The First Day of The Last Month of The First Decade of The 21st Century

So, it's the first day of the last month of the first decade of the twenty-first century. Okay, so technically it's now an hour into the 2nd day, but we're not working on technicalities here. There's still 30 days left in this year, and boy has it been a year! But we'll come to that when the next 30 days are over. Okay? Okay.

But it's nearly the end of another quantifiable amount of time that's passed...a semester. My first semester at a legit university. I know right?! And while I'm not a freshman, I'm kind of on the same level as them on learning how to navigate the university life and system. So, this being I've decided to type up a few things I've learned so far in my first semester. I'm sure this list will be added to in the next few weeks.

1. Always be prepared. Whether this means having the cord for your laptop, packing extra pencils and paper, or keeping a...toothbrush (yeah, let's go with that) in your purse, is up to you.
2. It is going to rain on a day you have to walk to class. Wellies and a rain coat are your friends. Oh, and be sure to get a rainproof cover for your backpack too. You don't want your books (or laptop!) getting soaked.
3. Do pack those extra pencils and paper. You never know that one day in class that your laptop won't work...and that will guaranteed be the day your prof gives out important details for the exam.
4. iPods are not optional
5. Get a bike. Unless you are going to school someplace that's one giant mountain, just do it.
6. Don't go barefoot in the bathroom. Seriously people. Just, eww.
7. You will not need that unlimited meal plan.
8. Avoid the unidentifiable meat in the dining hall. Seriously...put it down.
9. When in the dining hall do listen to the conversations of your fellow hungry students. You never know what you'll hear. Which leads to my next point....
10. Don't date on campus. No, I don't care if the individual is cute/hot/well groomed/sexy, no. Or if you can't help yourself avoid the boys from the dining hall at all costs. And really....if you must....be safe and know that they will talk about you (aka rate you) to all their friends and pretty much anyone who will listen. And seriously...go to campus health. No, don't walk there. Run. Get yourself...tested or something. I mean, what were you thinking dating on campus? Eww!
11. Everyone wears leggings when it's cold, and those running shorts that look like you're wearing a diaper well, all the time.
12. No one understands what it's like to be from the beach. Even the people who are from 7 hours down the coast. No, stop pretending like you get what it's like to be a beach kid at this university. Are you from the island? No? Then you don't get it.
13. There will always be someone staying in to do homework on the weekends.
14. You will pull all nighters
15. You will spend way too much time on Facebook
16. If you're illegally downloading music it will stop when you get to college or you will get pulled in front of a panel and put on academic probation (promise this wasn't a personal experience one!). Seriously people, they can watch what you're doing.
17. Do get to class on time
18. Utilize your university services. Writing centers and free tutoring are there for a reason y'all!
19. Go home for sometime other than a scheduled break if it's at all possible. This will save your sanity.
20. You know what? It's alright to be pissed to no end if you get sexiled. Even if it's with a forewarning.
21. Watch your spending! It's easy to rack up bills quickly.
22. Sign up for the free food listserv.
23. Guess what. The pretty people still get ahead. Yes, they did it in high school, and they still do it in college.
24. It's okay to not like your school and still stay there because its name means something in the world.
25. Check your email more than once a day. And I do mean your school email. Your 5 other accounts or Facebook do not count.
26. Get a refrigerator.
27. It's okay to stop and take pictures of the people playing Quidditch. Because you know what, even though Harry Potter is cool...y'all people running around with broomsticks stuck between your legs, are weird.
28. Back up your computer, back up your computer, back up your computer. Or better yet, set it to back up automatically. Because you know that 8 page paper you just wrote that's due in the morning, it's gone if your computer crashes. And it does happen. And the last one for now...
29. Get some sleep!

That being said I'm out for the night. More college lessons to come!

Peace,

Elina

In honor of all my friends who are seeing snow (please be sure to keep it!), here's a photo of Galgorm Castle in County Antrim.

The Last Day of November

Okay, so I figured this whole writing a blog in the daytime thing is probably a good trend that should continue. So the Christmas lights I've decorated my dorm with have fallen down. Not that it wasn't for trying to keep the up! Scotch tape just doesn't seem to be the answer...no matter how much of the roll you use. Anyone have suggestions to hang them that won't take the paint off the walls?

