International Exposure

Apples and Peanut Butter have become the official blogging snack. Or maybe because that's the only thing I have to eat around here. I have my apple stockpile... just like an orchard. Or a kindergarten classroom.

Anyway, Wednesdays are my longest day. I have class from 10-1 then class from 6-9. Cross Cultural Management started my day with my favorite little Korean woman. I wanted to ask her if any of her relatives moved to Dublin with her because I am going to need another manicure soon and like Momma always says, the koreans do it best. I thought that would probably not be a good idea since it is a culture class and we spent the hour learning about how you must explore beneath the "iceberg" to what lies beneath the surface level of cultures. Icebergs just remind me of lettuce or the Titantic... which I learned was actually built in Belfast which is located in Northern Ireland. There's your random Irish fact of the day.

Then I had International Marketing taught by Simon Bradley. He looks exactly like you'd expect a Simon Bradley to look. For some reason, he reminded me of Hugh Grant. Maybe it was the accent and the pretty smile. It was pointed out later that Simon Bradley needs a tailor and that his attempt at sharp dressing would be better if the suit fit properly. And who said Americas are judgmental and opinionated?

After class, I explored the library and bookstore. Standard. Then I took a little nap.

Grilled cheese for dinner then off to Irish History which I have with all American students. The class covers the making of modern Ireland-- from Colony to Republic from 1169 to 1998. It would actually be interesting if it wasn't at 6 at night and in a classroom that was 112 degrees (Fahrenheit, not Celsius-- I'm still not sure how to convert properly...my guess is that's like 45 degree Celsius). We learned about why the Anglo-Normans first came to Ireland. It had to do something with how one of the provincial kings of Ireland had an affair with another kings wife so he got dethroned. Our teacher described it as very soap opera like... who knew that the Days of Our Lives plot dated back to the 1100s.

After class, we all got together to go out on the town. It was International Night at some of the Student Night Clubs downtown so our plan was to head there. We all hung out for a while in Claire & Laura's apartment and then made our way to the 10 bus into town. We had heard from some other students that it gets busy right at 10:30 so we headed there as soon as we got off the bus. After wandering around Temple Bar area for a bit to find it, we got directions from some locals who could sense we were lost and offered up directions. So nice. When we arrived there was no one there...so we decided to go find some traditional irish music and chill for a bit before. Plus we wanted to use a bathroom so we headed into Temple Bar...our favorite Wednesday night hang out. An irish band was playing traditional music and it seriously makes you want to get up and jig...or search for a leprechaun. We found some stools and sat down. We immediately made friends with some french men who jumped into some of the pictures we were taking. Stevie tried to talk a little French with them.

We sat there for a while and enjoyed our music. Stacy made friends with Paul. We were enjoying some Black Eyed Peas and dancing in our seats and just relaxing. And then suddenly things just got totally ridiculous. Jen and Claire went to explore the rest of the bar. So Stevie, Laura, and I were just hanging out and talking. One of the frenchmen makes a joke that their friend will dance ontop of the barrel that was our table for 1 euro. Now, 1 euro is like $1.50, and I wasn't about to pay any sort of money to see a frenchman dance ontop of a barrel. Not on my list of "must sees" in Europe. He then ups it to 5 euro. His friends joking throws out a 5 euro bill, he laughs and says no. So then a woman sitting next to us pulls out her wallet and throws 4.50 euro on the table for the frenchman to get naked on the barrel. The dorky frenchman Alex (rocking like metro glasses and a sweater--see above picture) says okay. Stevie, Laura, and I back away from the table in disbelief. Next thing we know, this frenchman is ontop of the barrel butt naked. Everybody in close proximity turned and stared at this man. Plenty of cameras were out and pictures were taken. I was laughing so hard, I only got a glimpse of a butt cheek which was plenty for me. Laura was so appalled, hiding her face since she was in closest proximity. Stevie was unfortunately in the front of this man... so she got a full view. Apparently, wee-wee is not just the french word for yes.

After that ridiculousness, Jen, Claire and I were ready to go. After all that excitement.. it would be hard to top. Jen had an early flight and we didn't want her going home alone. Our strength in numbers has allowed maximum security at all times. Before we left, we enjoyed some more of the Irish music and per our mental request, they played Galway Girl. (from PS I love you). It was awesome. I felt like I was in the movie. And then to top it off, at intermission the radio played Walking in Memphis & Crocodile Rock. Some of my favorite American hits. The bar was a little smokey from the beer garden so that gave me a little headache. Surprisingly all of Ireland is smoke free even though there are so many Irish smokers.

We left Temple Bar, got some bad pizza from a vendor...tasted like cheap frozen pizza, and got a cab home. The cab must have gone the long way to rip us off...but whatcha gonna do.

Another eventful Wednesday night at Temple Bar....

video of the band playing. what up technology.