Well, I need to wake up soon and am still awake. But whatcha going to do. At 5:45 this morning I will leave on a bus for Dublin that is step one on the journey home. Just for Christmas. Don't worry Galway, you're not rid of me yet. Not really a whole lot to report, I'm just killing time waiting for things to charge and what not. I want to be totally ready to go tomorrow morning. No muss, no fuss. I want this whole thing to be an exciting experience, not a stressful one. Which it could easily turn into should anything go wrong.
I spent today finishing up my christmas shopping then hanging out with Sara and Olivia... I'm going to miss them for the 9 days I'm away but will be distracted by people I have missed for so much longer.
Well, that's pretty much it. So odds are this is it until the New Year. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to anyone who reads this. Love you all!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Hospitals... Not fun in any country
So, some of you may remember me talking about Hannah. She is the girl that was supposed to be mine and Olivia's third roomate. Well, last Friday she finally arrived in Galway and gave me a story actually worth telling.
Last friday night was also Liv's 19th birthday bash. We invited a few people over. It was like me Liv, Sara, Hannah, Ewelyna, Luke, Gavin, Ross, Bryan & Rory. I don't think I forgot anyone. Anyways, Hannah got there a little before everyone else and almost right away wasn't feeling so great. She claimed it was her acid reflux but pretty quickly we were on the phone with the doctor, not sure what to do because she really wasn't feeling well. But after laying down in my bed for a bit she got a little back to normal. So, the party went on as planned. We all went out afterwards to Karma, it was a good time. Hannah stayed home and rested.
Saturday morning... Sara's hung over. Me and Liv are contemplating pancakes. Hannah starts feeling a lot worse than the night before. We're not sure what to do and so we get worried. Eventually we call a cab and take her to the hopsital. This is probably around 2 in the afternoon. We're there for 4.5 hours and the doctors say its a stomach infection she probably picked up on the plane and give her something for that as well as for her acid reflux. We head home, watch Mamma Mia (apperently watching Liv and I sing along is good craic... hehehehe) and then Liv, Sara and I head out with Rory.
Sunday rolls around, Hannah seems to be doing better. Without giving too many details she probably doesn't want shared. Around 8 we're getting Ewelyna to pick us up and we're back to the hospital. We are there until 6:30 the following morning, at which point Liv and I had to get home to get a little sleep before meeting Benny (landlord) so he can deal with some of the issues we have around here (on the bright side... my bedroom door now closes and we have a vacuum that doesn't need tape to hold it together). We have to leave Hannah there, and we really don't have any answers about whats going on. All three of us were so wiped by that point.
Luckily for me, GMIT is pretty slow this time of year so Liv had Monday off and could stick around. We visit Hannah for a couple hours, she is eventually admitted and actually gets a room rather than a bed in a hallway. At this point she has had an ultrasound and an X-Ray but there is still no definitive answers. Maybe her appendix?
So, not going to go into every single day. But after the fourth day, Liv and I had spent 24.5 hours in the hospital over four days and poor Hannah, lots more. Honestly, the days are kind of jumbled. But there were 2 days where we were there over 10 hours. The second one of those we both took a two hour break to go into town though. Yesterday I was there for 6 or 7 hours I think. Liv had to work. A friend came and kept me company for a bit while Hannah was sleeping.
This morning she called me to tell me she was being discharged and I worked on figuring out where she was going to stay as my flatmates and I are all leaving soon for a week or so over the holidays and I wanted to make sure Hannah was taken care of. She is feeling much better now but is still recovering (she had a procedure done to reduce swelling in her organs and that seemed to do the trick) and has only been in Ireland for about a week now. I can't even imagine how stressful that would be.
Anyways, I'm going to get to sleep. But I wanted to update everyone on all that as lots of people have asked. Aren't you glad I didn't get into all that jazz in my last post... blogging double time lately.
P.S. Sooooo excited to get home on Monday. Seriously.
Last friday night was also Liv's 19th birthday bash. We invited a few people over. It was like me Liv, Sara, Hannah, Ewelyna, Luke, Gavin, Ross, Bryan & Rory. I don't think I forgot anyone. Anyways, Hannah got there a little before everyone else and almost right away wasn't feeling so great. She claimed it was her acid reflux but pretty quickly we were on the phone with the doctor, not sure what to do because she really wasn't feeling well. But after laying down in my bed for a bit she got a little back to normal. So, the party went on as planned. We all went out afterwards to Karma, it was a good time. Hannah stayed home and rested.
Saturday morning... Sara's hung over. Me and Liv are contemplating pancakes. Hannah starts feeling a lot worse than the night before. We're not sure what to do and so we get worried. Eventually we call a cab and take her to the hopsital. This is probably around 2 in the afternoon. We're there for 4.5 hours and the doctors say its a stomach infection she probably picked up on the plane and give her something for that as well as for her acid reflux. We head home, watch Mamma Mia (apperently watching Liv and I sing along is good craic... hehehehe) and then Liv, Sara and I head out with Rory.
Sunday rolls around, Hannah seems to be doing better. Without giving too many details she probably doesn't want shared. Around 8 we're getting Ewelyna to pick us up and we're back to the hospital. We are there until 6:30 the following morning, at which point Liv and I had to get home to get a little sleep before meeting Benny (landlord) so he can deal with some of the issues we have around here (on the bright side... my bedroom door now closes and we have a vacuum that doesn't need tape to hold it together). We have to leave Hannah there, and we really don't have any answers about whats going on. All three of us were so wiped by that point.
Luckily for me, GMIT is pretty slow this time of year so Liv had Monday off and could stick around. We visit Hannah for a couple hours, she is eventually admitted and actually gets a room rather than a bed in a hallway. At this point she has had an ultrasound and an X-Ray but there is still no definitive answers. Maybe her appendix?
So, not going to go into every single day. But after the fourth day, Liv and I had spent 24.5 hours in the hospital over four days and poor Hannah, lots more. Honestly, the days are kind of jumbled. But there were 2 days where we were there over 10 hours. The second one of those we both took a two hour break to go into town though. Yesterday I was there for 6 or 7 hours I think. Liv had to work. A friend came and kept me company for a bit while Hannah was sleeping.
This morning she called me to tell me she was being discharged and I worked on figuring out where she was going to stay as my flatmates and I are all leaving soon for a week or so over the holidays and I wanted to make sure Hannah was taken care of. She is feeling much better now but is still recovering (she had a procedure done to reduce swelling in her organs and that seemed to do the trick) and has only been in Ireland for about a week now. I can't even imagine how stressful that would be.
Anyways, I'm going to get to sleep. But I wanted to update everyone on all that as lots of people have asked. Aren't you glad I didn't get into all that jazz in my last post... blogging double time lately.
P.S. Sooooo excited to get home on Monday. Seriously.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Almost home time
Alright... so Belfast was awesome. Probably one of my favorite trips so far. It definitely beat out Scotland just because I didn't get to see much.
Belfast- Giants Causeway was pretty cool, but it was raining so much that I couldn't climb around that much. Well, I could have but probably would have cracked my head open. And that would have been uncomfortable. I saw the front of Carrikfurgus castle, which is one of my strongest memories of the last time I was in Belfast. I'd like to go in it if I ever get back to Belfast. Which Liv and I are planning to do in April. I also did a Titanic walking tour, which I almost didn't do but am so glad I did. I learned a lot and it was really cool.
Another highlight was seeing Clonduff drive, specifically the house where my dad (and my aunts & uncles) were born. It felt pretty cool to walk around where I knew they had all walked when they were young. I wish I had gotten a picture of me in front of the house but no one was around, and I would have felt awkward anyway. Maybe I'll go back with Casey some time.
Plus, I did super well on my Celtic Thunder world tour... Which is basically my nerdtastic plan to see anywhere mentioned in a Celtic Thunder song. I saw the Mountains of Mourne on my bus ride back to Dublin. I also saw a foggy, barely visible Mull of Kintyre, Belfast and... Caledonia.
Scotland- So, Liv and I flew in to Glasgow, but after talking to everyone realised there wasn't anything we wanted to see there. So we wandered a little, giggled at West Nile Avenue and then got right on a bus to Edinburgh. Our first day we spent a lot of time in Edinburgh castle which is a pretty impressive place with a lot of history, going right up to WWII. (Side note: It's interesting but people here (Europe in general) mention World War II a lot more than people at home, because it was so much more of a reality for them, even people who weren't remotley alive for it, it had a much bigger impact). Got some pictures there and then just kind of wandered the city. St. Giles Cathedral made me happy (Buffy reference).
Then we checked into our hostel which was really cool. It was like a bunch of apartments with hostel rooms. So you were only sharing the kitchen with a couple bedrooms. The place was freeezzziinnnggg though. But, the first night we had the whole apartment to ourselves.
After checking in and unwinding for a bit we headed off to get dinner (Subway, shocking) and then went to the Elephant House, one of the cafes where J.K. Rowling worked on Harry Potter. Had some realllyy good hot chocolate there. Then back to the hostel to get dressed for a night out. We randomly wandered and just picked a pub. But of course, the one we ended up in was pretty clearly an 'irish pub'. Lots of Shamrocks and count downs to st. patricks day. Woo. Still fun though. Some weiirrdd Scottish men dancing around, but whatcha gunna do. Then we went and danced at a club, Espionage, which was a decent place and really close to our hostel, which was a plus because Scotland is def. colder than Ireland.
