This week was something known as Reading Week where students study and write papers in preparation for the two weeks of exams that follow. I promise that I did not waste my time this week watching the tele and such. Actually, I went to quite a few Christmas themed events or parties in celebration of the holidays approaching and the end of semester drawing to a close in addition to studying. Mondays my house usually does pizza nights, but because everyone is traveling this week only a few of us got pizza. After eating Julia, Monica, and I decided that we needed a bit more Christmas cheer, so we watched Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas.
Tuesday was really special because UL hosted a Christmas event to celebrate turning on the Christmas lights on campus. Members of the general public were invited to celebrate with us, and they had special guests attend and perform. Julia, Monica, and I had decided the day before to go together, so we all headed to the middle of campus where the tree was located about forty minutes before the event was supposed to start. They had the farmer's market moved to this area, so we were able to peruse the different stands. There was also an additional craft fair going on, so we went inside the Foundation Building to look at all of the crafts and such. Also located in this building was Santa's Grotto. This was where later that night the kiddies could get their pictures taken with Santa Claus. My friends and I were considering getting pictures done, but we did not want to be scolded incase it was only meant for the kids to do. We headed back outside when the event was supposed to begin and found a spot near the stage. We did not realize beforehand that there were going to be performances before the tree lighting. The first group to come out was a group of people who did different tricks with fire to the beat of drums. One guy juggled flaming sticks and spun a flaming wheel, two woman twirled balls on a rope that were on fire, and the most awesome of all was the fire-breather. When this guy performed you could feel the heat on your cheeks. It was incredible. He also stuck a flaming stick in his mouth to extinguish the flames. It was intense. The performers actually made me a bit nervous because of the whole twirling fire thing.
Next to perform was a children's choir. They performed about four songs and were absolutely precious. After them the fire performers came out once again, and then it was time for the president of UL, Don Barry, to come on stage. He was wearing the most adorable Christmas hat ever that had reindeer antlers on it, and mentioned that he did not get a choice in the matter. He also mentioned that the mayor of Limerick was at the event, which was pretty awesome of hear. After a bit of a speech he took out a giant remote and we all counted down the lighting of the Christmas tree. Once the tree and surrounding lights were lit the next person to come on stage was a well known performer by the name of Liam O'Brien. He is a singer and actor I guess, although I have never heard of him. His voice was pretty nice, and I enjoyed listening to it for the rest of the night. The event was also serving free food and drinks, so us girls got in line before it got too long. They served us sandwiches (which were a bit strange), mince pie (not very tasty in my opinion, but apparently very popular in Ireland), potatoes, some type of mushroom pastry (so delicious), and coffee. Stables Bar also had a stand that was serving mulled wine, which is like that German wine that I tried last week. It was spiced and absolutely delicious. By this time it was getting dark and very cold, so we headed to Scholars (a campus bar and restaurant) for a minute to defrost. Before heading there though Monica and I got a picture with a campus landmark known as Brown Thomas. This is a statue that is in the main area of campus right in front of the Main Building where they put the Christmas tree. That explains the strange looking person in the picture to the left. After about an hour at Scholars the two of them headed back to Plassey Village and I met with Nancy for our final book club meeting. We had decided that after finishing "The Spinning Heart" we wanted to read another famous work by an Irish author. This lead to my first encounter with "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde. It is probably one of the funniest things that I have ever read, and it was a riot discussing it with Nancy. We may try to get together again before I have to head home, but we will see. Either way I will miss our book discussions.
Thursday morning Monica and I decided to explore campus a bit more than we previously had. Why? We had heard that there were actually some ruins of a castle located on campus, so we wanted to try to find them. After a few questionable turns and a lot of muddy paths we found ourselves by a huge structure. I assumed that these remains would be small and hard to find. No way. This thing may has well had been a tower. It was really hard to miss once you went looking for it. After goggling at it for a good amount of time we headed down a path that traveled under the Living Bridge. Later in the evening Monica, Julia, and I attended the Christmas party that Plassey Village hosted. They served mince pie, mulled wine (both which I believe are very popular and common with Christmas parties in Ireland), and other snacks. Eventually Santa showed up and gave everyone giant chocolate Santas. I also was given a gift that I believe is similar to the concept of a wishbone. It is like a tube made of paper with an arm on either side. Two people pull on one side and eventually one of them will pop it. Inside is a toy and a riddle. After the party we headed back to my room to watch some movies. We decided to watch Frozen and Newsies. I had never seen the second one, but I actually really enjoyed it and was glad that it was introduced to me.Friday was one of the last International Nights at Stables Bar (The party hosted by the International Society), so almost all of my roommates, some friends, and I decided that we wanted to go. We found out once we got there that this was the farewell night, but there would be two more International nights in the future. I mainly hung around Monica and Julia for the night, but we ran into a lot of friends while we were there and danced the night away. I really enjoy going to these events because it allows me a chance to socialize with people and get rid of some of the stress that I have been feeling this week. My favorite part of the night was when they played the Christmas song "All I Want For Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey. It is a fun song to sing and dance to.
Saturday was the official start date of exams, and I just happened to have my first exam this day. I arrived at the designated exam location and was told that I could only bring in a pencil, calculator, water, eraser, and my student ID. We also had to take off our coats in order to enter. The exams here are conducted in a very professional manner, and they actually have multiple classes in the same room taking their different exams. It was organized pretty well, but was just a bit strange to see. I am used to just showing up to the same classroom that I had been in all year and taking the final exam like a normal test. This test was my Chemistry one, and it was negative marking. This means that they will deduct points if you get the question wrong. This added a bit of pressure, but I know that I will at least pass the exam. I felt confident on a good number of questions.
After the exam I went to a party that I had been invited to by Sabina (from Romania). She had invited Julia (from Austria) and I to the final gathering for the Games Society of the semester, because a lot of the members are also in the Anime and Manga Society and the three of us are heading home in two weeks. We ended up playing a ton of card and group games that were a blast. We played Werewolf yet again (by now you should know what I am talking about) and a new game that I really liked that I think is called Two Rooms. There are two teams (red and blue) and gray players that have special rules. The goal of the game for the blue team is to all be in the same room and to keep the President from being blown up by the Bomber on the Red team. The Red team is trying for the opposite. The gray cards have a different mini game that I was a part of. There are three roles: Sniper, Target, and Decoy. The Sniper is trying to be in the same room as the Target in order to kill them, while the Target does the opposite. The Decoy wants to be in the same room as the Sniper to be killed instead. I was the Target during our game, and I ended up surviving in the end. The game takes place in two physical rooms and has a number of rounds. I had a lot of fun with these guys and I will miss them a ton when I get home.Fun Facts!:
#1: On some cars in Ireland are giant letters in the windows such as 'L' and 'N'. I have wondered what they were for, for a while and finally have my answer. The 'L' one means that the driver is learning to drive still. The 'N' means that the driver is a new driver. These letters help keep other drivers from becoming impatient with the person behind the wheel.
#2: I have 14 days left until my plane leaves Ireland. That is two weeks left to finish work in my three remaining classes, travel to Dublin for one last trip, and say goodbye to all of the friends that I have gained in my time here. Not exactly new information, but a fact none the less.
