “D”.

D is a C18 guy, which naturally makes me happy... on top of that, his attire screams “fashion” (complete with the latest fashion of patent vinyl man purse in bright orange, which kills me) and his attitude screams... well, it just screams... the man is so flamboyant that I just find him pure entertainment, but he is also one of the few people who speak with perfect eloquence. When he speaks, it is said with purpose and excitement and makes one just want to stop and listen to whatever he has to say! Plus, his dark hair and ruddy complexion create a perfect backdrop for his brilliant blue eyes... yes, yes it is probably a good thing for my professional health that he is so obviously gay... but what a loss for the female kind.

Believe me when I say that – assuming my schedule accommodates, I will be sitting in on his C18 courses!

Other than my introduction to D, my day was pretty uneventful – WHEW!

We met with 3^rd-year, 2^nd-year, Master’s, and 1^st-year students, respectfully, back-to-back, with the usual French 2-hr lunchbreak in the middle (during which I pretty much just networked & tried to breath through the pain of the previous few days)... after the meetings, I stopped by the local wifi spot, also known as McDonald’s, before coming home to enjoy a few episodes of Firefly.

I forgot how much I loved Firefly! I am watching them in order again, & I never get bored... and they always make me smile! So overall, today was much less dramatic than previous moments in the previous week, but still memorable to warrant a little journaling. I mean, I don’t want to forget my first impression of D, that’s for sure! He’s kind of like a cross between what I imagine Oscar Wilde to have been like... and the Scottish guy in 4 Weddings and a Funeral... if that helps... ? haha

I put on my Facebook status that I find it amazing how easily my culture shock dissipates once I’m in Academia. If I have books, people and people who love books... my world is happy, regardless of language, location or loneliness... that’s a reassuring thought: that I might be in the right field after all! Seriously, for the 5hrs of meetings I was in today, I spoke for about 5mins total all day, and over 4hrs of it was in French – and I understood the VAST majority of the conversation... what a great feeling.

Thank you for sharing in my ups & downs... and for sending the prayers up on my behalf. They really are keeping me afloat! Now I am off to read some Dracula before I crash... hmm...

I MISS YOU ALL!!!

Hugs & Kisses from France

Kidney Stones, part deux

2010-09-12T14:50:00.001+01:00

Day 7

First of all, can I just say how much better my days get when there is a nice cool breeze & lovely sunshiny weather? Not freakishly hot, not freakishly wet... juuuust right!

I began this day with an 8am visit to the physician, who doesn’t make appointments on Thursday mornings, but rather leaves it open for surgeries and walk-ins, which was lovely. This physician spoke very good English (I was referred to him by a British colleague) & was able to explain everything to me. I had already figured it out, but it was nice to hear confirmation from someone who knew both French and Medical Terminology. He prescribed me a new medication, specific to the pain I was having, which does not make me drowsy – woohoo!

This afternoon was the first time in the past 2 days when I could walk without holding my breath... what a great feeling!

Also, because I am not confident enough in my French to take a taxi, I asked for directions to the tram station and wandered through the town centre (centre ville) for a bit. I saw a post office for the first time since I got here & was able to get a very important government paper sent off registered mail. I was also able to purchase a calling card (first place I’ve seen that sold them!) so that I can finally hear my family’s voices!!! Then I found the most beautiful area, “place de la réunion”, & stopped in a pâtisserie by myself for the 1^st time and ordered my very first French pastry for breakfast all by myself! Place de la réunion has a garden in the centre, with a fountain and lots of shops surrounding it in beautiful old buildings... I also noticed that there is both a Sephora, a Bata, AND an H&M in the “place”, so I will definitely be returning (when I have funds, haha)!!!

I slowly found my way to the tram, which happened to be right where the tram office was as well, so I went in and finally got a pass. Having a pass is like a newfound freedom! I can travel unlimited now, rather than worrying about tickets that only last 1hr and I have to pay 1.30E every time I step on... and I found a little shopping mall similar to the ones back home, which will be nice for wandering around when I get bored and the weather is bad!

On the way home, I knew I needed an ethernet cable because my internet was supposed to be connected today, so I stopped in a couple stores on the way. I’d never been in any of these shops before, but a girl, Cynthia, who’s lived here a couple years now & used to live in my building referred me to them. One is a little home furnishings store with really inexpensive items, which is nice, and the other is kind of like Superstore in Canada (or Winn-Dixie Marketplace for the southerners)... I found my cable in the 2^nd store. They are only one tram stop from my apartment, or about a 10-minute walk, so I am sure I will return when I am feeling 100% and get paid!

My internet is NOT working however, so that trip was not as urgent as I’d hoped.

I spent the rest of my afternoon trying to get internet (no luck yet), but before I got too far, I stopped at a payphone and made calls to NC, whew!!! It was soooo nice to hear familiar voices and tell them about the ER visit/kidney stones before they read about them online! Of course, I ran my mouth too much talking to my sister & mom and ran short on minutes for my grandparents and my niece... I will probably talk to them before this gets posted, but regardless: “I LOVE YOU MA-MA, PA-PA & CILENA!!!!!” I also think the pay phone stole money. I started out with 53 minutes, but only actually talked for about 40. boo. but I don’t now enough French to call & complain, so OH WELL. I guess I need to get cracking on that French fluency thing, eh??? Whatever. I’ve only been here a WEEK. Not even.

Now it’s 4:15pm & I am exhausted (again). Tomorrow will probably be a long day, so I will probably head to bed soon. Preferably without a 2^nd trip to the ER.

love & hugs from France!

colique néphrétique

2010-09-11T11:13:00.002+01:00

PREFACE: As frustrating as the language barrier was, I am grateful this happened outside of the States, b/c I am only insured for overseas emergency medical coverage... so praise the Lord for the little inconveniences!

Days 5.1 & 6:

I went to bed at 6:30pm on day 5, with the intent of rising early & preparing for classes in the morning before a meeting with colleagues. 45 minutes later, I was in the worst pain of my life. I went from completely unconscious to standing with tears in my eyes in about 3 seconds.

It felt like some internal organ had exploded – so naturally, I assumed appendix. But I didn’t have the internet to talk myself out of it... and I had no credit on my phone. And there was no doubt that this was more pain than I’d ever had. So I knocked on my neighbours’ door (whom I have never met) and explained that I think I need a hospital, but that I want to phone my American “friend”, Sara (whom I had only met 2 days earlier) for advice – she’s lived in Mulhouse over a year. After much panic on (their part) and laboured explanations (on my part), including them trying to phone for an ambulance on one phone & not understanding that I had no credit, but still trying to phone Sara on it regardless... Sara phoned back and we were able to make a plan: Sara would phone M & they would both come get me in a taxi (as neither of them drive) & we would all go to the hospital.

Okay, that’s settled.

Now I have made 2 (maybe 3?) new friends – on Erasmus* study from Germany & Italy, one of whom stayed with me until my ride to the hospital arrived, and one of whom stopped me in the grocery store the next day (day 6) & asked how I was doing... way to make an impression, Stephanie.

M didn’t answer her phone, so Sara phoned the next best option: X**, who had a vehicle, but was a man - & a man who was uber-polite/not fond of hospitals(?) & refused to go into translate for me... so Sara (who’s only recently began French studies, even though she’s lived here for a year... she’s been teaching English) and I (who did not brush up on my Medical vocab before taking this trip) struggled for 4 hrs to explain my pain & understand ER-speak. FUN TIMES.

Ultimately, I was told that their best diagnosis is “colique néphrétique”, which almost means “kidney spasms” when translated into English, possibly “calculs rénals” (kidney stones), but they had no radiology department, so I would have to get that confirmed the next day. They sent me home with an IV of what I think is ibuprofen & prescriptions for the same med plus 1000mg Tylenol. woot...

Day 6

This day was pretty much spent in pain. I had to meet M and Claire (to whom I will devote more time in a near-future post) for some HR paperwork. This is much-needed so that I can get a “carte vitale” and be reimbursed for the medical treatments I am receiving (which are not NEARLY as expensive as one would think – my total bill so far (as I write this) is under 150E!)... after that, M sent me home, made appointments for the radiology centre, and offered to be my translator for the visit – what an ANGEL!

We went to the radiology centre where the differences between French & Americans have been made MOST evident... people walking around semi-nude & all the doors are left open during exams... weird... a little unnerving if you have ANY indication of how modest I am... the two best parts about this visit were: (1) the confirmation of actual stones, so it was not all in my head, WHEW! and (2) the crazy tilt-a-whirl xray table they placed me on: I started out standing and they spun the table until I was nearly completely upside-down – awesome!

Then they sent me to a physician to recommend treatment. Since it was already nearly 6pm, that visit didn’t happen until Day 7. M & I took a taxi to my place, I walked to the grocery store & decided on cheese for supper (vive la france, eh?) – where I ran into my neighbour – and turned in for the night at around 8pm.

* I know I mentioned it in my Irish posts, but for those of you who are new to this broadcast: Erasmus is an exchange program between Universities in all of the EU countries, where humanities (history, languages, cultural studies) students are required to spend a certain amount of time attending Uni in a foreign-language country. Usually one year per each foreign language in your degree. My friend Jonathan did Erasmus in Paris for his French & a work-study in Japan for his Japanese (since Japan is obviously not in the EU).

** X is mentioned in my Day 5 post... I asked him if when he offered to give us a lift any time earlier that day, did he have 4 hrs at “les urgences” that night in mind??? He laughed & said that he hops we can have more enjoyable trips next time... how is this guy not taken? A better question would be why am I not interested??? (I have several theories about that, none of which will make it on this post, haha)

before the ER...

2010-09-10T15:23:00.002+01:00

Day 5

Okay, so I’m settling into what semblance of a routine I can manage... sort of... I don’t know how long I will be processing my daily adventures, but I’ll keep at ‘em until I run out of stuff to say or get too busy to sit down at night. Here is my schedule starting next week:

Monday: I teach 12-5 with a 1hr break @ 3.

Tuesday: I teach 3-6pm

Wednesday: off

Thursday: I teach 1hr @ 10am, then back again from 4-6 (the other lectrice & I will have team planning in the middle)

Friday: I teach 1hr @ 10am & then again from 2-4.

Overall, I will be teaching 11 different groups, once a week, ranging from first years to Master’s students. I figure, if NOTHING else, I am getting a decent range of teaching practice! And ideally, I only need to create lesson plans for 5 classes, but I am sure I’ll at least start out with back-up plans, since we have been given very little re syllabus/curriculum... basically, we are supposed to help them “improve” their English, but we haven’t been told any specific objectives about what levels they should reach by end-of-term, so this should be... “interesting”.

This Uni is extremely small – smaller than UL for sure, but quite comparable with regards to resources... UL did have much nicer facilities, I must admit! I haven’t visited the library yet – that will be the true judge – but I have not heard raves about it, so my hopes aren’t high. I did learn that I have access to several other Uni libraries in the region – including some in Germany & Switzerland, which doesn’t suck...

In addition to the scheduling and meeting with profs re their “expectations”*, I also got keys to the offices, found out the Uni computers are unfun, learned that I need an adapter for my Macbook in order to use my laptop with the classroom projection, requested internet for my apartment (now that I know which apartment I am in), and was able to visit with several members of the FLSH faculty... here is an overview of some of the peeps**:

1) M – the lovely leftist Frenchie with a Brit mom; spent time in the UK as a French lectrice; takes care of everyone; only slightly high-strung, possibly due to her tendency for procrastination, possibly due to her tendency to keep too much on her plate (we’re kindred spirits, she & I); average height & weight & appearance & always wearing long flowing skirts & ballet slipper-style flats; and so paranoid re social networking sites that she’s created a separate email and a pseudonym for Facebook that she refuses to share with anyone... curious... but oh so thoughtful! Half of the domestic items in my studio are hers (borrowed until I can afford my own).

2) X*** – the toughest French accent for me to follow, I think because he uses more slang and contractions that I am familiar with (for now), but he has the most beautiful British accent ever when he speaks English!; Tall, thin, ginger, blushes very easily (for example, when he was showing us the A/V connections, went onto youtube and played the first video on the screen... which happened to be a well-endowed seductress wearing a low-cut tank top & demonstrating the difficulty of performing 10 push-ups, with the camera placed at a dramatic angle, he made a small remark about his choice of videos, but then continued his instructions with the video playing in the background as though it were invisible... and he turned the brightest shade of red I’ve ever seen); he’s also the only person who refuses to initiate conversations with me in English... always starts off French until I get lost, which is a HUGE help!; and in addition, offered to drive us anywhere (including nearby towns in other countries) for errands, if we needed a lift... I approve.

3) S – Swiss German who commutes to work 3 days/week from Switzerland (crazy-cool!); an academic through & through: 3pc suit, slightly outdated, a little spastic, but extremely generous; he was by far the most helpful re expectations – we met him & in the same breath, he gave us a run-down of how we should run the classes connected with him (English for non-English majors, to be taught in 2hr blocks once a week... FUUUN), but he threw out so many ideas and ways to prepare, in like a 30-second spiel – it was great!; he also informed us that he does not speak French, that Alsace (the region of France in which we are) is actually Low-German, and that he gets paid way too little for someone who has written 2 books and numerous publications... then he invited us to join him & M & X for lunch, haha!

4) C**** – For lunch, we got pasta from the “cybercafé” nearby (I have no place in my memory with which to compare this adventure), but we just grabbed the food & went back to the offices. Earlier, we had been introduced to C as “the man who is always 1^st to arrive and last to leave” and that he “never forgets anything!”... everyone who mentioned him raved about him... and a couple hours later, we were sitting down for lunch, when C walks by and asks if we would like grapes. huh? yep, I heard correctly – he had grapes in his fridge upstairs that he would like to share... oh! and he’ll bring down some wine. FOR LUNCH. So he goes upstairs, brings out 2 bottles of wine (for 5ppl) & a bowl of grapes, sets them down, and announces that he has a meeting so he can’t join us, but he really wanted us to enjoy our meal... wild! I don’t know much about C, except that he is very well-dressed (not expensively, but stylishly & well-put together), always prepared, has many academic responsibilities, is a wine aficionado, British (I think? okay, at least speaks with an impeccable British accent & I haven’t heard him speak French yet - & his suit made me think “Brit” – I’m such a “nation”-ist, haha), and I was informed today that he is also a bachelor... okay, sign me up! KIDDING. I am pretty sure he’s gay, which covers a depressingly high statistic of “bachelors” in my age range*****

I think that’s all for today... maybe tomorrow I will start descriptions of the other people I meet... lecteur/lectrices... random crazy people on the streets... that might be a fun game to keep me from going crazy in my internet-free, Dracula-filled, moneyless existence...

ALSO: I managed to finally unpack today! I only brought 1 suitcase, but I was sincerely unsure of whether I was prepared to stay during those 1^st few days... Now everything has a home & I’ve gone grocery shopping (not that I have had an appetite all week...) and I even sat down to watch a DVD this afternoon, but it won’t play. *sigh* AND I have placed my going away cards & Nantahala photos on my table, but I can’t bring myself to read them again because I cry way too easily this time around (re international moves & homesickness)... but they cheer up the place, so I will read them again when I am feeling a little stronger!

*"they have none". that’s a direct quote. sort of.

**I am using initials because I have learned that some of these people are extremely protective of their privacy - & I mean EXTREMELY! – so I am trying to be respectful... please forgive any confusion. I would just “change their names”, but I have a feeling I’ll be writing about some of them in future posts & I don’t feel like recalling their pseudonyms.

***his name starts with M too... oops...

**** Dangit! He’s an “M” too! Boo. Whatever.

*****I find it funny that I had the most to say about the person I spent with whom I spent the least amount of time.

taking care of business*

2010-09-09T12:56:00.003+01:00

Note: I have been trying to write about my days before I go to sleep each night, but since my internet access has been unpredictable, I haven't been able to post the stories daily... I will try to only post one tale per day until I am caught up, but know that these are several days removed from the actual events... :)

Day 4

Today, I woke at 1:30pm & met M at the Uni. We first went to the residence to request that I stay in the single studio apartment. I couldn’t justify spending the extra $$ for a 2^nd bed & a door to the kitchen. It was a little bigger – freshly painted – but still... we’re talking a pretty big chunk ‘o change, so it was worth asking. And they said “Yes!”, what a pleasant surprise!

We rushed to meet the other lectrice with whom I’ll be working – Claire – so that she & I could receive our timetables & go over some departmental expectations/suggestions. I learned that I will be teaching 4 days/week: MTRF. I will have all day Wednesdays off every week this term, unless something drastic happens with the schedule in the next few days. Mondays, my first class is at noon, the earliest classes I have are @ 10am Thursdays & Fridays, and also on Thurs/Fri, there are pretty big breaks between classes, so Claire & I are hoping to schedule planning meetings on Thursdays... not too shabby.

I also learned that I am not required to be on campus on school breaks, which is wild, because there are a LOT of those!

After that brief meeting, M & I had to run to the bank to set up an account. This evolved into buying the required renter’s insurance & subscribing to a mobile phone as well – a very productive meeting! I will have my new phone a week from tomorrow & I can receive texts from all over the world for FREE... HINT. HINT.

The bank meeting took 2hrs, so it was after 6 before we left & I hadn’t eaten yet today, so M & I went on a search for a restaurant when we immediately ran into 4 of our colleagues who were out for a drink... so we all sat down together and had a lovely visit!

There is this girl, Sara, I met yesterday & who was in the group we ran into tonight that I wanted to mention special on here – partly because I decided I wanted to & partly because I told her I was... haha: She is SO sweet! She is also this crazy blend of all 3 Hingston sisters, which is just so lovely and reminds me of “home” (she had Bron’s hair, wears sweaters similar to Ky’s and her sense of humour is only slightly-less-sarcastic than Lynnie’s)... AND one of the 1^st words I heard her say was “uff-da”, which doesn’t necessarily scream “Hingston”, but it does scream “Canada” (She’s from Midwestern US, fyi), and it’s also a word I’ve gotten my niece to start saying, so it’s a little piece of two of my worlds... *sigh*

At the end of this day, I can say that I am not planning to hop on the plane just yet, things were a little more encouraging... but this is my very first “homesick for NC” feeling ever... and that is a big deal. If I stop, I tear up, so I hope that doesn’t last too long... or at least I hope I can get internet access SOON and feel a little less isolated. I think I am going to survive this adventure – didn’t think that was an option 3 days ago! Baby steps... please keep praying – this is scarier than anything I’ve done before...

also, fyi: my French is not great, but it is not as horrible as I’d feared, which is a blessing!

*feel free to sing the song in your head as you read... unless you just saw this note... in that case, feel free to REread this post while singing the song! :)

Waning Tears... :)

2010-09-07T13:34:00.002+01:00

Didn't want to leave the past post on such a crappy note... since time has passed & I have more to share... and I don't know when I will be on the internet again (hopefully, I can at least check email/facebook once a day in the office, but no skype/chatting yet)! Anyway, here are days 2-3:

Days 2-3

Okay, so the last update was a leeetle dramatic. hah. if you’re reading this, you should already assume it would be. Since writing my Day One reflection, I have managed to muddle through a few days of adjustment... here’s a glimpse of my life in Mulhouse, Days 2-3:

After crying for another hour & reading the biographical info before reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula for the first time (yep, vampire novels are a nice distraction in times of trauma, apparently), I began a 9-hr routine of shivering while huddled under a sheet & resetting the 45-minute cycle on my noise machine. Good times. But I managed to get a couple hours’ rest – enough to not immediately go to the nearest airport and quit.

Instead, I went to my pre-arranged 9:30am breakfast with M, where I regaled her with my dramatic evening. She was equal parts sympathetic & encouraging; obviously, she’s had previous lectrices encounter similar shocks... minus the marching band – that was a new one.

After breakfast, M phoned the Uni to see about my heat/hot water & made an appointment with the bank to set an account up with me on Monday. Then she packed up a bedspread, an electric kettle, leftover pastries from breakfast and a FAN, and we trekked back to my place where she managed to find the elusive hot water switch. I was unconscious by 12:30pm.

I awoke at 8pm, took a BATH & read Dracula for an hour or so before crashing again for the night.

After 26 hours of sleep, I felt rested & ready to face this new experience. Praise the Lord!

At 4:30 the afternoon of day 3, I went to a “tea” at M’s place, where I met the other lecteur/lectrices and a few of the English faculty. They are as follows: a lecteur from Scotland working in the school of business, 2 other American lectrices working in other depts (both of them were here last year), 2 other Scottish lectrices (one new, one’s been here for 2 years; I will be working closely with the new one), 1 American faculty who’s new to Mulhouse but has lived in Paris for 14yrs, 2 British faculty (husband & wife) and 2 French faculty (with whom I’ll be working closely). The tea consisted of about a thousand varieties of pastry, beer, wine & juice. After the tea, the American faculty member & I went for pizza (the only place open at 8:30pm on a Sunday) & I was home by 10.

Oh, & I fell while walking (SURPRISE!) on the way to pizza, so I made it a whopping 2days of consciousness before injuring myself, haha.

Warning: I am a BIG baby

2010-09-07T13:27:00.003+01:00

This post was written at the end of Day ONE in word document, fyi.

Day One, France:

I remember when I moved to Saskatoon. I got off the plane & went straight into a Aarrestad Family Christmas party held at Dave & Sonja’s. About 5hrs into the day, I was in tears, hysterical, wondering “what have I done?”. That homesickness lasted about an hour.

I remember when I moved to Ireland. It was slightly different for two main reasons: 1) Ky was with me as a tourist for 2.5weeks before I actually moved into my place and 2) I had been obsessed with Ireland for 15 years. Any homesickness I had was for Saskatoon (I had made a home there) & that didn’t last long.

I missed Charlotte & Stoon, but I never regretted my decisions to make those moves. Ever.

And each move had its share of problems once I arrived: in Saskatoon, I couldn’t figure out the busing system to save my life & more than once found myself wandering the streets of the city in -30+C looking for something familiar. Limerick was more of a culture shock than I’d hoped because of the gang population – I witnessed more than my share of pickpockets, beatings, etc... I am no stranger to fear.

So why am I sitting in an apartment in France, exhausted, terrified and in tears? Nothing about this feels comfortable; nothing makes me think it will all be alright. All I can think is “what have I done?” (again), but I don’t have the support system here that Stoon offered.

Part of it is leftover concern from all the troubles I had getting here:

1) The university lost my visa application

2) The university lost my housing application

3) The consulate made me reapply for my visa for a 3^rd time the week before I was due to fly out

4) Because of the visa delay, my buddy pass options were quite restricted

5) When I wanted to quit b/c I was so stressed out, my body reacted with & head cold, eczema & pink eye – all at once.

I had 11 months to prepare for this move. The previous 2 moves were made on 8-weeks’ notice (and those were LITERALLY problem-free). But even with all of these problems re France, things kept working out... maybe not according to my plan & maybe not according to my timeline, but they always worked themselves out. I would be ready to give up & stay in the Carolinas, and the door would open again for France.

So I got on a plane yesterday.

And thanks to my buddy pass, my overseas flight was in first class – awesome!

I got to Zurich and felt like all was well & transferred to my train commute into Mulhouse, where I arrived @ 11am and have been here ever since.

I spent the morning visiting with my University contact here, we’ll call her M. M explained the university system, what will be expected of me here, some of the things about the French she thought I’d like to be aware of (nothing extreme) and we ate a French lunch. There was a wall of cheese @ the store.

Finally, it was late enough to get some business taken care of (2pm is apparently the going time for taking care of business), so we headed over to the Uni to get into my apartment. And then it all began again. I will make another list:

1) my assigned apartment didn’t have power – I have to get it connected myself & they won’t be available until Tuesday

2) b/c of this confusion, they gave me a temporary single room

3) it may be me, but since I can’t ask anyone, it still sucks: in this room, I cannot get hot water or heat

4) no internet yet, either

5)and when I finally crashed, after being up for 26hrs, I thought I plugged my fan in properly & it overloaded in about 20 seconds

so now I have no sleep, no fan, no heat, no hot water.

I wake up at 730pm to get to the grocery store nearby for things like... I don’t know... toilet paper... only to find out that the store closes at – you guessed it – 730.

So I try to sleep for another few hours. Wake up at 1030. Keep in mind, this is with my noise machine that turns off every 45mins.

At 1030, I am freezing & I think, “well, maybe there are cafés open in France on Friday nights” so I go to take the tram into town but I only have a 1euro coin and a 20euro note. And the tram ticket kiosk will not accept any of my bank cards from 3 different nations.

So I begin to walk – to see if I can find a convenient store or café nearby – or someplace where I can get change for my 20... and I walk all the way into town. But it doesn’t stop there!

I cannot find a SINGLE place open at 11pm on a Friday night*. I finally find a street with some pubs, so I head in that direction, get turned around, end up in an internet café run by a man from Kuwait who spends 10mins telling me that people from North Africa will run by & grab my shoulder bag before he gives me change. And then I start back “home”.

I am so lost, but I don’t want to show others that I am lost – or that I am American – so I wander... and wander... and wander... until I find myself on prostitute row. I spoke to a prostitute for the very first time in my life – in French, no less! – to ask where the tram was.

I arrived at the tram line to learn that not only was I at the wrong tram line, but also that the tram was out of service.

Not every Friday night at this time, mind you... JUST TONIGHT. They were servicing the intersection of both lines.

So I walked until I got to that intersection & headed back toward my place. The whole time, I am getting more & more stressed out & about 5 blocks from my place – after being yelled at by drivers’-by – a crazy (literally) teenager RUNS – I mean, like he’s being chased! – straight at me. And then stops to ask me for a dime. I FLIPPED OUT. Started explaining that I am NOT stopping, that I don’t speak French well, and that I am NOT STOPPING... when another man comes by, hands him a dime, and starts walking beside me.

He explains that the boy was “sick” and not to worry. And then continues on.

I hold my breath for the last few blocks... get upstairs... sit down on my bed... and cry.

AND CRY. AND CRY.

I am still crying. I am tired, I am scared, I am alone, and I am seriously regretting this decision to move to France. I don’t like regret.