So, for day 2 of scotland there was a whole thing with pretty much a tour of the entire country. At first I wasn't going to go because I couldn't afford it. Then Liv, being the awesomest person that she is, offered to pay as my christmas present. So, we woke up super early, walked to the bus stop and found out there was only one seat left. Urggh. So I walked back by myself and went to bed. I spent the day shopping and wandering the city. Beautiful place, hard to find groceries near the royal mile though. But yeah, that was Scotland. I hope to get back at some point and explore a bit more.
Anyways, there is more news but I'm a little bored of writing at the moment and I imagine that was a lot to read so I'll go again later. The next blog involves a trip to Galways hospital (not for me though). Until then.
Belfast- Giants Causeway was pretty cool, but it was raining so much that I couldn't climb around that much. Well, I could have but probably would have cracked my head open. And that would have been uncomfortable. I saw the front of Carrikfurgus castle, which is one of my strongest memories of the last time I was in Belfast. I'd like to go in it if I ever get back to Belfast. Which Liv and I are planning to do in April. I also did a Titanic walking tour, which I almost didn't do but am so glad I did. I learned a lot and it was really cool.
Another highlight was seeing Clonduff drive, specifically the house where my dad (and my aunts & uncles) were born. It felt pretty cool to walk around where I knew they had all walked when they were young. I wish I had gotten a picture of me in front of the house but no one was around, and I would have felt awkward anyway. Maybe I'll go back with Casey some time.
Plus, I did super well on my Celtic Thunder world tour... Which is basically my nerdtastic plan to see anywhere mentioned in a Celtic Thunder song. I saw the Mountains of Mourne on my bus ride back to Dublin. I also saw a foggy, barely visible Mull of Kintyre, Belfast and... Caledonia.
Scotland- So, Liv and I flew in to Glasgow, but after talking to everyone realised there wasn't anything we wanted to see there. So we wandered a little, giggled at West Nile Avenue and then got right on a bus to Edinburgh. Our first day we spent a lot of time in Edinburgh castle which is a pretty impressive place with a lot of history, going right up to WWII. (Side note: It's interesting but people here (Europe in general) mention World War II a lot more than people at home, because it was so much more of a reality for them, even people who weren't remotley alive for it, it had a much bigger impact). Got some pictures there and then just kind of wandered the city. St. Giles Cathedral made me happy (Buffy reference).
Then we checked into our hostel which was really cool. It was like a bunch of apartments with hostel rooms. So you were only sharing the kitchen with a couple bedrooms. The place was freeezzziinnnggg though. But, the first night we had the whole apartment to ourselves.
After checking in and unwinding for a bit we headed off to get dinner (Subway, shocking) and then went to the Elephant House, one of the cafes where J.K. Rowling worked on Harry Potter. Had some realllyy good hot chocolate there. Then back to the hostel to get dressed for a night out. We randomly wandered and just picked a pub. But of course, the one we ended up in was pretty clearly an 'irish pub'. Lots of Shamrocks and count downs to st. patricks day. Woo. Still fun though. Some weiirrdd Scottish men dancing around, but whatcha gunna do. Then we went and danced at a club, Espionage, which was a decent place and really close to our hostel, which was a plus because Scotland is def. colder than Ireland.
So, for day 2 of scotland there was a whole thing with pretty much a tour of the entire country. At first I wasn't going to go because I couldn't afford it. Then Liv, being the awesomest person that she is, offered to pay as my christmas present. So, we woke up super early, walked to the bus stop and found out there was only one seat left. Urggh. So I walked back by myself and went to bed. I spent the day shopping and wandering the city. Beautiful place, hard to find groceries near the royal mile though. But yeah, that was Scotland. I hope to get back at some point and explore a bit more.
Anyways, there is more news but I'm a little bored of writing at the moment and I imagine that was a lot to read so I'll go again later. The next blog involves a trip to Galways hospital (not for me though). Until then.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Quick Update
I am currently sitting in a hostel in Belfast waiting for my tour to Giants Causeway to be ready to go. I wasn't originally going to do this but I'm opting to skip Bangor this trip so I had some extra time. Plus, it's chilly out today so hanging out on a bus sounds like more fun than hanging out in the cold wandering around a city I don't know.
Tomorrow I am going to see the house my dad was born in and doing a Titanic walking tour. I'm pretty pumped about both of those things. When I went to the atm this morning (I woke up earlier today than I have in a VERY long time. The fun-employed have no need for 8am wakeups, backpackers apperently do. Although, I really could have slept in later) there was a guy wearing a jacket with 'R.M.S. Titanic' on it and I got excited. I am such a Titanic junky.
I'm getting a little stressed about money. This week is going to cost A LOT of it. I might skip the trip to Germany with the roomates. Gotta be smart about all this right? Right! I dunno, we'll see. I will stress later when I have less to do. Anyways, that's it for now. I might come back online tonight and let the blogosphere know how Giants Causeway was... but lets face it, probably not.
Tomorrow I am going to see the house my dad was born in and doing a Titanic walking tour. I'm pretty pumped about both of those things. When I went to the atm this morning (I woke up earlier today than I have in a VERY long time. The fun-employed have no need for 8am wakeups, backpackers apperently do. Although, I really could have slept in later) there was a guy wearing a jacket with 'R.M.S. Titanic' on it and I got excited. I am such a Titanic junky.
I'm getting a little stressed about money. This week is going to cost A LOT of it. I might skip the trip to Germany with the roomates. Gotta be smart about all this right? Right! I dunno, we'll see. I will stress later when I have less to do. Anyways, that's it for now. I might come back online tonight and let the blogosphere know how Giants Causeway was... but lets face it, probably not.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Been Awhile
Sorry, I know I haven't blogged in awhile... you can thank the mysterious breaking power cable for that. My power cable broke which left me laptopless, so I've been using Liv's laptop whenever she's working or asleep. I on the other hand, have not been working. Boooo to that. I'm going to try again in the new year and for now just make the best of my time off.
This week, the flatmates and I decided to keep busy by going out a lot. We went to club K on both Monday and Tuesday, took yesterday off to relax and watch Buffy & Angel, tonight we're going out again for our friend Rory's birthday. Tomorrow out again with a friend of Liv and Sara's from work. Then Saturday, out again... just cause.
Theeen, next week I am thinking of going to Belfast for a few days. Not sure yet where I'd want to check out, I should email my dad about that and see if he can remember any of the places we went last time. We'll see how/if that goes. Then, for sure, next weekend Liv and I are heading to Scotland for a whirlwind tour of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Should be super exciting, and kind of crazy. We're only there for 2 days, eep! Then, shortly after we get back, it's Olivia's 19th birthday which will of course mean more going out, and other fun stuff like that. Plus, Sara has promised to make Oreo Cupcakes.
The next thing after that is heading home for 9 days for Christmas (soooo excited for that btw, then back here for New Years. Then, New Years day, we are going to treat like our Christmas, here at 3 Dun Leinn. Then after that we are leaving for either Norway or Germany for a few days. Should be epic.
That's basically all the news I have. It kind of sucks that I don't have a job at this point but I am here to experience things I couldn't at home, and that's what I'm doing. I will make the money situation work, I'm not worried... just need to make the most of what I have :)
This week, the flatmates and I decided to keep busy by going out a lot. We went to club K on both Monday and Tuesday, took yesterday off to relax and watch Buffy & Angel, tonight we're going out again for our friend Rory's birthday. Tomorrow out again with a friend of Liv and Sara's from work. Then Saturday, out again... just cause.
Theeen, next week I am thinking of going to Belfast for a few days. Not sure yet where I'd want to check out, I should email my dad about that and see if he can remember any of the places we went last time. We'll see how/if that goes. Then, for sure, next weekend Liv and I are heading to Scotland for a whirlwind tour of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Should be super exciting, and kind of crazy. We're only there for 2 days, eep! Then, shortly after we get back, it's Olivia's 19th birthday which will of course mean more going out, and other fun stuff like that. Plus, Sara has promised to make Oreo Cupcakes.
The next thing after that is heading home for 9 days for Christmas (soooo excited for that btw, then back here for New Years. Then, New Years day, we are going to treat like our Christmas, here at 3 Dun Leinn. Then after that we are leaving for either Norway or Germany for a few days. Should be epic.
That's basically all the news I have. It kind of sucks that I don't have a job at this point but I am here to experience things I couldn't at home, and that's what I'm doing. I will make the money situation work, I'm not worried... just need to make the most of what I have :)
Friday, November 6, 2009
This just might have made my week
So, today I got a package from home, and honestly... it's exactly what I needed. I've had kind of a blah week for whatever reasons. The job hunt has still been unsuccessful, although I got a dog walking gig with a dog named JoJo. Very cute!
Anyways, the package from my family included all the Christmas music from my dad, which is awesome. Feels more homey, ya know? Also included some Canada sticky things which are also awesome, and I just might go out tomorrow with a Canadian flag temporary tattoo.
