bit of an update...

Well let's see... the second semester has started and my classes seem alright:

CM219 - Cross Cultural Communication
CM227 - Global Communication
CM364 - Belief & Communication
CM213 - Media Writing & Expression
CM272 - Ireland & National Cinema

On Wednesday we got the results of last semester and I passed with flying colors! To celebrate we went to the Nu Bar on campus and spent the majority of our day there.

On Thursday we went to the All-Ireland Dance Experiment which was hosted by DCU. We went to watch Yvonne kick ass at the show :) Dancers from all of the country came and performed, it was amazing! Saw lots of different types of dancing including Irish Dance.

We went to Wicklow this weekend for a friend's 21st and had a blast! We stayed with Yvonne and got to see a bit of that lovely place... Wicklow is gorgeous!! Oh and it snowed while we were there!

This week is rag week which shall be crazy!! It is basically a week where everyone goes mad and we just party the whole time. The rag ball starts at 2 pm on Wed!!

Oh and we won our volleyball game today!

Hollywood in Ireland:


Only pic I took from the moving car (Wicklow is way prettier than this):

I'm 22!

Thanks to all those who made my 22nd birthday wonderful! To my friends in Dublin, thanks for a great few days and all the presents (and drinks)!! And to all my family and friends back home, thank you for all the cards and presents I received... I'm so lucky to have you guys!!

My birthday was celebrated three days in a row. It started with Saturday where we went to Temple Bar to Fitzsimon's, an awesome pub with a great band! Sunday, my actual birthday, was spent relaxing at home. I woke up and opened a ton of presents to start my day off right! I enjoyed some delicious hot fudge pudding courtesy of this one girl named Bowey aka Lisa :) We had a bit o banter didn't we Tobey?! Good craic alright!! ha!! Later on I had some birthday cake (thank you Baby Lini it was delicious!). Definitely got my fill of chocolate in for the day!! Then we celebrated once again on Monday with intentions of going to a club, but ended up at the same pub we went to on Saturday -- bonus: club downstairs!!

I have a feeling that 22 is going to be my best year yet... :)

Saturday




Sunday



Monday

Munster Match in Limerick

This is the opening music for the rugby match :)

Ice in Brussels

IT WAS SLIPPERY!! This video, especially Caroline, makes me laugh every time I see it :)

Amsterdam

We took a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to get to Amsterdam from Brussels. The city was so beautiful and we had a ton of fun! Our hostel was only 8.90 euros a night... which has been our lowest price yet!

We went to the Anne Frank House, which was the actual house that she, her family and a few others hid in during the 1940's. We got a tour of each room, as well as detailed descriptions and videos informing us of what happened. I actually left the museum with tears in my eyes... seeing that type of thing firsthand really gives you an understanding of that time.

Amsterdam mainly consists of three things: bikes, the red light district and coffeeshops. The red light district was interesting, but pretty gross in my opinion. While walking around and exploring the city, I saw more bikes than I've ever seen in my life. In a one-hour time span I think we saw three bike crashes. It was because of this reason and the weather that we decided to not rent bikes and ride around. But we were able to see everything on foot and it is a gorgeous city! There are canals all around the city, so basically every place looks similar to this:









We went out each night in Amsterdam, my favorite being our last night when we ended up joining a pub crawl. Basically you pay to join the crawl and they take you to all the best pubs. We ended up paying 10 euros to join since it was halfway done, but it was a good deal as we went to five pubs after that and you get a free drink at each new place. Since we paid less we weren't suppposed to get a tshirt, but you all know I worked my magic and got one :)

We left Amsterdam at 6:30 pm and rode the bus back to Brussels. Then we took the train to the airport and spent the remainder of the night (midnight & onward) in the airport before departing at 6:30 am. It was one long day and I spent all day sleeping today. All in all it was an exhausting but wonderful trip!

Belgium - Brussels & Bruges

Round trip ticket to Brussels = 10 euro... it doesn't get much better than that :) This five day vacation was one of the best I've had!!

Belgium was amazing!! It was definitely way better than what I had originally expected. We first flew in to Brussels on Saturday and spent the entire day exploring the city. One of my favorite things would have to be visiting the chocolate factory. If you weren't aware, Belgium chocolate has been claimed to be the best in the world. I can validify that fact as we got many samples in the musee du cacao et du chocolat. We also learned about the many reasons why chocolate is so important AND extremely good for you (keeps your heart and cardiovascular system running well, is an anti-depressent, lowers blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, stimulates endorphins which make you happy, helps create relaxation, etc). We also found it necessary to eat a few Belgium waffles while being in the country, typically with chocolate on them, you know... for the health factor :)

This is Grand Place, the main square in Brussels with a bunch of museums and gorgeous buildings.



View from a cathedral we visited. This picture shows a little bit of snow, it snowed the first day we were in Brussels.



We took a train to Bruges, which has now been added to my favorite European cities list. The city was amazing!

This is the main square in Bruges.




This is Belfry, an old building with 366 steps to the top of the bell tower. Hearing 366 steps meant nothing to us, but trust me... it is a lot!



On the steps... they were extremely steep and as you kept getting higher, the staircase got narrower - definitely not the place for someone claustrophobic. It was a tight squeeze! You basically could touch the sides with your shoulders and it would be impossible for two people to pass on the staircase.



And this is the view when we got to the top...



My favorite spot in Bruges... houses and restaurants along the canal, so beautiful!





We took the long walk back to the train station along the canal before heading back to Brussels to stay our last night in the hostel.



When we arrived back in Brussels we met up with some more friends from DCU (as well as some new friends we met at our hostel) to go to the coolest pub I have ever been to. It is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, as they have over 2,000 kinds of beers in the pub. We tried many different kinds, my favorite being get ready for this.... BANANA BEER! It sounds weird, but it was so good!

Talk about a diverse group... Australian, French, American, Spanish and Japanese!