Christmas is fast approaching! As you can tell by the decorations in Eyre Square Shopping Centre. They appeared pretty much right after Halloween, which seemed a little early, but time goes by really fast, and now November is nearing its end already!
I, also, bought my share of Christmas decorations: a candle! I've been amazed how much warmer one candle can make a room seem. I've almost burned it to the end now, so I have to go and buy another one. Or two. I've also been listening to Christmas songs. There are a few I never get tired of so I can easily start listening to them in November!
Other than that it doesn't really feel like winter, obviously I'm used to it being a lot colder and... snowier. I'm not complaining though, it's nice not to be freezing! And I don't think there's snow in Joensuu at the moment either (it snowed but it melted away a couple of days later). I like snow, and it's an essential part of my Christmas experience, so the weather gods have another three weeks to make it happen before I leave for Finland! I don't wish for it to snow here though... It's not really a part of normal Irish climate, and I'd like the climate not to change! There was some hale among the rain on Friday, though. The rain is on and off, very unpredictable, as always! Also it's been quite windy lately.
One thing I don't miss about the Finnish winter is the darkness. At the moment in Joensuu the sun comes up around 9 am and sets around 3 pm. The day isn't super long here either, but the couple extra hours of light seem to make a big difference.
Nonetheless I have been enjoying my fair share of sleep in my comfy bed... My aunt Orla gave me the big cover which keeps me warm (even too warm some nights!) and I got a black fleece blanket (not in picture) from my grandmother, and I have to say it is the best blanket EVER! It is so soft and warm, and it makes me feel comfortable the instant I touch it. It's bad in the mornings though, because I don't want to hatch out of it!
I was walking in the city centre the other day and when I passed a book store, I saw a sign board on the window saying that Cecelia Ahern would be signing her latest book there the following day! I texted my friend Deli immediately and asked if she wanted to go with me. She did, and on Wednesday we fought through the wind and rain to go see her.
There was a surprisingly little amount of people there. I would have thought more people would have come, but maybe they didn't advertise it enough. On the other hand, this way she was free to chat with us a while, and we got to take pictures with her too!
In case someone doesn't know (or can't deduce from the picture), Cecelia Ahern is an author. An Irish author. She has written several books, of which the most known is probably P.S. I love you, because a huge Hollywood movie was made of it. She is the daughter of Ireland's former prime minister!
The first book of hers that I read was Where Rainbows End in 2006, when I bought it in a second-hand book shop in Dublin. I really liked it and have bought most of her books since then. Surprisingly enough I haven't read P.S. I love you, or seen the movie version! I should get on that...
Here's a photo of her signature on my copy of The Time of my Life. I haven't started reading it yet, because I am in the middle of reading a book by another Irish writer, Eoin Colfer. I read his Artemis Fowl books when I was younger (and I'd still like to read them if there are any new ones!), and it says on the cover of this book "If you loved Artemis Fowl... It's time to grow up." :D That is a bit ambiguous... But I am enjoying the book. It's different from the AF books at least in the way that there isn't anything supernatural going on. It's a crime novel. Obviously the main character is Irish.
Since Christmas is getting closer, so are our exams. We have exams in all our subjects. Most of them only count for about 10 % of the final grade, but still I'd like to do well... I just need to find a way to turn myself on to study mode!
Despite the exams getting nearer, I decided to go visit Cork last weekend! Deli asked me to go with her, and since I already wanted to see Cork (I'd never been before) I took the opportunity and went!
By the way, Deli is an exchange student from California. I met her in Dansoc Irish dancing classes! Her boyfriend lives in Cork, so that's why she goes there often.
Here are a few pictures from the weekend trip:
Christmas lights are up in some parts of the town!
Brown Thomas had amazing decorations on their windows and we spent a good while admiring them and taking pictures! I think the decorations are based on an Irish fairy tale, the name of which I can't remember right now... let me Google it... here we go: Tír na nÓg. But there were several high end brands hidden in there. One of the dolls was wearing Christian Louboutin shoes for example.
We had dinner in town on Friday, but went to bed pretty early, since on Saturday morning we headed out somewhere in county Cork, towards a beach! Conor, Deli's boyfriend, surfs and UCC's surf club was having a surfing contest.
The day was absolutely beautiful and the waves were big! Which you can't really see from this picture.
The beach had pretty stones! There were some animals near the beach and we went to take a look at the horses and the cows. They were very cute at first, but then they started acting weird, as you will see when you scroll down further...
Look at these silly little things! We noticed after getting closer that they were all bulls.
I think they've been trained, because they actually grouped up behind me when I stepped up to have my picture taken by Deli. But then later on:
And yes, they're still all male.
But anyway, we ended up taking some beachy jump photos too!
Deli flying!
My pathetic little jump :D
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| Photo by Deli |
The sunset was gorgeous!
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| Photo by Deli |
Looking at some of these pictures you wouldn't guess straight away that they were taken in Ireland.
So that's where we spent almost all of Saturday! There was an after party where the winners were announced, but we were getting pretty tired. I headed to bed around 2 am.
On Sunday we walked through the UCC campus! They had lots of pretty buildings and plants, and the campus area was very neat and tidy.
After UCC we wanted to see the English market, but unfortunately it was closed... We took the six o'clock bus from Cork back to Galway, and I was back in my own room before ten.
That was last weekend. This weekend I plan to progress with my studies, because
next week:
30.11. biology MCQ test
1.12. early patient contact, oral case report presentation (patient history)
the week after next:
5.12. chemistry MCQ test
7.12. early patient contact, practical test
9.12. early patient contact, MCQ test
deadline for returning written case report (patient history)
and the week after that:
14.12. physics test!
And on the 17th I fly home to Finland for Christmas break! I am very much looking forward to that and I can pretty much guarantee there will be a lot of pictures of that holiday on this blog. But I will try and update before that...