Also got the puppy christmas t-shirt... love love! Plus, a Maple Leafs one which is perfect. Despite the fact that Liv, Sara and I don't really follow hockey. We've had a few debates over whose team is best. I have no illusions of the Leafs being any good, but hey, gotta support where your from =D Also, learned a semi-interesting fact... Sara at one point said that the Leafs have never won the cup. Did you know, that the Leafs have more Stanley Cup wins than both Albertan teams combined... Twice over! Alberta- 6, Leafs- 13. Actually, Ontario- 13. I had no idea the Sens had never won the cup. Poor little Ottawa.
Also, got some Alfredo Sauce which I have been crrraavvvinnng. And a pack of Swiss Chalet Gravy mix which I am realllly excited for!
Plus, the rest of the season (starting when I left) of SYTYCD Canada and some pictures of the fam, and my Molly dart flights. We're planning on playing darts tonight, which should be fun. Odds are Sara and Liv will be all, hmm, this is boring but I've been wanting to play darts since I got here. Excited!
So yesterday was a good day, that ended up having a crappy end... Today shall be a good day (package from home & christmas music = very good day) with a great night.
... That's the spirit!
Anyways, the package from my family included all the Christmas music from my dad, which is awesome. Feels more homey, ya know? Also included some Canada sticky things which are also awesome, and I just might go out tomorrow with a Canadian flag temporary tattoo.
Also got the puppy christmas t-shirt... love love! Plus, a Maple Leafs one which is perfect. Despite the fact that Liv, Sara and I don't really follow hockey. We've had a few debates over whose team is best. I have no illusions of the Leafs being any good, but hey, gotta support where your from =D Also, learned a semi-interesting fact... Sara at one point said that the Leafs have never won the cup. Did you know, that the Leafs have more Stanley Cup wins than both Albertan teams combined... Twice over! Alberta- 6, Leafs- 13. Actually, Ontario- 13. I had no idea the Sens had never won the cup. Poor little Ottawa.
Also, got some Alfredo Sauce which I have been crrraavvvinnng. And a pack of Swiss Chalet Gravy mix which I am realllly excited for!
Plus, the rest of the season (starting when I left) of SYTYCD Canada and some pictures of the fam, and my Molly dart flights. We're planning on playing darts tonight, which should be fun. Odds are Sara and Liv will be all, hmm, this is boring but I've been wanting to play darts since I got here. Excited!
So yesterday was a good day, that ended up having a crappy end... Today shall be a good day (package from home & christmas music = very good day) with a great night.
... That's the spirit!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Happy Halloween!
Look at me, blogging on a regular basis again. Woo! Anyways, my job at the pet store fell through because they succcckkk, hardcore. I've spent the last week handing out resumes. No bites yet, but all the retail places are going to start hiring for the Christmas season soon, so I'm really not worried. In addition, I also put some posters up around town, advertising myself as a Pet Sitter/ Dog Walker. Even if I only get a couple bites, its a little extra money. I want to make the money I have now in euro last until Christmas (in order to do this, I will need to make some money). After that, I'll still have $2500 for after Christmas. Yay!
So, tonight is Halloween. We've already gone out on our costumes twice, but this has been the night I've really been looking forward to. Liv and I are Thing 1 and Thing 2. We made our costumes and I think they turned out really, really well. Pictures to come (probably on Facebook, posting pictures on here is kind of a chore).
Tomorrow is November 1st, which for me means novel writing time. I'm probably going to go into town tomorrow and attend the kick off write in. Yay for meeting people since the whole making work friends thing requires... work!
Anyways, Happy Halloween everyone. I miss you all!
So, tonight is Halloween. We've already gone out on our costumes twice, but this has been the night I've really been looking forward to. Liv and I are Thing 1 and Thing 2. We made our costumes and I think they turned out really, really well. Pictures to come (probably on Facebook, posting pictures on here is kind of a chore).
Tomorrow is November 1st, which for me means novel writing time. I'm probably going to go into town tomorrow and attend the kick off write in. Yay for meeting people since the whole making work friends thing requires... work!
Anyways, Happy Halloween everyone. I miss you all!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Canada vs Ireland
Things I miss about Canada...
1. Not having to remember to turn an outlet on before I use it.
2. The lack of roundabouts, and how long they take to cross for a pedestrian.
3. Little Caesars crazy bread. Along with Wendys, Harveys and more.
4. Appliances working, no fiddling required.
5. A bedroom door that shuts all the way. Or... having the entire basement to myself most of the time.
6. The cloths and books that I left behind.
7. Not having to download all of my tv. We seriously don't have a TV here.
8. Molllyyyyy (and the rest of my family, of course). + Friends.
Things I love about Ireland...
1. Being able to walk down your street and see horse drawn cart things on the road along with traffic.
2. Flowers still blooming at this time of year.
3. SuperMacs... Being able to go into one building and get a burger, chicken, a hot dog, a sub or pizza at 3am.
4. The guys here actually dance at the clubs, rather than just standing around the dance floor watching all the girls like creeps.
5. The random dogs that just wander around. Most are pretty friendly, but one bit Liv after she stopped rubbing its tummy.
6. My roomates.
7. Galway... It really has a small town kind of feel to it, despite being the third largest city in this country. Everything you need in the city center is within a 15 minute walk of each other and now, walking through the city center I am almost garenteed to see someone I know.
8. Can't believe I forgot to mention this one for so long... The chocolate! I am not a huge chocolate eater at home but here. Liv and I basically require chocolate as part of our diet every day. It's just soooo good. Fingers, Twirl bars, Flakes, buttons... Mmmm.
1. Not having to remember to turn an outlet on before I use it.
2. The lack of roundabouts, and how long they take to cross for a pedestrian.
3. Little Caesars crazy bread. Along with Wendys, Harveys and more.
4. Appliances working, no fiddling required.
5. A bedroom door that shuts all the way. Or... having the entire basement to myself most of the time.
6. The cloths and books that I left behind.
7. Not having to download all of my tv. We seriously don't have a TV here.
8. Molllyyyyy (and the rest of my family, of course). + Friends.
Things I love about Ireland...
1. Being able to walk down your street and see horse drawn cart things on the road along with traffic.
2. Flowers still blooming at this time of year.
3. SuperMacs... Being able to go into one building and get a burger, chicken, a hot dog, a sub or pizza at 3am.
4. The guys here actually dance at the clubs, rather than just standing around the dance floor watching all the girls like creeps.
5. The random dogs that just wander around. Most are pretty friendly, but one bit Liv after she stopped rubbing its tummy.
6. My roomates.
7. Galway... It really has a small town kind of feel to it, despite being the third largest city in this country. Everything you need in the city center is within a 15 minute walk of each other and now, walking through the city center I am almost garenteed to see someone I know.
8. Can't believe I forgot to mention this one for so long... The chocolate! I am not a huge chocolate eater at home but here. Liv and I basically require chocolate as part of our diet every day. It's just soooo good. Fingers, Twirl bars, Flakes, buttons... Mmmm.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Haven't forgotten
I know I haven't blogged in awhile... things have reached kind of a lull. I'm still not working.. I went for what was my third interview (a bit much for a minimum wage job, no?) on Tuesday. Its still that pet store job I'm sure I've mentioned to a lot of you. I've got my sights set on it. Anyways, they said they would get back to me as of Thursday, and it is now end of Friday. I'll have to call them soon, but I hate to pester.
Hannah, the girl from Nova Scotia, who was supposed to be my third roomate has dropped off the face of the planet (really... she hasn't even been on facebook =o). So, this other Canadian girl Sarah is moving in this weekend. She'll be working with Olivia as well... jobs for everyone but me. I still love it here though.
Neighbors are shouting right now...they're so obnoxios. Was going to make this longer but I've run out of things to say and really want to go snoop. Gnite.
Hannah, the girl from Nova Scotia, who was supposed to be my third roomate has dropped off the face of the planet (really... she hasn't even been on facebook =o). So, this other Canadian girl Sarah is moving in this weekend. She'll be working with Olivia as well... jobs for everyone but me. I still love it here though.
Neighbors are shouting right now...they're so obnoxios. Was going to make this longer but I've run out of things to say and really want to go snoop. Gnite.
Friday, October 9, 2009
I've been told to blog
So, one irritating thing about travelling.. Retelling things over and over again. Anyways, I just got back from Paris, it was really great. We got to Paris at midnight on Saturday-Sunday. Stayed up alllll night for Nuit Blanche, the white night. Where things stay open all night. Then we went to The Louvre, saw the Mona Lisa and other works of art. Monday we went to Disneyland. It was EPPPIIIICCCC! Tuesday we went to Notre Dame and Versaille. Learned a lot, was very interesting. Lit a candle for Uncle Ronnie at Notre Dame. Wednesday we hung out for a bit at the Eiffle Tower but were very, very eager to get home. It was really tiring and the language barrier is scary and really slows you down.
I've been putting up one day of photos on facebook at a time because there are just soooo many. I took 800, plus videos over just 4 days. I wont be putting them all up, probably about 100 a day. It was 150 for the louvre, 106 for disney. After thats up I'll try to put up some of the videos I've taken as well as some of the pictures from Galway of nights out, and the flat.
