So my first major assignment in a class is due tomorrow and it’s a group assignment. It was about applying Freud’s psychoanalysis concepts to a specific case. It was pretty straightforward; hopefully all assignments will be this simple and short (it was only 1000 words for a group of 5 people). I have a bunch of assignments due in March though, including a midterm in one of my classes, as well as essays in two other classes, so March will be a much more hectic month. I like the majority of my classes, even though lecturing can get monotonous over the course of an hour, especially since I’m used to more class participation from Richmond. I’ve learned that Irish is a lot tougher of a language than I thought it was! I’m not even a foreign language person to begin with.
The weekend after my Edinburgh trip I laid low for the majority of the weekend, catching up on applying for summer research opportunities and running errands for the apartment and my room. Then on Monday, my friend mentioned a free comedy show in town at the Woolshed Bar (an Australian/American bar that is humongous and has many TVs). I ended up going with him and it was a great show, with a couple different comedians. The greatest thing was that it was free, pizzas were half priced, and pitchers of beer were cheap. The greatest moment of the night was that an American woman got kicked out for heckling. She was not happy with the host’s hilarious impressions of Americans so she called him out for it. She then proceeded for the rest of the show speaking under her breath and occasionally calling something out until she got kicked out about halfway through the show. Unfortunately, she didn’t give Americans a very good name but my friend and I were reassured by later comedians that they like Americans because they thought we acted much nicer.
The Comedy Show
One of the great things about UCD is that they had a “refresher’s day”, where tons of organizations and sport clubs tried to get people to sign up for their respective groups. I signed up for many clubs but only really followed through with one; the softball club. I really wondered about playing softball co-ed because it’s not really popular in the USA for males. I have a few years of experience of baseball under my belt, so I decided to give it a try. I’m so glad I did because it’s a great group with a mixture of Irish, Americans, and Canadians. They don’t really take softball very serious at all so it’s more of the social aspect that’s important.
For example, we went BYOB bowling on Friday night. I was stunned that a bowling alley would let you bring in your own alcohol because that would never happen in the USA. All the games you could bowl for 10 euros as well. It was a really fun night and our group went to the bar across the street after bowling and it was a lot of fun hanging out with them because they’re a fun group.
Glenomena, where I live on the campus of UCD
The next day I spent mostly in my room watching Premier League soccer (my wish is to be able to travel to England at some point this semester to see a game), Six Nations rugby (Ireland lost to England) and Richmond basketball, who won! Today, I knew I had to go to a fish and chips place because I somehow haven’t had them here in Dublin yet. A friend and I went to Beshoff’s for fish and chips, and the fish was really crispy just how I like it.
I have a field trip tomorrow with one of my classes to counties southwest of Dublin, including County Kildare and County Carlow. Looking forward to it!
Rainbow seen from my room
urtravelogues.com 