The grocery store opens in 6 hrs & 30 mins. I have a meeting with M at her place an hour later. If I thought I could, I would be on a plane tomorrow back to the States & I have never felt that way.

Please pray.

I just turned my US phone on for the 1^st time so that I could talk to family... and it doesn’t work here... I forgot... crap.

*I did manage to witness an 11pm drunken marching band wandering the streets of Mulhouse... apparently that's not common... it was special, just for me, complete with 3 giant drums, 2 mid-sized one, and several horns, including 2 or 3 trumpets... and it's own random crowd of boo&hissers... (what are those people called???)... fun times!

living on the shore of storks

2010-07-17T07:04:00.006+01:00

I'm back!

SOoooo sorry that I've been such a slacker, but if you know me at all... or even if you only read this blog, you'll note that I have a habit of not posting when life gets too repetitive or boring, then I pretty much just avoid posting. bad habit, I know, but to be fair, my life does have some stories to tell, even if there are some bare spots every once in a while. right? haha.

here's a mini-update - I have lots that I would love to update, but most of it involves paper-writing... except THIS...

Here's what happened:

I had just written a 20pp paper* the day before, and was beginning to write my FINAL 20pp of the year (WHEW!) a few days ago, when I received an email from the university where I'll be teaching this school year & learned that there was a problem... OF COURSE.

The application for university housing I sent in April had not been received. & they were just now telling me in mid-July**. (surprised? not if you know me. or read this blog.)

Not only had my application not been accepted, but the residence I was applying for required a guarantor & that had not been mentioned in the many conversation I'd been having over the previous 8mos.

I quickly replied and asked what previous lectrices visiting from U of SC had done - or if they just chose not to live on campus - and learned that this was a new situation because the apt I was requesting was a new bldg and hadn't been built the last time a U of SC student was here...

so I re-turned in my applications (scan to PDF this time) and waited.

the following day (yesterday), I got another email from my contact at the French Uni and she had done some research.

The last lectrice to live on-campus had stayed in another bldg, one with apts specifically for visiting professors, and one that did not require a guarantor...

and THEN I learned just how awesome this little 'hiccup' in my plans really is!!!

View Larger Map

YES! This is a GoogleEarth snapshot of my residence in France! WHEW! I received the confirmation in writing by email today. All is well again in Stephland :)

And since we all know how much I love listing things:

all of the little bldgs in the centre of this photo is the residence complex.
the larger bldg in the top of of the photo (surrounded by the parking lot) is an hypermarché (kind of like a superWalmart)
right under the 'e' in Charles is a tram station that takes me to both campus and centre ville (city centre)
a sports field in the bottom left corner***
that dark green line down the right side is a river...

and information on the actual apartment (with comparison to my original plan):

270 sqft / 25 sqm -- compared to 165 sqft / 16 sqm
3 rooms (bedroom, living/kitchen/dining, bathroom) --- compared to one room for all
halfway**** between both campus & centre ville --- compared to right on campus
2 twin beds (the apt was originally planned for couples, I'm told?) --- only one in the first place... vistors welcome! :)

I cannot believe how much of a blessing this is! God is great. As usual. :)

I am also beginning to think that I might be getting a little excited over this new adventure!!! Will try and be more diligent in my updates...

xoxo

PS:

the title of this post comes from the street name of the complex - well, it's english translation...

*just realized I started talking about writing almost immediately after I said I had other things to talk about...

**I had been asking about it for a couple weeks, but couldn't really do anything until the aforementioned essays were complete

*** like I'll ever use it... but it may be nice for watching cute French soccer players, right?

****it's a 20min walk to both

Shaggin' on the Brain

2010-06-21T01:53:00.007+01:00

(entrance to the Free Public Library)

Hello!

So today will include a MUCH happier post than the day of breakdowns... but it did start off a little rocky:

Basically, I woke up at 9:30, checked out @ 10am with the intention of grabbing a Cheesesteak (Cheeses Teak, for some*!) on my way out of town. I didn't want to leave Philly without trying one & I don't think my sister would have spoken to me for a while if I had. Friends from the wedding mentioned a place that I checked out 1st - closed on Sunday. Day's off to a great start!

The security guard in the building mentioned a "Gino's Cheesesteak" within driving - but not walking distance - and gave me some crossroads. On my way back to the car, I ran into Tina, Scott & their families returning to their hotel from a walk, and they also suggested "Gino's", so decision made. Got in the car, couldn't find "Gino's Cheesesteak" in my GPS. Or in a phone book. Or on the crossroads. 2hrs later, after trying 4 locations around the city, I end up back where I started.

Stopped to ask a bellhop at a hotel for directions - turns out "GENO'S CHEESESTEAK" is about 12blocks away. HAH.

Got the hoagie - it pretty much rocked. My day isn't filled (I mean, I would like to get some work done, but whatever), so I am not stressing out about the delay.

Hit the highway. GPS predicts a 430 arrival in New Haven, Connecticut - my next destination. I'll be staying here tonight before driving to Providence, Rhode Island to pick up a friend from the airport & continue this little adventure.

BUT.

I had to pass by NYC to get to New Haven. HAHAHAHAHA. For details, feel free to check with Lyn, but the overview includes 13 lanes one way of standstill traffic (plus another 4 lanes in the other direction) where 4 highways merged into a toll booth**, another ghetto detour - this time in the BRONX, nearly running over a skateboarder -- in the BRONX, 2hrs wandering NY boroughs because the GPS kept telling me to turn when I didn't need to... again... all of which was witnessed verbally by my abovementioned patient friend, who bore with me through every encounter with mean NY drivers, pedestrians with no concept of crosswalks... through every yell, near-swear, and squeal... the girl's a saint. :)

Finally, I get past NYC, hang up with Lyn, and I make it to New Haven at 720! My day was finally looking up, whew!

Checked into a hotel - same price as in Philly, but much nicer... on a canal... 5min drive from Yale...

so I took a drive to see what an Ivy-League school looks like in real life - and I must say:

I've rarely had anything to say to my "younger self" - you know, those "things you wish you knew then so your life would be better" moments, but tonight was one of those times.

I try to live my life with as few regrets as possible & I can honestly count on 2 fingers the regrets I truly have. #1: should've gotten those braces when I had the chance (I knew I'd regret it the moment I made the decision...) and #2: should've been more ambitious in school...

(I've referenced uncountable publications printed here)

School always came so easy for me that I never had to study and usually set the curves. And I felt badly about that, so I tended to be as slack as I could get away with in order to keep my friends.

To be fair, I still have many of those friends today. and also, it is important to note that changing anything in my past would probably have resulted in my not moving to Canada... or Ireland... or now France... so I am not "complaining"... BUT...

when I saw that university, I FELL IN LOVE. Not only is it extremely prestigious, but it is also incredibly charming - great architecture, a blend of cultural, academic and lifestyle venues organized in a very user-friendly fashion, nearby parks... and this incredible sense of peace enveloped the entire area! When I arrived on campus, I heard music outside - and noticed that there was a festival going on in one of those nearby parks.

("International Festival of Arts & Ideas")

So I parked my car and wandered around a few blocks looking at buildings, and people-watching at the festival. What a fantastic way to end my day!!! And there were still so many students around and they were all so... well... they looked like people I would like to know... approachable! That's the word!

If I could tell my younger self one thing, it would be that one day I will regret not having at least TRIED to get into an Ivy-League school. But it's not realistic, because if I had maintained the academic track I was on in secondary school, I'd be in maths & sciences and that's just depressing! :)

So I will be happy with my few hours of peace in an idyllic New England town...

(steeple on one of the residence halls)

and maybe one day I'll teach here or something, woot! -- I mean, if USask falls through, OF COURSE.

So yeah. More drama, but so worth it to spend 2 hrs quoting the film "SHAG***" in my head... a TRUE Southern movie! for my FB friends - sorry for the repeat, but to set the scene a little:

set in the 60s, there are 4 girlfriends about to graduate high school - Pudge & Luanne are going to college, Carson is getting married, and Melaina is a preacher's daughter who plans to run away to Hollywood... the 3 girls kidnap Carson for her "last weekend of freedom" and take her to the beach, where she meets and falls in love with Buzz - who's going to Yale in the Fall.

So in a scene where Carson is trying to decide how to leave her fiance & date Buzz, the conversation goes as follows - with a THICK Southern accent:

Carson: What d'ya want to go to New Haven for?
Buzz: That's where Yale is.
Carson: "Oh, well, then I'll come with you!"
Buzz: "Silly! Girls don't go to Yale!"

then she pushes him off the bed.

I've been quoting those lines for hours & it fills me with so many happy memories of times I watched that movie with friends over the years... and now I know I'd want to be going to New Haven too! Plus, it helps that I saw an enormous amount of attractive men - of all ages - here... bonus points, haha :)

now I'm off to read and sleep - no major cities to get lost in tomorrow****, PRAISE THE LORD!!!

*FYI, the gps navigation system in my car also says "cheeses teak" :)
**approx 10,000 vehicles, no exaggeration.
***for those Brits (or likeminded) reading this, the Shag is a Carolina Beach dance (state dance of South Carolina - the ONE good thing the state has going for it that I can find), originally made popular in the 1950s and still danced today... it knows no generational or gender bonds... I like!
**** of course, that also means less opportunities for blogging topics...

this one's a doozy.

2010-06-19T03:54:00.006+01:00

You know, for a while there, I had found a way to be genuinely happy - stress & all... and then yesterday hit. Okay, I had a full-blown meltdown at the end of spring term, but that was self-induced stress & fatigue. Today is a combination of stress, fatigue, people and circumstances. Those last two are SO not my fault.

Anyway. Yesterday pretty much sucked - it included 3 hrs of sleep, completing a 10pp paper, 6mos of planning a car rental thrown out the window, the car rental fee more than doubling (once I'd arrived at the airport and after I paid taxi fare to get there), being stranded at the airport with no rental car, a return taxi home with no cash (wasn't planning on double cab fare!), being yelled at and reprimanded by the taxi driver TWICE (1st b/c he didn't like the fact that I was asking what the penalty would be if I just told my fave rental car agency that I was only driving in the Carolinas but actually took it to Philadelphia - the agent said the only way they'd know is if I got pulled over and I flippantly said "dude, I go 4 miles over the speed limit, I'm not getting pulled over - to which the taxi driver responded* "YOU DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE GONNA GET PULLED OVER! DON'T LIE TO THOSE PEOPLE - YOU NEED TO STOP TALKING TO THAT PERSON RIGHT NOW" to which I replied "umm... this (indicated "this" by sliding my hand around in a circle in front of me, like I was spinning discs or DJing or whatever they do)... is not your conversation?" & 2nd b/c when I realized I had no cash & phoned my roommate to see if she had $15 for the fare and she said she didn't think so and I said "are you sure?" and he (once again got in my business) and yelled "SHE SAID SHE DOESN'T HAVE THE MONEY. STOP BOTHERING HER") REALLY????**

So we get to my apartment, my roomie (who DID have the $15) gave me the money, and the rest of the story included a VERY redneck scene with me half-in/half-out of the vehicle yelling "RYANN*** CALL 911!!!" and subsequent police response... while he held my luggage hostage in the trunk over a scam fee of a $2 trunk charge.

The day ended with a new rental car reservation - with the good company - 2hrs from where I live, a Father's Day dinner (which was great, but we all got a little food poisoning, yay?), and not finishing that aforementioned 10pp paper until 2am.

so that was yesterday.

Today, my road trip began! Keep in mind, after the redneck scene, I was ready to cancel the entire trip. But then I got excited about it again after talking with family, and thought "maybe I just wasn't supposed to rent from that company... hah.

Did I mention my trip? No? okay. I mean it's only been a thousand years since I posted on here... sorry tonight's so whiny.

So here's the trip: Charlotte to Philadelphia for TINA'S WEDDING (WOOT!), 2 nights in Philly, one night somewhere between Philly & Providence, Rhode Island, pick a friend (Nicole, from my time in Ireland) up from the Providence airport, one night staying with another friend (Brian, from Ireland) on the Rhode Island coast, a couple days drive back down the East coast with Nicole (who's only ever seen DC - she's from Los Angeles), travel around the Carolinas/Georgia & host Nicole's visit until the 29th (with reading and writing mixed into that last part)...

and here's how it's going so far. I wasn't intending to inundate people with yesterday's drama, but oh well. When I signed in, I was planning to give you a list - my day in numbers (Ev-style), so here goes:

3: hours of sleep for 3 nights in a row
1: rock star tour bus (Brett Michaels, haha)
15: bare feet in windshields or hanging out windows
4: stalled vehicles that jammed traffic directly affecting me (which is pretty minor considering the sheer number of vehicles I encountered)... probably about
2,000,000: I think that is a fair assessment - not an exaggeration. seriously.
8: other vehicles stalled on roadsides - still not bad!
1: crazy-cool bridge
1: horrible stench of factory and dump
3: toll booths
11: dollars paid to continue driving beyond tool booths
5: hrs of energy from a 5-hr energy drink
2: bathroom breaks
1: fill-up
6+1: state & district lines crossed
2: memorial photo opportunities
5: unexpected detours
20: minutes lost in the projects/slums of Washington, DC
5: plane landing as I sat in DC traffic
9: lanes of standstill traffic in DC
2.5: hrs spent trying to traverse DC
1 +1: meal + blizzard (banana split = my new fave!)
2: decent-looking guys - the whole trip
1 +2+3+4: diesel, hemi pickup truck with the entire rear window covered with a GIANT American Flag/Eagle decal +# of time I saw it + # of hours that separated sightings + # of States we spanned between sightings = hilarious, and a little sad!

hmmm... what else?

oh. right. the BEST part.

1: hacked bank account mid-trip****
1: canceled bank card mid-trip
1: night without a place to sleep mid-trip

on the upside (for me, at least):
12: hrs spent listening to Jason Mraz in one sitting (not counting the 4 times I got out of the car) - AND STILL LOVE HIM
69: # of songs in my Mraz playlist (some repeats, but in different acoustic venues - stalker much? WOW)

and finally (since I began this list, actually), reminders to be happy:

1: lifelong friend marrying the love of her life
1.5: years it's been since I saw the friends I've visiting in Rhode Island
infinite: guardian angels in my life - 1 of whom just spotted me the funds to pay for a place to stay the night I was going to be stranded

there. that's a better way to leave this email!

DRAMA. welcome to my world. well, Drama and Jason, apparently. :)

* not verbatim
** me yelling in my head, but probably showing my outrage on my face
***my roommate's name
**** I originally thought it was a porn site based on the name - not publicizing it because it makes me seem like I have a dirtier mind that I really do - but turns out it's a fake health product company. hmmm...

Yep, welcome to my world.

2010-04-21T01:15:00.005+01:00

Copied & Pasted from a FB message I sent some classmates:

So I took my MA in Ireland, right? In Limerick. I had a class of 11 people; 9 of us became bestest, lifelong friends. One of those friends is named Muireann*.

SO.

Muireann has spent this past semester in Boston on a practicum exchange with her Uni in Ireland. She went on to take another MA in Journalism at UCD (Dublin) after our Comp Lit program. We've been talking/texting since she arrived in January, but weren't ever able to actually meet with each other in person.

This week, I was thinking about how sad it was that we were both on the same side of the Pond, but couldn't get a visit in - not realistic, but still... and then yesterday she FB messages me to tell me she'll be in Cola** visiting her cousin next weekend, so yay!

And why do I think this is worth a long tale, you ask?

Because I invited her to come to a Green Quad pool party at my apartment complex the Friday night she's in town. And this was her reply (paraphrased, my emphasis):

well, I don't think my cousin would be up for a pool party, as she's a little older... you may know her... her name is Mary Anne Fitzpatrick & she's the DEAN of the college of Arts & Science at USC. Is that where you go to school?

IS THAT WHERE I GO TO SCHOOL? HAHAHAHA! I replied to her and told her that her cousin was still invited to the pool party, but even if they didn't come, Muireann was more than welcome to tell Mary Anne how awesome I am and that she is more than welcome to throw some funding my way!

Yes, I did say that.

So there you go! My world is sooooooooooooo small sometimes!

xoxo

*pronounced "mweerin" - I love Irish names!
**apparently the way we "locals" short-hand Columbia... who needs an "umbi" if you can avoid it?

Mostly just for me...

2010-04-11T04:26:00.006+01:00

I just went to the wedding of one of my longest friends ever. Nicola is amazing - vibrant, compassionate, charming, entertaining, but most of all, she takes friendship seriously. Once you're her friend, she keeps you around for as long as she can. She is honest and dramatic and loyal and she lives each moment - never taking life for granted. She found this amazing guy who gets her. He's gentle and fun and considerate. And the wedding was beautiful!

But the reason why I decided to write a post was because of how surprised I am at how emotional I got tonight. The wedding was lovely and the reception was fun - I don't think anyone reading this knows Nicola, but there was obviously dancing - including Thriller, Dancing Queen, Amazing, the Chicken Dance, the Electric Slide & traditional Irish dancing. I believe this eclectic combination of music may give you insight into Nik. Never a dull moment!

Before the ceremony began, I found some friends to sit with... it grew into 3 rows of friends, most of whom I hadn't seen in nearly 10 years, the most recent visit was 2007. Most of us became friends between the ages of 16 & 21, some of us married into the group. We were all best friends: no secrets, lots of drama, and more memories than you can count. And they all came flooding back to me tonight. These were people I loved, no matter what. People I still love. People who taught me what true "unconditional love" means, how to understand & appreciate differences without judgment. They treated me with respect & dignity, protected me, and offered a never-ending supply of hugs.

Tonight, I found those hugs again... and the people behind them. There is the couple who are bankers who can't have kids, so they adopted twins from overseas. The gentle giant who got his heart broken when he found out his fiancee was a lesbian 8weeks before their wedding. The pixie with a heart of gold. The naval officer who flew in from Japan for this wedding. The gay man with HIV whose smile lights up the room. The lesbian couple whose genuine natures and true joy help remind me that it is so not my place to judge others. The twin brother of one of the lesbians who just picked up his white chip today, showing me (again) that it is never too late to improve our lives - that we can, and should, always try to become better persons. His wife, one of the kindest women I know - not an exaggeration. The twins' mom, a sweet tender-hearted angel whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack while out on a jog nearly 10yrs ago - all of our hearts were broken for her that day. She & her husband were our surrogate parents during those formative years. They took us in and made us a part of their family - they opened the door to their home and, with that, their hearts. We belonged.

These people were my family when mine was falling apart. The rocks in my stormy adolescence. The laughter through my constant stream of tears. None of them were devout Christians, none of them prayed with me or quoted bible verses to me. All of them drank. A lot. Some experimented with drugs. Most (all?) of them experimented with sex. I had NOTHING in common with them. But they loved me - REALLY loved me. At an age when virginity is almost profane and non-drinkers were the butt of many jokes, they took me in and accepted me - as different as I was from them, they didn't want me to change to be more like them. They embraced our differences and folded me into their family.

Now, apart from the drinking, drugs, sex & sexual preference... these people are role models for me. They have shown me over the years that we really can love one another unconditionally & that friendships really can last forever.

Tonight, it was like 3 to 7 years hadn't gone by. It was like we were teenagers again, with the same open hearts & the same smiles... and the hugs... I missed those hugs... and I missed their honest words. I needed to hear that I was missed too. Our love is beyond anything any of us can comprehend. It doesn't require us to stay in constant contact - although it would be nice to see one another more often. It doesn't even require that we go down memory lane. It was in the eyes & smiles & hugs of each of us tonight. It was in the pain we shared when we silently remembered the father (figure) we all lost. It was in the winks of support and the nicknames we still answer to after 17yrs.

In the past 17yrs, a lot has happened. Weddings, Deaths, Births, Diseases, Peace Corps, International Travel, New Friends, New Dreams, New Lives...

But tonight, because of a woman who doesn't let go of something as valuable as true, authentic friendship, Nik, Gooblet, Spic, Stin, Philly, Fraze, and more were together once again -- and I was reminded of a life that I had left behind. I don't regret leaving it behind. I wouldn't be who I am today if I had stayed where I was. But the raw emotion that I felt tonight was intense. I have learned so much from being a part of that family, about life, about myself, about my faith... but most of all, about love.

Post-Script:
I went to superforest.org after I wrote this and the first post I read began with this quote. I think it fits well:

“A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.” - William Arthur Ward

barefoot day!

2010-04-09T01:42:00.002+01:00

So last week on twitter some of the celebrities were talking about "one day without shoes" so I - being the follower that I am - looked around to see what it was about...

here's the website: http://onedaywithoutshoes.com/

I thought about it, but I didn't want to do it alone, so I texted my friend, Lydia, to see if she'd be willing to join me... the funny part is, we never see one another on Thursdays (and today was no exception), but just knowing that SOMEONE else out there would be wandering Columbia barefoot gave me courage.

So I made the commitment. I posted an invite on Facebook for anyone else who wanted the opportunity to participate, and a few people said they were planning to do it too, which was encouraging!

This morning, I felt like I was the new kid in class - you know, that anxiety of "what will everyone think of me"?? - as I walked into the building where I work. It is on campus, and the first person I see is another student who smiles and says: "Hey Stephanie! Glad to see your lack of shoes there!" and I look down to see that he, too, is barefoot! WHEW! Pretty cool, eh?

Well, it was for me anyway.

I had also committed to working in the garden this morning - which was pretty precarious... where there aren't plants, there is tree bark. And fire ants. But all was well - an hour in the garden! And my hands got the fire ants, not my feet, which I found "interesting".

I worked for another couple hours, walked back to my car, and drove across campus to my classroom buildings. There is a cafe-ish place, in the middle of 3 buildings, with a lot of outdoor tables so I sat down on one and had a snack while I people watched. SO MANY PEOPLE WITHOUT SHOES! It was wild! I made a few trips up & down flights of stairs, went back and forth across parking lots, nearly cried from the pain of the asphalt cutting into the soles of my feet... and reminded myself that I only have one day. Others have a lifetime.

It was so nice to think about other people instead of myself, even if it was in those moments when I wanted to cry. Three times, I was like "forget it. I've done it for [insert time frame here], that's enough, right?" (to myself, of course). But I remembered Lydia's post and kept on.

I went into Starbucks to get a coffee. Things I learned: all that pain and concentration really wipes you out. So I go into the bldg to get my "fix" of caffeine and one of the employees stops and turns to me and says (in a big, thick country southern accent): "honey, I think you forgot yo' shoes!"

I smiled.

And I explained to her & to the 2 other employees who were now interested, because southerners are not known for there inside voices, why I was barefoot and that I was not alone. They asked questions about how tough it was for me, what the experience was like, etc... that conversation made the pain worth it for me.

I made it through ONE day without shoes. It's crazy how torn I am. I don't want to feel "proud" of myself for accomplishing this... I want to never forget how painful it was - I want to remember that millions of people suffer like that EVERY day. I want to be motivated & motivate others to help remedy this statistic.

One thing I do want to say, though: most of the pain occurred when I was in parking lots & on stairwells with "non-slip" surfaces. These are not common in places where people are shoeless. I found myself migrating toward the grassy/dirt path areas... which I found intriguing. I look forward to the day when people can have shoes AND less asphalt. Both. There is more than just PAIN that these people have to deal with. And we "first world" populations could do with more grassy places and dirt paths...

Be Love.

Academic Honesty

2010-03-31T18:55:00.002+01:00

Below you'll find excerpts from a recent response paper I sent in to one of my profs... yes, yes I did.

Throughout this course, I have struggled with the content. I am an extremely modest person and a practicing Christian, and I was concerned that I might have to compromise my integrity for the sake of my education. I honestly only registered for this course because I wanted to expedite my qualifying exams, and CPLT 703 must be taken before I can write them. I have lived my life combating what I now know to be “liberal feminism”. I truly believe (on a personal level) that women and men are – and should be – different yet interdependent. I like to simplify my life, not complicate it with complex unknowns; life is complex enough without me over-thinking it. So postmodernist theory nearly drove me insane. There were times when I had suicidal thoughts as I struggled with the “undoing” of gender.
But I am in graduate school. As much as I may disagree with the subject matter, I never want to be one of those Christians who close their minds in the hopes of making the discomfort disappear. I want to learn. I want to understand. I want to love all members of humankind, whether we are in agreement or not. With this is mind, I attempted to break through the barriers I have concerning postmodernity and gender theory to figure out what these theorists are trying to say. My two biggest challenges were the Judiths: Judith Butler was a struggle for me because of her incessant need to destabilize, Judith/Jack Halberstam because of her abrasive penchant for the negative. But I kept looking for nuggets of something from which I could squeeze a drop of agreement, and I found some! That’s what graduate school is all about: thinking outside of the box, pushing against personal boundaries and realizing that the world is bigger than one can imagine, right?

Personally, I am truly grateful that the course syllabus was altered to incorporate Michel Foucault. Although, prior to this reading, I was able to forage through the materials that were heavy with instability and hostility, and although I was able to grasp concepts of guilt and shame, performance, “undoing”, and have come to a greater understanding of postmodernity, it was The History of Sexuality that brought all these together for me. I find it amusing that in his attempt to show the fragmentation of deviance and the multiplication of perversions, I am able to discern a synthesis for gender theory in contemporary society. His work bridged a gap for me between my reticence to embrace gender theory and my craving for knowledge. By using Foucault’s work as a lens, I feel like I will be able to welcome gender theory into my educational sphere without concern for the compromise that lingered in my mind early in the course. I appreciate his attempt to segregate his Self from his work. I think that is a big part of why I struggled early on with Butler and Halberstam: they were writing about something from such a personal perspective that I had difficulty appreciating the theoretical value of their research. Because I could not identify on a personal level with their lifestyles and the lifestyles of those about whom they wrote, it was a constant struggle to hear what they wanted to say. Michel writes as though he is not a part of the society about which he writes, which makes it easier to see the work rather than the person. I am fascinated by my own revelations in this response paper and I am excited to see what else I can glean from the texts now that my personal private and public spheres are more permeable, and I can now honestly say that I am glad I took this course.