So... tonight, Olivia and I watched both Celtic Thunder DVDs. She loved them, (almost) as much as I do! It was awesome and made me super happy. My at home friends think CT is "lame". Olivia = awesome! Not that my at home friends aren't also awesome.. but this recent update has made me very happy. Go team! Anyways, I'm sleepy but will blog again soon.
Oh, job update.. still not officially hired at Petworld. I went in for two minutes just to be told to email my CV in, which I did when I got home. Both the man who interviewed me and the store manager at the store I'd be working at say the job is mine, but their boss wants to be part of the process since they got screwed over by the last person they hired. So yeah, still waiting. But I'm still okay for cash so I'm happy to just enjoy this free time (trying to catch up on TV shows) before I start working full time again. Eww.
Liv and I are going out with a group of people tomorrow! I'm hoping that will be fun =D
I've been putting up one day of photos on facebook at a time because there are just soooo many. I took 800, plus videos over just 4 days. I wont be putting them all up, probably about 100 a day. It was 150 for the louvre, 106 for disney. After thats up I'll try to put up some of the videos I've taken as well as some of the pictures from Galway of nights out, and the flat.
So... tonight, Olivia and I watched both Celtic Thunder DVDs. She loved them, (almost) as much as I do! It was awesome and made me super happy. My at home friends think CT is "lame". Olivia = awesome! Not that my at home friends aren't also awesome.. but this recent update has made me very happy. Go team! Anyways, I'm sleepy but will blog again soon.
Oh, job update.. still not officially hired at Petworld. I went in for two minutes just to be told to email my CV in, which I did when I got home. Both the man who interviewed me and the store manager at the store I'd be working at say the job is mine, but their boss wants to be part of the process since they got screwed over by the last person they hired. So yeah, still waiting. But I'm still okay for cash so I'm happy to just enjoy this free time (trying to catch up on TV shows) before I start working full time again. Eww.
Liv and I are going out with a group of people tomorrow! I'm hoping that will be fun =D
Friday, October 2, 2009
Paris tomorrow!!!
So, Olivia and I knew we wanted to go do something this weekend... travel before we were tied down with jobs. Originally we were going to do a train tour of some of the counties to the east of us but then we decided to aim higher and do something awesome... so we're going to Paris.
We leave tomorrow, catching a bus from the Galway coach station at 3ish, flying out of Dublin and landing in Paris around 10 I think. Actually, its an airport outside of Paris, so with the shuttle we've booked we get to Paris around midnight. From there... crazy Paris adventures until mid day Wednesday when we fly back =D I am soooo beyond excited. Need to take lots of pictures.
The timing works pretty well too, since we also both got jobs. Well, technically mine is only "I'm confident we have a place for you, I just have to have a meeting with my boss and see which store we need you most in". I'll find out once I get back from my trip. I'll be working at a Petstore... shocking. I did a little research before hand to see where I wanted to apply and just realllllyy lucked out that the store I was looking at had just opened a new franchise, literally down the street from me. I'd rather work at the close store obviously, but the one thats farther away is easy to get to by bus and is signifigantly bigger, and has a lot more of the pets that I am used to working with, would probably be more fun, but harder work too. Well, Paris first, then dealing with jobs! Yay! So excited. Things are going so well here.
Side note: Saw The Invention of Lying tonight, it was pretty entertaining. I recommend it. Was going to see Toy Story, but will do that next weekend.
We leave tomorrow, catching a bus from the Galway coach station at 3ish, flying out of Dublin and landing in Paris around 10 I think. Actually, its an airport outside of Paris, so with the shuttle we've booked we get to Paris around midnight. From there... crazy Paris adventures until mid day Wednesday when we fly back =D I am soooo beyond excited. Need to take lots of pictures.
The timing works pretty well too, since we also both got jobs. Well, technically mine is only "I'm confident we have a place for you, I just have to have a meeting with my boss and see which store we need you most in". I'll find out once I get back from my trip. I'll be working at a Petstore... shocking. I did a little research before hand to see where I wanted to apply and just realllllyy lucked out that the store I was looking at had just opened a new franchise, literally down the street from me. I'd rather work at the close store obviously, but the one thats farther away is easy to get to by bus and is signifigantly bigger, and has a lot more of the pets that I am used to working with, would probably be more fun, but harder work too. Well, Paris first, then dealing with jobs! Yay! So excited. Things are going so well here.
Side note: Saw The Invention of Lying tonight, it was pretty entertaining. I recommend it. Was going to see Toy Story, but will do that next weekend.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Settled in
Well, we've been in our flat for almost a week now and I really do like it here. A few things still don't work (drier, microwave and the shower is... finicky) but the landlord is working on it. Good enough for me. Originally we were kinda meh because it's a bit of a walk to town but we've walked it several times now and it's really not so bad. Getting wicked amounts of exercise too, lol. Which is good, because it's been a few days now since I haven't had chocolate. Kylie would love it here =P
Olivia and I meant to do a video tour of the flat to post up on facebook and what not but I forgot about it until right now, so maybe we'll do that today. Our list of things to do is pretty minimal today, beyond job hunting anyways. I have a list of places I want to call today and we'll see how that goes. Ugh, I hate job hunting. I did talk to a pet store but they recently opened and it might be another few weeks before they know if they need anyone else. I'm guessing I'd have a good shot at it, but they might not even want to hire anyone else. Murr.
So, we have a plant... and are getting a fish. Our place is actually pretty cute. Hmm, I should probably clean up my room before the video tour. Since the drier doesn't work, there always tends to be laundry hanging everywhere. Plus, I don't have any drawers so theres a lot of random crap on my desk. Anyways, I'm going to go be productive.
Olivia and I meant to do a video tour of the flat to post up on facebook and what not but I forgot about it until right now, so maybe we'll do that today. Our list of things to do is pretty minimal today, beyond job hunting anyways. I have a list of places I want to call today and we'll see how that goes. Ugh, I hate job hunting. I did talk to a pet store but they recently opened and it might be another few weeks before they know if they need anyone else. I'm guessing I'd have a good shot at it, but they might not even want to hire anyone else. Murr.
So, we have a plant... and are getting a fish. Our place is actually pretty cute. Hmm, I should probably clean up my room before the video tour. Since the drier doesn't work, there always tends to be laundry hanging everywhere. Plus, I don't have any drawers so theres a lot of random crap on my desk. Anyways, I'm going to go be productive.
Friday, September 25, 2009
September 24th... no internet
September 24th, 2009- 1:01 AM
Well, no internet connection in my new flat yet, so I’m writing this on word. Anyways… So rumour has it that materialism is bad, but I have to say that there is something to be said for having “your stuff”. I’m sitting here in my bed… with a duvet, sheet and pillows I just bought today and am feeling more at home than I thought I would, and I think it’s because just a few feet a way is a desk full of my stuff. My books, my cd case full of tv and computer games. I’ve also got the picture frame that all my friends signed, even though it doesn’t have a picture in it yet. It is just a bunch of stuff that was important enough to me to lug it along on two plane rides and then from Navan to a hotel, to a hostel in Galway, to my new flat. I also adopted a pirate pillow from a box marked free at the hostel.
Olivia and I love it here so far. We cleaned like mad today and then did a little rearranging and now we are basically in love with it. There are still some final touches that we want to get, but it is already a pretty excellent home base for our Irish adventure. Once we get the damn toilet fixed anyways.
So, last night we went to 90s night at Cuba, one of the seven clubs here (that I have counted so far). Coyotes, the Texas themed bar we went to on the weekend had more atmosphere, and a nicer looking set up, but you really cannot go wrong with 90s music. I want to talk to my friends about it, bah.
I think I want to make Kraft Dinner tomorrow for lunch. Well, something along those lines, using the cheese packs I have with me.
It kind of sucks not having the internet, the guy isin’t coming to set it up until Monday. I won’t be able to talk to anyone. I should let KKG know that I won’t be able to make it on Sunday. I’ll probably pop by an internet café sometime between now and then to work out all that funny business.
But yeah, I’m tired… just wanted to take a moment to appreciate my stuff. I will try to give more details on the new place later on.
3:03 pm
Busy day so far, getting some stuff accomplished. The day started off with a plumber coming to make the toilet less insane. Then I showered, I wanted to get an early start on job hunting but, alas, no hair dryer yet so I had to hang out here for a bit. Then I called the number I have for Petworld, the store I’ve been talking to about applying. I had sent an email and been asked to drop off a CV at the store, but it turns out that store is pretty far away. But when Olivia and I were walking around and checking out our new neighbourhood, it turns out the newest Petworld franchise is just a 15 minute walk up the street. Score! Assuming I can get a job there. Even if not, yay that there is a pet store nearby I guess, I can just keep pestering them til they hire me.
Once I got back I took my turn doing laundry, although I am now thinking I should have waited a bit, since electricity is cheaper at night here. Oh well, one load each wont break the bank and it means less clutter in my room, I had definitely accumulated a lot of laundry between home and here.
I also called my mom, I wanted to make sure she knew I was okay, since I wont have the internet til Monday and made my first pot of KD here. Does not taste even a little bit the same, or even a little bit delicious. It’s tolerable, but the noodles I have to get make for getting a lot of powder cheese mixed in with the rest. Blah.
