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Justin's Journal  The only thing that's changed around here lately is that everyone is insane, really to the point where it's getting annoying. Every time a game is on (so, every night) the whole foyer to the building is filled with drunk/high jerks yelling at the tv they brought in, and I have to squeeze my way past them to get out. And every time Germany plays a game, the streets in town are full of insanity. I'm glad I don't drive around here. Anyways, I'm going to Amsterdam this weekend. I'll talk about that when I get back. As he so aptly pointed out, my dad was instrumental in saving these pictures from almost certain wetness. These are my Ireland pictures -- all the ones I took worth posting are up on my photobucket, but here is a sampling. If you're looking for lots of pictures of churches, you'll be disappointed. ( snip! ) The courses I am taking this term are: Saints and Holiness in the Middle Ages Atlantic History of the 16-18 Centuries Nationalism and Deportation in Eastern Europe Literature after 1945 There isn't a whole lot to say about them -- they can pretty much be taken for what they say they are. Atlantic History is taught by a terrifically dramatic, bearded little old man whose one personal flaw is that he says "Pennsylwania". The other profs are pretty mundane, but the material is usually interesting. I was in Hanover this weekend for two days with Carolin. We didn't see much of the surrounding area because the weather was rotten, but we'll probably be there again this weekend, so I'll have something to say about it after that. Due to a number of factors, including my computer being busted and my aunt's internet being shut off, this update has been long overdue. But here it is. Ireland: Dublin: Dublin is a really neat city. I think my favorite part was walking around St. Stephen's Green on a warm, sunny day. We went to the Guinness Store House (but didn't take the tour) and took a long walk around the city to see what there was to see. There are some gorgeous churches out in the western section of the city. Cork: I liked Cork the best. It seemed a lot more "Irish" than Dublin, but still had enough of the metro atmosphere to be exciting. The restaurants were excellent, and I had the spiciest sausage I have ever tasted in my life. The city has a very casual feeling to it, with dozens of little side-streets with hidden treasures, some of which we found accidentally and some of which we found with the help of the guidebook. Blarney: Cute, and worth the visit. The castle, the grounds, and the rock garden are stunningly beautiful, and we luckily had amazing weather for them. That being said, it's touristed up enough that it's not really a particularly authentic experience. Donegal: The number of pubs and churches in the town together is probably greater than the number of people. Gorgeous countryside, which we tramped about in the rain (and later some sun, thankfully). The castle is cute, and right in the middle of the town. We found a neat little pub with live music every night and an interesting assortment of zany (but seemingly harmless) locals who wanted to buy us drinks and know all about the fact that I am a tiny fraction Irish. The People: The Irish really are a different kind of people. The only mean person I met was the immigration / passport control officer in the airport. Everyone wants to know where you're from, whether you've ever been to Ireland before, whether you've seen this-and-that in this-and-that-town. We had several people offer to buy us drinks after just minutes of talking to us at the pub. The Countryside: Green. Gorgeous. The Weather: Not as bad as I expected -- lots of rain, but it was warm. The cold at night became a problem, and I got sick for a day, but then we moved out of the cold room and into a warmer one in a warmer place, and that was alright. Easter: Kristie and Gram were here, and that was a lot of fun. It was good to see them. Kristie was going on about all the things she does when she goes down to visit my sister, and it made me a little sad. And I didn't see that much of Gram last year to begin with. Easter with the girls was a lot of fun, especially the 'preparations' (which of course I'm never allowed to participate in at home). Then Kristie came up here for a couple days, met Carolin, and went out to a couple bars with us. It was nice. Thanks for visiting, Stie! Hello all, I'm just updating to say that a) I'm alive and b) I'm in Ireland. Caro and I flew into Dublin on Wednesday. The first night I had Irish stew and Guinness. The second night there was rain. So, it is officially Ireland. We're now in Cork, having a grand old time in churches and pubs. We're going to Blarney on Monday, and traveling on to Donegal after that. I will write all about my adventures when I'm not paying by the minute to do so. Tara's visit has just officially ended. It was really nice. First we were in Stuttgart with Uncle Armin and the children. The girls were of course over the moon to see Tara, and I was of course chopped liver, but that's to be expected. We saw the town that Auntie Sue wants to live in and bummed around and had some fun. Tara and I went to Munich on an adventure of insanity! We did tons of cool things, including much shopping, a brewery tour, a visit to the Hofbräuhaus (of course) and a visit to the residence grounds. We had some serious good eats at the Andechser Stube, the Hacker-Pschorr Restaurant, and other zummy places. Adventures of Bavarian insanity, and there are pictures (to come when I get back)! Then Tara came down to my place for St. Patty's Day. We went to the Irish Pub, and then hung around town for the weekend. Good times to be had by all. Now I'm shipping out to Ireland for two weeks. There will certainly be plenty to say about that. Good news #1: I got my certificate for my -Church Reform- class today, with a grade of "good" (these Germans are kooky). So all my tests are taken care of. And honestly, they weren't that tough. The hardest one was -War and Propaganda-, which was the only place where language really got in the way. I breezed through -Fascism-, and -Church Reform- was just a 15-minute oral exam. Good news #2: My paper for -Kafka- (theme: "loneliness of the artist") is officially done. I will be dropping it in the mail tomorrow. Then I am officially done with first semester. Good news #3: Tara gets here Friday! Exams are over for me. I still have a paper to write, but I get to take my time with that one. Whee! Now I can resume real life again! :):):) Tara and I worked out our plans for when she comes -- we are going to Munich! Yay! Honestly, that's the extent of it. Unless you want to know that I had an egg sandwich for lunch today, exams and the occasional movie to relax have been my whole life for the last two weeks. Exams begin next week, so I have been studying, studying, studying. Blech. The visit at Auntie Sue's with mom was nice. We went to see the castle at Heidelberg (but no one got locked in). We also played Apples to Apples and drank wine like it was going out of style. It was a kind of quiet weekend, but nice. Since then, I've been doing nothing particularly interesting. Crunch time. Here are some pictures. ( Woot! ) I got caught up in fun silly family stuff at Auntie Sue's and didn't take much time to check my internet jazz. So the holidays at Auntie Sue's were great. The girls were so cute on and leading up to the Big Day. So excited, as small children tend to be. Auntie Sue and I sat around a lot drinking wine and talking about various fun things, because we are awesome like that. I didn't do many outstanding things. I saw a German a capella concert with Jenny and Martin, which was interesting and pretty funny. I went ice skating with the Kandigian family, which was a lot of fun. I wathed as the countless fireworks went off around town on New Years. My mom was here this weekend -- just left for Auntie Sue's, actually. We had dinner at some really nice restaurants, and we went out to the pub last night! We went inside the church and wandered around the city. And we tried to go in the museum of the city's history, but it was closed for the holiday season :( That's really all. But it has been fun and nice. ( Click here for pictures, yo. ) |
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