Cork & Kinsale

I'm ill. Sinus infection. For all those of you who don't know what that is: it's like a cold, except that the head feels like on the brink of explosion and you can't focus on anything. Antibiotics and painkillers. Lovely.

This is my first post in 2008. You may have noticed that I haven't felt like blogging lately. But that's ok. A Canadian friend of mine once said that life is made up of many phases with different priorities or desires: literature, sports, friends, love ... or blogging. Who knows, I might be entering a blogging phase, after all. Let's see.

In brief, Christmas, New Year's and skiing in Switzerland were most enjoyable. I had a wonderful time at home, which in retrospect seemed much shorter than I had thought it would be. The few days of skiing in Saas-Fee were particularly gorgeous, with plenty of snow, sunshine, only some -5 Celsius and a bunch of fun people.

Now I'm back, but travelling goes on. Last weekend saw me in Cork, further down in the south-east. It's a small (yet Ireland's third biggest) city, cramped with cafés and pubs and clubs and definitely worth a visit. Jojo, a German fellow, and I were staying at his Irish flatmate's house, going out in the evening and exploring the city centre during the day. On Saturday, we took the bus further on to Kinsale, a picturesque seaport town on the coast where we enjoyed delicious food, some beer and a fantastic nighttime view over the bay. Unfortunately, however, little sleep and much rain and wind turned my cold into a severe sinus infection. Well, it should pass in a few days. Here are some more pictures for all those of you who're interested.





College also started again. I have two new courses - "Introduction to Post-Colonial Fiction and Theory" and "America and the US: Literature and the Nation" - but it's too early to judge.

In order to cut this short, here's what else you ought to know:

- I'm single again, somewhat involuntarily, yet I'm over it and happy.

- It's raining a lot these days in Dublin ... which however shouldn't stop you from visiting me in this terrific city!

- I'm going to move out of my room and into another one which is not only more spacious and cheaper but also closer in the city centre.

But here comes the best ...

- I'll be spending some 8 weeks in New York in the summer, in an internship with the Permanent Mission of Germany at the United Nations!

I'll leave you here for now, with the resolution to update this blog a little more frequently in the future.

Take it easy,

Chris

County Clare, London, Reutlingen, London ... and back to Dublin

This is the first time I am putting down some lines in the library, but I just cannot focus on "coalition theories" at the moment and thus may as well fill you in on what has been going on in the last few weeks.

Having spent some 2.5 months in this lively city, it is time for a first assessment of one of the features that immediately come to the minds of many when asked to state what Ireland is all about: the (bad) weather. However, the truth of the matter is: There is no bad weather, at least, it is not that much worse than anywhere else. Granted, the last few weeks and months are said to have been extraordinarily sunny this year. Also, I had better be happy not to have been around during the summer, which according to the Irish must have been rather non-existent. Nevertheless, I am positively surprised how rarely it rains, and that if it does, it usually stops again pretty soon. Have a look at this magnificent sunrise from my window and then reconsider going to Spain or Italy for your next vacation.



Out of the last four weekends or so, I did not spend a single one in Dublin. In fact, I should ask Ryanair for extra miles. To begin with, I joined the Climbing Club to the rough landscape around the Burren, County Clare, on the Irish west coast. In what can be seen, as it were, as my first trip to a more remote stretch of the country, we had much fun climbing, hiking, partying, visiting the famous Cliffs of Moher and, as you can see, catching a cold in the freezing Atlantic Ocean. Simply a terrific weekend.









The next three weeks saw me going to London twice, interrupted only by a wonderful weekend with Steffi in Reutlingen. Both the Studienstiftung and the DAAD had invited scholarship holders currently studying in the UK and Ireland, offering great weekends respectively, complete with interesting guest speakers, delicious food, pub nights out and, last Saturday, a guided walking tour around Westminster. I had a great time seeing all those familiar faces of people scattered around the UK and Ireland again ... although I still do not really know what the platform 9 3/4 in Harry Potter is all about (see picture below) ...