Annnnd, final note. Today is Arthurs day, celebrating 250 years of Guiness. Olivia wants to go out tonight, not sure I’m really feeling it (Guinness = ick) but yeah, we’ll see.
Well, no internet connection in my new flat yet, so I’m writing this on word. Anyways… So rumour has it that materialism is bad, but I have to say that there is something to be said for having “your stuff”. I’m sitting here in my bed… with a duvet, sheet and pillows I just bought today and am feeling more at home than I thought I would, and I think it’s because just a few feet a way is a desk full of my stuff. My books, my cd case full of tv and computer games. I’ve also got the picture frame that all my friends signed, even though it doesn’t have a picture in it yet. It is just a bunch of stuff that was important enough to me to lug it along on two plane rides and then from Navan to a hotel, to a hostel in Galway, to my new flat. I also adopted a pirate pillow from a box marked free at the hostel.
Olivia and I love it here so far. We cleaned like mad today and then did a little rearranging and now we are basically in love with it. There are still some final touches that we want to get, but it is already a pretty excellent home base for our Irish adventure. Once we get the damn toilet fixed anyways.
So, last night we went to 90s night at Cuba, one of the seven clubs here (that I have counted so far). Coyotes, the Texas themed bar we went to on the weekend had more atmosphere, and a nicer looking set up, but you really cannot go wrong with 90s music. I want to talk to my friends about it, bah.
I think I want to make Kraft Dinner tomorrow for lunch. Well, something along those lines, using the cheese packs I have with me.
It kind of sucks not having the internet, the guy isin’t coming to set it up until Monday. I won’t be able to talk to anyone. I should let KKG know that I won’t be able to make it on Sunday. I’ll probably pop by an internet café sometime between now and then to work out all that funny business.
But yeah, I’m tired… just wanted to take a moment to appreciate my stuff. I will try to give more details on the new place later on.
3:03 pm
Busy day so far, getting some stuff accomplished. The day started off with a plumber coming to make the toilet less insane. Then I showered, I wanted to get an early start on job hunting but, alas, no hair dryer yet so I had to hang out here for a bit. Then I called the number I have for Petworld, the store I’ve been talking to about applying. I had sent an email and been asked to drop off a CV at the store, but it turns out that store is pretty far away. But when Olivia and I were walking around and checking out our new neighbourhood, it turns out the newest Petworld franchise is just a 15 minute walk up the street. Score! Assuming I can get a job there. Even if not, yay that there is a pet store nearby I guess, I can just keep pestering them til they hire me.
Once I got back I took my turn doing laundry, although I am now thinking I should have waited a bit, since electricity is cheaper at night here. Oh well, one load each wont break the bank and it means less clutter in my room, I had definitely accumulated a lot of laundry between home and here.
I also called my mom, I wanted to make sure she knew I was okay, since I wont have the internet til Monday and made my first pot of KD here. Does not taste even a little bit the same, or even a little bit delicious. It’s tolerable, but the noodles I have to get make for getting a lot of powder cheese mixed in with the rest. Blah.
Annnnd, final note. Today is Arthurs day, celebrating 250 years of Guiness. Olivia wants to go out tonight, not sure I’m really feeling it (Guinness = ick) but yeah, we’ll see.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sick of being sick!
I'm so done with having this cold. I have been blowing my nose non stop today, its driving me up the wall. On the bright side, Olivia and I went and checked out some flats today, it was definitely an experience. The first one, an old b&b, and smelled really bad. The lady renting it out was kinda weird and not terribly enthusiastic about getting rid of the place, or anything in general. She did have a plate of cigarette butts though, classy lady.
The next was like a half hour walk or so from the city center (more or less, we didnt walk the whole way, because when we stopped for directions, we got ourselves a ride), was nicer and a little more spacious than the first. The last one we went to was sooo super nice. We fell in love with it right away! But it would be impossible for us to get. Not only is it in high demand, but you need a ton of stuff (bank account, PPS number, employer) that we just dont have yet. So we're going for the second one, going to work it all out tomorrow. Hopefully anyways. I could be out of here in no time. Silly hostel, with silly people. Olivia has a roomate that walks around naked. Bah!!
This whole thing has been kind of confusing, don't want to make the wrong decision, or ask stupid questions, or forget to ask important questions. So glad I'm not doing this by myself. Olivia and I make a good team so far, and she can cook! Woot woot!
Alright, bored of writing and getting sleepy.
The next was like a half hour walk or so from the city center (more or less, we didnt walk the whole way, because when we stopped for directions, we got ourselves a ride), was nicer and a little more spacious than the first. The last one we went to was sooo super nice. We fell in love with it right away! But it would be impossible for us to get. Not only is it in high demand, but you need a ton of stuff (bank account, PPS number, employer) that we just dont have yet. So we're going for the second one, going to work it all out tomorrow. Hopefully anyways. I could be out of here in no time. Silly hostel, with silly people. Olivia has a roomate that walks around naked. Bah!!
This whole thing has been kind of confusing, don't want to make the wrong decision, or ask stupid questions, or forget to ask important questions. So glad I'm not doing this by myself. Olivia and I make a good team so far, and she can cook! Woot woot!
Alright, bored of writing and getting sleepy.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Galway!
Slept 11 hours last night, take that jet lag!!! So, I managed to get some sleep, and now I have a cold... but whatever, I'm in Galway. It is so fantastic, I already like it way better than Dublin. It really is beautiful here, and friggin impossible to find anything. Street signs are not their thing. Oh well.
I've got an appointment to view a flat on Monday, which I'm looking forward to. I wanted to go drop off my CV at the petstore I've spoken with today but my feet just hurt tooo much from yesterday when all I had to do was walk around Dublin. I've switched shoes three times today to see if it helps, it hasn't. So yeah, theres no way I'm walking the hour or so to Terryland and I'm not quite confident enough to try their buses yet. You have to flag them down, theres no route map, and you pay based on how far you're going. Madness!
So, of the three roomates I had when I got here, two were fantastic (german girl and korean girl) and one doesn't seem to want to chat (at first I thought maybe she doesn't speak English.. but she's reading in English, so just not chatty) annnd the two great ones left this morning. Boooo! Oh well, Olivia should get here soon enough. I met her in Dublin (after talking to her on Facebook) and she seems like she'd be a lot of fun to live with. Not only does she love Wicked (the musical) but has also ready the book that it's based on.
A slovanian girl (woman really, I'd say late 20s) showed up and took the Korean girls bed, but her English isin't great and she has disappeared. Not to worry, I haven't been sitting around in the hostel all day. I found the subway, BK, McDonalds, closest pet store and closest book store, as well as some Irish/British stores I've been told are essential. But theres only so much wandering around a strange (and hard to navigate) city by yourself, with sore feet you can do. A day to just relax won't kill me though. Plus, there is still one more bed to fill in my room, maybe she'll (or even the Slovanian) will want to go out tonight. Maybe not.
I've got an appointment to view a flat on Monday, which I'm looking forward to. I wanted to go drop off my CV at the petstore I've spoken with today but my feet just hurt tooo much from yesterday when all I had to do was walk around Dublin. I've switched shoes three times today to see if it helps, it hasn't. So yeah, theres no way I'm walking the hour or so to Terryland and I'm not quite confident enough to try their buses yet. You have to flag them down, theres no route map, and you pay based on how far you're going. Madness!
So, of the three roomates I had when I got here, two were fantastic (german girl and korean girl) and one doesn't seem to want to chat (at first I thought maybe she doesn't speak English.. but she's reading in English, so just not chatty) annnd the two great ones left this morning. Boooo! Oh well, Olivia should get here soon enough. I met her in Dublin (after talking to her on Facebook) and she seems like she'd be a lot of fun to live with. Not only does she love Wicked (the musical) but has also ready the book that it's based on.
A slovanian girl (woman really, I'd say late 20s) showed up and took the Korean girls bed, but her English isin't great and she has disappeared. Not to worry, I haven't been sitting around in the hostel all day. I found the subway, BK, McDonalds, closest pet store and closest book store, as well as some Irish/British stores I've been told are essential. But theres only so much wandering around a strange (and hard to navigate) city by yourself, with sore feet you can do. A day to just relax won't kill me though. Plus, there is still one more bed to fill in my room, maybe she'll (or even the Slovanian) will want to go out tonight. Maybe not.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
So beyond tired
Jet lag is killliiinngg mee. I didn't sleep on the airplane (my bad), on my first day here I got about 6 hours of sleep, counting a two hour nap in the afternoon, then last night I slept from about 12:15 to 2:45. I got woken up by drunken hooligans outside my window. I could not manage to get back to sleep, and now I am so beyond tired.
I am just hanging out at the USIT (irish SWAP) office, since I have nothing to do. This morning I woke up early in order to go 'immigrate', which didn't take that long to do, maybe an hour and a half or so. Then I wandered around Dublin for a bit, with no memory card in my camera, bah! I wanted to take pictures of these two places that are freakishly similar to North American places. Ricks, rather than Licks, in the same font. And Eddie Rockets, which looks EXACTLY the same as Johnny Rockets. His brother perhaps. Maybe at the irish version they dont drop trays of milkshape on your lap. Maybe not.