Chuck Me

2010-03-31T02:20:00.002+01:00

What did I do in NYC, you ask?

yep. that's right. I had a photo made at the NBC store & laughed the whole time! I also bought 2 coffee mugs: Chuck & Psych. In the 36hrs of walking, we managed to enter the NBC store thrice.

Much more happened, but I really just wanted an excuse to share this pic - obviously!

Flickr

2010-03-28T05:52:00.003+01:00

So after my last post, my great friend/ex-roomie, Janice, suggested that I try out Flickr. Actually, she was kind enough to share with me if I wanted, but after looking into it, I realized that Flickr may be worth the fee for my own pro account... and boy am I having fun!

I have signed up and posted 26photos... most of them are doubles of the same shot but I'm playing around with colour/contrast/etc, digital makes being "artistic" so easy... kinda weird learning about all the things I can do now with my new toy... but a thrilling weird, not a wary weird!!!

Here's an example of a shot I took of my sis inside a VW caterpillar art piece at MoMA in NYC last weekend (where I took 347photos, fyi... but most of them are junk because I really do feel like a beginner with this newfangled DSLR, haha):

the other 25 can be found at this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncsteph/

Let me know if it doesn't work, because I'm new to the world of Flickr... you may or may not need to sign up to view the pics. I would also like to know if signups are required, so please share your experience if you're a Flickr newbie, too! :)

Tomorrow is a family reunion - this is an annual event, one I have attended exactly once in my life, 17yrs ago - held right near Columbia, so I am heading out with the grandparents... look for new photos from that experience - I anticipate food blogging and maybe a video of some REAL southern accents, yay! :)

Love,
SS

I feel complete again!

2010-03-18T02:59:00.002Z

My new baby!

I finally broke down and got myself a digital SLR this week. I decided that I can't go to FRANCE without one, that it's been way too long since I concentrated on my art (my film SLR died my 2nd week in Ireland 2 years ago... boohoo), and that I could get it for 18mos no interest, so I make the leap.

I am soooo excited! It's a Nikon, & I am used to a Canon, so I will be practicing lots. Maybe I'll share on here, who knows? :)

I mean, I will DEFINITELY be sharing my pics from France, so don't worry!

This camera came as a package, so I got a free camera bag & a $400 lens for less than $200. So now I have 2 lenses: 18-55 & 55-200, YES!

Please, just expect stalker pics.

For now, I must wait until my battery charges before i can play, so bear with me, but what a GREAT St Patrick's Day gift to myself, I do say so! (It was delivered today)

okay! the battery just finished charging, so I'm gonna run PLAY!!!

(and by run, I don't mean literally... do you KNOW me?)

XOXO

It's like a mood ring...

2010-02-21T06:29:00.005Z

...on my head.

Per Ky's request, I will jot down a "tiny" blog about my hair.

I have been dying it since I was 14. My hair has ROY G BIV pretty much covered: ranging from platinum blonde to violet-tinted black, with some strawberry-blonde & neon green (well, it glowed neon green under florescent lighting...) thrown in for good measure.

You see, when I was 11, my sister was diagnosed with Cancer & I spent the next 9yrs working with children with cancer & their siblings. I realized at a relatively young age that hair really doesn't hold much value in the grand scheme of things. I had moments where I would have been fine shaving it off, honestly. But I never did. The one thing I could do was give it its rightful place as an "accessory" in my life, rather than a staple.

That said, I ended up with an addiction. To hair colour. Sad, eh?

But it's fun! Basically, my hair changes with my mood. Thus the title of this post, haha. I'm so witty!

I went a few years in my mid-twenties with my natural colour, but then I went to see the movie Troy. Ang & I were running late (my fault) to meet Graison at the theatre, I hadn't looked into a mirror all day & my vanity got a hold of me, so I did a quick check. My hair was about 2-4 inches long & it was raining that day... I literally felt like I had a Q-tip on my head when I left for the movie! 3hrs later, immediately after the film ended, Ang & I ran to the bathroom and as I was washing my hands there it was: A GRAY PATCH. what??? I blame Brad Pitt.

So after a couple months of "the patch", I broke down and dyed it - a really dark brown, the darkest my hair had ever been. And I loved it! Every 6wks or so, I would dye it a new shade of brown & the shades were so obviously different from one another that the ladies in the back of the church would play the "I wonder what Steph's hair will look like THIS week" game - all in good fun, of course! :)

I found that I really liked having dark hair & eventually found a great colour that I used for a couple years... pretty crazy, eh? And then I moved to Ireland. After 6months of RAIN, RAIN & oh wait! MORE RAIN, I needed a change. So I went to my safe place: the hair.

Highlights it was!

Then I moved back to Canada & found a stylist with reasonable rates who was willing to give me the violet-black I decided I wanted. And I kept that for a whole 6months or so, until I moved to the Carolinas...

Apparently, the sun & the heat got to me & I went back to blonde. For 6months.

See a pattern? Or two?

Last month, I went into the salon not knowing whether to keep the blonde or go back to black... I decided that if I can't decide, then I'll make a drastic change. wow. That says a lot about my personality right there!

But after only a couple weeks as a brunette, I am learning that it's not only the moods that determine my hair colour, it's also the weather. I went back to black after several months of cold, gray, wet (& tiny bits of snowy) weather. I associate cold with brunette in my head, apparently.

But what I have learned in the past month is that warm, humid sunshine brings out the blonde in me for several reasons: easier upkeep - the sunshine (& chlorine from pools) wreaks havoc on the black hair, the humidity is really bad on my scalp (weird, eh?) and black hair just magnifies any flakes & makes me paranoid, and to be honest, blonde looks better with a tan - something I do not have right now, so black is okay for a while.

So, in conclusion, I have multiple personalities that can all be found in the colour of my hair!

Apparently, Canadian Steph is a brunette, Irish Steph is split-personality & Carolina Steph is a blonde, experimental Steph is neon green, insecure Steph is a redhead, and happy Steph bounces between blonde & black, depending on location (see above).

Unlike most people, I don't colour my hair because I want to feel better... I colour my hair because I feel good & want to express my happiness.

And there's a little more SS psychoanalysis than you expected! You're welcome :)

(this month's shade)

Love,
SS

Timing is everything

2010-02-20T02:08:00.006Z

So it's been over a month since I last posted and I have wanted to post at LEAST 5 times in the interim... as you can tell, that hasn't happened.

In the past month, I have*:
1. dyed my hair back to black (temporarily - it will more than likely be blondish by summer)
2. been to a secret concert**
3. "enjoyed" the enlightening experience of reading Judith Butler (aka the reason for weekends filled with suicidal thoughts)
4. had a migraine-turned muscle spasm-turned strained muscle-turned tension headache that lasted over a week
5. learned how to WIKI
6. visited (& decided to volunteer at) an urban sustainable farm, located within the Columbia city-limits
7. made GREAT strides in my dissertation topic (WOOT!)
8. seen an Ansel Adams exhibit
9. received my official letter of offer from the University of Haute-Alsace inviting me to teach English this coming school year in Mulhouse, France, and
10. seen New Moon, Leap Year & When in Rome in theatres (I see a theme... hmm...)

but you know what I actually made it onto Failte to tell blogland? Things I never thought I would say:

It feels SO GOOD to have a clean house***!

Today, I bought my very first ever real vacuum cleaner - not one of those dirt devil hand vacs & not one that someone lent me or that came with the house (in Ireland). It was on sale and my carpets were gross & I have classmates coming over tomorrow, so I figured "now is as good a time as any". So I got home with my vacuum and immediately set to work. First, I piled all my crap from my floor onto my bed, then I vacuumed my bedroom. It made me so happy, and the vacuum is for hard surfaces, too, so I semi-vacuumed my bathroom, because I could! Then I put all the stuff on my bed into their respective homes. Then I went into my bathroom and cleaned it (not spotless, but decent). THEN, I went into the kitchen and put away my dishes, washed the dirty ones by hand & scrubbed down the counters. THEN, I cleaned the stove top, WHAT? I even pulled out the burners & washed those under-burner thingys****. Then I vacuumed the living-dining room.

I set up the DVD player to make sure it would work, seeing as that's why classmates are coming. We have to watch a "potentially" uncomfortable film on gender theory for discussion on Monday, yay. And after all that, I got to dusting my bedroom furniture.

Most of you who know me probably think I've been possessed by some cleaning fairy or something, and I totally understand! I wasn't cleaning to avoid homework (like I usually do) and I wasn't cleaning to make a good impression - although trying to avoid being judged by my classmates was an ignition for the entire experience, it did not motivate the entirety of my work. More like 20%. And I was SMILING as I cleaned, WHAT??? :)

So yeah, of all the adventures I've had since my last post, THIS is what you get!

Love you all ~
SS

*If you would like to hear more about any of the listed items, please let me know & I will actually write something in detail. I may get around to them eventually, but it's doubtful that I'll get around to it unless someone is actually interested.

**the link to the secret concert is the story told my by friend & classmate, Lydia. She is a HUGE fan (he's kinda like her Jason Mraz) and she told it so well, I would not have been able to do my experience any greater justice. I will state a few minor differences between our stories: I found out through twitter, I arrived just before they let us in, as the people were chanting "LET US IN" and tweeting JM saying "we're outside, please let us in!" (or variations of that plea) & news cameras shining in my face, I actually liked the 'stage condom', & WHOAH can that man make a tat sleeve sexy!

***Lydia, no inspections when you get here, haha! I have already noticed several things that need addressed, but I'm tired. I truly believe that the reason why I avoid cleaning so much is because I am a perfectionist & once I get started cleaning one thing, I notice every other little thing & they drive me crazy!!! How's that for an excuse? :)

****I have cleaned them before... fyi...

possible epiphany

2010-01-14T04:20:00.010Z

Twice today I was in conversation about my faith. The first time was in an office with 3 female university students who were all cracking jokes about christianity and the conversation was in fun, but the context made me a little sad. It started off talking about how something was "of the devil", then evolved into "I was raised Southern Baptist AND Catholic!", which eventually morphed into hysterical laughter and 2 of them stating that they no longer go to church because of the craziness they were subjected to as children and a third just laughing along. Eventually, I piped up. OF COURSE. I mean, I did silently sit through the first 10 minutes, so give me SOME credit for not being pushy! But eventually, in the midst of the "which denomination are/were you?" subject, I remarked that I am a christian. That's all. No denomination, no religion, no segregated perspective... just a plain ole' christian. They all fell silent. Great.

I said that I feel like the only thing denominations do is divide and that I choose to have a relationship with Jesus on my own - and that He and I get along pretty well.

And all three of the girls completely agreed. At one point shortly after, the conversation had turned to communion - wafers vs bread, grape juice vs wine, one cup vs shot glasses - and one girl said, "you know, I understand all of this christian stuff...I just don't believe in it." A second one agreed. And the third turned to me and said, "Stephanie, have you found a church here in Columbia yet?" I replied no and she proceeded to tell me - and told the whole room - that she and her boyfriend had recently been to a church that I may like, about the service she went to and how that group was organized.

Needless to say, I was impressed.

*****

Conversation two went like this:

Class let out really early today and a small group of us decided to go to supper at a Korean/Mexican* place near the Uni. 5 people, 4 of whom are comp lit majors, and 2 of whom are male. There's one male who is... special... I won't say much more because apparently when I vent on here about people in my life, I end up forgetting and giving them my blog address**. And this story is not about this guy in particular - but I think I should say that he is really smart and I don't know how to interact with him without some social awkwardness***.

So I have no clue what the topic of conversation was at all (which is sad), but this guy turns to me and says: "you don't strike me as the christian-type".

WHAT?

So I was like, "really? why is that?" And he says, "I don't know... I mean... I guess I just never saw you as a christian".

So I am like (to myself), "uh oh"... what kind of christian am I if people don't ASSUME I'm a christian after knowing me for an entire semester??? And I was a little sad, I must admit. Thoughts like, "why aren't you witnessing more?" "how could I have shown my faith more clearly?" and "you are a sorry excuse for a seed-planter" all occurred simultaneously.

And so this guy asks, "well... ARE you a religious person?" and I was like, "ummm... NO."

"But I am a spiritual person who follows Jesus Christ. My life is faith-filled, and most definitely not religious... but I am certainly a christian." He says, "oh, me too - I'm episcopalian(anglican for the canadians) - what are you?" And I was like... dude (in my head)... (and then aloud, I responded with) "I am just a christian - no denominational affiliation, just me and Jesus."

Eventually, he remarked that he thinks that (culturally), christian and 'right wing' are synonymous... and that he did not get the impression that I was 'right wing'... with which I wholeheartedly agreed!

So. I guess if being a socialist, liberal, bleeding heart, eco-loving, green living, utopian scholar in the field of humanities gives people the impression that I am "not a christian", then I will have to suffer those consequences. For now. Of course, now my challenge is to change those assumptions. And to fight the categorization that implies that in order for me to represent christ, I have to represent christianity... I mean, if Jesus wanted his people to imitate other people, He wouldn't have died on the cross to have a personal relationship with me. So I will walk my walk and get to know people -- and let them get to know me... and pray that the Jesus in me - not the religion - will shine through and change hearts.

Just sayin'.

Love and hugs to everyone!

*yes, it was a place that served both Korean & Mexican food... "world famous", with a tower of spam cans stacked on display... the other guy was like, "I'm not sure I really want to eat a Korean burrito!"

** Lydia please remind me to never share my blog with said person, okay?? He may not be as understanding as... say... you... :)

*** those of you who can relate: think Enoch times 2, and about a thousand times smarter than me - not joking. possibly hyperbolizing on the last part, but not by much.

Just Like Mary

2010-01-09T01:10:00.003Z

So a couple weeks ago I found a recipe in Jazon Mraz' blog that I thought would be worth trying - all the ingredients separately kind of grossed me out, but I was still curious to see what it was like. So... I collected the ingredients this week and tonight got around to attempting this new kitchen adventure.

My post title is dedicated to my friend, QOWP, who is so great at sharing her cooking initiatives with blogland - and her photographs are so mouthwatering. I am not claiming to offer 'mouthwatering' - I mean, I am using my Mac photobooth to take the pic - but I thought I would follow in her footsteps and share with you my final product:

Gross, right? But so very tasty! It's the first time I've actually enjoyed the flavour of dates, haha!

So there you go... this is how I spend my Friday nights, yay! I haven't tried the finished product because I have to refrigerate them for a day or so, but so far I am satisfied with the taste. If you are interested in trying something new, raw, organic, healthy, creative, and quick (minus the chilling), I would encourage you to give this one a shot. :)

Love to everyone ~

xoxo

Be Love.

2009-12-28T16:58:00.003Z

Look at me post 2weeks in a row!

Today, I am in Knoxville, Tennessee with my mom. She is taking a 1.5day course and has a really intense test to take at the end of the second day. I am sitting in our hotel room enjoying the peace & quiet. And procrastinating from actual work. Dude, it's my holiday break - any work I get done means I am one step ahead, and any work I don't get done does not mean I am behind... at least that is the way I justify emailing, & reading blogs and twitter posts and facebook statuses for 2hrs. wow.

So this past week was Christmas. My first Christmas at home in 4 years, to be exact. And I thought it went pretty well! I am grateful to be blessed with a family who is honest, loving, open and emotional. While we are very typical in the fact that we're all a little crazy, I like to think that we are slightly atypical in the fact that we admit it! :) I love that we are always trying to improve who we are and the relationships we have - with one another, with other people and with ourselves. There is this sense of self-analysis that I truly appreciate in each of my family members. I don't know if everyone else's family is like this or not, but I like to think it's what makes my family special - and not in the bad way.

I would hate to live in a family where everything always stayed the same and we ignored our problems. I would hate to be a part of a family that was "perfect" on the outside and completely insane in the hidden parts. I like that we can talk to one another, process with one another and argue with one another - without ever feeling less loved.

It really is a good feeling to know that wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, however I feel, or whoever I disagree with, I will ALWAYS be loved - TRULY loved by my family. That love is what keeps me going. It's what encourages me to better myself and it is what pushes me to really look at my faults and desire to change them.

For me, family is not about tradition. It is not about history. It is not even about proximity. It's about relationships.

I have taken my family for granted over the years and it took me leaving for 6yrs to truly appreciate them. This week - actually, this month - that appreciation was tested - and proved true. I love them more today than ever before. Even if they do get on my nerves. :)

Today, I choose to assume that when my family gets on my nerves, it is an opportunity to BE LOVE. I will fail, I am sure, but this is the outlook I want to have from now on.

Love to everyone in blogland - I hope you find a way to BE LOVE in your life too! :)

New Read

2009-12-21T05:08:00.002Z

In an effort to post more regularly, I may resort to posting on my current reads... tonight for instance:

I have completed Plato's Symposium and thought I would be continuing Plato to read The Apology... but when I started reading it, I realized that I had already read it for my undergrad*, yay! So since I know the basic plot, I am going to put off reviewing for the details until its turn during the course. So as of last night, I have begun reading Pale Fire by Nabokov.

Whoah.

I am really glad that I have read Nabokov before and feel that he is worth reading - Mary was one of my fave books of undergrad - because this book is craaazy! If I didn't know how brilliant Nabokov was, I would probably be irritated, but I'm going into it with an open mind...

Basically (if I understand correctly), it's a completely fictional book written entirely by Nabokov which includes a foreward; a 4 Canto, 999 line poem; and over 100pp in commentary. The foreward and the commentary are 'written' by a fictional character, who is a self-proclaimed friend to the "poet". So as far as I can tell, there are 3 authors in this book: Nabokov, the Poet and the Commentator. Keeps life interesting, I guess! :)

I am over halfway through the novel and it is really tough to get through the commentary portion, but I am pretty excited to see how class discussions go next semester, haha!

PS
The course is named "irony & truth"... I am really looking forward to this class!!! (that is not sarcasm, fyi - I fully embrace my nerddom... and reserve the right to make up words in the process)

*Things I have learned about myself since beginning my MA: names and I are not compatible. I usually know books and characters by the actions performed. Sometimes, I feel like I am discussing literature from a kindergartener's perspective... "you know, the tall guy whose dad made gravestones and mom was obsessed with property... the one who thought his whole family hated him?" (also known as Eugene Gant from Look Homeward Angel) or "the story that involved a magic ring the lady stole and put under her tongue to become invisible and decided that she no longer needed help from a heroic man who slays sea monsters" (aka Orlando's Furioso - right?) --- all of this to explain how I didn't realize that I had previously read The Apology. The title did nothing for me. But once I realized that it was the defence of Socrates, all was well!

10:36pm, EST

2009-12-19T03:36:00.003Z

Hello all,

It is not late enough for me to be as exhausted as I am... having done as little as I did today... I blame the rain. And I'm not in Ireland... it just follows me... yay.

Here's a tiny baby update, sort of:

So last month, I met with a man who works with the sustainability department of the University about getting a film brought to Columbia, and last week, he phoned me to ask if I was interested in a graduate assistantship with him next semester! of course, I said "yes." It's basically doing what I did for Dan: managing a billion projects and organizing a small administration. Because of this assistantship, I now qualify for in-state tuition, which is approximately $6000 less per term than out-of-state. WHEW! It's 10hrs/week and I will get a small stipend for those hours, although I don't know how much yet. This position is strictly for one semester for two reasons: his wife will be having a baby and he needs someone to cover the office mid-semester, and...

in the fall, I plan to be in Mulhouse, France, woot! Which brings me to another mini-update. Here are the basics:

Mulhouse is in the northeast corner of France, on the German border & 20km from the Swiss border. It is 1.5hr from Zurich and 3hrs from both Paris and Brussels, by train. And approx 4hrs by car to Milan. craaazy!

I will be teaching English at the university "de haute-alsace" and receiving a paid stipend as well. The position is called a "lectrice" or "lectrice d'anglais" position and runs from october thru may.

I plan to return to the Carolinas over Christmas (the French break is mid-december to 1 february) so that I can take my phd qualifying exams in the first week of January. Otherwise, I will have to postpone my phd an extra year.

I won't be taking phd classes while in France, so I am already postponing one year, but it's worth it because: 1) I get teaching experience at the uni level, 2) I get paid and don't go further into debt, and 3) I plan to be fluent in French by the time I'm done... which brings me to step 3 in this crazy little thing I call "my plan":

I have pretty much been guaranteed a teaching assistantship to teach in the French dept of U of SC (if there is space in the budget) when I return from France, if I do attain the appropriate level of fluency (and I will). Which will give me teaching experience at the uni level in two languages, WOOT!

in other news: my GPA at the end of term 1 is a 4.0! (that's straight As, for you non-GPA minded, haha)... the first time I've made straight As since grade 7.

It seems like I only ever get on here to brag lately... but my life is not always roses, I promise... I just want to take every chance I can to thank the Lord for His guidance and for showing me clearly the path He wants me to follow... Proverbs 16:9.

Now if you'll excuse me, I will return to my regularly scheduled program of "Plato's Symposium"... it took me 21 minutes to write this post. I really do hope to post more often so that you guys aren't limited to my random updates on here!

PS
This break, I will be attempting to create two work-related blogs, so maybe if I get into the habit of actually posting for those, I can add something personal on a regular basis too... idealism, I know, I know... and fyi, the topics of my other 2 blogs will be: environmentalism made easy and a biblio of utopian publications (obviously not the titles of the blogs, haha!)

Beaches, France and Feminism

2009-11-09T02:16:00.004Z

Hi all,

So a few updates that I should probably have spread out into multiple posts, but since I have such a tough time remembering to get on here, I'm just gonna say it all at once:

FIRST:
I went to a conference at Wrightsville Beach last weekend and HAD A BLAST! I rented a car and left Columbia @ 4am, got lost, and was a tiny bit late for the first session, but I got to spend 6hrs just me & Jason Mraz, so it was a fantastic trip :) I got to the hotel and checked in to my canal view room, only to find out that they'd given me an oceanview room instead for the same price! ($50 difference) The conference was great - I learned ton(ne)s, met some great people with whom I am staying in contact, got Fredric Jameson to sign my copy of "Political Unconscious", and signed up to create a semi-annual bibliography for Utopus Discovered (a society newsletter) that will tell people what is currently being published in the Utopian Studies world.

In other news: I also took a lovely walk on the Carolina coast for the first time since 2004, collected a seashell and a really great stone, watched some surfers and got a $40 meal for $5.50 + tip... and on the return trip, I took a "Sunday drive" with Jason Mraz and stopped at fruit stands and tourist shops at regular intervals, after spending the morning driving up & down the Myrtle Beach strand and shopping at the outlet mall.

So overall, no complaints re the conference trip!

SECOND:
While I was at the conference, I had a fantastic visit with my aunt, who lives 15mins from the hotel*! We ate supper at a cute local grille with a fantastic server, then spent the evening getting my aunt signed onto Twitter and watching TV before we both crashed at 10pm. sad. haha. ANYWAY: while Vicki and I were in my room talking, I checked my email and found out that...

THIRD:
I got an email from my advisor (who had cc'd another prof) to tell me about an opportunity for a fellowship in France next school year... my advisor told me the bare details: it's teaching English at a university in Mulhouse [moo-looz], France, paid position (20K euro), for one year. I would get university-level teaching experience, french practice, and not have to go further into debt all in one fell swoop. Is that how you spell "fell swoop"? Anyone know the etymology there? hmm... back to the topic! I hadn't checked my email all day, so the other prof had replied as well, to inform me that NO ONE has expressed interest so far. So I have talked it over with the Fam and I intend to apply**. They have to send an email out and I reply with a letter of interest in writing. I have prayed about it and have come to the decision that - if I am offered the position - I will be moving to France next summer! And if not, then I will more than likely be spending the summer working on French somewhere (maybe Vermont?). Proverbs 16:9, people!

FOURTH:
Compared to that fun-filled weekend, the remainder of my week has been pretty blah. I got my H1N1 vaccine and I think it made me a little sick, but I was over it by late Friday night. AND I have literally spent 15hrs this weekend reading journal articles for 2 essays due at the beginning of December.

Off topic, but still pertinent: I am inclined to make it my mission to become a female theorist who isn't determined to put a feminist spin of EVERYTHING I WRITE. It really is annoying that that is all I read from women theorists. At least that's what it feels like. Can't I be a part of a world that isn't splintered into factions? I may change my mind, but I won't be happy about it.

Love to everyone - will keep you informed!

* she has cats. there was no way I could visit her, so she came to my hotel for a slumber party!

** I have since found out that one other person has expressed interest, and that he went last year, so I don't know what my chances are right now.

New Crush - minipost.

2009-10-27T22:16:00.003Z

Now, this is not an MG crush, mind you, but I thought I would share a video posted on Superforest.org today. I think I love Jackson. I mean, I even love his dog - it made me giggle! That's some serious crushing. haha.

The end.

The Plan, part 1

2009-10-27T21:32:00.003Z

So this past week has been a roller coaster. Actually, more like the past 7 weeks, so I'll start there:

7 weeks ago, I started developing insomnia for the first time in my life. I have never been a great sleeper, but I have always felt rested after I got awake. Until mid-September. For 6 weeks, I averaged 3hrs/night of sleep - and I was getting increasingly irritable. I know... I'm always so sunshiny! Anyway: after 6 weeks of insomnia, I broke down & asked for prescription meds to help. BAD IDEA. Within 15 mins of taking the pills, I was in a full-blown 3-day-long allergic reaction. But I am in the States and didn't trust my health insurance to cover an ER visit, so I rode it out for the night*. I got 1 hour of sleep that night. YAY.

What I realized after (or maybe during?) was that my insomnia did have a trigger: I have also been having panic attacks/mini-breakdowns over the foreign language component of my PhD since mid-September.

I have been seeing a counselor for about a month to help with the PhD anxiety, and in last week's session, I mentioned that I was considering transferring to a PhD in English and we discussed. I decided to at least talk to the English dept - see if it was possible... and not only is it possible, it is WAY easy: one form and $15. So I met with some profs, asked some questions, realized that it would save me at least 6mos on my PhD... and was about 90% decided that I would transfer this week by the time I went in to my night class on Thursday.