This being said, the Christmas/holiday spirit is in the air. There are wreaths hung on three of the hall doors (including mine). It makes me happy to see that some of the students make an effort to decorate our little spaces since the university, well pretty much legally, can't decorate. It's kind of sad. I think we should just go all out and decorate for everyone: the Christians, the Jews, the Pagans, Muslims, and everyone else in between. Then we can have the bell tower (yes, we have a legit bell tower) play carols and songs other than its normal repertoire. Not that I don't like the music it usually plays, but seriously you can only hear so much from The Sound of Music. The holidays are so much fun (aside from the cold weather. Seriously.)! There's lights about in town (since you know, the university can't decorate), shopping for other people...and yourself (I mean, who doesn't like shopping?!), hot coco/coffee, parties with family and friends, and just the general sense of goodwill of people towards each other.

Now, I know Christmas is this Christian holiday that's supposed to celebrate the birth of Jesus (c'mon we all know he was really born in July(ish) and this is just a big party to bring the pagans to The Church) but seriously people, some of you need to RELAX! (Yes, this is about to turn into a rant that may offend some folks. Get over it!) Those of you who capitalize the "Christ" part of the word "Christmas" or ridicule people (publicly no less!) for using the abbreviation of "Xmas" need to get a life. Or at least grab some eggnog (spiked or not is up to you) and breathe! I don't want to log into my various social networking sites and have religion shoved in my face! Yes, that is the premise of the season, but okay, we know where you stand on your views of it all. We don't have to see it every day, multiple times a day, every couple minutes. And yes, these people are my friends, but for serious! It drives me freaking nuts! Now, I'm not for being all PC and avoiding all references to specific holidays or their aspects, but still.

Phew! Now that we got that out of the way....

It's about to storm here, but thankfully it's not cold enough to snow...yet... But in a bright spot to the day my class this late afternoon was canceled!! Happy dance muchly!!! Perhaps despite the storm it's time to take a walk down the street (or maybe even a trip to the mall) to do some Christmas shopping (and find the student record label). Yes, I am broke being that I'm not trying to juggle school and a job, but I think it's still good to do a little something something for your faves in life. You know what I mean? I've two down, like...six or seven to go. It so difficult to choose, and then I always end up buying more stuff than I ever need! This being said, I've to make a bank run...no not to get out money to shop. Despite loving shopping I can manage to save a few dollars here and there!

Hope everyone out there is having a wonderful holiday season!

Peace,

Erin

Enjoy the picture of the Christmas Market in Belfast.

Daylight...What's That?

Okay, so I thought maybe I should perhaps write a post every now and then while it's still light outside! Well, it's almost still light outside being the time of year where the days are getting shorter and shorter. So perhaps it would be better to say, "Hey! Look at that. It's the 4pm hour instead of the 4am hour and I'm writing a blog. Wow." But anyhow...Thanksgiving break is now over and it was indeed quite lovely, albeit too short. I got to spend time with family and friends, sleep a lot, and got some studying in. Of course it wasn't nearly as much as was needed! I've found someone from near where I live who doesn't have a car here at school so we've been sharing rides. It's nice, but it also means I have to admit to my pack rat problem of brining along way too much stuff! Now my friend has asked for a ride back over winter break...I wasn't quite planing on that one! I want to say yes, yet at the same time it'd be nice to just worry about me for a change. It's a lot of work to get the car from the lot, get my stuff loaded, then go pick up someone else and load their stuff. It takes a fair bit of time! I'll figure it out all in due time though.

But not much time! There's a week and a half of classes left along with a little less than a week and a half of exams. It's about 18 days till the semester is over. I can't believe it! This time has flown by. It's getting rather cold outside well, most of the time. Hopefully there won't be snow because I totally forgot the two most important things at home...boots and a heavy coat! Though I did pick up some Christmas decorations so my dorm is looking quite festive at the moment. Hopefully the new roommate likes Christmas! Oh yes, that's right. One of the folks from down the hall will be moving in sometime this week. I think we're going to get along alright. Hopefully. I've kept the dorm in pretty much the same state as if I've had a roomie all this time (Not an easy thing to do let me tell you!) so it's all ready for an additional occupant. I guess I can be ready for a new roomie...

The one thing I'm not ready for is all the work I've left! I just feel like being lazy, decorating (even though it's all done now), cooking/baking, and reading a book I want to read or maybe watching some TV. The last thing I feel like doing is reading about the environment and globalization. Ugh!

But for now it's off to our last official community meeting of the semester and then to the bus (double ugh!) to go see if I left some missing items in my car. Hopefully they're there! See yous all laters!