I saw a pet store too, that was nice, and an art store Kylie would lovveee. Then I ended up coming here because my laptop is tucked away at the hotel, and if I go back they will probably want me to take all my stuff which I don't want to deal with until I'm in a cab on my way to catch a bus to Galway. I'm calling a cab despite it being a 1 minute drive (according to google) cause I'm a wimp and hating the idea of lugging 55+ pounds of stuff over cobbled streets. Doesn't mesh well with wheely suitcases.
Right now I'm just waiting for a text from Olivia, so we can go to lunch and I can get on my way. Also need to call someone in Galway back about maybe arranging an apartment viewing for tomorrow. They're going to want references though.
I am just hanging out at the USIT (irish SWAP) office, since I have nothing to do. This morning I woke up early in order to go 'immigrate', which didn't take that long to do, maybe an hour and a half or so. Then I wandered around Dublin for a bit, with no memory card in my camera, bah! I wanted to take pictures of these two places that are freakishly similar to North American places. Ricks, rather than Licks, in the same font. And Eddie Rockets, which looks EXACTLY the same as Johnny Rockets. His brother perhaps. Maybe at the irish version they dont drop trays of milkshape on your lap. Maybe not.
I saw a pet store too, that was nice, and an art store Kylie would lovveee. Then I ended up coming here because my laptop is tucked away at the hotel, and if I go back they will probably want me to take all my stuff which I don't want to deal with until I'm in a cab on my way to catch a bus to Galway. I'm calling a cab despite it being a 1 minute drive (according to google) cause I'm a wimp and hating the idea of lugging 55+ pounds of stuff over cobbled streets. Doesn't mesh well with wheely suitcases.
Right now I'm just waiting for a text from Olivia, so we can go to lunch and I can get on my way. Also need to call someone in Galway back about maybe arranging an apartment viewing for tomorrow. They're going to want references though.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
My Trip To Ireland
September 14th
4:47- So I got through the airport without any issues. Unless you count being a little sad as an issue. My flight to Newark will start boarding in about 15 minutes then I am on my way. The airport stuff was actually so easy that there is kind of nothing left to say. I wish I had my Canada phone here so I could call my parents so I could tell them it's all good and no worries.
5:05- I bought an iced tea. Isin't that exciting? Still waiting but I hear irish accents already. Exciting.
6:32- I'm on an airplane right now. Woot. I'm also listening to Veggie Tales. I watched it with Kale today and felt inspired to download it. As we tookoff I had a nice view of the CN Tower, it was very very fitting. I like flying, I don't want to sleep. I'm loving writing on this pocket pc. That's it for now.
8:57- Now I'm waiting around at Newark. I had A&W for dinner, blegh. I also bought a book with my extra American cash. Blee!! Should be another half an hour or so til I'm out of here. I got 20 minutes of free wifi but mom didn't answer her skype. Oh well. She sent me a message on facebook but I ran out of time before I could respond. I feel a lot better now. More like a fantabulous world traveller and less like a kid who is going to miss her dog. PLUS! I'm kinda sleepy. Lugging all this crap around is wearing me out.
9:30- I'm sitttttinnggg on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll take off (again). Sooo, close to getting to sit beside someone my age but he's on the opposite side window seat. Still don't know who my travel buddies are. Damn, two girls my age are now sitting in front of the first guy. Two guys in front of them. I'm on the wrong side of the airplane, lol.
2:44- I think this is the last time I can use Canadian time. So, no one ended up sitting beside me so the flight attendant gave the seat to the guy in the seat opposite me. On one hand, if I'd had the whole bench I might of slept, but he still made an entertaining travel companion. Not too long left, maybe an hour. Ah, I wish I could talk to my friends. Miss you all already. Listening to 'Time of your life'
4:47- So I got through the airport without any issues. Unless you count being a little sad as an issue. My flight to Newark will start boarding in about 15 minutes then I am on my way. The airport stuff was actually so easy that there is kind of nothing left to say. I wish I had my Canada phone here so I could call my parents so I could tell them it's all good and no worries.
5:05- I bought an iced tea. Isin't that exciting? Still waiting but I hear irish accents already. Exciting.
6:32- I'm on an airplane right now. Woot. I'm also listening to Veggie Tales. I watched it with Kale today and felt inspired to download it. As we tookoff I had a nice view of the CN Tower, it was very very fitting. I like flying, I don't want to sleep. I'm loving writing on this pocket pc. That's it for now.
8:57- Now I'm waiting around at Newark. I had A&W for dinner, blegh. I also bought a book with my extra American cash. Blee!! Should be another half an hour or so til I'm out of here. I got 20 minutes of free wifi but mom didn't answer her skype. Oh well. She sent me a message on facebook but I ran out of time before I could respond. I feel a lot better now. More like a fantabulous world traveller and less like a kid who is going to miss her dog. PLUS! I'm kinda sleepy. Lugging all this crap around is wearing me out.
9:30- I'm sitttttinnggg on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll take off (again). Sooo, close to getting to sit beside someone my age but he's on the opposite side window seat. Still don't know who my travel buddies are. Damn, two girls my age are now sitting in front of the first guy. Two guys in front of them. I'm on the wrong side of the airplane, lol.
2:44- I think this is the last time I can use Canadian time. So, no one ended up sitting beside me so the flight attendant gave the seat to the guy in the seat opposite me. On one hand, if I'd had the whole bench I might of slept, but he still made an entertaining travel companion. Not too long left, maybe an hour. Ah, I wish I could talk to my friends. Miss you all already. Listening to 'Time of your life'
Friday, September 11, 2009
Decorating my suitcase
Ahh, about time to go. Anyways, I am just in the process of decorating my suitcase. Kylie did a great job on it, but I wanted to add some sort of travel quote to the back, just for kicks and so that I feel I did a little more to contribute to it.
I stumbled on this list and thought I would share. 50 Best Travel Quotes
It is a list of travel quotes and well, it just makes me want to get up and go... which I am doing very soon. So far, I like both.
Not all those who wander are lost. -Tolkien
and
We travel not to escape life, but so life does not escape us.
I stumbled on this list and thought I would share. 50 Best Travel Quotes
It is a list of travel quotes and well, it just makes me want to get up and go... which I am doing very soon. So far, I like both.
Not all those who wander are lost. -Tolkien
and
We travel not to escape life, but so life does not escape us.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
8 days
I leave a week from tomorrow so I figured that warrented a post. All that's really left to do is buy a couple more things and pack. Ahhhhh! I bought fabric paint to decorate my plain black suitcase (Kylie is going to help) since this suitcase is the best size I could find but like I said, plain and black. My Nannie (grandma) gave me this huggee green suitcase but I really cannot see myself lugging that thing around an airport. This black one is still pretty big, but it means I'll have a decent amount of stuff with me.
The guide book says to pack minimally because you'll be bringing a lot of stuff back with you, but a year is a long time to go on a limited wardrobe (they seem to think you can shop for stuff there but apperently its expensive and there is limited options) so on that topic I'm just going to ignore the advice and do what I want anyway. Muhaha.
I keep putting off doing the things that I need to before I leave. Like clean my room, get all my non clothing stuff together and other fun stuff like that. I dunno, maybe I'm just lazy, but I also don't want to do it too soon and then need the stuff I've packed or something. Heh, I guess I'm just lazy. There is just other stuff I'd rather be doing with my last days here.
My mom and I went a little skype crazy yesterday. For some reason I had always thought it cost money but Kait and I were playing with it the other day and it is going to be a perfect way to keep in touch with everyone. It was actually really fun to talk to and see Kaitlyn who lives in Ottawa. Not that it wasn't fun to talk to you, Mom, from another floor of the house =P Either way, I'm pretty excited about that. I'll be able to show my friends and family where I am and they'll be able to show me... Molly!
Wellll, I think I'm going to go hang out with my dog now... but here are the things I need to do today.
1. Pack for Barrie/ Go to Barrie
2. Do a load of laundry
3. Order custom dart flights
4. Tidy bottom of the stairs
5. Change part of the fish filter
6. Tidy futon room
The guide book says to pack minimally because you'll be bringing a lot of stuff back with you, but a year is a long time to go on a limited wardrobe (they seem to think you can shop for stuff there but apperently its expensive and there is limited options) so on that topic I'm just going to ignore the advice and do what I want anyway. Muhaha.
I keep putting off doing the things that I need to before I leave. Like clean my room, get all my non clothing stuff together and other fun stuff like that. I dunno, maybe I'm just lazy, but I also don't want to do it too soon and then need the stuff I've packed or something. Heh, I guess I'm just lazy. There is just other stuff I'd rather be doing with my last days here.
My mom and I went a little skype crazy yesterday. For some reason I had always thought it cost money but Kait and I were playing with it the other day and it is going to be a perfect way to keep in touch with everyone. It was actually really fun to talk to and see Kaitlyn who lives in Ottawa. Not that it wasn't fun to talk to you, Mom, from another floor of the house =P Either way, I'm pretty excited about that. I'll be able to show my friends and family where I am and they'll be able to show me... Molly!
