We Built this City on Accidental Flirting

Ohhh dear. Have we a story for you. Wednesdays we have class together at noon, which is wonderful. We're in a Visual Culture class and it is absolutely marvelous..but we will tell you about that later. So as we were riding in on the DART, we were listening to Jefferson Starship simultaneously and totally rocking out to it. I got a little to into it, and at the Dun Laoghaire stop I looked out the window and nodded my head in a rock-and-roll way to the world, accidentally aiming my cheesy smile and head bang towards this guy standing at the bus stop. When I realized what I had done, Olivia gave me a knowing glance and I was mortified, especially when he hopped onto the DART and stood within Olivia's view the entire way to Pearse, but we kind of laughed it off...until...We walked into our Visual Culture class and who do you think was sitting right across the aisle from us? Yup.

Sue

The Registration Fiasco

Ok so registration here is no fiasco, just a bit of a crisis. No, maybe only the end of the world. Oh who am I kidding. It's not all that bad. Let's just say that it's easier to get into the country and through customs than it is to get classes organized and set in stone. But have no fear, no one sees a problem with the traditional way of registering, in fact, it is the norm and widely accepted by one and all. But let me paint a picture for you. Imagine that you are walking down a busy, well-known, top shoppingest city center street that you are pretty familiar with and have walked down several times. I had looked up the map of the streets to find where the building that my class today was in, and thought I had it pretty much figured out. And just as a side note, DBS is essentially a compilation of randomly placed buildings all generally positioned so that they are within close proximity to Trinity College and all of which are off of the top shoppingest city center street that I was talking about. So I find that the street my class was in was not, in fact, where I thought it was, (i thought it was a pretty straightforward turn off of Grafton St.) But alas, not so, dear reader! Extremely not so. After walking around in circles for close to 25 minutes, I finally happened upon a turn that was actually the building I needed. So I waited for someone to open the door, as there are codes to get in that I didn't know, and walked up the stairs to the room I needed to be in. I arrived in the classroom with several familiar American faces staring back. Which was, I have to admit, a relief. I'm not an incredibly outgoing person, so I tend to get nervous around people I don't know. But there they were, and they were also taking up a majority of the classroom. There were only two faces I did not know. The classroom itself was miniscule. There were approximately 35 chairs all smooshed together under tables that were not wide enough for the chairs to fit under naturally. You have to push your chair under them at an angle in fact. Once the teacher arrived at 5 minutes past 1, he started reading off the roster of about 50 names (it felt like) only to find that none of them, except the two people I didn't know, were there. All of us Americans, who by the way took up half the space in the room, were not yet registered for the class, and therefore not on the roster. Our teacher went to another room to find the students that he claimed all must have gone to the wrong room (which was exactly what had happened) and was followed back in by a flustered woman who declared that all of us must get out and make room for the Europeans because they were registered and, geez, how was she supposed to have known there would have been so many of us, and she was sorry, but we needed to wait up at the front of the room with her until all the registered students had taken a seat. And then we could fill in around them if there were spots left. So this has been my experience thus far. And even though I was able to get a leftover seat, I have no way of knowing if I will still have a spot in that class.
I say all this to say, thank you Cedarville, for NOT registering classes in this manner. It is stressful, albeit sort of hilarious. But I have to admit that Cedarville (and all American schools for that matter) have really got it under control. They know their registration stuff, that's a fact.
Liv

Monday Manikins

These ladies are totally Avatar, meets Edward Sissorhands meets The Blue Man Group meets Blue (da ba dee) meets Tobias Funke meets an oragami crane meets my paper dolls from first grade meets a wooden drawing model meets Avatar.



Get a good look at the accuracy of the anatomy.

Belfast or Bust. (Plus Derry)

This weekend we are in Northern Ireland. We started our journeys by visiting the Giant's Causeway--huge disappointment because neither Andre nor Goliath were present. We even called out for them a few times, but didn't hear any reverberating grunts, rock thuds, or "fee, fie, foe, fums". Then we visited the town of Derry, the site of the Bloody Sunday of 1972. It was a very enlightening and solemn experience; we talked to brothers and sisters and friends of those who had died that day. Seeing the murals and the remnants of violence was very eye-opening and enriching. We also got to observe the beauty of the city, and loved hearing about its history dating back to 592 AD. Our group took part in a video documentary of tourism in Northern Ireland of which we will be receiving a copy. Our travels then took us to Belfast, where we took a bus tour of the city and witnessed its political tension, dying shipyard industry, and even the port where the great Titanic was built. But even with all of this excitement, one of our favorite activities has been driving through the countryside watching the breathtaking landscapes whiz by as we share music with our i-pod splitter. Lovely, indeed.