Thursday night's classes are always unpredictable. We are never on schedule and the lecturer has had to remove at least 40% of the syllabus because our conversations are always so in-depth. That, and there are 27 graduate students in the class. So I did not expect a 3-hr session on the field of Comparative Lit when I walked into that classroom...

It was amazing. Life-changing. Reaffirming. I walked out of that class knowing that I am supposed to be in Comp Lit. And I have to get over my anxiety and do what it takes to get this degree.

Monday morning I woke up realizing that I have not set foot in the school's language lab yet. So I decided to take that first step, and found out that U of SC is registered with Rosetta Stone - so I spent 3+hrs there and am now on lesson 4 of unit 1 in French, haha! Back to the basics, for serious.

On Monday afternoon, I met with my Comp Lit advisor and told her the above story. By the time I told her that I was staying in the program, she let out a huge sigh and was like, "I was totally prepared for you to say you are leaving!" Then she told me about a summer immersion program in Vermont that she would like for me to check out. It took her a minute to remember the name of the school and all I could think of was "Middlebury" because that is where a cultural theorist/media studies prof named Jason Mittell works - I follow him on twitter and subscribe to his blog. And all of a sudden, my advisor is like, "Middlebury College! That's the name of the school." WHAT? I thought, well, how convenient!

This morning I pulled up the Middlebury College language school website to find out how much the program costs and if it accepts financial aid. As soon as I pulled up the financial aid page, the interoffice mailman came in & my job is to disperse the mail. So I left the page up for when I returned and started delivery.

And the last envelope I encounter is addressed to the Department Chair... from Middlebury College - WHAT???? I told the story to Catherine, the Chair's assistant and lady I desk-sit for over lunch hours. Catherine was like, "well, that's serendipity. This envelope should actually be yours." She opened it and handed me the papers.

I got to my office and started to read the pages. It was an announcement for a fellowship that pays for 100% of the language school summer programs... can I just say now that GOD IS GOOD.??

Now I don't have the fellowship, but WOW.

And if nothing else, I would say that I have confirmation that I am, in fact, supposed to be in Comp Lit!

And that is part one of my PhD plan blog posts.

* I did go to the health center the following day and got help.

Judge a Book...

2009-10-19T23:29:00.003+01:00

Hi all -

This will be short, but I was sitting here trying to come up with research ideas and I looked up at the shelf above my desk and thought: "If someone were to randomly see all of these books, they'd probably think I have split-personality disorder!" So I thought I would share the list...(L-R):

Plato's Republic

Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia & Other Science Fictions

Ordinary Enchantments

Literary Topics: Magic Realism

A Companion to Magical Realism

The Spaces of Latin American Literature

Dark Horizons: Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination

The Immanent Utopia

Literature, Culture & Society

The end of Irish History?

Strands of Utopia

Demand the Impossible: Science Fiction and the Utopian Imagination

Captain Rock,Night Errant:The Threatening Letters of Pre-Famine Ireland, 1801-45

Jorge Luis Borges

The Image of the Future

Latin American Science Fiction Writers

And there you go! Books representing the various research ideas I have had in the past month. hah. Way to go INDECISION! :)

Love you all and miss you ton(nes) - and I do apologize that this does not include a crush-of-the-week bearded edition... but if it did, you KNOW there'd be a pic of MRAZ!

take care ~
SS

Serious Thought

2009-09-08T21:56:00.007+01:00

I recently found a few questions that I thought were worthy of taking the time to answer... I thought I would share my ponderings here.

What inspires me?

I am inspired by words, language, literature & photography. I love "reading" humankind... I am inspired by the way people interact and how words, literature, language and photography are used as reflective tools. I love noticing the way people view themselves and the world around them, how they would like to see it and the ways that they use these four venues to create, encourage, and decipher their individual world. I find inspiration in the way each individual world intertwines, reflects and, ultimately, connects with the world universal... I am fascinated with how words can be manipulated, how language can forge bonds, how literature can reflect and how photography can represent both the person and the culture - how they can breathe new life into the mundane and edify humankind. I am beginning my studies as a Utopian scholar because of this passion. (can you tell?)

What do I love about my community?

I have lived in 3 nations and have managed to feel a part of my community wherever I am. I am blessed to recognise that my community is not limited to my geographical location, but that my community is "my world" - the people, the history, the culture, the architecture, the music - into which I am immersed. This blog is a personal (sometimes admittedly boring) blog that I have subtitled "welcome to my world: a novel" as an invitation to join me on my travels (both internal & external).

Charlotte, NC is my familial home. If you want to know what I love about Charlotte, in particular, I would have to say that I love the hugs. I love that since returning to the South less than a week ago*, I have gotten more hugs from strangers than I got in 6yrs living abroad! Charlotte is a big city full of Southern charm - she's got amazing history, a rich culture and her hands reach toward the dream of a better future while embracing the past within loving arms.

How is Love expressed as Me in the world?
(I love the phrasing of this question!)

I would say that Love is expressed as Me in the world via the relationships that I forge with people on a one-to-one basis. I put a lot of effort into forging real relationships with everyone I know. I ask questions, offer advice, love & pray for the people I encounter. I listen and I try to believe that I can learn something from everyone I meet. I believe that Love is exemplified in the trust, encouragement and edification that is offered to each new friend in my life. I hope that, through one-on-one relationships, Love (and Joy and Peace) is/are able to cross racial, national & religious boundaries and reach out to all of humankind - one friend at a time.

So there you go! A little more insight into the mind of Steph than you had before :)

*at the time these questions were answered

I have no witty title

2009-09-06T16:03:00.003+01:00

Hello -

I was hoping to blog weekly (at least) once I got settled in, but it turns out that life isn't so exciting in West Columbia as one might think, haha!

I need to figure out how to get photos from my phone onto the computer because I have one that really exemplifies life here in SC. It's a grocery story display selling pickled eggs and pigs feet. yum. But until I figure out the technical side of things, you'll just have to use your imagination :)

The rest of my life has been so routine - and I LOVE it! My weeks are usually: read for four days (with some tv at night), Tuesday & Wednesday I'm on campus from 8:30am-5pm with a 30-min break, and Thursday I'm on campus from 8:30am-8pm with a 2hr break at suppertime.

Speaking of Thursdays, this past Thursday was a doozy. doozie? d'ouzi? hmm... regardless:

For anyone who doesn't know (and cares), I have a shuttle that runs from my apartment to the Uni from 7am-7pm... which means that I can't catch it after my Thurs class at 8pm (obviously). And the public transit stops at SIX PM (what?). My roommate has been able to give me lifts home most days and I took a taxi in the rain one day, but this week I got brave.

I decided to bicycle home from class - in the dark - over a bridge which apparently houses homeless people. I could totally deal with all of that. So I took my bike to school. Then I get an email from my Dr in the middle of the day: "your blood tests have come back abnormal. please make an appointment with an MD asap." -- umm.. do we know me??? I tried not to go into panic-mode and did really well, but it was emotionally draining. I made an appt for that afternoon (on my 2hr break) and was told that I may have hypothyroid and I have some indicators of potential chronic kidney disease, but the latter was unlikely. It is more likely that the test showing possible kidney disease was elevated because I take ibuprofen. hmm. who knew? So now I can't take ibuprofen (or apparently aspirin, either) and I have another blood test in a month. they are running more tests re the hypothyroid*.

After that lovely stressor, I run (actually bike, woot!) to class and sit for 3hrs in a theory class discussing semiotics and linguistics. F.U.N.

At one point during this class, I actually had a mini-breakdown and was like, "why am I so lost? I am the only person not getting this? I don't belong here! I should just quit now." But then I remembered that my other friends who are farther along in their PhDs have also felt like this, so I didn't cry like I wanted to.

The next day, I found out that my mini-breakdown is what some people call "imposter syndrome" - where we feel like everyone else is smarter than us and that we don't belong. Apparently, EVERYONE goes through that! I hope I don't do it again. I did not enjoy the feeling. I blame the long, stressful day.

And THEN, I bicycled 2.5 miles home - and you know what? as afraid as I was that I wouldn't make it, or that I would get run over by a reckless car, or that I would get a flat tire right by the homeless-person bridge... the thing that I had not anticipated: BUGS. Everywhere. I had one fly into my eye at the very beginning. a giant one landed on and stuck to my shirt. and hundreds of tiny flying insects hit me in the face... do you know how tough it is to ride a bicycle uphill with your mouth closed??? I'm just sayin', now I know why cars have windshields.

So no more night-cycling for Steph. I was absolutely disgusted.

Have I mentioned that I dislike bugs? I'd rather endure -40winters and be mostly bug-free than have 6mos of summer and have creepy-crawlies EVERYWHERE. for the record.

but since I have to endure the bugs... I think I am going to go sit by the pool and do some of my reading now! :)

Love ~
SS

* is it bad that I am actually hoping for hypothyroidism, so that it would explain my recent weight gain? does that make me a horrible person?

PhD Classes, day one

2009-08-21T23:55:00.003+01:00

well... there really is not much to say about today - nothing out of the extraordinary, which in and of itself is pretty cool! Things that are noteworthy to mark the day include:

1) having a prof who, I have decided, is the official doppleganger of Jay Mohr - jokes, awkward pauses for effect, blond, receding hairline, and midwestern accent all-inclusive! haha

2) a classmate offering to give me a lift home after the last class ended at 8pm, only to arrive at class and find out that her car had broken down. (which turned out okay, because I took a taxi home and if I had found out about her car before I left for school, I would have tried to bring my bicycle and it started thunderstorming right as class ended... so, although I was inconvenienced, I wasn't miserably drenched and all is well.) - that is so not grammatically correct. sue me.

3) seeing an overwhelming amount of apparel announcing the word "cock". GOOOOOOOO GAMECOCKS! whatever. The shirts, hats, gym shorts, etc all shortened it to COCKS or COCK*. and not "GO..." one-word advertising is all this school needs, apparently. ugh.

4) having the world's most annoying classmate in EVERY SINGLE CLASS. And by annoying, I more-than-likely mean "just like me 10 yrs younger". Except thinner and with straighter teeth. Very outspoken, VERY flirtatious (I've got nothing on her remark to the only cute guy in the class: "What can I do to get your help with theory??? I have learned that the easiest way to get a guy to do something for me is to feed him or seduce him..." WHA???**), interested in Magic Realism and Southern Lit, and very critical... did I mention outspoken? How about flirtatious?

5) being introduced to a very influential prof in the following terms: "I recommend that you keep an eye out for this young lady... she is very impressive and I see her going places...***" HOW COOL IS THAT? :)

6) meeting another prof who is a younger, thinner, American-accented version of Sayid on LOST. dreamy!

Okay. so maybe this day was worth blogging about. Some pretty cool things happened! :)

* I tried to link to photos online, but they don't exist... now I will make it my mission to take a pic of this annoying trend amongst campus fashion.

** the "T" is intentionally omitted here for emphasis on my shock and horror/jealousy at her talent/bravery

*** said by a prof I'd just met the day before in a pre-semester Q&A panel session for 1st-yr grad students (new to UofSC)... of course I asked questions! I know that after I left the 'influential' prof's office, my advocate went over and explained what I did to impress him, but I left them alone to discuss how (apparently) awesome I am. haha!

FIRST DAY in SC

2009-08-18T02:30:00.003+01:00

okay*, so it's my 2nd day here... but yesterday all I did was unpack about a billion boxes and CLEAN. And that is just no fun to blog about... because this place was disgGUSting. my feet were black at the end of the day... ewww... but (Bron), the last tenants did leave TP, which was very useful at one point.

I don't know how this blog is going to turn out, but I don't want to take this time for granted, even if I'm not in some exotic place like Ireland or SASKATCHEWAN! :) I am hoping to play tourist in my backyard and we'll see how this turns out.

So today was my first day of work. I didn't tell you about my job? oh. okay, let's start there: I went to UofSC as soon as I arrived in the Carolinas to talk to financial aid about the fact that the $$ they were allowing me to have was not enough to live on. A couple weeks prior, I had run across a possible work-study (where the govt funds student employment - cheap(ish) labour for the Uni & tax-free paycheques for the students)... anyway! While I was on campus, I decided to stop by & meet the lady (Carla) and see if she could tell me where financial aid was. By the time I left her office, I had a job - and she offered me $2 more an hour than was posted online... Praise the LORD!

SO.

Today was the first day of that job. I am one of 3 admin assistants in the department of languages, literatures & cultures, which happens to be MY department, woot! My schedule has me working Tue/Wed/Thurs for 14.5hrs/week and, in conjunction with my course schedule, I now officially have 4-day weekends, double-woot**! :)

Today, I met about 40 people and started to learn about 80 names. I answered phones and was asked questions that I had no clue how to answer for the 1st half of the day... I learned the copying system... I networked... and I ran up and down stairs for HOURS (delivering mail). And I was happy! I was able to meet the Comp Lit program director face-to-face, have a sit-down meeting with the graduate studies director, be introduced to the dean of the department, and meet a fellow classmate (who got a teaching assistantship, but I won't hold it against her...)!

Things I found out today are:

1) one of the instructors in the German department (to whom I was introduced and ended up talking with for a while) is from Dublin -- and it turns out that one of her good friends is one of my lecturers at UL! WHAT? Pretty cool, eh? And she also sent me to a couple dudes who may be interested in supervising my dissertation (when the time comes) - yay for networking!!! and

2) I cannot take graduate-level spanish lit courses in Latin America like I'd hoped... BUT, UofSC offers 2 graduate-level summer courses and, assuming I do well in them, the director of graduate studies wants to consider me for a teaching assistantship next year in Spanish! (okay... we'll see how that goes, but it is an incentive to get on the ball with the spanish speaking-phobia I've recently developed, right?)

In addition to all of that excitement, I rode my bicycle 1/3 of the way to school (at 7:30am, what?) and all the way back from school - a total of just under 5miles. And got lost without a map on the way to get bloodwork done (I have to prove that I won't catch measles or rubella... sigh) and wandered campus for about 30mins. Can we say "workout"***???

And in addition to all of THAT excitement: I met a cute boy. His name is Rob, he lived in Ireland for 3.5months, he doesn't wear a wedding band, he is new to campus (too), and his mailbox # is 286. That is all I got after running into him at least five times today... NOT BECAUSE I'M A STALKER, either!!!!... because he kept talking to ME! (just so we're clear.) If I had been smart, or at all socially adept, I could have swung a "we'll have to get together for lunch or coffee sometime" during our 10-min conversation that started out with "where's a good place to eat around here?" and quickly (d?)evolved into "Limerick is the murder-capital of the EU (me)" to "the Burren is amazing! (both of us)" to "yeah, I'll probably live at the Colloquium (aka nearby coffee shop) most of the time (me)"... to the elevator doors closing... but we still chatted (about NOTHING) 3 more times after that catastrophe, so I didn't scare him off... yet.

In other news, all I have eaten today is half a bagel & 2stalks of celery. Now I'm off to bed!

* sorry, no cool pics this time to distract you from the lengthy-ness of this email.
**I love that blogging automatically grants me the right to make up words, yay!
***to be honest, I do not recall why I starred this. I think in my head, I wanted everyone to cheer "WORKOUT!" with me... haha :)

PS
There may be more Rob stories to come, mostly because I enjoy telling boy-stories (Ian, close your eyes, haha!)... until I find out he's married or gay. or MY PROF. Optimism: ain't it grand?

take care world ~

Mr. A-Z

2009-07-30T03:35:00.012+01:00

I'm just sayin'...

yeah, yeah - I have a few things to apologise for:
1) taking a billion years to post a new blog...
2) not sending out self-inquiry questions to a few friends who were nice enough to request them from my last post (still no telling when they'll happen!), and
3) stealing Jason Mraz' creativity to title tonight's episode of my world!

Please forgive me.

And now on to last night's adventure... I know that writing this out is not nearly as cool as actually telling the story, but my throat still hurts from last night, so this may be for the best anyway... this will be a long one, so get comfortable...:

OKAY!

Sooooo... as most of you know, I was psyched to attend the Jason Mraz concert last night!!! I mean, seriously, I planned my move from Calgary to the Carolinas 3 weeks earlier than I needed to for this show. I bought my tickets to the concert BEFORE I bought my flight home. The only thing most important than going to the show (with a tiny hope of meeting & potentially making out with Jason - 'cause he & I are tight and we're on a first name basis, apparently) was sharing the experience with my sister. It had been 6yrs since she and I had taken time out of our busy schedules (and international boundaries) to spend sister-time together. To be fair, Jen does not care one whit about Jason, but she knew this concert was important to me, so she agreed to go...

she seriously did not know what she was getting into.

It began as a normal concert experience - the venue just opened a couple months ago, so we were unfamiliar with the directions, parking, regulations, etc... but the biggest stressor for me was the storm clouds I could see gathering later in the afternoon. I kept trying to explain Stephanie's Law to my sister, and she was trying to counter my negative thoughts with positive ones all afternoon... the Law won.

We arrive safely, Jen bought a $5 poncho from a vendor on the sidewalk as we were parking - just in case - and parking was a breeze. Then we walked the 1/4mile to the amphitheatre.

Did I mention that this venue is outdoors, and there is no covered seating? Or that the tickets said "rain or shine"? How about the fact that they did not allow umbrellas, chairs or blankets into the venue? no? okay, well, now you know.

So we get to the line, they search our bags, we have to take the lids off our water bottles and take the open containers into the seating (huh?), have our tickets scanned, pass by the "gratitude cafe tent", and find our seats. It's a pretty neat space - we were 24th row, but it didn't seem to be too far away from the stage. I was okay - I mean, we weren't on the lawn and we did have reserved seats.

The concert had already begun with the opening act (K'naan, I think?) I was not impressed, but my sis liked him okay, so I was happy! We found our seats, put our water bottles in the holders*, I handed my sister her poncho and opened my anorak as we sat down. And before we had the protective coverings on, the sky opened into TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR. I am not joking. Between putting one arm in my sleeve while completely dry and putting the other arm in its sleeve, my entire body was drenched. It was like I stepped into the shower. I figure, at least this is warm rain - not that crazy frigid-cold stuff that fell from the sky in Ireland... right?!

So Jen got her poncho on and I zipped my coat and we stood up for a minute and did a "rain dance" (we were encouraged by the singer on the stage, fyi)... and then he cut off mid-song and said something like "umm... so I have been told that lightning has been sighted, so we're going to have to cut off the power here on the stage..." and Jen & I sat down and waited. In the rain.

The place was starting to empty out, except for a few rows of fans who had crowded under the eave of the stage, so we set out to join them (in hopes of getting a decent seat once the show resumed, of course). And about the time we arrived, they make an announcement telling everyone that we have to leave the amphitheatre and return to our cars until the electrical storm passes - that we will be informed when the concert resumes. RIGHT.

Well, our little crowd were the only ones left (or so it appeared), and everyone was turning to leave, when the HAIL rained upon us. WHAT??? The hailstones weren't giant, but man, could they sting! I got hit right by my eye and thought "well, if I start bleeding, at least I'll have a scar to remind me of this night..." and Jen was in front of me doing what looking like a fire-walk, jumping around trying to avoid the stings of flying iceballs. We're making our way down the stairs when some guy walks toward us yelling "EVERYBODY OUT!!!!" at the top of his lungs... because, obviously, walking toward the exit wasn't enough indication of us leaving...

Jen started walking barefoot because she was sliding in her flipflops, and we took cover under the eave of the will call/ticket office with about 20 other people to ride out the storm. I didn't want to go to the car and risk missing the concert because of slacker event staff, so we stood. In the rain. In an electrical storm. In more than an inch of water. Barefoot (well, one of us at this point). For 45mins. With more and more people arriving - I'd say hundreds more cars.
The storm moved on and the rain slowed from a downpour to just plain rainfall. So we left the shelter and returned to the entrance of the amphitheatre in order to be at the front of the throng. Remember Stephanie's Law**? Anyway! We waited and waited. I started to sing "I'm Yours" and a couple people hummed along. Then all of a sudden, Martha Chinnis shows up with her boyfriend (Erick) and we talked for another 20-30mins or so.
And then THEY showed up. The DRY PEOPLE. They would come out from inside the amphitheatre and would wave down from the other side of the fence at us lowly wet folk. At first, it was a couple people at a time.

Then, at around 9:30 (the concert began at 7pm), event staff returned... only to start breaking down tables and removing garbage cans. And when we asked them what was happening, they only answered "I don't know". So I sang some more songs. This time Erick and Martha joined me.

I knew Jason had done midnight shows before, so I was hopeful, but more as an obsessive fan than a realistic citizen. I had decided that I didn't want to leave until someone (from the event staff) told me I had to. My sister supported me.

I think Jen was okay with the drama*** until the DRY PEOPLE started coming down the stairs without saying a word. Beer-in-hand, stone-faced DRY PEOPLE walked out of the amphitheatre - by the HUNDREDS. I stopped one lady and asked where she had been and her reply was something like, "well, I was in the amphitheatre!" and I was like, but the place was empty when I left and she answered, "no, it was nearly full!" WHAT??? (again).

And I was still okay... and Jen was still supportive... and then all the other people in line in front of us U-turned and walked away... without a word. So I made my way to an event staff member and asked her the story and here's what I got (with a sad look on her face):

"Jason has agreed to play an accoustic show next door in the Fillmore. But it only seats 2000 people and the seating is first-come-first serve."

I asked directions to the Fillmore, turned around, took MY shoes off, whispered to Jen, Martha and Erick to follow me and BOLTED. Through mud, grass, bushes... I drilled my way through the throngs, with Jen hanging onto my anorak for dear life, Martha tugging on Jen's poncho and Erick clinching Martha's raincoat... and I haven't told them a word yet. Then I hit a wall of people. I whispered to the other 3 the new information and Martha yells out "WHAT'S THE FILLMORE?" (Martha, Martha, Martha!) And then I take our train on a loop around the ticket office. And then I realise...

I only have one ticket in my hand.

I had been holding onto mine & Jen's tix at the front gate. When I noticed the missing ticket, Jen offered to sit in the car if they don't let her into the Fillmore... please. Like I was going to let that happen!

So I leave the other 3 in the middle of thousands of people with instructions to keep pushing forward and I turn around and skip hundreds of people in line at the ticket office to plead my case: I explain how I moved to Charlotte from Canada 3 weeks early just for this concert and how I wanted to share it with my sister and how, in the rain and the chaos, one of my tickets was gone... and asked if they would possibly be able to reprint my 2nd ticket... and they said I'd need ID, the original credit card and the one ticket I had - which was in Jennifer's hand. So I yelled across, like, 50ppl and she passed the ticket back to me... and eventually I wound my way through the crowd back to my sister with 2 tickets for the concert in my hand! WHEW!

At this point, I notice that there was an empty space of ground right in front of us and ask Jen, Martha & Erick why they hadn't filled it in and I had about 10 people tell me that the tree in the clearing had fire ants.

(notice fire-ant tree on left and Fillmore sign in background)

By this time, I was running on pure adrenaline. We had been told that the DRY PEOPLE had bought VIP tix and had already been safely shuffled into the Fillmore, leaving only about 1700 spaces left and 3000+people waiting outside. I risked the fire ants.

I had also decided that, if I didn't make it to this concert, I was driving (or busing or whatever) to Jason's concert in Cary, NC (about 3hrs away) the next night. Jen decided she was going with me.

Then the announcements started:
1) the Fillmore is only licensed for people ages 21+
2) they are letting people with reserved seating in first
3)and my favourite 3-in-1 (announced to a SILENT crowd of thousands): YOU HAVE A CHOICE: #1- you can attend tonight's accoustic concert, but Jason won't be singing, #2- Jason is planning to return to Charlotte at a later date this summer or #3- you can opt for a refund of your ticket.

Between these three announcements, Martha & Erick decided to turn back while Jen & I made it to the front, say, 600ppl.

Then the rain fell down. AGAIN! The crowd morphed into a throng - it literally pulsed. Jen & I were expecting a riot or at the very least a mosh pit. We couldn't turn around in our spots - she was holding onto my anorak again, but this time, there were 2 bodies between us. Another torrential downpour!!! It rained and flooded. Jen & I are still barefoot. My claustrophobia had kicked in about 30mins prior. And the doors opened.

HALLELUJAH! (can I say that? a little blasphemous, I know...)

There were 4 security guards posted across the sidewalk and LITERALLY just as Jen & I passed by them, the hands came down to cut the crowd off. I yanked Jen in because I saw the arm raise above me...

as I handed my tickets to the attendant, I made sure Jason would be playing (#1 of that 3rd announcement was just to weed out people, apparently - it had been passed down by word of mouth) - and actually, my exact words were "if he doesn't sing, I will come back and find you." I was promised that he would sing.

We walked in to find a bunch of DRY PEOPLE (now drunk dry people) seated around the outside of the room. And we found ourselves in a standing-only room.

And we stood approximately TEN FEET from the stage! Honestly, there were maybe 4 rows of people between me and Jason!!!!!!!!!

The rest of the story is just a letdown, I am sure. But it involved DRY DRUNK PEOPLE trying to squeeze in to the crowd, looking all perfect & pretty and my sister and I starting a barricade. There were about 10 people around us who joined in a vendetta against the DRY PEOPLE. (that's what they were called by everyone, fyi) One older man in the back would yell "elbows out!" and everyone would stand their ground while Jen & I were like "no." or "you can take another way to find your mom/child/husband/whatever." or "I guess you love going to the bathroom more than you love being close to the stage, then." or "I'm pretty sure this isn't reserved seating." I honestly had determined that I was wet enough to where, if I had to pee, I would probably have just peed standing up rather than give up my spot. Seriously. The girl in front of us offered her black-belt services, if need be. And the guy beside her was like "I'm with her!" (even though he wasn't really with her) - just to keep everyone happy... we pretty-much bonded! Glad I didn't pee and ruin the good vibes.