Wellll, I think I'm going to go hang out with my dog now... but here are the things I need to do today.
1. Pack for Barrie/ Go to Barrie
2. Do a load of laundry
3. Order custom dart flights
4. Tidy bottom of the stairs
5. Change part of the fish filter
6. Tidy futon room
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Got my Visa
Yup, it's been awhile but really there hasn't been that much going on. I went to the cottage for a week, that was fun... after that I had my "beer party" where Demelo taught me about beer and I tried out a few different brands. It was a lot of fun. Yesterday was mine and Glorias big going away party and I had so much fun. Lots of people showed up and Kylie put together this really cool going away gift with this signable picture frame, so I'll be bringing that with me... 2 weeks from now, ahhhhhhhhhhh! Yeah, it still doesn't feel real. I'm a little nervous I guess but it doesn't feel like I'll be getting on a plane any time soon. So yeah, I'mmmm moving to Ireland.
Hannah (girl I met via facebook who is leaving a little after I am for Ireland, we're hopping to be able to find a flat together.. incase I haven't mentioned her yet) is going to the travel cuts office tomorrow, so I hope that means she's going to figure out when she's leaving for Ireland. I'll be excited when she figures that out! I like planning all the details of this adventure.
Anyways, I got my final package with my visa, my passport back, a SWAP Ireland guide book and my vouchers for hostels in Ireland. Of course, the stupid guide book tells me NOW that its "next to impossible" to find anywhere to live in September. Grrrr. I'll make it work though. I'm booked into a hostel until at least October 1st. It'll be okay. I'll just keep telling myself that!
So yeah... off to do my last girls day with Kait, Kylie and Glor before I leave. Ack!
Hannah (girl I met via facebook who is leaving a little after I am for Ireland, we're hopping to be able to find a flat together.. incase I haven't mentioned her yet) is going to the travel cuts office tomorrow, so I hope that means she's going to figure out when she's leaving for Ireland. I'll be excited when she figures that out! I like planning all the details of this adventure.
Anyways, I got my final package with my visa, my passport back, a SWAP Ireland guide book and my vouchers for hostels in Ireland. Of course, the stupid guide book tells me NOW that its "next to impossible" to find anywhere to live in September. Grrrr. I'll make it work though. I'm booked into a hostel until at least October 1st. It'll be okay. I'll just keep telling myself that!
So yeah... off to do my last girls day with Kait, Kylie and Glor before I leave. Ack!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Blogdom
So nothing new to report on the travel front but I've added some new stuff to make stalking me that much more fun! Exhibit A: Cute little countdown, telling you exactly how much time I have left before my plane leaves for Ireland... well technically, for Newark, but I'll only be there for 2 hours and that really just does not sound as exciting.
Exhibit B: Some random little tool to tell you what I've been reading. I've been keeping track of what books I've been reading this year because I want to read 100 books total (halfway there, so I guess I'm a little behind and my life is only going to get more crazy from here). Anyways, I decided to put them into goodreads in hopes of getting some good book recommendations, and then found this widget and thought why not. So now you can all track my every movement, err, page turn. Not quite ready to give in and get twitter. Twitter irks me. I just can't imagine anyone needs to know what I'm doing like three times a day although I guess I could think of a few people (Hi Mom!)
On a side note... I had worked out this cute shamrock themed layout for my blog, but then the background went and disappeared so I had to go back to the dots. Note to self: Re-do themeage before leaving in... 35 days!
Exhibit B: Some random little tool to tell you what I've been reading. I've been keeping track of what books I've been reading this year because I want to read 100 books total (halfway there, so I guess I'm a little behind and my life is only going to get more crazy from here). Anyways, I decided to put them into goodreads in hopes of getting some good book recommendations, and then found this widget and thought why not. So now you can all track my every movement, err, page turn. Not quite ready to give in and get twitter. Twitter irks me. I just can't imagine anyone needs to know what I'm doing like three times a day although I guess I could think of a few people (Hi Mom!)
On a side note... I had worked out this cute shamrock themed layout for my blog, but then the background went and disappeared so I had to go back to the dots. Note to self: Re-do themeage before leaving in... 35 days!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Bought my flight
Yup, I bought my flight. I now know exactly when I'll be leaving for Ireland... and when I'll be coming back for Christmas. I leave on Monday, September 14th. My flight is out of Toronto, I'll be stuck at the Newark Airport for a couple of hours before heading out to Dublin. Then, I'll be in Dublin for about three days, two nights. The first day I'll probably be sleeping. The next is my orientation and the third I get my work permitey thing then take a bus ride to Galway. From there I'll be staying at Snoozles hostel until I find a place to live. I booked that today too, from the 17th til the 1st of October, but hopefully I'll find somewhere before then.
Not sure yet where I'll stay in Dublin, I get two nights vouchers for somewhere. I'm looking forward to Snoozles though. It came recommended and looks very cool. I'm hoping to meet some interesting people there, maybe some potential roomates, although I've already been talking to one girl who gets there a little later, in October. She seems like great roomie material, but I'll work all that out later. If people are set on their own rooms, the best arrangement seems to have a group of four people sharing a place. We shall see, we shall see.
Anyways, watching Wolverine now... I really want Kraft Dinner but we don't have any at the moment. Boo.
Not sure yet where I'll stay in Dublin, I get two nights vouchers for somewhere. I'm looking forward to Snoozles though. It came recommended and looks very cool. I'm hoping to meet some interesting people there, maybe some potential roomates, although I've already been talking to one girl who gets there a little later, in October. She seems like great roomie material, but I'll work all that out later. If people are set on their own rooms, the best arrangement seems to have a group of four people sharing a place. We shall see, we shall see.
Anyways, watching Wolverine now... I really want Kraft Dinner but we don't have any at the moment. Boo.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Gave Notice at Work
Woops... meant to have another post for July, but forgot. Anyways, not much to report right now, besides the fact that I gave notice at work which was a pretty fantabulous feeling. I also posted something about giving notice on facebook and now people keep asking what my next plans are, so I should probably tell the facebook world what I'm up to. Woo.
Last night I hung out at Ryans and a few of us were talking about passportisms and what not, and now I feel semi inspired to figure out my irish passport. I really need to get on that. I also need to decide when I'm going to fly into Ireland. The 8th or the 15th (or any of the following three days). I just want to GO but, going the following week would mean a few things...
1) Less money spent at hostels
2) I get to see how Casey likes college
3) The 8th isin't a crazy ridiculous busy day for my parents. I already have an orthodontist appointment, it will be Caseys first day of college and I'd be moving to Ireland
4) More time spent with Molly (my dog), hehe
5) A little extra time to get ready, bum around the house will all my stuffs I'll be leaving behind
The upsides of leaving on the 8th
1) More time spent in Ireland
2) A weeks head start on job and apartment hunting
3) I just want to gooooo
I can't decide!
Last night I hung out at Ryans and a few of us were talking about passportisms and what not, and now I feel semi inspired to figure out my irish passport. I really need to get on that. I also need to decide when I'm going to fly into Ireland. The 8th or the 15th (or any of the following three days). I just want to GO but, going the following week would mean a few things...
1) Less money spent at hostels
2) I get to see how Casey likes college
3) The 8th isin't a crazy ridiculous busy day for my parents. I already have an orthodontist appointment, it will be Caseys first day of college and I'd be moving to Ireland
4) More time spent with Molly (my dog), hehe
5) A little extra time to get ready, bum around the house will all my stuffs I'll be leaving behind
The upsides of leaving on the 8th
1) More time spent in Ireland
2) A weeks head start on job and apartment hunting
3) I just want to gooooo
I can't decide!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Applied for my Visa
So, I got an email from Cynthia (my travel cuts agent) saying she had some thinger for me to pick up and to come in sometime this week, which I was going to do anyway to apply for my visa so yay! Well, I got there and it was actually some other persons package thing... but whatever, we were going in anyway. So, I handed in my visa application, my bank statement, two passport photos (which are just as blah looking as my current passport photos) and my actual passport. I also bought my travel isurance for now til I come home for Christmas. Then, as I was sitting there all my paperwork went off with a courier to head office.
My next step is to book my flight... ahh! Well, my actual next step is to give notice at work on Friday. Yaaaaayyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!! For awhile I toyed with the idea of offering to work a few shifts here and there between getting back from the cottage and leaving for Ireland but the smarter choice seems to be take as much time as I can to get my stuff together. I want to have all of my stuff organized, including the stuff thats not coming with me so that when I come home its not a total disaster.
So right now I'm torn between leaving on the 8th, a tuesday when I also have a doctors appointment. Or waiting a week. The upside of waiting a week is less time spent in hostels/ less money spent. My big worry right now is that I will find an apartment in the second half of september and have to pay the rent for the whole month... which would bug me.
Anyways, I never really accomplished any of that to do list from my last post so I'm going to try to be productive. I'm getting excited though, its all starting to feel real.
My next step is to book my flight... ahh! Well, my actual next step is to give notice at work on Friday. Yaaaaayyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!! For awhile I toyed with the idea of offering to work a few shifts here and there between getting back from the cottage and leaving for Ireland but the smarter choice seems to be take as much time as I can to get my stuff together. I want to have all of my stuff organized, including the stuff thats not coming with me so that when I come home its not a total disaster.