Peace,

Elina

I know I've used this photo before, but here's a picture of Trinity College Dublin's famous library. You know, in representation that we have to essentially read that entire library before exams. ;)

These Times They Keep On Turning

So, it's that time of year again. The one where we've registered for next semester's classes, we can count how many days of one class we have left on our fingers or maybe even one hand. It's that time when you really do have to admit that you need that coat in the morning, and maybe the flip-flops really aren't the best idea. It's also the time when absolutely everything is due. Everything from those nagging little assignments you have to do every week to those massive end of semester projects you haven't looked at since the first class since, you know, they're due at the end of the semester. Being that it's fall semester it's very nearly time for Thanksgiving break. I'm so ready for a break by this point that it's extremely tempting to skip classes Monday and Tuesday and just have an entire week at home. Yeah, it's not happening, but it doesn't mean that I don't want to! It's not like it's time off either. There is homework due on 2 days of that break (thank you very much online foreign language class), I'm decorating for Christmas with my father, getting a haircut that doesn't cost $50+ (hello city prices!), cooking for our Thanksgiving gathering, studying for....well, all the regular studying, and maybe getting in a little time with my friends. There certainly never seems to be enough time anymore these days. And speaking of time, last night was my very first university all-nighter. Writing an 8 page term paper is not the way I like to spend my Thursday nights thank you very much. But as a consequence of sleeping for 9 hours in the middle of the day I am now "blessed" with having my days and nights reversed. Not like they weren't already close to that, but now it's more than usual.

But that minor fact aside, it truly is nearly the end of the semester. Including Thanksgiving break there are precisely 4 weeks left. Today marks the 3/4 point; and thank heavens for that. I'm not particularly looking forward to gaining a new roommate next semester, but I am looking forward to be a little farther finished with school. While I do hear from people out in the "real world" that they wish they could be back in college, I am getting tired. I've been taking college classes since 1/2 way through my Junior year of high school. Even though I'm technically right on track (or actually ahead of schedule by just a little) this constant schedule can wear you down. And while Christmas break is great, it's not all that long. My school gives just over 2 1/2 weeks. I'm envious of my friends who's exams finish the week before mine, or the ones who go back to school a week later. Do you think that's all part of being at a "top university"? Because honestly, it just flat out sucks.

There are some fun things about being in a city though. And that would be the music scene! I was fortunate enough to go see Matt Costa last week (who started out the show playing in the middle of the crowd), and The Weepies this week. Talk about a great show! It was a drive (and probably a huge factor in my all-nighter), but it was well worth it. The husband and wife duo were not only amazing in person, but we got a comedy act too! They would tell us the story accompanied with the song they were about to play (which was a lot of them), and typically it was hilarious although sometimes a little awkward. Subjects of transvestites on the corner and porn viruses on computers anyone? Hopefully they'll come back to town sometime while I'm still out here! Also this week was my final show for this tour of Celtic Thunder. I seriously considered adding a Christmas show that's just a few hours west of here, but it's just not in the budget. Oh well. More money for other (and more important) things.

Anyhow, I should get some sleep to attempt to get my days back.

Thanksgiving break in 3 days and 11 hours!

Peace,

Elina

I honestly have no idea where the photo is from other than someplace in Ireland.

Time Moves Like Sand Falling Through the Cracks

So the roomie has been gone for a couple weeks now and it's been fabulous. Let me tell you, I could get used to this whole living in my own room thing. But it's not time to go getting too comfortable now. I will be getting a new roommate next semester, and have already had someone ask to move in. We'll be having lunch sometime to figure out if we'll be a good fit for each other. We'll see.

Last weekend (technically two weekends ago now) was the 2010 World Butoku Sai (aka Winter Camp) at the Oceanfront. (Now's a good time to note that most everyone who went is now sick. Including me...again) It was cold, windy, sunny, amazing, beautiful, and immensely painful all at the same time. There was less water training than expected, and mostly less training in general than was expected. Still, it was good to get to see everyone again. A touch awkward in some cases, but hey that's life. It's amazing to look at the pictures from this camp compared to winter camp 5 years ago, 8 years ago. We're almost all in college now if not graduated. To quote Meredith Grey, "We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop?" The history you build with people, the friendships you form, it's amazing to look at that and think about how much time has passed. It's been over ten years now that I've trained. Nothing compared to so many of my fellow martial artists. We actually celebrated our 45th anniversary of the international branch of our organization. I'm merely a pup compared to my teachers. All of us are. Even though there are those of us who would like to think otherwise. I do believe these are the same folks who have some humility scheduled to be knocked back into them. And I do mean that quite literally! We're all scheduled for some life lessons. But I think we're getting to the ones that you're parents and teachers can't help you prevent. They can tell you what to do and what not to do till they're blue in the face, but there's lessons you learn only by experience and nothing else. Some of these are the lessons that really seem to suck. But whatever. All in due time.