And yes, the concert was PHENOMENAL. It was better than I could have imagined, considering the overall outcome. And eventually (about 3/4 through Jason's set), Jen & I did give up our spots to go sit down on the floor stage left. When I wanted to stand and join the crowd, I was in the 2nd row, but with a partial view - still AWESOME! We had been standing for a solid 5.5hrs by then (the concert ended at 1am), and Jennifer had worked on her feet from 7:30am till 2:30pm. Did I mention my sister ROCKS???

We both decided we like Bushwalla, too...
she more than I, but I am grateful that Jen enjoyed the concert after that unbelievable experience... what a great sport, eh? :)

*the water bottles remained in their holders at our seats, in case you were curious.
** Stephanie's Law: whatever Stephanie wants, the opposite must occur. (but only with the little things... mostly)
***you know, the drama that follows me EVERYWHERE??? :)

PS
here's a peak at the audience warmup with Jason... not much, but my internet sucks, so you only get a blip.

Introspection

2009-02-03T08:00:00.005Z

I have been thinking of the word, introspection since I commented on MayB's blog requesting an interview. That's just sad. But I had fun during my inward search for Stephanie and I hope this sheds some light into my world:

1. If you could only wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would you wear?

pajamas. specifically, an oversized t-shirt and printed bottoms. if I were living in Canada/Ireland, the bottoms would be my pink flannel plaid pants & if I lived in the Carolinas, they would be striped shorts. sad, but true.

2. What old school Nintendo game did you rock at?

it was a tie between Metroid & Legend of Zelda. I guess I would have to say I rocked at Metroid, since I could actually beat the game. (Once!) I only made it to the next-to-top level in Zelda, but I had so much fun playing :)

3. Where did you see your life going by the time you hit this age? Are you where you thought you'd be?

It depends on when in my life I was imagining my 33-yr-old self... I guess I always assumed I would be married by now... and done school... and still in North Carolina... WRONG on all counts, wow! When I was 17, I had a Senior Book that allowed me to predict my future. I remember saying that I hoped to be married by the time I was 27 and that I wanted to be a pediatric oncologist. 33 never really entered the picture. And apparently, neither did kids. hmmm... and I am definitely not where I thought I would be! I never imagined that I would have lived in 3 countries by now, nor did I see myself ever making (some) $$ from my photos... and I had given up my dream of being a teacher between the ages of 6 & 26, so it was definitely not part of 'the plan' - overall, I'd say I am happy with the changes in direction my life took. Proverbs 16:9, baby: Man may make his plans, but GOD will direct his paths!

4. Name your favourite comfort food and the best reason to eat it.

Soup - of most kinds. I love making enough homemade vegetable-beef soup to last for a week. I usually make it when I am poor & tired of making decisions. I also love Chef-Boy-Ardee (sp?) - specifically, ravioli & spaghetti/meatballs. Those are for the days when I've been at work all day & I'm feeling nostalgic for my childhood.

5. What temperature do you keep your residence set at? Sub question: Are you purposely trying to kill the environment?

When I have control over my residence temperature, I usually like to keep it at 67F/19C during the day and 62F/16C at night. If it helps, my thinking is not necessarily, "I really hope I am doing my part to kill the environment today!" so much as, "I will do what I can to keep my bills consistent... please not another $300 gas bill in January or another $150 electric bill in July!!!" So if the bill increases, I tend to adjust my air conditioning/heating to compensate, if I can survive the resulting temp. And there are always fans & hot water bottles, when necessary.

So here's the catch: I won't stalk you with questions, but if you like this kind of stuff and want to be quizzed, drop me a comment to let me know. But just so you know, I did this for me, so if no one is interested, it won't hurt my feelings, haha!

Here's what you're supposed to do:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions. (please make sure I have your email cause that helps when trying to actually email someone)
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. Be sure you link back to the original post.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

My first conference!

2009-01-22T23:08:00.003Z

So over New Years, I was busy working on my very first proposal for a call for papers. I had no clue what I was doing, but my very good friend, Ky, helped me. We didn't have internet and I kept procrastinating on walking up to the office on the North Battleford grounds in the FRIGID COLD WEATHER, so I nearly missed the deadline.

At 11:30pm, Calgary time, Erica let me drive her car up to the street in front of the office in the hopes that the wireless would reach that far -- and it did -- so I got the proposal turned in with 10 minutes to spare, woot!

I just found out today that my proposal was accepted! I have been in attendance at several conferences/workshops, and I am not sure just how competitive these things actually are, but it sure feels good to have my idea accepted by complete strangers...

I am still in the "WOOHOO!" phase, but I am sure the "ohmygoodnesswhathaveidone?" phase will arrive soon enough :) I will worry about that when it happens. For now, I am going to bask in the idea that someone wants to hear what I have to say, yay!

And this experience can go on my CV and make me (hopefully) more hireable in the future and potentially make me more eligible for funding during my PhD.

Right on!

Thought I would share...

Singing in the Rain

2009-01-18T08:47:00.003Z

HAH.

okay, not so much "singing" as "laughing", and not so much "rain" as "hurricane"... but if I had entitled my post "laughing in the hurricane", it would not have the same ring.

anyway!!!

I arrived in Dublin at 7am Friday morning and took a shuttle to my hostel. They let me take a shower and lock my luggage in their little room until check-in at noon. So I spent a couple hours wandering around Dublintown - went to Trinity College, a couple banks, the tourism board, and Penneys before I realised that I was so exhausted, I couldn't stand up any longer. I had been awake for 23 hrs. I went and spent another hour waiting on the couch in the lobby of the hostel until checkin. Once checked in, I slept. and slept. and slept. until 930pm. and then I woke up, walked over to McDs (almost every place else stops serving food after 7), grabbed some supper, returned to my bed, met a couple girls on leave from the Army - Olivia & Karissa - checked my email and went back to bed at 1130! However, my bed was right by the window and I was SOOOOO cold that I couldn't sleep, so I went upstairs for tea and read my book for a bit. Slept until 530am. The lobby didn't open until 7am, so I sat in the hall and read my book some more, then, at 7, went up for more tea, checked email, read for a couple hours, packed my stuff up, met 2 more girls returning to the States after a 6month missions trip in Liberia - Janine and Karisma (I think). and hopped on the LUAS to Tallaght (pronounced "Tall-uh").

HOW BORING, haha!

Then Saturday really began! I met Diane at Starbucks and taught the Starbucks girls how to make a London Fog latte, then took my stuff over to Diane & Eddie's place before going to lunch with the two of them. After lunch, Diane & I decided to go to a GIANT mall way across town, in Dundrum, while Eddie slept - he had worked the night shift.

We took the LUAS to Abbey St and then had to walk over to Stephens Green to catch another train. We cannot figure out why the trains don't connect like they do EVERYWHERE ELSE, but, as Diane said, we have decided to find the person responsible for this faux pas and put them in a box while spraying them with cold water.

We walked for about 10 blocks, or so. During that time, the wind was crazy-strong. As usual! See previous blog. (here too.) And of course, it decided to start raining for the FIRST TIME IN TWO WEEKS the day I arrived. Who's surprised??? So we walked for 10 blocks in torrential downpour and biting wind. It was frigid cold and at some points, we had to literally stop where we were and brace ourselves because if we had moved on to one foot, we would have fallen to the ground by the force of the wind. My thighs and knees were hot pink for hours afterward, because the rain was so cold and it stung my skin. I could not feel my legs or my fingers for about 30mins.

I literally felt as though I had jumped into a pool fully clothed. I have done it before, I know what that feels like! And Diane was wearing a faux-fur-lined coat, which made her look like a drowned rat, in my opinion. She agreed. Our first stop at the mall was for new socks. HAHA!

I also bought a pair of fake-Keds in patent neon orange because my shoes were sopping. They were cheap; sue me. I may wear them on a regular basis. :)

The mall was wonderful - it was one of those multi-storey places. About 5-6 floors, and some mini-floors halfway between some levels. Definitely one of those malls a person could get lost in. I had a blast! I spent money on supper and I bought a 5euro scarf, outside of the anti-drenched purchases made earlier. I think I did alright!

On the way home, the rain wasn't pelting as badly, but we hit a wind tunnel a few blocks from the apartment and the wind was behind us. At one point, I couldn't stop and just ran forward until I hit a railing.

And the Irish call this, "blustery"

the journey continues to Limerick (or Cork) today. Will stay in touch!

love you all,
SS

As seen on other blogs...

2009-01-17T09:46:00.003Z

How would you describe yourself? Here by Pugwash

How do you feel today? Quanta Qualia by Hayley Westnra (which apparently translates into "How great & How wonderful" - pretty accurate :)

What is your motto? Lie before you leave by Montgomery Gentry

What do your friends think of you? Waterloo by ABBA

What do you think about very often? Backwards by Rascal Flatts. really?

What do you think of your best friend? This world is not my home by The Hemmerling Family. okay...

What is your life story? Right back where we started from by Maxine Nightingale

What do you want to be when you grow up? I won't go to Hollywood by Bleu

What do you think when you see the person you like? When I'm in Your presence/My heart's desire by Cyndi Aarrestad. I don't think I equate him with God... but the title is appropriate!

What song will they play at your wedding? Strange Brew by Cream - lol.

What will they play at your funeral? How beautiful you are by Jimmy Wayne

What do you think about love? Ebony eyes by Bob Welch

What is your biggest flaw? Hindi sad diamonds by Nicole Kidman, John Lequizamo & others that don't fit onto my ipod screen...

What is your best trait? Send me the pillow - by The Hemmerling Family [is this about my tendency to sleep, or the fact that I play psychoanalyst on a regular basis???]

what a nice moment :)

2009-01-08T06:19:00.007Z

so I was working on a call for papers at New Year's camp in North Battleford for a couple afternoons. I worked in the dining hall, where most people were hanging out if they weren't outside playing hockey or on the ski hill... and bro Hinchliff rolls up to me in his wheelchair and asks to look at my computer. He was admiring how thin it is... He told me how his old laptop had just recently died and that he was looking at buying a new one because he used it a lot to email and he liked how laptops fit into his briefcase & he could take it places.

so he was asking what mine did - what kind it was, what all the slots & plugins were on the sides - and i showed him my webcam. I went into photo booth and took the attached photo... thought I would share:

I sent him on to Dell instead of trying to sell him on Macs because he's been using a PC for forEVER and I was confused enough when I first started using my Mac. Not saying he's not smart enough to figure it out, mind you! Just saying a Dell can do what he needs without much adjustment...

why I love him...

2009-01-06T07:07:00.004Z

no, not MG. Even though I'd be lying if I said I didn't love MG... in a stalker, living in my head sort of way... but this post is about Tom. I love this man for so many reasons - as a lecturer/supervisor, of COURSE!

He is that 'cool' prof who is more likely to swagger into a room than walk. He wears black t-shirts - with sleeves that allow his tattoo to peek out every once in a while - and jeans. His gray hair is overshadowed by the earrings, and his attitude of "don't make life harder than it has to be" comes across in his knowing grin and the way he crosses his arms across his chest when he's engaged in conversation - not the self-protective "stay out of my personal space" arm-crossing, but the relaxed, easy-going "let's chat" arm-crossing.

He's big in his field. Really big. And you wouldn't know it until you found the book(s?) in which he's published with Jameson, Lacan &/or Sartre... and you knew how big THOSE guys are... this guy knows what he's talking about. But he makes room for the opinions of others. He's done his homework, and could preach at a class for hours if he wanted, but he opens the door for new ideas and encourages freedom of thought. He engages in the education of his students, himself and the world - by being less critical and more openminded; by listening and offering suggestions; by guiding rather than instructing.

And if you don't want to take my word for it, here's a little article I found on the website for The Society for Utopian Studies, enjoy!*:

Lyman Tower Sargent Award for Distinguished Scholarship has been presented to:

2008
Tom Moylan

Tom Moylan is honored for his groundbreaking books and leadership in the field of Utopian Studies. In Demand the Impossible, he formulated the concept of the critical utopia and identified the key group of four novels that are still central to any discussion of 1970s utopianism. By bringing critical theory to bear on utopian fictions, he made it possible to conceive of how texts can be ironic and self-reflexive, yet still carry political force. Scraps of the Untainted Sky performed similarly significant work by theorizing the critical dystopia. In addition to these foundational books, the Society honors Professor Moylan's contributions in article-length works on topics ranging from liberation theology to his recent work with Irish music. Equally important is his work as an editor, including the collection of essays on Bloch that Professor Moylan edited with Jamie Daniel, the Jameson special issue of Utopian Studies, and volumes edited with Raffaella Baccolini and with Michael Griffin, collections well-known for bringing together people working in disparate areas of utopian studies. Professor Moylan's formative and energetic work with the Ralahine Centre for Utopian Studies at the University of Limerick has created a remarkable forum for global and interdisciplinary scholarship. In the words of Professor Naomi Jacobs: "Through his tireless work to organize lecture series colloquia and conferences, as well as through his own scholarship, [Tom Moylan’s] influence on the field has been 'incalculably diffusive' (to steal a phrase from George Eliot)."

* now I have to go look up "diffusive"...

A little about me

2008-12-21T04:45:00.004Z

Here are a few of my favourite things*:

1) Mama Mia! I bought it the day it came out on DVD after seeing it twice (once in the theatre & once on a plane) -- I have seen it twice already this week. I love knowing that I own something that is pretty much guaranteed to make me smile - and sing!

2) Research. yep, I'm a nerd. But I love it! However, I don't mean the kind of research that requires in-depth detailed origins of words or historical evidence... I mean the kind of research that let me know the ideas of others. I am an idea person. I like looking at how other people see the world.

3) Photos. In particular, those taken by Ky** and Stuart Kasdorf. And I enjoy taking them myself, as well -- but I haven't done much of that lately.

4) Narrative. The act of storytelling makes me happy - I like being able to create scenes in which others can imagine themselves. I also like reading narrative in which I can imagine myself. I pretty much love imagining, dreaming, planning, idealising... anything that involves living in my head.

5) Saskatchewan. I love the flat. And the dry-cold. I love that many of the roads are like graph paper. I love that people from SK don't let long distances deter them from making memories -- that driving 1.5 hours each way to pick up a friend so that she can celebrate Christmas with them -- or driving 20+hrs in a weekend in a car with 5 ladies for a one-day ski trip -- is embraced. I love that SK prides itself on being 'hard to spell, easy to draw' & that I get to teach others around the world how to pronounce it properly.

*My original post title was "Raindrops on Roses" until I realised I already had a post with that title! Obviously, my creative side is in a lull.
** Although the link posted here does not expose the world to the abundant talent of Ky H, it does reflect her (and Lyn's) wonderful sense of humour and her ability to capture this humour on 'film'. :)

Just some things I was thinking about today.

Love you all!

PS
Before I forget, although this should really be its own post:
I got my marks back! All the posts you guys had to suffer through while I was writing/researching for my thesis, I figured you earned the right to know... I ACED IT!!!! Literally! I made and A2 (equivalent to about a 3.6 GPA and a 95%) on my thesis and have been awarded a First-Class Honours degree overall!!! (That's about a 3.3GPA or a 90%) WOOT!!!! So I have decided to return to Eire for graduation next month... this was not part of my plan, but neither was a First-Class Honours. I will be there from 16-23 January & I graduate on 20 January. WHEW!

Thank you so much for your support. Seriously.

Love,
SS
xoxo

Three Weeks Later

2008-12-01T23:14:00.003Z

Hello again (finally)!

So! Now that my life has begun to resemble some sort of normalcy and my state of limbo is minimal, I figure it's safe to post a mini-blog:

It is official: I can legally work in Canada as of 3pm today, whew!

I spent the past week with my family in Charlotte, enjoyed probably my most favourite Thanksgiving ever, and received my work permit at the Calgary airport on my way in to Canada. Today I got a SIN (sort of like a SSN in the States or a PPN in Ireland) and Bema can put me back on the payroll, woot!

Tomorrow, I have a meeting with a tentative new roommate, so we'll see how that goes... but Ev said she won't mind if I stay here a bit longer. :) I would like to have a place of my own, though, and this place is nearby (for Calgary) and affordable (for aywhere!) -- and if I were to take this place, I would be living with 3 other Christian girls in their 20s.

While I was down in Charlotte, my grandparents - RON and Pat Brown* - and I took a day trip to Columbia, SC, where I plan to take my PhD starting next fall. We found an apartment** for me about which I am thrilled!!! I also had the priviledge of taking a tour of my grandparents' childhood haunts - they grew up about a mile from my Columbia apartment - and really enjoyed my visit. I think I'm going to like being closer to home :)

And finally: I am obviously going to have to change the theme of this blog, since I no longer live in Ireland and can no longer publish my Irish memories as I live them. I may start to relive my Irish memories that I did not put on here before... I just thought I would warn anyone who is actually interested! If I take tips from MayB, I may be able to come up with some pretty good material for a post every once in a while - I am one of those people who need a prompt, and life in Calgary is not quite as exotic as life in Eire... sorry to any Calgarians reading this!

If you have any ideas, let me know, but I may start up a x365 of my own... who knows?

Love to everyone!

* You have to be a family member to get this... but now all of internetland knows who my grandparents are :)

** Here are some highlights of the place:

Free 24 hr. Gym
Free Internet Cafe
Free Shuttle to Campus
42' TV in all living rooms
Hardwood style floors in select units
High speed Internet and Basic Cable in all units
Resort Style Pool and Spa/Tanning Bed
Walk- in closets and Private bathrooms in every bedroom

very little

2008-11-09T04:13:00.003Z

Hi all,

It's amazing how little I feel the need to post on here when my life is in a constant state of slip-and-slide. I have no definitive plans for my near-future and I am therefore avoiding putting anything down in writing, you know??

But I can tell you little things:

I was have been able to visit Lynmara (and inadvertently Kelly/Keith & Jordan) twice - YAY!

I love that I can just randomly phone my friends (*VinceP*) and ask if I can come over & watch tv when I'm bored... and fyi: those guys have a fanTAStic basement!!!!!

I went to the "boys'"* house here in Calgary to celebrate the birthday of a guy I didn't know on Halloween. I watched people play Rock Star, ate pizza & watched The Hulk - Ed Norton version - for the 2nd time in a week.

the next night, I went to a YP costume party where I 'dressed up' as Jacob by wrapping a fake beard around my arm & carrying around a parchment** that said "Official Birthright - from Isaac - to Esau - unless he sells it for a bowl of soup" -- or something like that. Turns out John L had decided to come as Esau (unintentional planning on our parts) -- and fyi: hairy John = unfun. :)

then on Tuesday, I went to a high school football game with Shelley B where it SNOWED! It was my first post-Ireland snow and it was perfect! I missed that. I'm sure I'll change my mind by spring... after the game, Shelley & I had a great visit over coffee and nanaimo bars.

I volunteered to be the 'leader' for this week's YP study of The Screwtape Letters, Letter 10. I think it went well... but only because everyone was so willing to participate and it made me happy!

I have a flight to go home for Thanksgiving, so YAY! I really miss my family. A Lot. This also means that...

I may be in Canada for Christmas - preferably SK, please? We'll see how that works out - like I said: life = slip-n-slide lately!

I think that's all for right now.

love to you all!

*if I could tell you who all lived there, it would be helpful, eh? let's see... greg h, nathan d, eric s, tim l... and I would not be surprised if I left someone out. I only saw Greg & Nathan that night

**okay, okay... it was a certificate I printed on Ev's computer, so sue me!

nudged

2008-10-15T02:15:00.003+01:00

Hello all!

I am sorry about my lack of communication since my surprise announcement - but even with everything that has been going on, nothing has really been blogworthy... per the request of Ky, I will at least give a mini-update. Ky, you will have already read this first part seeing as how I am copying what I emailed to you - lol!

Part One:
Everything was working out wonderfully to keep me in Eire until my thesis was complete. The idea was that the 2 jobs I had would keep me here until graduation at the end of January and then I would see if the contracts could be extended until July, which seemed possible. But the hotel job I had in the mornings did not like the fact that I needed to keep a schedule and leave work in time for my 2pm job at the writing centre and when my one-month probation was up, they procrastinated firing me until I forced them to.

It was so irritating.

But I had a feeling I would get fired after a conversation I'd had with Wayne (the hotel general manager) on my BIRTHDAY, when he brought up my probation meeting, so I was emotionally prepared. Wayne said that my meeting would be on Friday - and it didn't happen. I asked Ruth (my other supervisor) to just tell me if I am getting fired and she wouldn't. I got an email from Dan L on Friday saying that he was losing Victoria on the following (this past) Wednesday and that he would be interviewing the next day (a week ago today, Saturday), so I gave him a ring first thing saturday morning to warn him that I might be getting fired on Monday. He offered to wait until Wed to hire anyone.

So when my shift ended on Monday without a probation meeting, I called Wayne on his mobile and offered to wait until he returned to the hotel. He showed up 20mins later and I said, "I don't mind postponing the probation meeting if you're planning to keep me on, but if you're firing me, I need to know today." and he said "okay. consider this your one-week's notice". And then he gave me the scheduling excuse saying that i hadn't told him I needed to be off at 1pm, even though we had a very direct conversation the day he hired me when I said that I had a job at the university from 2-530 M-F... hmmm...

anyway: I took it as a sign that God doesn't want me here and stopped trying so hard to be in Eire. I called Dan, we agreed on a week's notice. I did not return to the hotel, but I kept my writing centre job until Friday, 3 October.

Between deciding to move and actually flying back to North America, I gave myself 7 days. It was insane and I don't remember much except packing and a wonderful going away party. My classmate/friend, Nicole, had been planning to move for a month and we were flying out on the same day, so I sort of crashed her party - but she says she didn't mind!

Part Two: and this is the boring part...

I flew in to Calgary late Monday night & stayed 2 nights at Dan & Saryn's place. Taliah & I bonded :) I slept most of the time...

Wed, I moved over to Dan & Ev's and was at the downtown office by lunchtime for a meeting. lol. *sigh*

Most of last week was sleep, with the occasional 5-7hrs day in the middle. I have really been enjoying my conversation time with Ev :)

This weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving, so Sunday I went over to John's new house (this place is way cool & perfect for him... except it could host a family of, like, 12) & had Thanksgiving dinner with 14 Levsons, plus 4. (me, Michelle B, Anna & Anna's daughter, Angela) - I count Mike S as a Levson now that they're engaged - that's probably cheating (I hope I don't get into trouble for that. I assume it's common knowledge!). I got to have nice one-on-one conversations with Jess, Steph, Dave & Phil and built barstools for a bit while I bonded with Angela... the kids are taking a liking to me lately! That remark is in reference to Angela & Taliah -- not Dave & Phil. ;)

And I spent my Thanksgiving day sitting on my bum catching up on this season's american tv shows, woot! Actually, I only got caught up on NCIS, Bones & Criminal Minds... but that's progress.

And that is honestly what I have been up to since the last update.

Now back to my tv show catch-up...

LOVE YOU ALL!

so much for that idea

2008-09-30T11:37:00.003+01:00

See? this is why I avoid updates!

So. I'm moving back to Canada. WOOT! Calgary, Alberta to be exact. So looking forward to a Canadian winter... I missed it... seriously.

Will be there Monday. (yes, this Monday)

:)

If you want more info, facebook or email me. I don't feel like putting it all on here right now. Maybe when I've settled in SOMEWHERE. haha.

God is pretty cool, by the way. In case I haven't mentioned that before...

Love you all!

update - way overdue!

2008-09-16T17:14:00.002+01:00

Hi all,

I don't know how much of my last 2.5weeks I can fit into a post, but I will try and let you know what is going on in my world:

I have moved to a new apartment - some of you have heard this, but for anyone out there who hasn't: I live on top of the "fountain of knowledge". haha! how cool/funny/sad is that??? My apartment is on the second floor of a semi-strip-mall building. It is curved and about 3 stories high. On the bottom floor of the entire building is a variety of businesses like: domino's pizza, an indian resaturant, a vet and a tutoring centre. They all face the street. When you go behind the building and climb up a couple flights of stairs, you're on the level with rented accommodations.

My apartment is a four-bedroom owned my my boss (which I will talk about soon). Only 3 of us live there now, and I really get along with my roommates, Michelle and Mary. The kitchen and living room, and Mary & Michelle's rooms are on the walk-in floor. Then you go up this tiny winding staircase and find my bedroom, bathroom and the empty room. My room is HUGE and I have a window that, when I open it, I am able to stand up and look out from the rooftop.

okay!

On to work:

After applying to 70+ jobs, I finally got calls back on TWO. and now I work at both.

I was called in for an interview at a hotel near the university called "kilmurry lodge" and interviewed to be a receptionist. I got a call about 1.5 weeks later saying that they had hired for the two receptionist positions, but that based on my CV/Resume, they wanted to create a position for me -- CREATE. In the midst of a recession. can we say "praise the Lord"??? So now I work on rate/yield management, websites and do research for the hotel local events. This is apart time job, I work from either 8 or 9am to 1pm.

Then I got a call from the Unviersity Writing Centre and they asked me to be a tutor. I work the drop-in hours, M-R from 2-5:30 and F from 2-4. WOOT!

Other than that, I am finishing my thesis and it goes off for printing in ONE WEEK. Please excuse me while I go throw up.

Miss you all and hope all is well :)

if you really want to know...

2008-09-01T16:40:00.004+01:00

what Ireland is like... please don't think that I am just being lazy when I say "WET."

Below is a link to a breaking news report about summer weather (because fall in Ireland started today...sigh). There are phrases like:

"218% of the normal rainfall" and

"wettest August on record - in 171 years" and

"70-110 total hours of sunshine in august" [out of a possible 744hrs... okay - that's including nighttime, but you get it. To be fair, let's half that: out of a possible 372hrs of sunshine, we actually received 70-110 - what??? that's 230-300hrs of rain or clouds. *sigh*

... and my personal favourite: "all weather stations recording their sunniest day on June 5-7" -- TWO DAYS OF SUNSHINE?????

just so you know I'm not exaggerating: here's the link.

and yet I still like the place. hmm...

love you all!

Last Chapters are Dumb

2008-08-23T15:48:00.004+01:00

This is one of the most difficult things I've done so far in this MA. It's really frustrating to have SO much information and know what it all means, but not be able to put it into a coherent format. UGH.