So right now I'm torn between leaving on the 8th, a tuesday when I also have a doctors appointment. Or waiting a week. The upside of waiting a week is less time spent in hostels/ less money spent. My big worry right now is that I will find an apartment in the second half of september and have to pay the rent for the whole month... which would bug me.
Anyways, I never really accomplished any of that to do list from my last post so I'm going to try to be productive. I'm getting excited though, its all starting to feel real.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Things are looking up
Well, I have officially been Welcome'd to SWAP! Yay! I got my welcome letter, stuff to access the swap exchange and all the forms I have to fill out. Blerg.
Well, it officially took me two hours to write those two sentances. Three if you really count the word blerg as a sentance. I should probably try this again tomorrow. Tomorrow I am also going to make a facebook status update to tell everyone my big plans in one go. I might also go into work and let my boss know my plans. If I don't let her know soon someone else probably will and I really like her, despite only working with her for a few weeks. I'd like to be the one to tell her. I'll also make a point of filling out... wait... to do list. Not that I think any of you are interested in what I have to do tomorrow but its related to the trip and well, its my blog, i'll write about boring stuff if I want to (8)
1. Clean bird cages
2. Give notice at work
3. Print out all work visa papers
4. Figure out next step in applying for irish passport (as a side not to anyone who doesn't know, I am also trying to get my irish passport. I wont have it by the time I go but because my dad was born in Northern Ireland I technically qualify for both a British passport and an Irish one. I only need one or the obviously, and if I get it before Christmas it will save me a little money if I go back after Christmas)
5. Link to first post on blog
6. Do facebook status update
annnddd
7. Do laundry. Woo.
All before 7ish, since its Glorias birthday party tomorrow, yay!
Well, it officially took me two hours to write those two sentances. Three if you really count the word blerg as a sentance. I should probably try this again tomorrow. Tomorrow I am also going to make a facebook status update to tell everyone my big plans in one go. I might also go into work and let my boss know my plans. If I don't let her know soon someone else probably will and I really like her, despite only working with her for a few weeks. I'd like to be the one to tell her. I'll also make a point of filling out... wait... to do list. Not that I think any of you are interested in what I have to do tomorrow but its related to the trip and well, its my blog, i'll write about boring stuff if I want to (8)
1. Clean bird cages
2. Give notice at work
3. Print out all work visa papers
4. Figure out next step in applying for irish passport (as a side not to anyone who doesn't know, I am also trying to get my irish passport. I wont have it by the time I go but because my dad was born in Northern Ireland I technically qualify for both a British passport and an Irish one. I only need one or the obviously, and if I get it before Christmas it will save me a little money if I go back after Christmas)
5. Link to first post on blog
6. Do facebook status update
annnddd
7. Do laundry. Woo.
All before 7ish, since its Glorias birthday party tomorrow, yay!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Registraton
So, yesterday my mom and I drove down to York Universities Travel Cuts office and I paid my registration fee, officially signing up for SWAP Ireland. Apperently there are about 3000 other Canadians doing the same thing within generally the same amount of time, thats pretty crazy! My parents have been really worried about the whole being alone thing, but its looking like there will be a lot of other people to meet who are in the same situation.
Basically, we got there, then sat for a bit as the girl typed my papers into the computer, then my mom asked some questions, then I paid with my credit card, then we got papers on travel insurance, then we went home. Easy peasy.
In the next few days I should be getting a welcome to SWAP email with my visa application, my bank statement form etc. Once I get that I'm going to consider it officially in, join the facebook groups (apperently theres also some way to get in touch with other swappers via their website but I haven't figured that out yet, maybe with the intro email?) Anyways, I'm excited.
My cousin Michael came over for a bit today and we told him about it over dinner, he didn't seem to think it was a massively crazy idea, so thats good. If he had my dad probably would have been even more anti Ireland, although he is coming around.
I want my welcome email!!
Basically, we got there, then sat for a bit as the girl typed my papers into the computer, then my mom asked some questions, then I paid with my credit card, then we got papers on travel insurance, then we went home. Easy peasy.
In the next few days I should be getting a welcome to SWAP email with my visa application, my bank statement form etc. Once I get that I'm going to consider it officially in, join the facebook groups (apperently theres also some way to get in touch with other swappers via their website but I haven't figured that out yet, maybe with the intro email?) Anyways, I'm excited.
My cousin Michael came over for a bit today and we told him about it over dinner, he didn't seem to think it was a massively crazy idea, so thats good. If he had my dad probably would have been even more anti Ireland, although he is coming around.
I want my welcome email!!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Told the Parentals
Well, I've finally told my parents about my plan to try a working holiday in Ireland so it's time to start my blog about this whole thing. I guess, since this is the first post I should start off at the beginning. Awhile ago I found this website, swap.ca, which basically helps you get set up with a work visa and what not for students or people under 30 to do a working holiday, which is basically like a holiday where your working to pay for it as you go. I found it about a year ago and came kind of close to doing it, but then for various reasons kept putting it off.
This summer I started thinking about it again and after talking to my friend Gloria, who thought it was a great idea I decided to just go ahead and do it. I've been following lots of other blogs of people who did the same, finding random advice and what not, and have also been in touch via facebook with this girl from the states, Danielle, who is over there now. My plan as of right now is to leave in September (about 60 days from now), and book a flight home for Christmas, since no matter what I want to be here for Christmas. Then, if things are going well I'd go back to Ireland for a few more months (but be back by my birthday) or, if I can't find a job or am just ready to come home... then I'll stay put.
Anyways, I decided to wait until after my trip to NYC with my mom to tell my parents. I didn't want to over shadow our trip, and well... one thing at a time. My mom seems to think it's a good idea and that it will be good for me. I'm thinking the same thing, that it will force me to be more independent and come out of my shell a bit. All my dad basically had to say was that I can't afford to do it. After I told him that yes I can, I've worked out a budget, etc. etc. (too which his response was again... "no you can't") he then went on about how my passport will get stolen right away, or my visa. Anyways, I'm going to pass that off as him being tired from working all weekend. I probably should have waited to tell him but just thinking about it was making me nervous. So, I just did it. I won't bring it up again right away, and when I do it will be with a printed out copy of my budget. I really don't want to chicken out again, and for that to happen it would be really useful to have the support of my parents, preferably their enthusiasm.
I know this trip will decimate my savings, but I'm okay with that... this is what I've been saving for. It's not like I'm going to Ireland to make my fortune or whatever. This is something I have wanted to do for awhile... Lots of reasons why... It will be good for me, for all the reasons mentioned above & I want to try living somewhere else & I want to travel now, rather than later as life is bound to get in the way eventually & if I do manage to get a job, its way less expensive to see Europe from Europe than from here.
Anyways, that's it for now. Everyone knows (friends & immediate family), not sure when I'm going to tell work. The next step is to get either a past employer or teacher to fill out this form that basically functions as a letter of recommendation, and then I need to go to a travel cuts office and sign up so they can start processing my paperwork. I'll let you know how that goes.
This summer I started thinking about it again and after talking to my friend Gloria, who thought it was a great idea I decided to just go ahead and do it. I've been following lots of other blogs of people who did the same, finding random advice and what not, and have also been in touch via facebook with this girl from the states, Danielle, who is over there now. My plan as of right now is to leave in September (about 60 days from now), and book a flight home for Christmas, since no matter what I want to be here for Christmas. Then, if things are going well I'd go back to Ireland for a few more months (but be back by my birthday) or, if I can't find a job or am just ready to come home... then I'll stay put.
Anyways, I decided to wait until after my trip to NYC with my mom to tell my parents. I didn't want to over shadow our trip, and well... one thing at a time. My mom seems to think it's a good idea and that it will be good for me. I'm thinking the same thing, that it will force me to be more independent and come out of my shell a bit. All my dad basically had to say was that I can't afford to do it. After I told him that yes I can, I've worked out a budget, etc. etc. (too which his response was again... "no you can't") he then went on about how my passport will get stolen right away, or my visa. Anyways, I'm going to pass that off as him being tired from working all weekend. I probably should have waited to tell him but just thinking about it was making me nervous. So, I just did it. I won't bring it up again right away, and when I do it will be with a printed out copy of my budget. I really don't want to chicken out again, and for that to happen it would be really useful to have the support of my parents, preferably their enthusiasm.
I know this trip will decimate my savings, but I'm okay with that... this is what I've been saving for. It's not like I'm going to Ireland to make my fortune or whatever. This is something I have wanted to do for awhile... Lots of reasons why... It will be good for me, for all the reasons mentioned above & I want to try living somewhere else & I want to travel now, rather than later as life is bound to get in the way eventually & if I do manage to get a job, its way less expensive to see Europe from Europe than from here.
Anyways, that's it for now. Everyone knows (friends & immediate family), not sure when I'm going to tell work. The next step is to get either a past employer or teacher to fill out this form that basically functions as a letter of recommendation, and then I need to go to a travel cuts office and sign up so they can start processing my paperwork. I'll let you know how that goes.
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