Farmgate Cafe and An Spailpin Fanac

On Monday, Mike and I ventured over to the English Market for lunch. The Market sells all kinds of things from meats to vegetables to spices and almost anything else you could want. They have a small cafe on the second floor called the Farmgate Cafe. They use food and ingredients from the Market to make their menu items. Mike and I both had the Shepherd's Pie which had some meat and potatoes and I'm not sure what else inside. It had some carrots and potatoes on the side as well. Here's a picture of it:

A view of part of the English Market from above

On Monday night we decided to go check out a pub called An Spailpin Fanac. The Traditional Music Society from our school plays there on Mondays so we thought we'd check it out. Below is a picture of some of the musicians.

We ran into some people from Iowa State there as well as a couple Irish guys that we knew. As it turns out even the Irish guys had never really been to this place. The music was alright, but I think it would have been better with some sense of order. It was just kind of a jam session for the whole time. While a jam session could be cool in a sense, a jam session with fiddles and flutes and stuff is pretty weak. We stayed and listened for a bit, but eventually the Irish guys left and went to An Brog. We waited for a few minutes and then decided to leave as well. We got a table at An Brog and then just hung out there for the rest of the night. I was hoping that we'd get a chance to see some other live music this week, but we will have to wait til another day. We are planning on going somewhere tonight, but we haven't made any decisions yet. Also, I hope that the Gophers can win tonight. I probably won't be able to watch, but I will definitely check the score and stuff.

Trevor Reloaded

After a week of being quarantined in my room. I think I am finally not feeling sick anymore. I could give you a detailed itinerary of everything I have done in the last week, but I'll save you the trouble. I went to my classes, took a nap, ate, and went to bed pretty much everyday. I'm feeling a lot better now though and we will be doing some more stuff this week. Just so you know what kind of stuff I'm going to be studying over here, below is a list of my classes:

PE4002: Process Automation and Optimisation

CE2008: Thermodynamics

MG1005: Introduction to Management & Organisation

PH2022: Great Books in Philosophy I

Mostly we've just gone through some pretty typical stuff in each class. In the philosophy class we are reading Plato's Apology and another book called Daodejing I believe. That will definitely be interesting.

Tonight we went and got Chinese food at a place called Jade Palace. It was a sit down type place. I got some Orange Chicken, and Mike got some kind of Peking Chicken. When they brought out the first plate, we assumed it was mine because it was orange in color. That was a mistake though because the next plate of yellowish chicken was actually mine. The orange pieces on it were a dead giveaway. Overall the meal was pretty mediocre. I'd take Egg Roll King or Golden Wok over that any day. I did enjoy part of the menu. Here is a picture of it below. Hopefully you can get the joke (Hint: Look at the time of the Early Bird Special).

We took some pictures on the way back home. Here are some of the good ones.

Me in the City Centre on St. Patrick's Street

abrakebabra, the Irish fast food restaurant

Some sweet lights in an alley

We're planning on catching some traditional Irish music at a pub this week as well as some more modern music at a different pub. Also, if the weather is nicer we'll eventually make it to the Blarney Castle.

Weekend

On Friday night we went over to an apartment where some of our friends live. It's right down the road from us and it was pretty nice. They have their own rooms and then a shared living room/kitchen area. There was a mixture of Irish and American people there. The Americans were from Iowa, Boston, and Buffalo. We hung out there for a little while and then went to the Liquid Lounge. It was kind of a pub/club hybrid. They had the bar and the lounge areas that may resemble a pub, but with a dancefloor with flashing lights and a dj like a club. We left the Liquid Lounge and headed over to An Brog again. Unfortunately it was extremely packed so we just left right away and went home.

Yesterday we were planning on going on some kind of tour of a distillery or something like that with our friends we had met, but the plans fell through. So we ended up just going into town and wandering around for awhile. The girls we were hanging out with were planning on making a big dinner so we helped buy some of the ingredients and then we got to eat with them. We had some pasta type dish with shrimp in it, salad, and some bread. It was pretty good. After that we watched their tv for a little bit (It was very exciting since we don't have a tv). The rest of the night we just hung out at our place.

Today was a pretty uneventful day. We slept in late and spent the whole afternoon indoors. It is very windy and rainy here so we didn't feel like doing a whole lot, and we are both feeling a little sick so we thought we would just relax today.

Sorry for the lack of pictures up on here. I will try and get some more this week. Thanks for the comments everyone, I really appreciate it.

