My day started off by waking up, putting on my green attire, and heading over to the parade in town on shop street. The streets were packed with people. And yes, people actually do wear green here. They don't dress as ridiculously-looking though as we do in the states on dress-up holidays. Fortunately, I got to watch the parade from a friend's apartment in town which was a view from up above the street. After the parade, I went to another friend's house where we had a barbeque. It was a nice day so we brought out couches and chairs outside in the front yard and relaxed, played catch, and grilled pork chops for dinner and bananas with peanut butter and chocolate for dessert(one of my dessert favorites!). After the BBQ we went into town and looked for corned beef and cabbage(to satisfy our Irish-American tradition). We couldn't find it anywhere so we ended up going to a highly-recommended burger place. It was a nice quiet place in there; not too crowded. After dinner we went to a cute little pub and sat there for a while and chatted with a bunch of people. I met some really friendly Irish people and they ended up giving me a leprechaun hat, complete with a beard and everything. So naturally, I grabbed my friend's Guinness and posed for a leprechaun shot(as seen in my pics). There's nothing like sitting in a pub IN IRELAND listening to LIVE Irish music and getting a free leprechaun hat on St. Patrick's Day (and some "free" 'from-an-Irish pub-beer-glasses we found laying around). =] After being in that pub, called the Crane Bar, we went to another larger place where we got to sit and talk and dance when we wanted. I met someone there that I thought I recognized from the BBQ earlier so I was like, "Niall?" and he was like, "Yeah...(questioned look on face)" and I said, "You were at the BBQ earlier right?" and he said, "No..." and I was like, "WAIT, but your name is Niall?!" and he was like, "Yeah, how did you know that? Have we met?" and I was like "No, okay so now I feel like a major creeper but that's really cool at the same time 'cause I've never guessed someone's name on the first try before(especially such an uncommon name!)!" haha, funny/random story of my night. Anyways, it was a lot of fun just talkin' and dancin' the night away with my friends. Before going into St. Paddy's Day, I expected some sort of city-wide hunt for a pot of gold. Unfortunately, this was not the case, however, I had a wonderful time nonetheless. An experience to remember <3
Crowded streets after the parade
The parade
BBQ @ Villys
Lydia =] (met her at the airport then never saw her again then re-met at the Christian Union)
Extra crispy garlic bread is better right?
In bathroom stall: "Take a walk by yourself& discover the beauty of the world around you"
People who gave me the leprechaun hat
Random Irish fact: The term "cue" is used for a "line" that you wait in. Ex: "The cue is over there for the ride."
1) Earlier this week I was walking through shop street (the main area in town) when from no where a pigeon flew into my head and flew away like nothing happened. Weird.
2) Over the weekend I was forced (under pressure of the band who called me up on the microphone) to get up and dance in a pub with an old man who could barely walk. No one else was dancing besides me and the man who seemed to know everyone and be a regular at that pub. Little did I know this would turn into him asking to kiss me and trying to follow me out of the pub while carrying his dancing shoes. He literally had dancing shoes and a bag specifically for them. And he literally did ask me to kiss him right after I asked him to take a picture with me. I simply said, "uhhh just smile for the picture" and left awkwardly. Awkward.
3) Today I went to my professors office to ask what my essay prompt was. He told me it was "Should the paluta pay? If not, why not?" Not wanting to look stupid, I didn't ask what 'paluta' meant and spent forever trying to research what it was on my own. Come to find out, he said "Polluter" not "Paluta". Gotta love accents lol. Culture Misunderstanding. (<--I encounter these types of things often)
My International Business Class went to Glasgow, Scotland for a field trip. We went to Strathclyde University, one of the top International Business Schools in Europe. Here is a run-through of my weekend:
Day 1:
-Checked in at hostel and explored Glasgow a bit
-Got my first Startbucks in 3 months! Best caramel macchiato ever!!
-Caught a train to Stirling (We crashed first class on accident. They were offering us tea and stuff and we were wondering why no one was sitting in the nice big seats. We chatted it up with some business men too and brought up the topic about microwaved water that I previously mentioned in a blog-they had never heard of it either. They worked for Deloitte in Scotland and it made me so stoked that I am an international business major =] A couple train rides later we were discovered and got kicked out of first class. Then we sat next to someone who I heard talking about the Los Gatos greek trail and I was like WHAT, you're from Los Gatos!!? Small world huh?)
-Went to the Stirling castle and walked around the town. Went into a bagpipe shop where we learned how bagpipes were made (It takes 9 months to make because you have to wait for the wood to shrink after you cut it). The people in the bagpipe shop helped us map out our journey to the highlands and gave us tips and advice for how to get there/what to do. They literally took 30 min out of their day to talk to us and help us. The people in Stirling were VERY friendly.
-Went back to Glasgow and met up with the rest of our class and all went out on the town to a place called Bamboo where we danced the night away. We also made some Scottish friends and got a private tour of Scotland at night when everything was beautiful and lit up with Christmas lights.
-Random: It hailed and snowed and rained and was sunny all in the same day. I wasn't really a fan of the Scottish weather, although I loved Scotland.