As to College, that is to say the academic side of it, I have been quite disappointed so far. While the (loads of) readings do raise my interest, the lectures generally fail to do so, due for the most part to tedious lecturers. Since all the courses I am presently taking are running over the entire year, and I will have but one new course in the remaining Hilary and Trinity terms, chances are small that this situation might change. In the meantime, I am making the best of it by focusing my interest (and appreciating) the weekly readings in the library and at home.

Such grievance is however made up for by the vast choice of free time events on offer by the different societies and clubs. The traditional Hist and Phil Socs, in particular, regularly come up with a remarkable line-up of world-famous people of interest, joining their debates, holding speeches and answering questions from the audience. Among others, therefore, I saw Ian Paisley, First Minister of Northern Ireland (see picture below), and Sein Win, the democratically elected yet exiled Burmese Prime Minister.



Otherwise, I am enjoying Dublin, still continuously stumbling upon new and interesting places, people, cafés, shops, customs, words ... simply any kind of aspects of Irish life. So as to bolster my finances, I am giving German grinds, which given the high Irish income level is really lucrative.

Between 13 December and 8 January, I will be spending some three weeks in Germany and Switzerland, and I look forward to seeing some of you around Christmas and New Year. Also, anyone who is still interested in a visit in 2008, just let me know and we will figure something out.

There are quite a few new pictures of all those events online, so check them out if you feel inclined to.

Take it easy,

Chris

Steffi

... finally came to see me last weekend. I had been looking forward ever since we said goodbye prior to my departure in early September. And it was wonderful indeed to have her here. We enjoyed a lovely weekend with bright sunshine, a blue sky and not a single raindrop in three days.



When she arrived Friday night, Freshers' Week had just ended. In the days before I had attended several orientation meetings for new and international students, joined a few societies among which the famous two debating societies, the PHILOSOPHICAL and the HISTORICAL societies, the EUROPA and INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS societies as well as the CLIMBING club. First practice was on Thursday at the brand new climbing wall in Trinity's state-of-the-art sports centre. It's really fun and I can't wait joining to club on a climbing trip later this month.



With all the new students arriving and the Students Union, societies, clubs, banks etc. all advertising on campus, there was quite a lot to see, hear, learn, do and - not least - many different goodies to take home. Have a look at what my bed looked like on the first evening, after I had thrown away all those things which I knew for sure I would never need again.



Meanwhile I have finished my first week of teaching in which I attended a few pretty interesting lectures. At the moment, it looks like I'm going to take the following courses:

• APOCALYPSE: MASS DEATH AND CATASTROPHE FICTION
• AMERICA AND THE US: LITERATURE AND CULTURE
• HISTORY OF THE US SINCE 1607
• WEST EUROPEAN POLITICS
• CITIZENS, POLITICS & DECISIONS

The latter is a broad curriculum course which deals with Irish and European current affairs. I'm looking forward to the first meeting this week.

In the evenings, I went swimming a couple of times already. The pool is located also in the sports centre and really nice.

Yesterday, we obviously went to watch the (in the end fairly boring) soccer match in a pub and had lots of fun afterwards ...

... which is why I'm still tired and will leave it at that for the time being.

Cheers!

Kilmainham Jail / Phoenix Park / Temple Bar

Tomorrow morning, Freshers' Week finally starts at Trinity College, roughly three weeks after my arrival. During the week there'll be official events such as registration, orientation meetings, a welcome reception for international students and tours through the library and the new state-of-the-art sports centre alongside pub crawls and/or parties in the evening. In addition, I will figure out which courses I'll be taking and if/how I'll get credits for those back home in Mannheim. All that should work out fine, and I simply look forward to an exciting week.

On the sightseeing front, I visited historic Kilmainham Jail, which happens to be located just around the corner from where I live. A very interesting tour acquainted me with a great deal of Irish history. I learned that it was in the courtyard of the prison where most nationalist leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were executed. Later on, especially the Victorian East Wing was used as a film set in several productions.







