How is it the 27th already?  I'm not sure where all my time is going.

Anyway, not much to update, still livin the high (student) life in the People's Republic of Cork.

Is this even worth posting?  I can't decide...

I've been meaning to update this more often, like say once or twice a week or so.  I certainly have the material, but I just haven't had the mood.

But I suppose I do now, so here I sit.

Life in this country has been very enjoyable so far.  Everything has a much slower, more relaxed feel to it than the States -- although I'd say the notion of "Minnesota nice" is generally true and comes quite close to this sort of easy-going atmosphere.  That's a horribly vague description, however, and I'm afraid it's difficult to put it into more specific terms because it isn't readily noticeable when you're just out on the street.  It's one of those things you seem to absorb and understand without any conscious effort.

Cork, Corcaigh in Irish (pronounced cork-ee, derived from the word corcach meaning "marshy"), itself is a lovely little city.  I say "little city" because that's really what it is -- too big to be a town, but too small to be called a city in the same way as Chicago or Minneapolis or even Dublin.  But it isn't like any of the suburbs I'm used to in Minnesota, either; there is nothing sprawling or corporate about this place.  Everything is small and packed closely together, with plenty of little side-streets that, though closed to motor vehicles, have a lot of pedestrian traffic.  A good example: Oliver Plunkett Street in the city centre.  This one small avenue has almost everything you could ever need or want, from groceries at the English market to delicious sweets at The Chocolate Café (which also serves coffee and features a bar to actually sit down at and enjoy your purchases).  And of course, it is loaded with pubs.  Though some are posers (like An Bróg, an horrifically loud and noxious place that smells ironically like the meaning of its name -- "The Shoe"), many have that atmosphere that you would expect from a teach tábhairne (Irish for "public house") -- namely, a quiet comfortable place to have some drinks and talk to friends.  To be fair, many of them are sort of pubs by day, bars/clubs by night, meaning they tend to turn the music up and turn the lights down around 9 or 10pm.  But the good ones don't.

I'm going to check out a place on South Main Street tonight called An Spáilpín Fánach ("The Wandering Worker") that reportedly has live traditional/folk music pretty much every night.  The first time I got to see such a performance in Ireland was at a place called O'Donaghue's Public House in Killarney (Cill Airne, meaning "the church of the sloes").  It was this four-man group with a banjo, an accordion, a guitar, and a bass.  They played quite the selection of Irish folk songs, including "The Leaving of Liverpool" and "Whiskey in the Jar" (one of my personal favorites).  They also did a good rendition of "Ring of Fire."

My complaints so far are few, and more or less trivial -- most notably, the shitty Internets in my building.  It is typically very mediocre at best, and is hooked up to the university's network, meaning all chat programs are blocked.  Skype was the primary way Lindsay and I were keeping in touch, and they won't let me use it because they're afraid that by some freak chance everyone in the building is going to get on at once and crash their servers.  Whatever.

The second complaint is even less significant; just one of convenience, really.  I don't live especially close to any grocery stores, so I have to walk or take the bus (which isn't bad in itself), but either way I can only carry so much back with me, meaning I can't buy in bulk to save money.  The most annoying is the milk, which I like to drink at pretty much any time of the day in addition to pouring over cereal, in tea or coffee, etc.  It only comes in litre or two-litre jugs, producing more waste and making it hard to even go two or three days without using one up.  Oh well.  At least my parents are still paying for necessities, i.e., groceries and toiletries and such.

The third and final "small" complaint is that I don't live closer to the city centre.  My apartment is basically on the outside edge of the city-ish area, with the school between me and downtown.  It's about a 1.5-2 mile walk to get to most of the good spots for nightlife and restaurants and what not -- as well as other helpful places such as grocery stores.

My last issue is not with anything "Irish" per-say, but with some of the other international students here this semester (namely, the American ones).  They go out in these huge packs and stick to themselves, as far as I can tell not even bothering to initiate any kind of conversation with Irish folk while they're at the pub or whatever.  There are quite a few who don't really participate in the clubs or societies at the school, either, making me wonder when exactly they're interacting with the native people, and by extension, why they even came here if they're not going to try.  For serious, people -- it's an odd day indeed when I feel like the most outgoing one in the group.

More on the school aspect of Irish life next time -- it's getting close to supper time now.

Slán!

So I realized today that it seems like I've been here much longer than a week and a half.  I can't figure out why that is...  I'm having fun meeting people and going out and getting used to the lifestyle and culture of the Irish, but it just seems so long since I left.  It's weird.

I don't know.  Vagaries of perception, I suppose.

Anyway, saw this Anime flick called Perfect Blue with the Sci-Fi Society tonight.  It was pretty good, but also pretty weird (like most Anime).

I want to write a film script forThe Children of Húrin updated into the 21st century.  I feel like this story would translate well into a kung-fu-gunslinger.  Think of the aggressive and complex character development of The Departed combined with the tense and slightly larger-than-life action sequences of Kill Bill Vol. 1.

Starring Anthony Hopkins, David Carradine, and... there was one other guy I thought would be good in it but I can't think of him now.  Maybe it was Hugo Weaving.

The soundtrack would consist almost entirely of songs from other movies and maybe a few from the general repertoire of popular music.  The idea would be that even though this film would obviously be borrowing its stylistic approach from previous motion pictures, the plot would display the fact that Tolkien's work is entertaining, provocative, controversial, and relevant in more contexts than just that of medieval fantasy.

Just something that's been running through my head for a while now.

Off to watch some Colbert.

Whoa... so it's been since November.  Crazy.

Well, here I am in Ireland, typing at you people.  None of my classes have started yet, so... I've been kinda bumming around.  And by that I mean wandering the streets or sitting in a pub with a pint, alternately.  Lindsay would call me a hooligan.  I probably am.

Anyway, I'm waiting for my gin and tonic water to chill so I can have myself a nice refreshing beverage.  I was having some Carlsberg lager over my lunch earlier and I decided it was silly to drink beer in the apartment, since I'll never want to pay for a mixed drink at the bar (they cost about e6.00 -- about $8.00).  Pints, on the other hand, are cheaper.  Of course, everything's cheaper from the market, but that would defeat the purpose of going out.

I'm not really sure why I wrote that out.  Pointers for those of you considering study abroad, I suppose.

Which you really should.

I definitely miss the people at home, but not really "home" itself -- the places, the cities, the country, etc.  Maybe that'll change.  Or maybe not.

Ta.