Another week gone...

It's hard to believe I'm already half way done with the semester and I have less than three months left here. When I think of the day I'll be leaving my home away from home I have very mixed feelings. It makes me sad to think I'll have to say goodbye to my great friends here, not knowing when I'll get the chance to see them again. But, I'm also really excited for that day to come, knowing that I'll finally get to see my family again. I can't wait for our joyous reunion in the airport terminal!! I'm picturing a big sign that says, "Welcome Home Kelsey," and lots of hugs, tears, laughs and smiles.

Anyway, enough about the future, I'm guessing you'd rather hear about what I've been up to in the past week. I've had plenty of adventures, so you won't be disappointed!

Last week Wednesday, we didn't have our normal Modern Irish Society class. Instead, there was a conference that had been organized by the sociology department concerning the topic of globalization and its implications for the English language. Our professor decided to make that our class for the week, although he wasn't making attendance mandatory. We, however, found out that there was a free lunch included, so naturally we decided to go. That lunch was delicious! There were sausage rolls, salmon rolls, chicken kabobs, chicken tenders, a variety of sandwiches, an assortment of tortes and eclaires for dessert and orange juice to drink. Thankfully that lunch was so good, because the lectures were quite boring. It probably didn't help that the lunch was the only reason I went, so I had no intention of paying attention. I did find one of the lectures interesting, however; this particular lecture focused on the implications of globalization for the nordic regions and their languages. Basically, if a country doesn't make an effort to keep its language updated, i.e. coming up with Icelandic words for new English words, the language will die out. After the conference, I went back to my apartment and worked on job applications for hours. At around 7:30, our friend Johnny Stewart picked us up and gave us a lift to iCafe. We spent the rest of the night there, eating dinner, hanging out and playing our favorite card game, Scumbag.

Thursday was probably the longest day I will have here. I woke up at around 8:30/9 AM and didn't go to bed until 6:30 the following morning! When I told my GCC roommate, Laura, that, this was her reaction: "WHAT???!!! What were you doing you sly dawg??!!" No worries, it was all good, clean fun. I didn't have class on Thursday, so I spent most of the day crossing off items on my to-do list and working on job applications. Thursday was actually a nice day weather wise, so Kari and I decided to walk along the shore to Whiteabbey Village to eat lunch at Randolph's Cafe. It was so good - both the food and the company. We got caught in a lovely rain/snow mix on our walk back from the village. The weather truly is completely unpredictable here! I was at the apartment for a couple hours and then I went to meet Elsie to go to her house for another dinner. If they weren't jealous already, I think my friends are jealous now, especially since Elsie's invited me to her house on the eve of St. Patty's for Irish stew!

Thursday night was the best night I've had here so far, probably because it made me feel like I was back at Grove City again where people know how to have fun without alchohol and barely-there dresses. I went to CU at 7:30 with Kari, Amanda and Bethany. Not only do I look forward to hearing a great message at CU every week, but I also really look forward to walking in the room and seeing familiar faces. I remember that first night we went and felt completely lost and out of place. Now we walk in and people smile at us and wave across the room. We have Irish friends! So anyway, we went to CU. Afterward, we climbed in Jo's car and drove to Abbotscross Presbyterian Church in Whiteabbey where we were to experience our first Social. It was so much fun! A Social is basically a dance, but all the songs have choreographed dance moves (think like the Electric Slide or the Maquerena) or the songs are just background noise played during silly games, like the Honeymoon Express or Musical Chairs. I definitely did some form of an Irish jig that night - Laura you should be proud! I also discovered that there are different ways to do the Hokey-Pokey and there are choreographed dance moves for Kung-Fu Fighting and the YMCA (there's more to the song than just spelling out the letters with your arms). We were having so much fun, but then the neighbors called the cops and complained about the noise so our night got cut short...at least, that's what we thought. The DJs decided it would be a good idea to drive to the 24-hour Tescos parking lot and continue the dance there. I went knowing that we'd probably be kicked out within one song, which is exactly what happened. We arrived in the parking lot, stepped out of the car into the cold, windy night, danced to Cotton-Eyed Joe and then proceeded to climb back into the car and speed away before the Tesco's security man could write down Stu's license plate number. Not many people can say they've done that during their time in Northern Ireland! From there, Stu dropped us off at Johnny Stewart's flat where we stayed for the next 3.5 hours talking and playing some more card games. By the time we left Johnny's it was 6:30 AM and the sun was rising marking the start of a brand new day. What a long but very fun day! I hope I get another one like it before I leave.

I slept from 6:30 till 10:30 on Friday and then spent most of the day reading and making postcards. At 4 PM, Kari, Bethany and I caught a train to Belfast to do some shopping. Since it was dinner time by the time we finished shopping, we decided to head to TGI Friday's in Victoria Square before taking the train back to campus. When we got back to campus, we all changed into our sweats and sweatshirts and camped out in Bethany's apartment in front of the television. After such a late night, this was exactly the relaxing day I needed.

Saturday started out rather nice weather-wise, but as I said before, the weather here is completely unpredictable and it didn't quite cooperate with our plans for the day. Our dear friend from CU and small group, Jonny Hutton, arranged for us to see Belfast Castle and to hike up the Cave Hill, which is the hill/mountain I watch the sun set behind on the days the sun decides to shine. When we started our hike, a light mist was falling from the sky and the temperature was fairly warm. By the time we reached the top of the hill, however, the cold wind was pelting drops of rain into our faces. We were all completely soaked! My pants felt like they weighed ten pounds from all the rain. At least I didn't slip and fall on the muddy trail, which is more than I can say for Kari and some of the others. It was actually quite miserable at the top of the hill, but when I look back on it, the whole experience is quite amusing and one I will not soon forget. There are some spectacular views of Belfast and Belfast Lough from the top of that hill! A hot shower and a dry pair of socks have never felt as good as they did after that cold, wet afternoon.

Later Saturday evening, I took a taxi into Belfast along with Kari, Kara, Emily, Baz, Bernie and Riley. I finally got to hear some live traditional Irish music at White's Tavern. Laura - I thought of you pretty much the whole time. I was definitely tempted to get up and do a little jig in front of everyone, but I restrained myself. We also checked out the John Hewitt Pub and Restaurant, but that venue caters to an older crowd and they didn't have music, so I think I prefer White's. At 12:30, after a few drinks, we called it a night.

I spent the day Sunday working on postcards and getting some reading done before going to church with Bethany and Kari Sunday evening. Bethany and I both really struggled to pay attention during the service, so I couldn't really begin to tell you what the sermon was about. That made me really frustrated because I've been feeling kind of spiritually empty the past few weeks and was hoping to be renewed. I guess I'll just need to make more of an effort on my own this week. After the service, our usual group hung out in the coffee bar for a few hours and then we headed to Gavin's house to hang out for another hour or so before returning to uni. It was good craic and I seriously can't wait to go to London with those wonderful people!

And that brings us to today. I felt a cold/sore throat coming on yesterday afternoon and it only got worse throughout the night, resulting in a very poor night of sleep. Because of that, I decided to skip my morning class and sleep in. I did go to my afternoon class today and had a group project meeting after that. Then I ate dinner, went grocery shopping (and bought enough food to last a month...I hope), and then went to the student union with a bunch of international students for a drink. Somewhere in the course of today I lost my voice. If you find it, please give me a call or drop me an email and let me know...