I have been trying (and procrastinating) on writing this chapter for 2.5days. I cannot put it off any longer. It must be done before I go to sleep tonight. I need 6000wds. I have 650. And 600 of those are quotes. *SIGH*

But I look at the screen and get writer's block. I am tired of writer's block. I never had it in undergrad. Now my supervisors intimidate me with their genius and I want to sound smart - and then I lose myself - and then it doesn't make sense. It's a cycle I've found myself in for the entire summer and I do not enjoy it!

And I especially don't enjoy it when I can actually SEE the end and just can't get there!

ugh. such a whiner. sorry.

okay - back to work!

The People's Republic of Cork

2008-08-18T00:47:00.008+01:00

So when Ky and I were traveling a year ago, almost to the day, we pretty much circled the Republic of Ireland. Cork was our third city and one of the things that entertained both Ky and myself the most about Cork was the fact that they had t-shirts for sale promoting the "peoples republic of Cork". I don't know what Ky thought, but I thought that they were way cool - trendy almost. What I did not realise was how important this motto was to the actual people of Cork... I began to learn a little about it as I read my book, Rebels of Ireland; I started to understand the drive for home rule* (they didn't have home rule from the 12th-20th centuries) and the passion Cork people had for Ireland (and somehow Cork) as its own republic.

Since moving here I have learned much more about Cork - not nearly enough, though. I have learned that Cork has one of the most distinct accents - probably the first one that outsiders (like meself) are able to distinguish: they say things like, "Cark" and "tis a grand soft day, to be sure, to be sure" and are VERY proud to be Cork people! And (I don't mean this to be disrespectful at all) it seems like "Cork People" are a step removed from the rest of the Republic of Ireland - not nearly as much as Dubliners are, though. They are their own special (in a good way) brand of people!

At the moment, I am reading a book partially set in West Cork and I am learning about some of this Republican/IRA mentality - some of its motivations and some of its reactions to political scenarios and some of its paranoias and some of its proactivity. I am by no means an expert, BUT... I am attempting to grasp the concept of Cork People. It helps that one of my best friends here in Eire is from Cork, so I get some insight from her... but it wasn't until tonight when she brought a friend from home over to visit that I got a glimpse of what Cork - the REAL Cork - must be like, for some people at least.

This friend is a really great guy: passionate, political, real. and boy, is he passionate about Ireland! He's grown up with stories about his grandfather in the early 20th century, fighting for Ireland, for home rule and against the Union with England, and it is real to him - more real than I personally can ever imagine. He is the first Irishman I have met since being here who absolutely ADORES his nation and the struggles of his grandfather are palpable when he speaks of them. In the Celtic Tiger generation, where, because of its recent (and first) economic boom, the young people are pretty far removed from the trauma and suffering the Irish people have faced, this young man stands with pride in his nation and does not forget a past that wasn't so long ago.

I was impressed with him, with his fire and conviction. It was nice to meet an Irishman in real life like the ones I see in books... thought I'd share. :)

* mini-history lesson, the basics:
800 yrs ago, Ireland was invaded by the Normans;
400 yrs ago, they were invaded by the British via Cromwell;
1798, Wolf Tone and the United Irishmen united with France in an attempt to fight for home rule and lost (long story);
1800, Ireland became part of the United Kingdom and lost the Irish parliament;
1916, Easter Rebellion, where a few Irish Republicans attempted to gain control of Dublin and lost;
1916, the British reaction to the Easter Rising was overzealous and ultimately resulted in a nationwide anti-British rebellion involving guerilla warfare;
1921, Michael Collins signed the Anglo-Irish treaty which gave Ireland home rule over 26 counties and keeping 6 counties in the North of Ireland under British rule;
1922-23, Irish Civil War against the treaty, fighting for a United Ireland
Most of the rest of the 20th century involved guerilla warfare and animosity over the lost counties.

dream

2008-08-15T23:12:00.003+01:00

okay, so a couple nights ago I had a strange dream... and if you know me at all, you know that when I say I've had a strange dream, it must be s-t-r-a-n-g-e! It was very fragmented, so I will just give you clips. And I warn you that, although I am crazy, this was ONLY a dream. All parties in the dream are not responsible for their behaviours in said dream. Here goes (don't click on the first link if you have a weak stomach):

1) outside at night in a backyard that kind of reminded me of the Sparrows' place. tonnes of people (say, about 30-50?), all YP coming from the cars at the front of the house & already a decent-sized group in the back yard with me. I decide to climb up the balcony. don't ask. while I am still on the outside of the balcony, I see spider webs, but I ignore them. Keep climbing, see 2 spiders*, one of them is giant - like 2inches in diameter and solid white. It starts attacking me. FLASH

2) I am in the yard with the YP all milling around me. a group of us are sitting on the ground in a circle, waiting for something to begin. I look down at my hands and realise that the spider had bitten me on every knuckle and that it was spreading. fast. I panicked and told people that I had to get to the ER or I was going to DIE. and they all stood up and went to play games in the woods because everyone had arrived. so I am standing in the yard all by myself, watching my skin swell and rot, and I cry. a lot. FLASH

3) I'm in a restaurant with a group of people from church. It's mexican, I think. we are all sitting at a giant round table - sits about 12. and there is a debate. Dan L is involved. and it escalates into fisticuffs. Dan is beating this guy up and everyone is watching, some are cheering, and I am stunned. and I cry. FLASH

4) going to line up for a meal at a church camp - similar to NC camp with the multiple groups all eating at the same time - the group assigned to come after us was a camp for anger-management with young troubled teens. I got distracted watching some of the kids interacting and all my friends left me alone and didn't tell me they were in line. I make it to the line just in time to be the last person before the troubled-teens, but the lady at the counter assumes I am with the troubled group and starts lecturing me on how to get into the lunch line properly. I try to explain that I am with the church group, but she ignores me. I don't have the right code to be able to get into line.

and then I wake up.

WHAT?

feel free to interpret.

*this was posted because Mary's blog reminded me of the dream. I'm not entirely random...

re The New Pic:

2008-08-12T00:42:00.003+01:00

This was a view from my kitchen window in June... rainbows are not as common here as you'd think, but when you see one... WOW.

thought I'd share... :)

the world's most boring post.

2008-08-11T23:18:00.005+01:00

dont' say I didn't warn you:

Chapter 2, Draft 1 was completed and emailed at 5am on the morning of Saturday, 2 August. Had a meeting scheduled with Tom at 11am the following Tuesday (Monday was a bank holiday), so I slept all day Saturday and went to see Mamma Mia with one of my roomies and another friend of ours that night. Sunday was a wash - literally - I did laundry all day. And Monday was sleeping and cleaning the bathrooms day - and I finished reading the Other Boleyn Girl.

Meeting with Tom ended with an agreement for me to revise chapter 2 and add a-whole-nother section (like, 2000+ wds) to the chapter before continuing on to chapter 3. That morning, I got an email from Griffin to schedule a meeting for the following day, Wednesday, at 3pm. Tuesday afternoon, Nicole and I went to Ennis to drop off CVs in person to all of the shops in town - just to take a chance that we might get hired.

Wednesday, I spent the morning traveling around Castletroy dropping off resumes to the 2 major shopping centres in the area in the rain - it has rained every day for over a week now - before heading to campus for my meeting with Griffin.

Meeting with MG went well - new perspective, same expectations. I am truly grateful to have two supervisors who are actively involved in my writing process - and I think this thesis might just turn out alright! Having two different points of view helps me to balance out my writing and minimise my emoting, which is definitely one of my biggest weaknesses.

Thursday was a job search day all day until I realised that I need to stop for a minute and pray. So I prayed all Thursday night and most of Friday morning... and every time I panicked and went to apply for more jobs, I would stop and pray again. I spent the whole day in the library revising chapter 2 based on my supervisors' questions and concerns and by the time the library closed, the only thing I had left to do was that measely 2000+wd addition, haha!

And then Friday evening, as we were all cooking supper, I got my first phone call for an interview!!! Praise the Lord! After 50+ applications... it took me trying not to do it al by myself. I need to make sure that God is in control -- well, He is always in control, but I had to remind myself not to fight Him.

The weekend was spent reading and taking notes. All weekend. Well, except for the Saturday afternoon I spent window shopping with Serena and Diane. We went to the only mall in Limerick, which is across the city from the University, and they bought clothes and jackets and I just enjoyed the break. Sunday night, I was nervous about this morning's interview and ended up not falling asleep until 4am...

then this morning, I had my first Irish interview at 11am. It went well, yay! But I won't know anything at all until Friday. So I am still in prayer-mode. Learning life lessons has always been slow-going with me! The guy said that he was looking at me for 2 positions (one of which was not advertised, but is better suited for me) and that my CV was impressive (thanks to Dan L's resume workshop) and that I had a great personality and he complimented me on my interview skills (thanks again to Dan's lessons)... but there were 41 ppl who applied for this job and just under half of them are being called for interviews - and I was the first person. Maybe that is a good sign?

So there you go. My life is boring. Read, write, eat, sleep, apply for jobs, one interview and a film (FILL-um, as the Irish say). and rain...always with the rain... haha! I am starting to enjoy it. I went for a walk in the rain yesterday, just for the craic. :)

LOVE YOU ALL!

now this is worth watching...

2008-08-04T00:21:00.003+01:00

My classmate/roommate/friend forwarded this link to me - its apparently a Cannes Film Festival Winner for short film. It's only four minutes long, but it carries a message that should last a lifetime. If you like the inspirational... click here!

hope all is well :)

excitement? terror? it's a coin toss, really.

2008-08-01T20:45:00.007+01:00

So it turns out that I have, in fact, chosen a research topic for my MA that other people find interesting :) It honestly was a baby concern of mine - I even brought it up to the external supervisor when she was here and my proposal was approved, I asked her if she was sure this topic was good enough, if it wasn't "overdone"...

anyway!

At camp, Bro Matthew sat down beside me one lunch and we talked just the two of us for about 45mins -- it was really neat! I have really enjoyed the time I get to spend with his wife, Shusheela (spell?) and she's been wanting me to visit them in NY for years and years - and his son, Sarge, is one of my longest friends - but until very recently, when I saw Bro Matthew, he's like, "HI! what's your name?" or "nice to meet you!" So it was nice to have a face-to-face visit with him and talk. Most of the conversation was him quizzing me on my thesis. Which evolved into an Irish History lesson, which paralleled the history of India, since Ireland & India were both colonized by England... and he's Indian. As a result, he has asked me to mail him a copy of my thesis when it's complete! I told him it would be around 100pp and he responded with, "and I would love to read every page". How cool is that???

and then today:

okay, back story, I guess:
I worked at that Utopian Studies thing, right? It was soooooooooo much fun and I am so excited I got to be part! It was on University campus and Serena and I were the only 2 classmates involved with the organization of the conference (did I tell you I get to put it onto my resume, fyi?), but the other classmates were attending some of the sessions and/or on campus doing research. And since nearly everyone in Ireland goes to lunch at the same time (1pm), we invited our classmates to eat with us. BUT - the conference was in a section of the dining hall that was blocked off from the rest of the public tables. So Serena and I sat down outside of the conference tables so that our friends could join - and the only thing was, it was the first lunch and Serena and I were some of the only faces people knew at the conference, so people started joining us outside the conference borders, too! and they kept coming... & coming... and we filled up a table of about 30-40ppl, which made me feel badly, but what could I do? so the banquet servers had to bring water pitchers and salt/pepper over to our table. oops! at least the lady knew me and I explained what happened and she just laughed.

regardless -- off topic! -- one of the ladies who sat down with us was a Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University in England. She's an American and her name is Nicole Pohl. I had never seen her before, but I guess she recognised me or Serena, so she sat down across from me and we talked for a bit. I did not realise at the time that she was one of the keynote presenters - so I didn't really ask her about her research. I just asked her about her... and she did the same.

So then I get to her keynote 2 days later, and halfway through (b/c I had registration stuff to do), and turns out that her paper was on the Irish portion of MY thesis! lol! Well, not the whole presentation, but the part i heard for sure - and it was all about my chapter three, woot!

So I emailed her last week and asked her for a copy of her presentation so that I might use it in my thesis and told her what I am researching, and she asked me for a copy of my thesis to read when it's complete!

So yay! My stuff is not so overdone that people are disinterested!!! :)

Now I have to really write this thing. And pretty well, too, if world-renowned scholars are asking for copies... no pressure :)

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

2008-07-29T23:30:00.004+01:00

Hi all!

Last night, I got out of my sleeping, eating, reading slump and agreed to go to a class BBQ. I know, I know... I'm hear for SCHOOL! But I had a meeting with Tom yesterday morning, and I am not doing to badly and am right on schedule work-wise, so I decided to be sociable :)

For the past several days, there has been sunshine most of the days, which has been a HUGE blessing - and of course, the one day Nicole decides we need to celebrate (for any reason we chose), it decides to rain. A LOT. haha! so not surprised - and half-expected it!!!

So we all agreed to a potluck/covered-dish/whatever you call it, and we had pizza, flavoured tortilla chips, veggies and (hidden valley ranch - aka something you can't find in Eire) dip, garlic bread, potato salad, about every meat you can think of, and s'mores for dessert! There were 11 of us. lol!

The evening started out non-threatening... it hadn't actually rained, but had been overcast all day - a "grand, soft day," as the Irish say. It was also described as a "close" day, meaning kind of muggy... regardless -- we decided to risk it and spend what time we could outside on the deck. At one point, these tiny transparent snails started appearing on the tabletop and I got a little creeped out and had to move - I can't help it that I'm so weak.

ANYWAY!

So we all spent a little over an hour out on the deck visiting and catching up - some of us hadn't seen each other in nearly two months - and just before Diane & Eddie arrived, we decided to start up the grills.

Now, keep in mind: these are not "grills" perse. They are makeshift, temporary grills that are sold in grocery stores, made out of rectangular foil pans (the kind you put small hams in for Easter), laden with coals and covered with some kind of lattice grating. Overall, they are about 11x14x4. And we cooked something like 12 sausages, 6 chicken patties, 6 pork chops & 4 burgers on TWO of these things! AND we still managed to make the s'mores later that evening!!!

But. before we get to the s'more making, let us begin at the beginning:

The grilling began with 2 men (Jonathan and Dave) ACTUALLY READING DIRECTIONS on how to work the fake BBQs... we wanted a photo, but weren't quick enough on the draw. Oh well.

Then there was a 20min heat-up phase, during which guy # 3 (Eddie) arrived with most of the M-E-A-T*. And about 2 mins after the meat was placed onto the lattice, the rains came.

and it rained. and rained. and rained some more! At one point, there were 3 men, 2 grills and 4 umbrellas out on the deck --- and 8 women standing around the dining room table stuffing our faces and giggling**!

Once the food was cooked, less the steaks that were placed onto the George Foreman, the men returned to the dry indoors, changed clothes, and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

The rest of the evening was not terribly eventful -- but there was the free entertainment provided by #1 making s'mores over fake BBQs, #2 burning marshmallows with a mini-blowtorch-type apparatus, #3 watching a marshmallow expand in the microwave (the Irish had never done this and it drew a crowd...), and #4 singing respective national anthems (Jonathan & Eddie sang the Irish, Nicole and I attempted to sing the unsingable American, and Serena had us almost jumping up and cheering for the Italian "SI!") while waiting for our taxi.

And this is what my life is like outside of the 'usual'.

*Insert male, Tim Allen grunt here.
**This post is dedicated to the amazing men in the world who are willing to make food with fire while getting drenched in the process - it takes sacrifice!

(it's the little things...

2008-07-24T10:40:00.005+01:00

...that make a person feel at home.)

For those of you who heard me whine about the weather here in Ireland while I was enjoying SK sunshine, I would like to state that yesterday was quite a nice day! It was warm and sunny with some clouds meandering in late afternoon... no complaining here!

I don't have much to say:

I flew for 22.5hrs and arrived into Castletroy around 7:30pm Tuesday & since then I have slept, ate and walked to the library (only to be disappointed that they did not have the books I ordered nearly 3 weeks prior through inter-library loans...).

Ireland did not change much in the past couple weeks - except for an obvious influx of tourists. There were lots of tourists before I left, but there are masses everywhere you look now. And I did find myself really happy when I heard the Irish flight attendant say "cheers" to one of the Amsterdam airport employees as he helped closed the plane door on my flight to Dublin... I had missed the quaint little "irishisms" and I am glad to return to a world where they are everyday lingo :)

On a different note, I miss everyone in Canada and am so glad I got to visit with as many people as I did! It was truly a special time for me and I am especially glad that I was able to celebrate my BFF's wedding! :)

I'm fairly certain I've reached a point of split-personality where I am in love with too many places and feel at home in all of them.

love you all...

I can sleep in August

2008-07-16T04:53:00.004+01:00

so I don't really have much to say, but since I learned this past week at church camp that a heckuva lot more people read my blog than I thought -- and that one lady has my blog on her bookmarks, but is disappointed that I don't blog often enough -- I decided to send out a short update:

since arriving in SK after a 24hr unexpected delay in London, 50hrs of travel and about 10 hrs of sleep in 5 days, I decided to get exceptionally ill, hang around Stoon for a couple days waiting for my luggage which had been missing for 3days, have a dress-fitting for the wedding I'm standing up in, get one bag, and go to camp a couple days late...

I love going to camp! It is such a wild experience going to a place where "everybody knows your name"*. I was told about 30 mins (and 50+ hugs) after my arrival that I needed to stop being so nice to people. The person who made that remark was not very thrilled** that our conversation was being interrupted by greetings and hugs and hellos from people I love... so apparently, I must expose abrasive-Steph to people from now on in order to maintain decent conversations with my faves... :)

lots happened at the camp, but not much of it was actually story-worthy. I am most excited about the fact that I was able to visit with nearly everyone I needed/wanted to - that's about 200ppl - in the course of 3.5days! I love them all so much...

since the camp, I have begun to feel a little better - I got over my jetlag on Friday-ish - and the illness is subsiding. I have helped Ang pack a trailer-full of tables & chairs, had my second dress-fitting, gone through about 18 boxes of stuff I had in storage all year, recycled 5 boxes o'stuff, gave 2 boxes to Sherie, packed one box to bring back to Eire and left 10 boxes in storage for future shipping to SC, and got some research started/continued on chapter 2 of my thesis... not too shabby!

the rest of my week is mostly wedding-stuff: one more fitting tomorrow or thurs, some pre-decorating stuff tomorrow afternoon, some research squeezed in whenever possible, and then on the road to PV for the weekend, woot!!! :)

I think that's all for now, love you all ~
Steph

*I just started singing the "Cheers" theme song in my head...
**more of a joking, smartmouth remark than actual irritation

Greyhound flashbacks...

2008-07-08T02:01:00.003+01:00

for those of you who don't know my Greyhound story - the title is probably odd - but trust me, it was so much more dramatic and painful than the current saga:

took a 4am bus from UL to Dublin Airport on Saturday. Arrived an hour early - good start, eh? WRONG. after being awake since 630am Friday morning (less a few tiny naps), I crashed on the mezzanine level and got caught sleeping by a custodian. I found out that Aer Lingus and Northwest Airlines are not networked together, so I was only able to checkin for the Aer Lingus flight - and had no boarding pass for the last 2 flights. once I was able to check in my luggage, I went up to grab some breakfast and buy some souvenirs for friends. (fyi: spar at the airport does not carry full size toothpastes - nor does anywhere else in the Dublin airport!).

11:20 plane leaves around 11:40 and arrives in london 20 mins late. after waiting to get someone to unlock the door into the building, I make my way to the train and then on to terminal 4. I find the NWA/KLM desk only to find out that (after 30+min of cross-airport travel) my first flight landed 5 mins after boarding for my transatlantic flight closed - and since I was not checked in, I was restricted from the flight.

flight changed to 24hrs later.

back on train - to Aer Lingus desk. they comped me 2 meals and a hotel for the night. ummm... maybe I should say "motel" in the shape of a "hotel". the bathroom wasn't clean and my hairdryer had blue sparks flying out of it when I tried to put it on high.

managed to find a grocery store with my friend's toothpaste, YAY!

crashed. with no fan. for 11 hrs. :) I guess I can sleep without a fan after a 3-day conference and being awake for the greater part of 60hrs!

today, I arrived at Heathrow 3hrs in advance. got to the check-in counter with my boarding passes to make sure my baggage was checked through on this flight, but NO. That would make life too easy! :)

The airport had no record of my baggage. 2 NWA employees and 30min later, they found my bags and told me to check with NWA after I crossed security to make sure that NWA had them logged into their system. Did that. The lady SAID it was there, but to check with the people at the counter to double (in this case, quadruple)-check. checked with the employees at the boarding gate - was told that the luggage "would" be on my flight.

flight sat on the ground for nearly an hour, spent the first 2hrs in the air without audio/video because the system kept crashing, arrived in Minneapolis after nearly 10hrs on a plane... to NO LUGGAGE.

spoke with 2 NWA employees in MSP who informed me that there is NO record of NWA ever having my baggage, that London hires out employees who are contracted and not actual NWA staff, and that the people in London probably (and I quote) "just told me that my luggage was on the flight to keep the line moving".

so this trip, I have cried, once again -- but not in the good way!!!

:)

*sigh*

still in MSP. called the 800# and complained. can't file a missing baggage claim until Canada if I want my luggage to be shipped to me in SK on NWA's tab and then it will be an additional 24-48hr minimum before my luggage arrives.

if it arrives. my luck with missing luggage is all or nothing. should be 'interesting'.

PS
my scrapbook, my primary thesis texts, and the books I bought at the conference are all in my checked luggage...

I hope to never repeat this experience & I honestly wish I could get out of flying with NWA on my return flight, but that is not an option, eh?

later!

2008-07-02T00:14:00.002+01:00

Howdy!

I just wanted my Canadian folks to know that I had several mini-Canada day celebrations throughout today... random outbursts of "OH Canada" and "HAPPY CANADA DAY!" in public places, haha! Nicole warned me that she'd have to disown me if I embarrassed her :)

Anyway, not much else to say. I got that chapter written, 4 days late, and have bumped my future deadlines back a week, so I don't have another one due until a week after I return from SK. (WOOT! about the SK part, not about the returning - or the chapter-writing)

This week, I am helping out a little with a Utopian Studies conference hosted by The Ralahine Centre for Utopian Studies at my university and will be pretty busy until I hop on the bus to Dublin for my FLIGHT Sunday -- so for those of you I get to see in less than a week - YAY!!! - I am terribly excited!!!

okay - off to bed now - registration for the conference begins in 8 hrs.

what a boring post. sorry.

I don't want a Repeat.

2008-06-19T04:08:00.004+01:00

Hi all,

Much has happened since my last post, including a trip to NC, which I will try and make time to blog about in the near future. However, tonight/this morning's blog is not nearly as fun-filled.

Since I returned from NC, I have been going full-speed on my first chapter. Which was due no later than 4 hrs ago. Now is when I am terribly grateful for (1) setting my own deadlines & (2) really easy-going supervisors, because:

it is now 4am my time - technically, the chapter was due on Wed, 18 June, and one of my supervisors is in California, so I "technically" have four more hours - but seeing as how I haven't breathed fresh air in 50+hrs and I've been in the same PJs since Monday (I have showered!), and I am STILL only 2000wds into my 5000wd chapter... I don't see how the next 4 hrs of exhaustion-filled composition will be useful.

So I turned in my first 2000wds to the supervisor that's in Limerick in the hopes that he'll be made aware of my good intentions to meet self-imposed deadlines, and now I am off to the land of clouds & bunnies.

CLOUDS & BUNNIES??? man! I am tired! :) What silliness! I meant unicorns and faeries...

and those last 3 lines are reasons why I should NOT be composing for brilliant lecturers' review of academic material. hah.

I will leave you with a photo I just found on my Mac:

(l-r): Maria (my future sister-in-law) and Cilena (more beautiful than ever) - not sarcastic :P

love you all!
g'night

what do rental cars, blindfolds and sunburn have in common?

2008-05-13T18:22:00.007+01:00

why, a class kidnapping to Lahinch, of course!

So yesterday** was Jonathan's birthday. He is the guy who knows EVERYBODY - and who EVERYBODY knows... or at least it seems that way to the rest of us! All year long, Jonathan has been affectionately dubbed the 'shepherd' because he was the only one who knew where he was going for the first... forever. Every time our class went on a break or out to lunch after class, we would follow Jonathan around the (completely insane) Main bldg. We decided we felt like sheep and that all that was missing was Jonathan's staff.

Well, since Jonathan has borne the responsibility of giving us direction for the past 8 months, two girls in the class decided that for his birthday, we'd make the decisions for him!

7 of us rented a car (we already had one car), told Jonathan we were taking him out for breakfast, blindfolded him, put him in one of the cars and told him to trust us. Then we stopped @ a petrol station for coffee with his blindfold still on and hit the highway! We drove for a little over a hour before there was a random roadside check that stopped every car. The gardi were apparently looking for someone specific, but our car (which did not have Jonathan, was in front and was driven by me, fyi) kind of panicked when we realised that the other car would be approaching an officer of the law with a blindfolded man in the backseat! All was well... at the last second, they took off the blindfold and he didn't recognize his surroundings. He did figure out where we were on the last turnoff before we got to the beach, but it was a fun game overall!

Jonathan had been talking about going to a beach at West Clare for weeks now and yesterday was the PERFECT weather day to go! It was +26C/78F, sunshiny and breezy all day long! The water was about the temperature of a a liquid glacier, but several of us managed to suck it up and dive into the waves - woot! (seriously, it was about 15F). Lahinch is a few miles away from the Cliffs of Moher and we could see them on the other side of the bay; there were surfers out on one end of the beach and we were pretty much the last group on the other end of the beach from the surfers, which offered a really nice sense of seclusion.