Second and Third Days of Class

My second day started a lot like the first. I showed up to my Process Automation and Optimization class and the teacher never showed up. I waited for about 35 minutes just to make absolutely sure, but he never showed. Luckily in the afternoon the teacher showed up to my marketing class. It was nice to finally do something. The class was similar to most of the classes I have taken before. The teacher used powerpoint slides and then asked questions of the class. It was a lot like Ferris Bueller if you know what I mean (Anyone?, Anyone?). No one would answer anything. Eventually people started talking, but it was kind of funny because the only people who talked were from the United States.

Later that night they had a special event set up for all of the international students. First they took us to a brewery and then when went to a night club. The brewery was ok, but it was super packed and we had to sit outside in this tent-like structure where it was a bit chilly. We met some other study abroad students though and I think we are going to hang out with them sometime soon. The night club place was super packed as well and wasn't really the environment we were looking for. Mike and I left and went next store to An Brog, the pub we went to the other night, and we ran into one of our Irish friends that we met the other night. The DJ at An Brog was playing some awesome songs as well. He played some Public Enemy, Nirvana, M.I.A., MGMT, and The Ramones. Pretty solid set of tunes if you ask me.

My third day of classes went the best so far. I had Thermodynamics and Great Books in Philosophy 1. I don't have a whole lot to say about those classes except for the fact that both of the teachers showed up and I didn't get too bored in either class. Tomorrow I have more Thermodynamics and that's it. We are planning on hanging out with the other study abroad students we met tonight, and I'll go to sleep tonight wishing I could watch the BCS National Championship game.

First Day of Classes, Sort of

Today I was supposed to have a few classes to go to. I ended up having zero though. I couldn't find the building my first class was supposed to be in. It was in a building that was off the main campus and they didn't have it on any of the handy maps that you could carry around. I finally found it, but it was too late. I will just have to explain that to the professor on Thursday. The other class I was supposed to have was cancelled. Hopefully the rest of the week goes a little better.

After my class got cancelled I waited for Mike's class to get over and we walked into town and got cell phones. It's still pretty expensive to call home, but Mike and I can call and text each other and anyone on our network for free now. I can use skype to keep in touch with home. I am going to work on my essays for the MBA program tonight and then get some sleep.

Saturday Night

We decided to go out to a pub called An Brog on Saturday night. I believe An Brog means "the shoe" in Gaelic. It was pretty crowded and there were a lot of college kids there which was nice. There was a DJ playing music and a bunch of different seating areas and a little dance floor. We went there with the two Canadian girls that live with us. While we were there we also made some Irish friends and apparently they go to that pub a lot, so we will probably go back there again. Here is a picture of Mike and I at the pub:

Mike, I apologize for putting a picture up where you look kinda goofy. It was a pretty good one of me though.

Today was pretty boring. We had orientation for most of the day and then we went into town to get some groceries. We got back, made some dinner, and then tried to figure out what classes we are going to take. It is a little different here in that you don't officially register until the 14th, but you get to go to the classes and try them out first. I am going to give Great Books in Philosophy 1 a chance tomorrow as well as Introduction to Management and Organization. I am also going to get my ID card tomorrow and try and buy a cell phone.

Arrival in Cork

It was quite a journey to get to Cork. I left on December 31 and arrived on January 1st. I flew from Minneapolis to Chicago, Chicago to London, and London to Cork. I met up with Mike in Chicago and we flew the rest of the way together. The flight from Chicago to London took a lot out of us. It was hard to sleep because there were a bunch of babies back in our section of the plane and the seats were just uncomfortable. The guy sitting next to me was pretty difficult to deal with. He had to go to the bathroom like four times and he was in the window seat. The plane was pretty sweet though because we each had a tv built into the headrest in front of us. You could choose movies or tv shows to watch and you could even listen to music on there. Big ups to British Airways for supplying us with that entertainment.

When we arrived in Cork we got a taxi and got dropped off at our house. I forgot to take a picture of it, but I will definitely put some pictures up of it later. We unpacked a bit and then explored the city for awhile. We saw the Beamish Factory on our way into the city. I don't know a whole lot about it except for the fact that they make beer.

Beamish Factory

After that we crossed the river, headed into the city and looked for something to eat. We were a little intimidated and of course went with the safe option of McDonald's (with 100% Irish Beef of course). A lot of the places were closed because it was New Years Day. After exploring the city we came back to the house and crashed in our room for awhile.

Following some much needed rest we decided to use our second day to make our way over to University College Cork. It was a lot smaller than Iowa State, but the campus had a great feel to it. Here are some pictures that I took of the campus.

Honan Chapel

Student Centre

O'Rahilly Building

I will try and update this as frequently as I can. I will save the action from today and yesterday for another post.