Time flies when you're having fun!

I sit here at 2:55 in the morning, high on life.  Don’t worry, I promise I’m not actually ‘high.’

Tonight was the last night at Kelly’s, the largest dance club in Northern Ireland, and the last night to be in Northern Ireland at all for a few of the internationals.  The nostalgia of the memories from the semester are starting to kick in, and it was painful tonight to realize these people will soon be out of my daily life.

 We also took a group picture today at 1:00 this afternoon. Even then, as I saw everyone coming in from different directions, it was impossible not to smile and feel the electricity of our friendships with each other. Of course with our large, crazy, clearly not Irish group, we attracted quite a bit of attention on the university steps, but I like to think it was because they were all envious that they didn’t get to know the coolest people in Ireland.

I haven’t filled in much since Thanksgiving time, so I have a lot to catch up on!

For Thanksgiving, we had a huge dinner organized by a few American students and the residential services of the school. The food was made by cooks from the university, but they had turkey, stuffing, ham, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, corn, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and all the rest. The only thing lacking was pumpkin pie. It was a great night of celebrating America and educating friends on how to cope with the inevitable food coma.

Everyone is quite confused as to why we make it so big, though. They all ask why it is so close to Christmas and I never know how to respond! I think the best part of the night was when Stan (Dutch) commented whole heartedly that the meal changed his opinion of America. He never thought of Americans as being good cooks, but we completely changed his mind! He was totally serious!

The second best part of the night was the music. The organizers of the dinner also booked two musical acts, and the second guy was just a solo guitar player/ singer. He could play just about anything we asked him to, from Billy Joel to Train. I am fairly certain he is the best guitar player I have ever seen.
We also got to play with bubble wrap after most people left for the evening…. That actually might have been my favorite part.

Ben and Peter

The only good pictures of Gavin had my head cut out, so I picked the nice picture of me!

Me, Victoria, Jenny and Kristin

I was also thankful on Thanksgiving to skype my family for the first time since I have been here! They were all at Grandmother’s house and Andrew was able to effortlessly connect me to the living room in Georgia. That absolutely made my night, getting to feel as if I were actually there with them in the comforts of home.

But as if the food coma hangover from Thursday wasn’t enough, Friday evening the international families put on an equally as big, but also much fancier, Christmas dinner! We had about the same food: turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes, carrots, bread, etc. And good conversation with all of our Irish families. The other surprise of the night was that Victoria and I got up and sang. Linda Nevin (my Irish mother) asked if I would want to get a friend and sing a Christmas song for everyone that would represent Christmas in America to us, so we picked Winter Wonderland. Victoria’s Irish dad, Peter, is basically the Irish version of Teresa McCoy. He had the music and easily played the piano for us. I think it was a hit, but you’ll have to ask my friends for an honest answer!

THEN, as if we hadn’t had enough of the parties, that same Friday night we had a birthday party! But it wasn’t just any birthday party. The internationals rented out the night club in Portstewart called Havana to celebrate the 10 or so people who had their birthdays in November (aka The November Kids party). It actually turned into quite a fiasco because we were all supposed to have wrist bands to get in, yet they didn’t give the organizers enough of them to facilitate the international friends. Long story short, some people (including myself) didn’t get in at first because we didn’t have wrist bands. What ensued was a mad dash for one of the November Kids who could tell the bouncer that yes, we were supposed to be there. All in all it was a good night, even though it didn’t go as smoothly as planned.

Ballywatt Presbyterian Church, where I go with the Nevins.

So the next weekend, the 7^th of December, I went with the Nevins to see Oliver: The Musical with their son Christopher as Fagan and daughter Charis as one of Fagan’s gang. It was a marvelous school show with a fantastic cast and crew. It truly made me miss being either on the stage or in the orchestra, but I suppose “all the world is a stage” anyway, right Tomas Nevin?!

I spent the day with Linda and Thomas and all 6 of their children, 3 of them with their lovely spouses. I had to ask them what it’s like to grow up and have a family of your own, and then go visit your sibling and their family…… At this moment in time that seems like a very strange phenomenon. They simply said you don’t even realize it’s happening and it becomes normal quickly. I’m still fairly skeptical…

I also spent Sunday with the Nevins and that was truly a gift. Their home is so comforting, complete with a kitten, warm food, tea and biscuits, and a Christmas tree right next to the comfiest chair in all of Northern Ireland facing the magical, mindless television. Oh, what a great day of love and laughter!

Unfortunately, after a great Sunday my last week of Irish class has turned into a stressful one. I had my final exam for Anatomy and Physiology today (Wed. Dec. 11) at 2:30 (which I passed with flying colors), I have another Genetics exam tomorrow afternoon, and a final paper due on Friday (which I only have 300 words on). Somehow I have still managed to squeeze all the farewell parties in… but yes mother, I have still studied and feel fine about my test tomorrow.

Besides Kelly’s tonight, we also had a huge dinner cooked by Laura (a fellow American)! That reduced much of my stress because it was all homemade, southern, American food. Stan yet again said it changed his opinion of us even more for the better, and I must say the mac and cheese, fried chicken and potato salad were out of this world! It was quite a last supper.

My future plans now include traveling to Amsterdam in the Netherlands this Saturday with Gavin, then up to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet Dad and Andrew and maybe Brian, and back to Coleraine, N.I. with the family to show them the wonders of where I have been. Be on the lookout for the next travel blog, and people of America, be on the lookout for me on December 23^rd!

P.S. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was the best movie I have seen in a long time.

P.S.S. I really wanted to go to Germany before I left Europe, but actually it might be better this way because I will be forced to return and visit very soon.