Day 2:
-Went to Strathclyde University with our class and went to a seminar on International Business. There seems to be a stronger emphasis on academics/studying in Scotland then in Ireland
-Got another Starbucks for energy since we barely slept
-Jumped on a train to Edinbourgh
-Went on an underground tour of the Edinbourgh Dungeon which was awesome
-Got to the Edinbourgh castle 6 minutes after they closed so we didn't get to go inside but got to see the outside still
-Explored the city and talked to random people. We saw a guy playing a bagpipe on the street and went into a wool-weaving factory. I LOVED Edinbourgh and did not want to get on a train back to Glasgow. They whole town was all cobblestone with beautiful ancient architecture and family-friendly cafes.
Went back to Glasgow and went to bed early so that we could wake up early to go to the highlands the next day. We planned on renting a car because it was cheaper than the train and we could explore at our convenience.
Day 3:
-Woke up ready to go to the highlands!....until we looked outside and saw the blizzard conditions. There was no way it would have been safe to get in a car on the left side of the road in a blizzard. So, we stayed in Glasgow for the day and went store-browsing/shopping. We walked by a store where people had their feet in fish tanks and the fish were nibbling away at their feet. This seemed kind of gross yet intriguing. How could they be sitting there without laughing? We decided to try it. The second I put my feet in the tank, the fish started munching away. My friend Kelly and I were laughing so hard because it was so ticklish! We left with out feet feeling soft and refreshed. It was a good day. Now I am dying to go back to Scotland and backpack through the highlands to Loch Ness!!
-Went to a karaoke bar and actually went on stage and sang karaoke. We sang "California Girls" by Katy Perry but changed on of the choruses to "Scottland Boys" (you can see this in the video below). We met a bunch of friendly people once again. We also met an old man outside who kept saying "hubba bubba" and we finally figured out he was talking about bubble gum because he gave us a piece. haha, most of the time I could not understand what people were saying but I wanted them to keep talking because I loved their accents. In fact, the Scottish accent is probably my favorite accent that I've heard so far.
Video recap:
Random Scottish Fact: They say "Aye" a lot, meaning "Yes". They are VERY friendly. I thought the Irish were friendly but man, the Scottish will go out of their way to talk to or help a stranger that they may never even meet again.
*Here is a note I wrote on facebook about some thoughts of mine after the trip. Thought I'd share them with ya'll too:
Somewhere Out There...
Have you ever met someone who is just completely unique and different from anyone else that you've ever met in your life? Maybe it was a few words, a kind gesture, or a long conversation where suddenly you felt like you've known this person forever, or whatever it may be...but for some reason you just can't get that word or gesture or conversation out of your head. And the weirdest thing is, you may never see that "stranger" ever again. But somewhere, that stranger is existing at the same time you are, and something they did or said has given you a whole new perspective on life and they may not even know it. And the fact that you probably will never see or hear from them again just makes you want to have one last word or gesture or conversation with them THAT much more. Driving me crazzzy....ajfhjfbhbfn
Currenly listening to: "I'll never be the same 'if we ever meet again'..." by Timbaland (<---song in my video)
My day started off by waking up, putting on my green attire, and heading over to the parade in town on shop street. The streets were packed with people. And yes, people actually do wear green here. They don't dress as ridiculously-looking though as we do in the states on dress-up holidays. Fortunately, I got to watch the parade from a friend's apartment in town which was a view from up above the street. After the parade, I went to another friend's house where we had a barbeque. It was a nice day so we brought out couches and chairs outside in the front yard and relaxed, played catch, and grilled pork chops for dinner and bananas with peanut butter and chocolate for dessert(one of my dessert favorites!). After the BBQ we went into town and looked for corned beef and cabbage(to satisfy our Irish-American tradition). We couldn't find it anywhere so we ended up going to a highly-recommended burger place. It was a nice quiet place in there; not too crowded. After dinner we went to a cute little pub and sat there for a while and chatted with a bunch of people. I met some really friendly Irish people and they ended up giving me a leprechaun hat, complete with a beard and everything. So naturally, I grabbed my friend's Guinness and posed for a leprechaun shot(as seen in my pics). There's nothing like sitting in a pub IN IRELAND listening to LIVE Irish music and getting a free leprechaun hat on St. Patrick's Day (and some "free" 'from-an-Irish pub-beer-glasses we found laying around). =] After being in that pub, called the Crane Bar, we went to another larger place where we got to sit and talk and dance when we wanted. I met someone there that I thought I recognized from the BBQ earlier so I was like, "Niall?" and he was like, "Yeah...(questioned look on face)" and I said, "You were at the BBQ earlier right?" and he said, "No..." and I was like, "WAIT, but your name is Niall?!" and he was like, "Yeah, how did you know that? Have we met?" and I was like "No, okay so now I feel like a major creeper but that's really cool at the same time 'cause I've never guessed someone's name on the first try before(especially such an uncommon name!)!" haha, funny/random story of my night. Anyways, it was a lot of fun just talkin' and dancin' the night away with my friends. Before going into St. Paddy's Day, I expected some sort of city-wide hunt for a pot of gold. Unfortunately, this was not the case, however, I had a wonderful time nonetheless. An experience to remember <3