We had all brought food and had a picnic lunch on the beach, took walks, sat around and talked, some of us kicked a soccer ball around... basically, we took the day off! Except one poor girl, Muireann, who received a call from her thesis supervisor while we were in the car during the kidnapping. She had emailed him to talk about our next report and what his expectations were, but he was leaving today for a research project until Thursday a week (the report is due the following Monday) and he wanted to talk with her before he left the country... so she spent a half-hour on the phone with her professor with the ocean and all of us classmates playing around in the background. She felt badly 'cause she was like, "umm... sorry Michael, I gave up the one day you had left in the country before my deadline to kidnap someone and spend the day at the beach... sure... I am a REALLY good student!" Apparently, she pulled it off until the very last minute, when someone in the group told a joke & the entire 7 of us roared in laughter and he heard it... and made a remark about how he hopes the weather is really nice where she is... oops! It's a good thing these guys are so understanding!!!

Overall, I think the kidnapping was a success. Hopefully Jonathan realises how much he is appreciated and remembers this birthday for a long time!

** by 'yesterday', I mean 12 May... it took me a while to upload the photos onto my computer...

And you all thought I was in Ireland!

2008-05-05T22:15:00.004+01:00

Tonight, a friend invited me over to her place for a Cinco de Mayo celebration and I decided to take a break for a couple hours and have some Mexican food...

I had a really good time and watched people the whole time I was there - I was fascinated!

Here in a tiny apartment in Limerick, Ireland, we had:

5 Americans (Georgia, California, New Jersey, NC and somewhere else in New England that I can't remember - MAN!)

1 Greek

1 Cubana

1 Mexicano

around 10 Frenchmen & women (they just kept coming and coming... I lost count after a while)

and TWO... yes... TWO Irish men! lol! One guy is from Cork and one is from Donegal.

I really enjoyed watching all these people from different backgrounds - and languages - communicate with one another and really enjoy one another's company... These are good people :)

anyway! thought I would share...

The rest of my life is ESSAYS. Don't expect much in the next few weeks!!!

love you all ~

update

2008-04-25T00:58:00.006+01:00

Hello all,

Apparently, my life & plans change on a minute-by-minute basis lately, but I thought I would share my latest information:

1) I will be moving off-campus into a house with 2 or 3 other classmates at the end of May. The walk to school and back won't be as idyllic - I am now crossing the River Shannon into County Clare and enjoy purple mountains in the horizon every day on my walk home - but I will be in a MUCH more convenient place. I will have a microwave and a bathtub and I will only be a 15min walk from the grocery store instead of a 45min walk, woot! :) (fyi, I am being forced to move out of my place, so it's not necessarily because I am making a conscious choice, but I am grateful for the change, regardless!)

2) My sister is getting married! (that's not my news, but I am excited for her and thought I would share...)

3) I will be in a wedding in SK this July, and have plans to go early for NB camp.

4) I have been accepted into a PhD program at South Carolina - Columbia, yay!!! I am deferring until next school year (Aug 09) for many reasons, including the fact(s) that my MA isn't complete until the end of September and I am ineligible for a teaching assistantship this year. I have a high eligibility for next year, so I am willing to wait!

In the meantime, my latest plan is to stay in Eire until next summer (09) and work anywhere making an income on the Euro after my thesis is complete. I figure it can't hurt.

I miss you all and look forward to seeing "ye" :)
SS

Swiss chocolate, cheese, army knives...

2008-04-17T01:45:00.006+01:00

(View on Cruise... to be discussed below)

Per Ky's Request - & I do apologis/ze in advance for the sideways pics. Can't figure out how to get Blogspot to accept them after I rotate them. Maybe it's just because it's late & I'm tired. You'll just have to turn your head:

The trip: PHENOMENAL! The company: Couldn't have asked for better!

We flew from Dublin to Zurich and got straight on the train to Vevey, which is on the top of Lake Geneva, in the french-speaking part of Switzerland (heretofore called "SW"). We got in around 8:30 and it was raining a little. Apparently, neither of us were expecting anything else BUT rain - I've been living in Eire ('nough said) and apparently, everywhere she's been has been rainy - so it didn't kill us. We checked into our hotel (which was right above the train station - about a 1min walk) and went wandering the city looking for food. We found a tiny ethnic restaurant (mediterranean of some sort) and ordered food from a foreign menu. Not a good idea for me and my picky self. The picture showed a gyro meat platter, but when it came, the meat was more like chopped, fatty pork. So Lyn switched with me (her sandwich had gyro meat in it) and I made it maybe 4 bites before I had to ask for a glass of milk because it was SO spicy! I ate over half the sandwich. not bad. And I asked for the milk in french! :) I did conveniently forget the part about how as soon as we sat down, 2 old men (60ish) got up from the table behind us and started talking to us in french. We told him we don't speak much french, so he decided that touching my arm and making "booby" gestures at Lyn was appropriate behaviour. What is it with me and old pervs touching me?????

then we wandered to the lake (about 3-4 blocks) and around a bit of the lake and then up this canal that was feeding into the lake back to the hotel. All in the rain, of course! and settled in to make our plans for the half-day we had in Vevey. The next day was Saturday and not rainy! It was cloudy and cold, but no raindrops, so YAY! We wandered the "historical" town which looks exactly like I imagine France to resemble - Lyn has been to France and agreed. There was an old-timey carousel planted right on the lakefront at the beginning of the old town. The area was filled with windy cobble-stoned 'roads' and ornately detailed french architectural bldgs with tiny little shops in all the ground floors. While wandering, we went to a museum that told the history of winemaking in Vevey and all about this crazy festival they have (once a generation) about every 25yrs or so. We watched a video that really entertained us and Lyn mentioned wanting to go to the next one (2024 or so)... then we walked along the lake back to the carousel and had a lakeside kiosk "lunch" of a hotdog inside a french baguette (literally inside - they pierce a hole in a half-baguette and drop the hotdog into it - lol - and a banana/nutella crepe, while we enjoyed tiny little tantrums of several small children walking by... haha! I should probably mention that we were within spitting distance of the Swiss Alps, by the way... absolutely AMAZING!!!

(Yes, that's a giant fork standing in Lake Geneva)

After that, we hopped on the train back to Zurich. At the Zurich Hoptbahnhof (train station - now enters the german portion of my weekend), we needed to buy tickets to our hotel and we wanted to buy tickets for travel around town while we where there. The guy at the info desk was USELESS, so we wandered around and found an actual ticket counter. I chose a window with a Cory Wensley look-alike, BECAUSE he looked like Cory. Lyn came over and this guy was just too cute and so helpful! We got a 24hr ZurichCard and a one-way ticket to the hotel for that evening. The ZurichCard also got us free or discounted entry into many places, so we were happy. It cost 11euro/17chf. I (obviously) took a photo of "little cory" - as he was affectionately known thereafter. :)

("Little Cory")

We checked into the Swissotel around 9pm and met the cutest concierge, Sascha (no picture of him, sadly), who offered to make our dinner reservations for us. We decided on TexMex 'cause it doesn't exist in Ireland. Went upstairs, unpacked/threw all of our belongings all over the room, got cleaned up because we had to walk by Sascha to leave the hotel, and went an ate burritos & burgers! :) Things I learned in Cheyennes (the restaurant): they pronounce it Cayenne in Zurich and, Swiss restaurants do not have a concept of "non-smoking". We are pretty sure that we got lung cancer from just sitting at the table.

Back to hotel to plan the next day and take a bath in a REAL bathtub for the 3rd time since July!!!! (it really is the little things...)

Sunday, we made plans to go to 5 places. They were spread out all over the city, so we wanted to factor in travel times. It was supposed to be 16/61degrees and ended up being 18/64degrees... SO NICE! And SUNSHINY!!!! :) Our first stop was to the top of Mt Uetliberg, which is right inside the city. We got off the train, took some scenic shots and one of Lyn sitting in the kiddie swings that was too cute, and got right back on the train. lol. The rest of the mountain was hiking trails and we had neither the time, the desire, nor the footwear for that.

(From top of Mt. Uetliberg)

Stop #2 was to a cruise around the lake (not lake geneva - actually, I don't know the name of the lake at all... I'll have to look it up - I did: it's called Zurichsee). The boat was actually a part of Zurich public transit, so it was included in our ZurichCard, woot! It was 90-minutes in the sunshine with a backdrop of the Swiss Alps and tiny little mountain villages at mini-ports around the lake. One port held the Lindt Manufacturing Plant, which made us happy! This boat trip was too cool for many reasons, one of which included the billion opportunities I had to take pictures of cute boys. I think I could make a calendar of Zurich men. Lyn and I decided SW gave Eire a run for its money in male prettiness. We were sitting at a table with 3 chairs, so we were visited twice by random people. One was an old man (not perv) who was on the trip with his daughter and grandson. We talked about his daughters (one lives in Toronto) and what they do for a bit, his grandson came and visited for a second, and then he left when a seat became available near his family. A little while later, a cute Turkish man who was from Switzerland sat down. Turns out he is getting his MA in Sociology in Turkey and comes back to SW to visit his family one week out of every year. He was great fun, and of course, I don't take photos of the ones I actually TALK to! *sigh*

(One view from Cruise)

After the cruise, we were waiting for our tram and saw a mini-parade of tiny children all dressed up in various costumes, so we took pictures. :) And went to stop #3: Museum Strauhof. It was a museum that had rotating displays involving the arts - literature, history, photography, etc - so we thought we'd check it out. The current display was about a woman I'd never heard of (Annemarie Schwartzenbach) and was completely in German. I did not get much out of it until the very end, when I realised that she was a photojournalistic-style traveler in the 30s & 40s. I am not sure if she was a photojournalist by trade or what, but the last room had her photos from the Southern USA, Africa and other places I can't remember - and these photos were sooooo good! All black & white and mostly about poverty. Once I figured that much out, I wasn't so blaisee about the display. It was just that for the first 3 or 4 rooms, it was mostly just photos of her or stories/letters written in german that were useless to me. I have an eerie feeling that german will be my next language. MAN!

On our way to our last stop, our tram got stuck behind a marching band. We were very entertained! When we left the Museum Strauhof, we realised that there was, in fact a real parade going through the city! So we wandered around downtown in the warm sunshiny weather and watched the little tiny kids in their costumes and the various marching bands (even a couple bagpipe groups!) - lots of pics & videos! I asked a "polizei" (I think is how it's spelled?)/police officer what the parade was for, and it turns out, we were smack in the middle of the Springtime Festival! lol! What great timing! There were sidewalk kiosks everywhere, so for lunch we had Wurst. Mine was Knobli (garlic) Wurst - and by 'wurst', I mean literally, a sausage wrapped in wax paper! After the parade, we had chocolate dipped fruit (bananas in our case) and decided that we didn't need to go to stop #4 (Swiss National Museum), so we just wandered around an amazing city in the sunshine with thousands of people around...I must say that the experience itself was incomparable to the Dublin St Patrick's Day parade, but the actual parade was MUCH better in Zurich. And it was so much simpler. And at the end, there was a snowman sitting on a pile of branches. When I saw it, I remembered reading about this snowman in a tour book on the way to Vevey - and at the end of the festival (the day we leave Zurich), they burn the snowman to signal the end of winter - YAY! :)

(View on Post-Parade Walk)

Our final stop was the Zoo. We didn't know if it would be worth it to go or not, but we had the time and it was right near James Joyce's grave, so we hopped on the tram. It was not worth it to pay 11chf for an hour in the zoo, but the cemetery was SO cool! It was like a garden, with fountains and variety of plants and trees and birds singing, and all the gravestones were different - very individualised. There were many famous people buried there, but we only knew Joyce. His gravestone was very simple and there was a statue of Joyce in the background. After a bit in the cemetery, we hopped on the tram and decided t go our separate ways for a couple hrs. I went back to the hotel, went upstairs to the 32 floor and hopped into the jaccuzzi, where I had an almost 360degree view of Zurich city and a panorama of the Swiss Alps as the sun set. *sigh* and then went into the aromatherapy wet sauna for a bit... Lyn had some shopping she wanted to do, so we made reservations for the (world's worst service) Italian restaurant and met back up after our mini-excursions to go to supper.

(Joyce's Grave)

The italian restaurant was good food, but not very spectacular - and I am not even going to waste my time complaining about the crappy service - the part I enjoyed the most was the walk to the restaurant from the hotel, when we saw these people out in a courtyard playing chess with GIANT chess peices! They had to pick up the piece, walk over to a new square, and put the piece down. They were probably 2ft tall at the shortest... I enjoyed seeing that. :) Back to the hotel around 10, I read for class while Lyn packed. And the next morning wasn't terribly eventful. Unless you count the fact that we waited around until 9:30for a shoe store to open at 9am, because they were decently priced, cutesy shoes... we have our priorities! lol. Then we checked out and went our separate ways - Lyn by train to Berlin and me to the Airport to read until my 4pm flight.

All three mornings, the hotels offered buffet breakfasts. The Swissotel breakfast was sooooooo good! I found a new love for muesli. They mixed it into berry yogurt and it made me happy.

So not much happened on my trip - hah! You asked for it! :)

procrastination by photo

2008-03-27T23:28:00.011Z

So I spent WAY too much time trying to get these pictures on here the "easy" way... and they are not in the same list order as everyone else's, but I think I will survive.

As seen on MayB, Jen & Ky (well, sort of):

Here’s how it works:
1. Go to www.photobucket.com
2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box
3. Insert the picture into your Blog

What is your favourite candy?

What do you look like?

What are you doing tomorrow?

What is your favourite tv show?

Describe yourself:
What is your name?

What is your current mood?

What is your favourite movie?

What kind of pet do you have?

Where do you live?

Where do you work? [technically, this is my dorm, but I put in University of Limerick...)

What is your relationship status?

'nuff said.

Mormons, Mormons, YAY!

2008-03-22T19:45:00.004Z

This was the cheer going through my mind the entire time I talked with 2 cute mormon boys on their mission here in Limerick today... :) It's a miracle I didn't actually tell them about the cheer, oh my.

So I am walking to the grocery store from the bus stop. It was a sunshiny day (FINALLY!) and I took advantage by walking a bit farther than I normally would have. This route meant that I would walk for about 5mins along a walking/bike path and let me tell you: when the sun shines in Ireland, people come out of the woodwork! I can't remember seeing this many people outside since the summer when Ky and I toured. I'm listening to my ipod and enjoying my walk when I notice up ahead two young men wearing black suits... and then I looked for the name tags.

I haven't ever actually talked to mormons who were on mission before.

At least a hundred people walking around, but at the moment when we actually cross paths... not a soul! So they stopped and offered me a tract. Now - do we know me? haha.

I took the tract, but told them that it was pointless to talk to me about mormonism, that I was a devout Christian and I would just be a waste of their time.

So then they asked me about my church. haha! I told them that we didn't have a name - that we were just Christians. One guy was from Idaho, so I told him about our assembly in Peyette, which brought up the "church universal" scenario. They asked if I had a local assembly, and I said, "no", but that two assemblies in Canada post their services online and I am able to participate online, which impressed them... :)

At some point, I am sure I mentioned the fact that I know mormons who go on missions & that I saw them (missionaries. not the ones I know.) all the time in Canada. They agreed that they are easy to spot & I said, yeah... all I have to do is look for the name tag... *sigh* big. mouth.

At another point in the convo, I mentioned that I am doing my own evangelism here and they were very intrigued! I said, well, I live in a 96% catholic nation and I am protestant; of course people are going to hear where I am coming from. It's a miracle I didn't stand there and evangelise them - 'cause that would have made for some great stories!

And that was my 10 minute talk with mormon missionaries on the side of the road in Limerick, Ireland. :)

SPD 2008 :)

2008-03-21T19:45:00.006Z

Nicole, Serena & I (L-R) at the SPD parade!

[most of this is a repeat for Ang. except the story about the train station... sorry AG]

almost...ALMOST... kissed a cute irishman. Actually, not anywhere close. One guy was cute, but he was on his way to work at O'Neill's... and the rest of the guys I saw were not irish. I did, however get hit in the head by a giant inflatable hammer that made a sound like a baby toy when it hit me -- the guy was like, 22 tops, and he pretended like he didn't do it... we were walking into & out of the hotel via revolving doors, so he pulled it off quite nicely... I called out "happy st patrick's day to you, too!" but no kissing. And he was DEFINITELY american.

* * * * * *

Dublin was WONDERFUL! Nicole and I took the 735am train up from Limerick Monday morning and met Serena there (she went to visit a friend on Sunday). Our big adventure was when we learned about the efficiency of the Irish, which was aptly identified as an oxymoron by Nicole, the hard way. Once our train arrived at Heuston station in Dublin, we still had to take the LUAS to Connelly station and then the DART to Pearse station in order to walk the least amount with our luggage. One thing we learned was that it is exactly TWO stops from Connelly to Pearse, but we did not learn that until after we waited at Connelly on platform 5 for 15 mins only to have the Pearse train disappear at the last minute and miraculously reappear on platform 6. We had to walk the equivalent of 2-3blocks, go down a flight of stairs, cross under the tracks, & go back up the stairs -- as we are crossing under the tracks, we can hear the Pearse station train drive away... so we get up the stairs and ask 2 more train employees when the next Pearse train leaves and they say 14 mins. Next train arrives. No one is on it. 14 mins go by. The doors are unlocked, so 7 of us jump on the train and the guy waves the engineer on. The train crawls slowly for about 5 mins... a girl thinks we're going backwards, away from Pearse station. Train stops. Engineer comes out and tells us that we are on a train that is sitting in the trainyard and going nowhere! *sigh* We wait for the green light to return to the station, get off train #1, walk under the tracks (again), arrive at platform 6 to see the same people who were waiting for the train when we left. Another 20 mins go by, get on train #2 like normal people, stand for 4 mins and get off in 2 stops. In the hour that it took to do all that, we could have walked to Pearse station 3 times! haha!

We met Serena & checked our baggage at the hotel and walked to the parade. It was crazy-crowded! 650,000ppl! see here for more about the parade:

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0317/breaking14.html?via=me

We kept moving places so see different angles and I have some really fun photos of people climbing trees, lamp posts, phone booths, other people, etc to see the parade... I loved it! It was sooooooooo much fun to be around so many people who were as excited about dressing silly and green :) I also have pics of cute boys and cops... can't help myself...

Then we went to O'Neill's Pub&Carvery (where Angela and I went in October & Jill & I went in January... becoming a regular hang out of mine!) for lunch and it was unbelievably crowded. We ended up sharing a table with strangers and when they left a guy came and sat down beside us all by himself. So when Serena & Nicole went to the bathroom, we chatted for a bit. Turns out he was there by himself because he works there. He's lived in Savannah, GA and NYC, and we talked about how the majority of irish people who actually celebrate SPD are either under the age of 10 or the parents of those under the age of 10... haha!

Then we went to check in at the hotel and just talked/relaxed/enjoyed the room for a few hrs and went back out to the city in the evening for supper. We walked to St Stephen's Green and down Grafton St and around Temple Bar a bit and finally settled on a Tapas Bar called Salamancas. It was really nice! A little on the expensive side, but we cut out a night at the hotel so that we wouldn't feel badly about spending $ on food.

We went back to the hotel and talked more (it's 3 girls, what else would you expect, eh?) and I took a BATH in a BATHTUB!!!!!!! and when I got out, the girls had found an episode of Corner Gas and left it on for me to watch - how cool are they???? They'd never seen/heard of it before, but it played here at midnight, so that is good for me to know! :) I laughed so hard - they did not get most of the jokes. Or at least did not find them as funny as they would have if they'd lived in SK. But they enjoyed making fun of the characters :) It was the episode when the "small town doctor" comes to check out Dog River to see if she should move there and decides Dog River is too big for her... I loved it :)

Bed at 1am, up at 845 to go sit in the jacuzzi for 20 mins while the other two were dressing and then we went to starbucks and mcd's before taking the train back to Limerick... how american did we feel: starbucks and mcd's??? But we so did not care! It was cheap. ish.

just in case

2008-03-11T23:31:00.006Z

Just in case anyone thought I was exaggerating about the psychotic gale-force winds I mentioned earlier this year, tonight's wind is averaging around 74km/hr (45mph). A friend of mine was walking home from work (we live in the same village), in the rain, and when she reached the end of the bridge, the wind pushed her over the edge and she slid down the bank - but just a little, and she didn't fall on her butt - but STILL, wind that can knock a full-grown person over... I was not exaggerating. She had to stand still and brace herself against the wind for a minute & wait for it to change directions before she could continue walking.

Why is this not mentioned in books? Okay - so sometimes it is. When the people are on a coastline and its a "brisk wind". Well, let me tell you... I have heard the Irish use the phrase "brisk" with this kind of wind here... and it's not what you're 'tinking'. It is seriously like SK in the winter mixed with NC hurricanes. :)

I guess that's why they never write about it... it is pretty indescribable... just trust me, I guess! Love you all ~

and THIS is why I love Irish Men:

2008-03-07T22:36:00.002Z

I found this on a website on accident and actually sighed aloud:

Irish He Is

A strange blend of shyness, pride and conceit,
And stubborn refusal to bow in defeat.
He's spoiling and ready to argue and flight,
Yet the smile of a child fills his soul with delight.
His eyes are the quickest to well up with tears,
Yet his strength is the strongest to banish your fears.

His hate is as fierce as his devotion is grand,
And there is no middle ground on which he will stand.

He's wild and he's gentle, he's good and he's bad.
He's proud and he's humble, he's happy and sad.
He's in love with the ocean, the earth and the skies,

He's enamoured with beauty wherever it lies.
He's victor and victim, a star and a clod,
But mostly he's Irish.. in love with his God

Only because Jen tagged me ;)

2008-03-06T23:19:00.005Z

Four Things Meme

4 Jobs I have had:

camp counselor
instructional assistant (I am in the pic!)
admin for (court-sentenced) domestic violence offenders counseling
research assistant/transcriptionist/etc/all-in-one

4 Movies I can watch over and over:

The Holiday
Serenity
Aladdin
Bridget Jones (technically, this scene is from the Edge of Reason, but I love this scene so much! - I enjoy the first film in its entirety more...)

4 Places I have lived:

Charlotte
Saskatoon
Calgary
Limerick

4 TV Shows I love:

CSI (Vegas, of course)
Criminal Minds
Bones
House
I had to limit this according to shows still playing...*sigh*

4 Places I have vacationed:

Orlando (not Bloom, sadly)
Bahamas Cruise
Kelowna
Eire (pre-move touring)

4 of my favorite dishes:

my grandmother's Beef Stew
tomato basil soup from Java's (UL coffeehouse)
pierogies (wow, there are a billion ways to spell this!) and winkler sausage
dolmades & pastichio

4 Sites I visit daily:

UL Website
Gmail
Limerick Weather (technically, it's on my homepage, but still...)
Any new Blog Posts

4 Places I would rather be right now:

Park Valley
Hugging my Family (NC)
In a Hot Spring at Banff
actually, I LOVE the place where I am - I just miss the people who aren't here with me...

Four Bloggers I am tagging:

Plead the 5th. ;)

Rabelais & Classroom Evangelism

2008-03-05T23:17:00.003Z

Hi Everyone :)

So yesterday was my first presentation of the term. It was a 15min individual presentation on Rabelais' Abbey of Theleme for a Utopian Studies course. Those were the only parameters I was given. No box. No question to answer or topic to address. I was literally given the green light to take this in any direction I wanted to as long as I had done adequate research to back up my work.

SO...

I decided to go with the minority (Who's surprised???) and I chose a fairly controversial angle. Keep in mind that I am speaking in a classroom setting in a nation that is 96% catholic and that out of the 10 other people in the classroom, 3 come from buddhist backgrounds, one I don't know about, and the rest were raised Catholic - and most of them have actively chosen a life of agnosticism or atheism...

so what do I decide?

I argue that instead of being the sarcastic, bawdy, carnivalesque, critical utopia that the majority of academia believes, Rabelais' Abbey of Theleme (you don't really need to know the story to understand the joy of my self imposed bravery/stupidity, fyi) could actually be seen as a blueprint for a true following of the Christian faith - that he attacked the rituals of the Catholic Church while maintaining the essence of what Paul was trying to teach in the New Testament...

And that would have been okay. I did have my academic journal articles to support this argument... but then the prof(s) and student(s) started asking questions. The big ones were "how do you think Rabelais' Abbey can be applied to 21st century life?" and "What do you think about the fact that the Abbey literally had no walls?" and "Isn't a 'civilised world' one that requires rules in order to have order?"

SO

I went into this big evangelical PROTESTANT talk about how I believe in a Christianity where people can follow the freedoms allowed in the Abbey and still reflect Christ without being restricted by religious rituals... and how my life (and the lives of many people in my Christian circle (hope you don't mind!) is filled with this philosophy of being "in the world and not of it" and how as much as we would like to sequester ourselves into our retreats and never go home -- the world needs us, and needs to see the freedom that Christ offers, and that by living our lives with the freedoms Rabelais offers, the world will be able to see what Christianity really is and that his walls can be taken figuratively. AND that we, as Christians, should, in fact, be drawn toward actually BECOMING a figurative version of Theleme (which means "God's Will" from the original Greek, by the way) - that if our lives are Spirit-led and Spirit-filled and the fruits of the Spirit can be seen in our lives, then our will cannot stray far from the Will of God and what we want to do will in fact be what God would have us do.

YES. I SAID THIS IN A GRADUATE-LEVEL COURSE. *SIGH*

And in response to the 3rd big question, I mentioned that I don't believe that civilisation is restricted to a world of rules and laws -- but that (and I quote): "if Dr Kelly is looking at God, and Muireann is looking at God, and I am looking at God, and God doesn't change, He won't lead us in different directions, and the order will come naturally." I also mentioned that my understanding of a civilised world was a world in which respect and consideration were priority - instead of legalism.

Can we say "soapbox"??? The thing is... they DID ask me the questions.