With a view to visiting Áras an Uachtaráin, the Irish president's residence, I met up with Emilie in Phoenix Park yesterday, which is one of the largest city parks in the world. Although we unhappily missed the last tour, we still had a steaming cup of coffee and a nice stroll through park, passing by the herd of deer in front of the Papal Cross where Pope John Paul II preached to a crowd of more than one million in 1979, and the 62m-tall Wellington Testimonial.



At night, we met again in Temple Bar, this time however not in a pub but at Emilie's mate's place, having a good time emptying a bottle of tequila, among others.



There're more snap shots online, yet I'll leave you here and get some sleep before tomorrow's first day at TCD.

Chris

Dublin and beyond

Meanwhile it's been a fortnight since I arrived in this terrific city. I've seen and experienced quite a lot since my last post, so I'll try to fill you in on the latest:

Life in my new room/flat is nice, especially thanks to Eric and Julien, my two French flatmates, with whom I even get to speak French most of the time. Yet Anthony, my Irish landlord, is just as easygoing as the others, which is why I feel good and, to some extent, already at home here. However, being so close to the city centre the place is quite expensive, and therefore I might move again some time in the future, once I know some more people in town. Not for the time being, though.



This week I strolled through the city centre a few times, exploring the Trinity campus a bit further. I'm still impressed by the beauty of the old buildings and have a hard time imagining that this is where I'll be spending most of my days from next week on.





Here are some pictures I took on the way through the city: the world-famous Guinness brewery; then me on Grafton street, on the first day it actually rained after I had already believed myself in Spain or some other southern European country; two impressions from St. Stephen's Green; and finally St. Patrick's Cathedral, which surprised me with its exhaustive accumulation of statues, inscriptions, flags and other adornment. After all, I simply didn't have enough time to soak in everything, but it's lovely so I'm sure to come back a few more times in the months to come.















On Friday the Irish rugby team played - and dramatically lost - against France. The picture shows Martina, a German girl I met in the hostel, and me watching it in a pub, thereby chatting with few Irish on our table. Niall, one of them, promised to do his utmost to get me some tickets for the soccer match between Ireland and Germany in Croke Park in October. It'd be great if that works out, I'll keep my fingers crossed.



Dublin's doors are remarkable as they come in different colours, making otherwise run-down town houses appear in a completely new light. Well, I finally stopped taking pictures of them after I had covered all imaginable variations. Here's an example ...



Saturday morning Lorna and her French penfriend picked me up to visit the famous Neolithic passage tombs in Knowth, which are actually older than the pyramids in Egypt. Again the weather was lovely and we had much fun as you can see in the picture which features me just before creeping through one of the underground passages.











Even more famous than Knowth is the largest tomb in Newgrange. Each year, only on the early mornings from December 19th to December 23rd, the sun slowly illuminates the long passage. Since there's very little space inside, only a handful of people literally win the permission to be present at the spectacle. It goes without saying that I put down my name in the hope that I will be among them.



I spent the rest of the weekend with Lorna's large family where I was received with utmost cordiality. A scenic panorama stretches out from the back of the property upon the valley and all the way to the Sugar Loaf, a hill we climbed halfway at dusk.






Not far away is one of Dublin's most exclusive neighbourhoods. We cruised around for a while, passing by the famous singer Enya's castle.



Then of course the obligatory pint (or rather a few of them) in the evening, this time however in a very special location indeed: Johnnie Fox's, one of Ireland's oldest and most famous traditional pubs, and besides supposedly the country's highest.



Then another really lovely trip today, this time along the coast of County Wicklow, just half an hour south of Dublin. I joined Jennifer (German) and her flatmate Rachael (Canadian) on a scenic 7km coastal walk between the small towns of Bray and Greystones. With the clouds soon disappearing from the sky, replaced by the warming sun, we enjoyed a windy yet pleasant day outside, soaking in the fresh air ... and chilling out afterwards over delicious organic soup and Latte Macchiato.

















As always for those interested in more pictures, check out my web albums.

Have a nice week!

Chris