Monday Manikins

Isn't she delightful? You work it girl!


I think they missed a few spots.


These two fellas, Jeff and Adam, are always picking a fight. Who's more fashionable? Who's more 'Unique'? Who's got a fiercer scowl? You know, stuff like that. And the remnants of their last fight is still etched on their brow.

Sunday Catch Up

Sorry, dearest readers, for our late update. It has been an interesting last few days.
This week started out great with some surprising and eclectic monday manikins, and tuesday seemed to have gone well, classes still very much in place, in session, with us in regular attendance. Wednesday, even, was good, though not memorable, unless Sue? do you... reme..? Eh, nevermind. Regardless, Wednesday unfolded like most other nights, with Sue and I being too lazy to do anything really epic, and just sitting in bed watching G G's eating stingers and penguins. However, I did not sleep well that night, and in the morning discovered that eating a chocolate cake, plus four stingers, and four penguins just makes me throw up. Three times. But I won't be graphic. Let's just say, those Gilmore girls lie. So passing over Thursday, the day I wanted my mommy in the worst way, and onto more positive days like Friday and Saturday. Saturday we caught a midmorning train to the edge of the bay in Bray (ah hilarious rhyming) and climbed the Bray Head mountain there on the coast. That was by far the most beautiful place we have been to so far. It was incredible. Far past any explanation I could give, or any pictures could manifest. But regardless, here are some of the best pictures we managed to capture.
Enjoy!

Hello everyone!
We are missing you very much. However, today was a blast. It just lasted a very long time. We got up, walked to the DART station, caught a train, managed to get to class on time today, which was better than our ten minute late arrival of yesterday (although never fear, the Irish are incredibly laid back, and 10, 15, 30 minutes late is absolutely no big deal to anyone) and had three very long classes, with three very long breaks in between. The long breaks are bad. They only encourage us to do one thing: spend money (you can read that as "send money" if you choose, it's whatever). So we are learning very fast that Dublin is a great city ready to give you a good dosage of buyers guilt. I will not relay how many Penguins Sue and I have eaten (cough 30 something cough). And then I discovered this candy called Stinger. Best candy in the whole wide world. Also "the cheekiest chew bar in the planet". So obviously a winner.
After we ate dinner at a cafe in the city, Suzy and I walked to the station in the pouring sleet, and managed to soak our entire coats, and pray that we don't get sick. Eh, I'm sure we won't though. We're just thankful that the ice-skating rink is gone.
So here is an important picture from the day. We went into the shopping center off Grafton St., and found this big guy outside of a stuffed animal store. I really pity him, or maybe the owner who is worried that he might actually get up and run away. Or more importantly that anyone would attempt to try getting him out of the mall without anyone noticing. Either way, he is CHAINED. Poor, pathetic thing!

Monday Manikins

Santas' lesser known but still popular enough to tour malls across the world cousins; George, John, Ringo, and Paul




Twinkle Toe is stunning, isn't he? Very bootylicious... just be thankful we didn't submit a frontal shot.

Saturdays

It's silly really, Suzy and I should be embarrassed about the amount of things we've gotten accomplished today, but watching the entire fifth season of Gilmore Girls in one day seems the ultimate accomplishment to me. So no, I have nothing new to report. No crazy stories, videos, pictures, or even manikins to share. But I was happy with the day nonetheless. Just thought you ought to know you're not missing out on anything (at least for today : )
Poll ladies: Dean, Logan or Jess?
It's heavily on the Logan side over here for us. But hey, this is season 5.

Ice is nice but winter is....splinter.

