Only in Ireland . . .

After many days of waiting around on phone calls about my start date for work, it has finally been set for Jan 3rd. So I've got another 2 weeks off before I'm obliged to actually do anything (aside from the Christmas dinner that I promised to make my flatmates). Sitting around the house and aimlessly wandering around the streets has started to grow a bit old, so I decided to do something useful. By chance I saw an ad for blood donation, so I found the nearest clinic and went through the usual process. Unfortunately, because I'm not an Irish national, they have to use the blood in testing this first time, but assuming that I get cleared, I'll be able to donate again in 90 days. After they took my blood I went for the usual OJ and cookies, but the guy following behind me asked the nurse for "crisps and a pint". It took a second for this to register, then I did a double take when she reached under the counter, and brought up a bottle of Guinness and a bag of cheese & onion chips! Needless to say I finished my OJ, then asked for the same. Now if that isn't Irish, I don't know what is.

Dublin is a super busy place over the holidays - in the evenings I've been walking through the Temple Bar area and browsing a bunch of the Christmas Markets that have been on. Usually they have Trad and Christmas music too. Last night I went to see a pipe band, but almost missed them as I showed up right on time, but they didn't stop by until 45 minutes later. However, this was just about the time that a crowd started to gather, so I guess it's probably my fault that I didn't assume things would be running late, as they usually are. It's supposed to be cold and foggy the next few days, but I'm planning watching Scrooged in an open-air theatre in the city center on Saturday night, then heading out to the horse track after Christmas to bet on some ponies. Without the usual Christmas movies/cartoons it just doesn't feel like the Holiday Season. A bit of Bill Murray's Christmas spirit should turn things around just in time.

This is where I work

So I finally heard back from my interviews and landed a job with Guinness for at least the next 3-months. Apparently they always extend their contracts too, so I'm thinking I'll be in Dublin for a while yet. The job is right at the Brewery/Storehouse (which is only a 15 minute walk from my place) and I've been hearing a rumour that there is free lunch and discounted alcohol (all the Diageo brands).

The position I was really shooting for was taste tester, but that's probably an internal posting anyways . . . My official title is Packaging Specification Systems Administrator (I know what you're thinking - PURE EXCITEMET!). Apparently I'll be a go-between between the head office and the packaging manufacturers. The past two months of having no real schedule has been great, but getting back into a routine will probably be good for me (as well, the job will be good for the bank account). I'm still not quite sure when I start, but it's supposed to be sometime in the next week or so - at that point it will have been 16 weeks since I last worked. I think it's going to be a rough first week of early mornings considering the fact that I have fallen into the habbit of sleeping in 'till about half nine every day. There is no point in getting up before that anyways because businesses don't open before 11 around here.

Until I find more to write about - Merry Christmas

A New Post is Long Past Due

We finally have internet hooked up at our flat, so aside from pure lazyness, I have no reason to postpone writing another post.

I guess I'll start off right from where I left off last time . . .

Aside: As I was leaving the hostel a little kid locked himself (with the keys) inside his car. It took a solid 10 minutes for his parents to get him to try to lift the lock on the door (failed) and finally roll down the window in the back so they could reach in. It was pretty entertaining and thought it warranted a picture.

The day after moving into our new place my new flatmates and I hopped on the long bus to Cork (260 km - 5 hours and change). We originally planned the trip before we had a flat, and seeing as all the hostels in Dublin were booked that weekend we thought it would be a great chance to see a bit of the rest of Ireland.

The ride down was a ridiculous start to the weekend, but not how any of us would have liked. The bus was filled mostly with University students heading home for the weekend, along with a few backpackers and other randoms. We got on last and ended up in the freezing back seat with a group of Polish guys. The rest of the bus slept the whole way down, but not these guys . . . The trip would have been alright if kept it down to occasional kicking of the chairs and constant yelling at each other, but an hour in they decided it was time for a smoke break. It was definitely not something I had expected before getting on the bus, but the other passengers didn't seem to mind or give it much notice. Smoke breaks continued about ever half-hour the rest of the way, and the trip still wouldn't have been so bad if this were it. By the 3-hour mark I heard some serious toe-tapping behind me, then 10 minutes later the guy made his way to the front of the bus to talk to the driver. Looking out the window you could see there was nowhere to pull off and the last sign we passed stated that the next town was 12km away. Normally driving along the freeway this would go by in a flash, but for some reason then speed limit the whole way down was 80km/h and the bus was crawling along at about 60. He came back to his seat, cursed out the driver to his friends in Polish and a few choice English words. Then, in a scene straight out of Dumb & Dumber, I heard a can slowly filling up and a long sigh of relief. Great. When we did pull off, about 5 minutes later, the guys got off for a smoke, but left the freshly filled can (as I later found out). When they got back on they all had a few cans of beer each - exactly what they need when we have 2 hours left in the trip. Smoke breaks continued and I thought the worst was over, but as we made a sharp turn off the highway and into the city the can fell over and the Polish guys laughed. Thankfully we pulled into the bus depot minutes later and I was spared from any spillage.

I had been the one to book the hostel for the group, but failed to write down directions on how to actually get there from the bus. As we found out, the great thing about Ireland is that you can walk up to the doors of a pub and ask directions of whoever is outside having a smoke. Once you drop the fact that you are from Canada they will invariably tell you all about the friend they have in Montreal or Toronto, then proceed to walk to the place you are trying to find. We went out to a few pubs and bars after checking into the hostel, but apparently Fridays are fairly quite nights in Cork.

The next morning we walked around the town a bit before catching a bus to Blarney (only 10 minutes away). There are a ton of stories about locals sneaking in to Blarney Castle and pissing on the Blarney Stone, but it had rained the night before and i was satisfied that a quick touch of the lips would do no harm. After touring through the castle and grounds I would have to place Blarney Castle as a close #2 to Gravensteen in Ghent, Belgium.

Jill was starting work at a hostel on Sunday morning, so we decided to go back to Dublin on Saturday evening. The ride back was much better - we had the back of the bus to ourselves and it only took 4 hours.

Since we've been back I've been looking for jobs and have gone to a few interviews. While waiting to hear back I have kept in the tourist frame of mind and walk all over the city exploring. It'll be nice to have a steady income, but I'm enjoying my freedom right now. The other day I went to Phoenix Park (almost twice the size of Stanley Park and the largest in Europe), checked out some of the massive monuments they have and took a tour of the Presidents house. This past weekend we tried to have a Christmas/Housewarming party, but it fell through at the last minute, so we just went to Temple Bar instead.

Aside from the random urinators at the end of the street, our place is great. They are fairly expected too, seeing as our neighbors are a bookie (Boylesports Bookmakers) and an adult store. We are living 5 minutes away from Temple Bar and a block away from 2 large shopping centres - I have never seen so many people buying so much stuff. Everyday looks like a Boxing Day sale. I would imagine it will slow down once Christmas is over, but it has been steady since we first moved in.

I should hear back from my latest round of interviews this week and will post once I find out what the story is there. It's looking like I'm going to have Christmas here in Dublin with Whitney and Jill. Our other flatmate, Brianne, is going home for the holidays. I have been looking into going to Hogamany in Edinburgh for New Years, but it's looking kinda iffy right now.

Best of luck to those of you who are writing exams and Happy Holidays!