Speaking of time, I can't believe the semester is almost over! There's just three full weeks of classes (not counting Thanksgiving break) before exams, then it's Christmas. Time has flown! But let me tell you, college, it's not all that fun. It's hard work, it's late nights, it's not going out on the weekends when you really want to. Sometimes it's okay though. The music scene around here is rather inviting after all. From the start of the semester I've seen Jack Johnson, Matt Hires with opener Wakey!Wakey!, Blitzen Trapper, Sarah Barilles with Greg Laswell and Holly Conlan, Passion Pit, and Matt Costa. This isn't counting the three Celtic Thunder shows (and the fourth in a few days). I also decided last minute to pick up a ticket to go see The Weepies in a neighboring city. Should be a good show!

But more than anything I'm looking forward to being back on the beach. Although I had my definition of "city" redefined for me in Chicago a few weeks ago, this place is still very different. It's a very high-paced, high-occupancy life. No one here has time for each other. You don't spend 5 minutes chatting about your day with the librarian, your professor maybe has a couple minutes to talk strictly about class matters. No one truly knows anyone. It's all about time is money and money is time. I swear I need 12 more hours in my day to get everything finished. Speaking of which, it's time to tell yous all goodnight. Here's to a pleasant tomorrow!

Peace,

Elina

The photo hosts some brilliant autumn colors from somewhere in County Derry.

The Only Time We Have Is Now, So It's Time to Say Goodbye

You know, everything changes in life. People grow up, we grow apart, we move away, we come closer together again. All of this can have profound effects on our lives. Whether it's the sudden and unexpected loss of someone, or a gradual parting that has reached its conclusion. People come and go out of our lives, and each and every one can have a profound impact on how we approach life. Sometimes this leaving is for the better, maybe sometimes it's not. And just maybe sometimes it's precisely what we need, even if we can't see it at that moment. This is the hardest such to admit. These are the partings that are healthy for us in the long run, but hurt immensely at their start. They're something we so desperately cling to as the damage done only tears us anew. But once we learn to let go...that moment...it's freeing. It's loosening the bonds and letting them fall away. Sure, the pain, the marks left behind, they'll take time to heal. You might not even be able to fix your wounds all yourself. But those other people...you have to let them help you. Otherwise you'll always have those wounds waiting, barely healed, to open again. Sure, they'll heal with time. But yes, you will be left with scars. And although they may fade, chances are, your experiences, they've changed you forever. Maybe you'll be different on the outside. Maybe no one will ever know.

They say time heals all wounds. It sure helps. But it can only heal if you are not alone. Do not fear to let those who reach out for you see your weaknesses. There are some journeys that are not meant to be walked alone. It's knowing which ones those are that is a true challenge. Just remember one thing. You may try to fool others, but do not try to fool yourself.

"One day I won't regret this / Oh, how I want to believe that's true / Once I pick up my parts I broke on you / It's not you, not you, goodbye" ~ Greg Laswell

As always,

Peace,

Elina

The photo is from somewhere in County Derry, Northern Ireland.

These Days Go On

Okay, so I posted an epically long amount of my unfinished reviews. I'm currently working on finishing the end of the one for Norfolk, and I've started one for this epic back-to-back show (and will post both here) weekend in Chicago. It was absolutely incredible and totally overwhelming. I got very little sleep, and am still recuperating from it all! Currently I'm waiting for some photos to load from my adventure in the city (why by the way, must Facebook change their photo uploader again? The last one was fine). I was quite proud of myself the last day there. I managed to get on the L (the Chicago train system), transfer to the metro, and get to the airport all on my own. Without getting lost! It was a near thing though. lol! It was quite a feat for someone from an area with absolutely zero public transit. But you'll get to hear all about this in my review. Which is on its way, I swear. And I don't mean like that QVC review either.

After a very bad Sunday night, a terrible Monday, and a hectic this morning, I did get some happy/sad news at dinner tonight. The sad news is someone in my learning community is moving out. Someone I really like, a nice person. The good news is that my roomie is moving down the hall!!! I don't know if I'll get a new roomie this semester or not, but I'd say I'll definitely get one next semester. Hopefully that person will be better than the one I have now! But in this moment, my photos are finished uploading so it is time for me to bid you adeu and get on the homework.

Oh, and look. Paul just tweeted about Michael Bublé mentioning the lads on an interview. Well done to my friend for letting us all know! Follow my friend's blog here.

NNGB everyone!

Peace,

Elina

Please enjoy the photo of Portstewart Strand in Derry, Northern Ireland. Figured I'd post a beach picture since both times I've had Keith at my M&Ms he's mentioned missing the beach somethin' terrible. As do I...