First of all, we are a little embarrassed. This may take awhile...
Eh hem....
Sooooo Oliv sat down to type this post and I interjected with a "(grumble grumble mumble shmumble) YOU typed the last one, Liv. It is sooo my turn." To which she replied, "Fine, you can, but I'm NOT moving from this seat." To which I began to deposit myself into her lap, and maybe a little something else on the side : ) heh heh. "NO WAY NOW!!!" was her reply. "Rrrrr" was mine. In the midst of our scuffle, we accidentally posted a blank entry. And then died laughing. So now it is me, Suzy, typing because I totally won the battle and called blankety a legit entry. Muahahaha.

NOW--I'm sure you all have heard about the horrible snow/ice storm of oh '10 pounding our great city of Dublin (ok, probably not because let's face it Americans don't keep up with the rest of the world's weather) BUT believe us when we say it is the worst they have had for 'tirty yeers!' and is quite a sight. Our poor little town of Dalkey (pronounced DAW-QUAY ) is covered with about a solid inch of ice-skating rink. Since the city of Dublin ran out of salt a couple days ago, several of the buses have been shutting down and schools are closing...heck, even people have frozen solid mid-walk. Actually it is hilarious to watch people trying to walk around on the sidewalks because they are grasping for the nearest wall or fence, terror in their eyes, all the while exclaiming "Dis is da wurst we've had in TIRTY YEERS!!" One of our fellow study abroad mates, Mary, did a disturbingly accurate yet accidental pole dance when reaching for the nearest lamp post mid-fall. I think the city-goers rather enjoyed it, though. ;) Go Mary.

Yesterday we had a great show during our city bus tour watching a small car with it's two inch wheels attempt to rear-wheel drive up the ski slope that on a better day is known as Fitzwilliams Street. I think our eyes got a little wider though when we realized we were about to climb said slope. Once we managed to get to the top, the tire tracks we left behind us resembled Marion Jones' cardiograph.
Alright. we are having problems posting the videos that I took right onto the blog. If anyone knows their way around posting videos on blogs, let us know. Basically it just won't let us. Unless maybe it does end up working. But anyway, we are going to just post it to Suzy's facebook wall for now, which may take a few days to get up. Mama Young, disclaimer right here that you probably should not even try to watch since it might make you sick. Just listen to it anyway. Everyone ought to watch this a few times to appreciate EVERY little detail of this video, because it is a GEM of a video. If you need to for this first one, I recommend pausing it every once in a while because it will be a treasure trove of interesting stills. As an explanation for the hysteria, the first video was taken right after we explored the Guinness gift shop, and just as we boarded the bus after, it started pounding hail. Meanwhile, our bus driver tought it would be funny to pretend he was passing the time waiting for us by drinking his reserve storehouse of Guinness and started swerving the bus back and forth in this tiny alleyway--which you will experience on the video. It's better translated through his commentary so listen closely. If anything said or seen stands out to you let us know (there's a million things that stand out to us). Also the next one we post, you just need to pay attention to what Ben says through the whole thing.

P.S. *Coming soon-- "European Manikin Mania" You don't want to miss this.*

First day in Dublin

After spending a few days in the coastal city of Galway, we have successfully conquered the Dublin bus and taxi system, (or so we think), and arrived to our destination. Apparently, Ireland is undergoing the worst ice and snow storm since 1963, lets hope that isn't a foreshadowing of the next 4 months, unless it would mean extreme warm weather for the spring.
We met our homestay host, and she is a blast. Today she took us into her town, and pointed out where the local superstars tend to go, Bono, Collin Ferrell, Enya, Liam Neeson, and Sarah Jessica Parker, but who even cares about her. Anyways, we learned very quickly that everything costs through the nose. And we certainly mean everything. As any world traveller might already know, even the "toilets" cost about 50 American cents. We're in the process of training our bladders to hang in there.
We'll be doing quite a bit more walking, which we both agree will be a good thing (shudder).
While in Galway, we met a wood sculptor, Liam O'Neill ( http://www.liamoneill.com/ ) whose work was incredible, and reminded us of the SOFA exhibit. When we went to his (amazing) home to check out his gallery, workshop and backyard, his wife served us mince pies, the first we had ever had. They were peculiar, and as we expected, lovely. One thing we have learned from Liam, never call someone or something "cute", as it usually is meant to colorfully describe a politician or prostitute. We have already slipped. Wish us luck : )
Love you all!