I just don't know if I will get docked marks for not quoting theorists... I am familiar with ton(ne)s more than I was 6 mos ago, but I don't know them well enough to spout them off the top of my head...

but I apparently know my bible and church history! That's good, right?

hahahaha

welcome to MY world. If I don't make it to PhD programs because I know more Bible than I know theory... I am okay with that :)

the other side of leap year

2008-02-29T20:20:00.003Z

Hi all,

I have no idea if I have just been out of the loop all my life, if it's not something common in the South, or if this is actually something that is unique to this part of the world, BUT... something I learned about today:

February 29 is best known around here as the day women can propose* to the men! haha! There are talk shows and mentions of it on news broadcasts and everything! I was highly entertained. I watched a pretty good debate on whether women should propose this afternoon. There was a very traditional woman who argued the "he's just not into you theory" and a hardcore feminist-type who argued that women should be able to do everything a man can do (gender-role-wise) without fear of judgment, and a guy who argued that he finds it flattering when a woman makes the first move (dating or otherwise, I guess?)... but my favourite was a male model who mentioned that has a few friends who planned a "guys trip to Kilkenny" over a month ago with the specific intention of being away from their girlfriends on today! lol! They didn't even want to take the chance!

I am not sure which part fascinates me most:
the part about how afraid these guys were of being proposed to OR
the part about how they chose to go to Kilkenny**!!!!

FYI - no proposals were made by me... in case you were curious, haha :)

* as in propose marriage, specifically
** aka "the hot-guy factory", in case you've forgotten -- what better place for guys to run away to on the day women can propose to them! Maybe women should just start making trips there every 4 yrs and propose to one of the MANY cute guys they meet... KIDDING! About the instant proposal, not about the enormous amount of cute guys.

love you all ~

pros & con

2008-02-29T01:47:00.003Z

so I went through a pretty weird evening tonight. I still don't know what exactly has happened. But what I do know is that there are definitely several pros and at least one con to living across the Atlantic from your family.

Con: you can't give your cousins a hug when they need it most.

Pros:
1) you learn that distance is a way of forcing a person into "giving up" control over situations...life...people...

2) you learn that emotions can't change a situation and that physical distance allows you time to achieve an emotional distance from the drama.

3) you learn what it is like to really pray. a person's helplessness in a situation can show God's power.

FYI
I am not going into any more detail. if you were directly involved in the situation and you are reading this, you know what I am talking about. If you don't know what I am talking about, then I hope you read this for the lesson and not for the story.

ALSO
if you didn't figure out the lesson, well there are several possibilities:
1) hug people often* & let them know you love them
2) giving up control is less traumatic when you make the choice on your own
3) being emotional is not always the answer (hah! this will take forEVER for me to learn!)
4) God is amazing and holds us up in our times of uncertainty-He is good,all the time :)

*virtual hugs to my friends and family. my body may be far away, but my heart is still with each of you :)

just 'cause

2008-02-25T21:52:00.003Z

Howdy :)

I don't have much to say (hah.), but I thought I would send out a tiny update anyway!

1) I finally got my room and schoolwork organised! I feel like I can make things happen now instead of swimming around in disorganised chaos... it feels good... :)

2) I signed up for ballroom dance lessons with 3 of my friends. So for the next 7 thursday nights, I will be walking 30 min to the lesson, dancing/falling over for 1.5 hrs and walking home for 30 min. Not counting my regular 1-3hrs of daily walking, so I feel good about that!

3) I picked up a temporary job calling alumni and asking for $$... sound familiar?? The UL campaign is only for 3wks, and it's an extra couple hundred euro in my pocket to support my traveling habit.

4) I bought a flight to Zurich to see SOMETHING on the continent! I'll be spending a weekend in April there with Lyn - woot!

5) I have made tentative plans to meet my family on my father's side for the first time in Birmingham, England. The ideal plan is to get to London for church at Bro Greenwich's service on the Sunday.

6) I have reserved a room in Dublin to spend St Patty's Day there with a few other americans - YAY!!!!!

**now's a good time to refer back to #3. Not that a couple hundred will suffice but it will make life easier! It will pay for both flights :)

Now I am off to finish reading an article by Dr. Griffin about Oliver Goldsmith... don't ask... but I am actually LEARNING something, so yay!

bye for now ~

Repeat for AG, sorry ~

2008-02-20T23:35:00.004Z

Below is an excerpt from an email I sent Angela G recently. I thought it was a funny enough story to share and hope you find it entertaining - if it is offensive, I apologise. Not my intention. But I do like to use this blog to keep a record of my experiences in Eire, so here you go:

I have met (and was literally stalked by) 5 guys at a pub in town that has latin dancing on Thursdays... let me explain: 5 guys, 3 dances, 2 of the guys were 60 year-old irishmen and 3 of them were black. Not saying black is bad - but I did not feel that any of them were worth my time, regardless of race. The stalking experience occurred THE ENTIRE TIME I WAS THERE. I hadn't taken my coat off before a guy had my hand & was dragging me to the dance floor. The manager had to step in 2, maybe 3 times, ask some guys to go to the other end of the pub, come to me and ask if some of the guys were 'with' me, and make sure I was okay as I walked out... it got to the point that some of my classmates wondered if HE was stalking me. I didn't get it! All I did was agree to dance. In runners, so I wasn't anywhere close to good. And I only agreed to dance with 2 of the guys. (let's keep in mind: it was ballroom-style latin dancing, not like being in a dance club... just basic steps: 123pause123pause and a few very poor spins.) It was INTERESTING!

Then Muireann and I are outside waiting for the rest of our people and we get approached by 3 drunk young-ish men (welcome to Eire!). One is late 20s-early 30s and is totally enthralled with Muireann, one is 19 and the other is celebrating his EIGHTEENTH birthday! *sigh* What a gong show! I am enjoying the show of Muireann and the older guy when the 18yr old comes up to me and whispers in my ear: "I am only 18... don't take advantage of me, now..." HAHAHAHA! I replied, "honey, I couldn't if I wanted to." and he thought it was hysterical.

THEN 2 of the black guys come outside before my people arrive and start telling me their phone # and asking me to repeat it so that they know I am listening to them. I repeat it and forget before I get home. I had told them that if I did return to the pub, it would only be to dance and that I couldn't guarantee that I would even come back because I am not in Ireland for a social life - I am here for school. -- honestly, I really did say that!!! -- And now some of the girls want to go back and another girl who missed out that night wants to see the place... so it looks like I may be returning... lol.

Moral of the story: Stephanie cannot get a non-controversial, irish guy between the ages of 18 & 60 to SAVE HER LIFE! :) Seriously, is that too much to ask? I'd even sub "irish" for "guy who won't automatically get me disowned/arrested/kicked out of school".

Just so we are clear: I am open to meeting anyone who meets these qualifications :)

bye for now!

Scholastic Update

2008-02-14T17:55:00.004Z

Hi All,

So I am on my way to bake cookies (a recipe I got from Ellie Paul that is a total HIT over here!) for a chocolate Valentine's Day party a few of us singletons are invited to. :) After the baking and before the party, I am going to see the Irish Chamber Orchestra with a couple girls from class. The orchestra is being conducted by a world-renowned cellist that I am pretty sure I met at an after-party with Lane & Reanne, but I am awaiting confirmation on that... I have decided that on my way to the orchestra, I will share my cookies and if the orchestra runs late, or the party decides to go into town, then I will have at least done something special with my valentine's day, right? Better than reliving last valentine's day*, that's for sure!

Back to school:
I thought I would share with everyone that I have gotten my research thesis approved, so I have a supervisor (not the one I thought - actually, he's sharing me with another guy, so technically, I guess it is the one I thought... whatever... long story) and (one of) my supervisor(s) actually gave me some DIRECTION today - what a ginormous help!!!

So here it is: I am planning to research literary-historical representation & constructions of cultural identity in 19th century plantation literature of the American South and big house literature of Ireland. How's that for sounding academic? I have chosen my two books and my theorist(s).

Next step: come up with a concise argument! I can do this... :)

that's all for now - back to baking!

love,
not-bitter-about-vday ;)

* although last year was definitively my worst Vday ever (and I didn't like them BEFORE last year), I did share in the joy of cheesy romantic comedy with some pretty great girls!

did you know...

2008-02-12T11:33:00.001Z

that the first person to introduce me to the word "blog" was Brian Hannigan? We were playing speed scrabble at scripture studies '03 and he used the word "blog" and we all accused him of making it up. lol! Now for further weird/random facts about me, see below:

I have been tagged by Jen, yay! :)

RULES:

Link to the person who tagged you
Post the rules on your blog.
Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

FACTS ABOUT ME:
1. My toenails must be painted at all times. I haven't had naked toenails since I was 11.

2. I wake up every morning with a random song in my head. Today was "I believe the children are our future" by Whitney Houston.

3. I only bite my nails when I am watching TV or if I can't grasp a concept and and concentrating too hard. Ask Kelly H about chemistry class. (By the way, I have no nails for the first time since I was 18 b/c of TV and concentration this year!)

4. I have not re-read a book since I was 8. I need to be surprised by the ending. Except books from the Bible.

5. I must have my shoes off while I read - even if I am in public, say a coffee shop. (I will add an extra bit in here for anyone who does not know: wet sock is my pet-peeve. I can't handle it, so if I get wet sock, I take them off as soon as possible - reading or not!)

6. I organise my closet in ROYGBIV order with whites on one side and brown/gray/black (in that order) on the other side and the colours ascend/descend in shade accordingly. hah. oh: and I separate by category - shirts, pants, jackets.

7. I am a one-trip person. I would rather stop 25 times because I am carrying 100lbs worth of bags (hyperbole, I know) on one trip (say to carry in groceries) than have to go back for a 2nd trip.

just b/c: I have recently begun entertaining myself by counting the # of steps between places. It is approximately 250 steps across the bridge to my apt, 475 from the library to the village between campus and my apt, etc.

there you go! More than you wanted to know before you read this post, eh?

and I don't think I can tag 7 people with blogs who haven't been tagged. Let's see...
Dan M, Ky & Lyn are the only 3 I don't see right now. I will add my sister, Tina, Sharon and Victoria to this, but they'll have to post on FB, if they want to.

bye for now ~

BORED.

2008-02-12T00:14:00.001Z

That's what you will be when you're reading this blog. Don't say I didn't warn you! :)

I haven't posted in a while but that's because I haven't had anything to post about. But here's what I have been up to over the past 2 weeks:

I have read: The Lover, Utopia (the 1551 translation from Latin), Murder in Memoriam, A Modest Proposal, Gulliver's Travels, Happy Birthday, Turk!, Waves of Time & Himmelfarb (all you get on the link from the last 2 are citation info - sorry, no pics, apparently!). All novels. All for class. 15 more to go. YAY!

I have watched: Indochine, L'Amant ,Chocolat (no, not the Johnny Depp one), La Bataille d'Alger & La Haine. All in French. But with English subtitles, woot! Indochine & La Haine are my faves so far. 9 more to go.

In addition to this, I have been preparing my Thesis proposal (crazy setback 12 days ago after 3 mos of research and had to completely change directions. it was due today.) DONE!

And I have read around 7 academic articles as supplementary readings. And a 10+pp poem by Oliver Goldsmith (a 17th? century Irish poet). 18 required plus another 30 or so secondary readings to go.

For the record: all the work left to do is to be done in the next 9 weeks. :)

I did manage to squeeze in a day of Firefly with a classmate; it was for an essay! :) And I got caught up on One Tree Hill over the weekend.

I have 3.5 articles that I am hoping to have read tomorrow. 2 before 2pm and 1.5 before 3:30pm. We'll see. And I am reading Joyce's "The Dead" from The Dubliners before I go to bed tonight! I have a potentially intimidating meeting with our external examiner from Italy on Wednesday.

Things I have learned since coming here: geographical location will never change the fact that I like to be involved in EVERYTHING and make sure EVERYONE is included! Apparently, I am fast becoming known for my ability to be "in the know" about all things course-related. I am the point-lady for any questions people may have, like, "which classroom are we in today?" or "what is the next book we have to read?" or "which movies are for this week?" or "what are the guidelines for our proposal?" or... or... or... lol! I should know better by now. Apparently, my tendency for gossip is being put to good use, eh? :)

I am also very slowly coming up with a list of "Irish" phrases/sayings that I hope to get posted eventually. Just to let you know that I am trying to give you something besides WORKWORKWORK.

In my spare time, I have also been looking out for possible trips. I have talked with my cousin in Birmingham, England who I have never met and am hoping to get over there for a weekend - in my dream world, I will take a train into London for church @ Bro Greenwich's church, if possible, and fly back to Eire from there. The class trip, last discussion will probably be to Edinburgh (Loch Ness!) & 3 of us are hoping to go to Dublin for St Patrick's Day! I WILL BE IN IRELAND ON SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!!!!!

I have found out that I am required to stay in Eire until mid-July at the earliest, so no NB camp, for sure. Just so you know... :( But today, 4 of us decided to move into a house together over the summer. One girl already has the house and her 3 roomies move out in May. And I love this house - it's too cute! About the same distance from campus as I am now, but on the other side. (Jill, if you're reading this, it's Diane's place!)

okay. if you made it this far, you DESERVE points. give yourself however many you'd like. :)

LOVE YOU ALL! MISS YOU MUCHLY!

un-fun

2008-01-30T05:10:00.001Z

you know what's NOT fun? going to bed at 11pm only to wake up (for the day, apparently) at 1:30am!!! So here it is at 5am and I have class in 6 hrs. Thrilling. I blame anxiety.

I just had my 1st lecture of the term *yesterday* - it was in utopian studies. I think I am going to like it, a lot! The course is taught by 4 guys who each take a few lectures to go over their area of expertise (Irish, French, German & US/British Utopias) & I absolutely adore all of these profs! I am hoping to do a presentation on a comparison between Swift's Gulliver's Travels and excerpts from Rabelais' Gargantua & Pantagruel - we shall see!

Today's lecture, I am hoping will at least be interesting, but there are all different profs and I am indifferent to these guys/gals... it is on "textual constructions of identity", so it's more like what I did in my undergrad, which is nice :)

I have officially completed my applications to the four schools. I have a feeling that Illinois is out (b/c I don't plan to take another GRE, which they require for the program I want to get into), but the other 3 are a waiting game for now - I will let you know if I get in, but assume I didn't if you don't hear about it on here... I have also been given the opportunity to apply for a 4-yr full ride scholarship to Trinity college. I have as much of a shot as anyone else - it's the first year of an interdisciplinary degree in the area of Irish studies I would LOVE to research - praying about that before I apply, though... I miss N.A. as much as I thought I would! but if I did apply and IF I got accepted and IF I got the scholarship, then I would be living in Dublin and not Limerick, so there would be more sunny days, which would DEFINITELY help! *sigh*

okay.

I think I am going to leave it at that... going back to Gulliver's Travels and some weird. rambling essay on identity - something about deserts and post-modernism so far - woot. now it's 5:30 - a half hour down!

love you all ~

Book Meme

2008-01-28T18:40:00.002Z

I've been tagged!!! It's my first time ever - of course I haven't been a blogger for long :) Here's my Book Meme. As with Maryanne & Ky, "my answer can't be 'The Bible.' Because that very easily could have been my answer to #1, #2, #3, #5 and #8."

1. Name one book that changed your life.
A Wrinkle in Time. Partly because it was an amazing gift given to me by someone I have never met. The man worked with my grandfather and he and his wife gave me this book for Christmas one year. So it changed my life partly because it was the first time I recognized a true random act of kindness, but also partly because it was one of the first books to ever truly introduce me to a completely new world and show me the power of good literature. I felt like Sebastian in the "Neverending Story" as I read this book. :)

2. Name one book you have read more than once.
There aren't very many. I read books for the experience and I don't like to know what happens in the end - I like to live the story as if I were a character (see answer #1). I was going to say Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, but I am pretty sure There are Rocks in My Socks was read more... as we can see, I am just as indecisive as ever and can't choose just ONE! :)

3. One book you would want on a desert island.
Just so we know - this took me over 5 mins of thinking... I didn't want something I would have to re-read (see question #2), and I couldn't say the Bible b/c of my self-imposed parameters, and I didn't want to take a book where I would have no extra pages at the back to use for kindling on my first fire (resulting in a useless book with part of the story missing)... so I compromised: a book that will help keep me focused on praising God, with extra pages for kindling, that I can read over and over again - & I must say, I'm brilliant:
Songs We Love (version 3)

4. Two books that made you laugh.
He's Just Not that Into You and (man I don't read books for humour!) I guess I have to say The Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Loveable, Furry Old Grover

5. One book that made you cry.
Well, considering I obviously don't read funny books and I don't reread books and I read A LOT of books... that leaves a reallyreallyreally long list of potential tearjerkers... hmm... let's say Where the Red Fern Grows. I still cry just thinking about the book and I read it over 20 yrs ago!

6. One book you wish you’d written.
I am too busy being amazed by the genius of others to wish I had written their books, but I'll say the GRE Comprehensive Program 2008 edition - because then I wouldn't have had to study so hard for the test last December! :)

7. One book you wish had never been written
I don't think I can answer that. But I will take my friends' words for it and say PS I Love You based on conversations here in Eire... I was actually told not to read the book, so I haven't and don't plan to... I don't know if this counts or not! Other than that, I couldn't judge any book that harshly...

8. Two books I am currently reading.
The Content of the Form:Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation by Hayden White and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

9. Five people that I tag.
I don't know many bloggers that haven't already been tagged! I may just resort to retagging people who haven't actually posted the meme yet... lol. Jill, Jen D, Shannon, MayB and Ang.

Raindrops on Roses...

2008-01-21T23:46:00.002Z

Hi guys & gals!

This evening I was on a phone call and through the conversation, I remembered that I haven't posted in a while - there's a reason for that: I'm boring!

A few things that I could update you on from my visit with Jill are:
1) I saw my very first homeless man sleeping on the doorstep of a bank. I am sheltered, I know.
2) I saw my very first street fight (if you call one guy on the ground being kicked, punched, spat on and yelled at a "fight") less than a block away from the homeless guy in Dublin. This was actually in a nice part of town - 2 blocks from Trinity College and across the corner from the only Starbucks I've found in the Nation... because apparently in my mind, Starbucks makes an area of town "nice" - lol! - seriously, it was a part of town that that Irish consider nice...
3) I saw my very first pickpocket (post-pickpocketing) as he threw the wallet in the street and walked by... someone else was in a car in front of him and ran out to get the wallet and jumped in the car quickly and drove off (I am assuming to go to the Gardi). This was in Limerick. woot. :)

That was the extent of my negative experiences - and technically, witnessing the beating turned out okay for me because Jill & I sat outside discussing it at the Starbucks and this remarkably attractive guy came out for a break from his computer and was totally staring at me the whole time. In a good way. Not in a creepy, stalker way. Alas, I am too chicken and didn't talk to him, though...

4) Kilkenny did not disappoint in the Hot-Guy Factory department, once again! We had walked maybe 4 blocks and I had counted up to 12 and then we turned a corner and there was this GROUP of guys at the ATM... every single one was attractive! Unbelievable! So our count turned into "12 + 60 billion". lol. The crazy part is that the Irish girls don't see it... as a matter of fact, I attempted a pseudo 'flirt to convert'- type thing with my new roomie when she saw a photo of the Peters' boys and was like, "is that what all the guys in your church look like?" and I was like... we DO have an amazing proportion of attractive people in our church -- you are MORE than welcome to visit a camp! It was cute. :)
5) We visited some of the other places, but nothing exceptional occurred that I recall. We went to the Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Rock of Cashel and Dublin. Dublin was really fun (not counting the aforementioned events)! We went to the National Gallery and the National Museum and on the same bus tour that I take everyone on now... and I think I got the same guy again - woot! - but it was only for 3 or 4 stops... *sigh*. We also went to O'Neill's pub (400+ yrs old) and the cute Italian place that Dana Reed (aka Chris Reed's sister) showed Ky & me. And we also made it to a play at the Abbey Theatre, so all in all, it was pretty memorable! :)

Post-Jill's visit is not nearly as interesting...

1) Slept for a week. Literally. Okay - not "literally" - more like, "did nothing but sleep and watch tv. no reading, forgot to eat, and I did not leave my house for more than 30 mins the entire week". It was gross and rainy and cold and WINDY - I really do miss -35 snowy, blowy SK! :( And I talked with Griffin today and mentioned that I cannot handle this weather and he said that this has been a rough winter and is tough on even the most hardened of the Irish. He actually said "Even us Irish can't handle THIS!"
2) I moved to a new apartment across the yard in the same village last Wednesday. If you want my new address, let me know! If you have my old address, everything is the same except the apt & room #s (apt 6, rm 2). My room is identical to my old one, but I have a smaller apartment. 3 post-grad roomies instead of 5 undergrads. 2 of us have been here all week and are getting along SO well!!! The other girl will only be here on the weekends 'cause she is going into high school music education and has a post as a student teacher in another town. And there is one guy from Spain that I haven't met yet, but apparently he is really easy to get along with, so yay! :)
3)After I moved and unpacked, I spent the rest of last week finishing up one of the novels that I plan to use for my thesis. Apparently people like it, but I have definitely been spoiled by the phenomenal writing of Edward Rutherford and was quite disappointed in my latest read... oh well!

Today started my last week before classes begin. I went to the library at 9am and started getting into a routine. I worked until 3:00, reviewed over 50 books and found more than 20 that I need to actually read for comprehension and began Sir Thomas More's "Utopia" for my utopian studies class. I found out my class schedule for next term and it is AMAZING!! Tuesdays 2-5pm and Wednesdays 11am-2pm. THAT'S ALL. Which is why I should get into a routine or I will run the risk of sitting at home sleeping and watching tv and that just won't be good!

So my plan is for Wed to be my first day back to the gym in a while - I will let you know how long that lasts! :) And the rest of my week is Sir Thomas More + Gulliver's Travels + preparing my thesis proposal. Wish me luck!

I am warning you - you may be hearing lots about research and utopias in the coming weeks... only because that will be my life! sorry...

PS
I only chose this post-title because of the "rain" portion - and the fact that my entire world is seen through a filter of rain lately. Not saying that public beatings, pickpockets and 16th century writings are "my favourite things"... haha!

this may be a repeat.

2008-01-09T18:24:00.001Z

But it deserves a second whine...

Things you don't read about Ireland: gale-force winds.

I am not any where close to over-exaggerating. We're talking 80-140km/hr. This has been my last week. I was first introduced to these lovely breezes as Jonathan & I walked to lunch one afternoon. There was this constant harsh wind, but every once in a while there would be a crazy-wild gust that came out of nowhere and nearly knocked us down. We literally had to walk bent over, like we were climbing a steep hillside, headfirst into the wind to reduce drag. Is that what you call that resistance with wind? Drag? I know that's the word in swimming... hmm...

anyway!

Jonathan's immediate reaction to this insanity was "brisk, isn't it?!" followed by "this is so rejuvenating! I love days like this!" All I could think was, "& I thought SK was windy." That was in November. Before Winter hit.

Now, in lovely wet January, it feels like I am walking around in a 35F degrees (+5ish C?) hurricane! Umbrellas are useless - although it is fun to hold them in front of you was you walk and pretend you're carrying a shield. The term "waterproof" means nothing. Everything is grey except the grass. And there is a 15 min walk to campus. yay. I try to stay home until I run out of food. Or library books are due. There is a reason God made hurricane season in late-summer. At least your hands don't go numb from the wet gloves in August!

Three nights this week I actually wondered if one of our windows would break, the wind & rain pounded so hard against the glass for days...

So there you go. You have been warned. I have experienced many things here that can't be captured in words, but seriously, folks - psychotic winds could have been mentioned somewhere - in all the stories about "soft rain" (which I have personally experienced & I admit, they aren't half-bad) that make Ireland sound magical, someone could have thought to bring up the fact that your hair stands straight up in the whirlwind created by your umbrella... for the entire 15-min walk to campus... :)

bye for now ~

One more thing:

2008-01-08T00:46:00.001Z

Something I noticed early on about a one-year program is that I don't have much time before I have to prepare for the next step in my life... so here it is: P h D.

Some of you have already been through this process.

Some of you are going through this process as I type.

The process of which I speak is APPLICATIONS.

wow.

So I have a little prayer request for anyone willing to take up the challenge, but you'll have to wait till the end for the actual request!

As you may recall, I took my GRE (aka the hardest test I've ever taken in my life) in December and have those scores sent off to the schools in the States. I am applying to 6 programs in total:

1) University of Colorado - Boulder, Comparative Literature program & teaching assistantship

2) Southern Illinois University - Carbondale, English - concentration in Irish Studies & graduate assistantship

these two are complete as of this afternoon!

3) University of South Carolina - Columbia, Comparative Literature (including a semester teaching abroad in a country where one of my languages is spoken...) & any assistantships available (haven't gotten that far)

4) University of Connecticut, Comparative Literature (the most prestigious & intimidating, but I had to try!) & any assistantships

5) USask (woot!), Interdisciplinary Studies (english/history) - concentration in Irish History/Historical Fiction... this is a longshot because I haven't actually TAKEN any history classes, but I do have a professor from Cork in the History Dept who is willing to supervise me and go to bat for me at USask - if this happens, it'll be another tiny miracle in the life of Steph :)

6) University of Limerick, to continue my current project in further depth (kind of what I want to do at USask and Southern Illinois). The only way this will happen is if I get offered a highly competitive scholarship from the Irish government. I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon with a potential supervisor that I have been trying to contact since late-November and the deadline for this scholarship application is Jan 18... no pressure :)

Now - I am doing my part. I am taking the really really really hard tests, filling out forms, writing essays, making phone calls, contacting supervisors, ordering transcripts and paying application fees... and if it doesn't happen, I won't lie - I will most likely be a little disappointed. But I also know that this is in God's hands and if He wants me to pursue this, He will open the right door! (which is where you guys come in)

Please pray that whatever happens, I continue to look to God for direction? Also that if He wants me in a specific place, that He makes it clear?

The reason why I am posting this at 1am my time is because I just received a very encouraging email from one of the schools' contacts. I sent her an application for an assistantship and she said that it looked really good... so then I got excited and then I got worried that maybe I got too excited and then I decided that maybe I should just do my part and be willing to accept whatever God brings my way... :)

my life story, eh?

I need those friends around who tell me to stop worrying - I think your voices are all ingrained in my brain anyway, but I miss you!