More Classes, Scavenger Hunt

Creative Introduction to Irish Fiction

The professor, Steve McMahon, for this class is also teaches at a college just outside of Dublin, and has won a number of Irish prizes for fiction, including the Jameson prize. He doesn't seem to care what we write, as long as we write. In class, he gave us a couple of dates and told us to show up with whatever we've written on these days.

So far, he's managed to say a number of things that I consider absolutely brilliant, like the idea that The Lord of the Rings is absolutely different from the normal quest book format, because they start out with the prize, and have to get rid of it. This almost tops my favorite discussion of those books, but, don't worry, Dad -- you'll always take first place with your comparison of the saga to a football game.

We're starting straight off by reading The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe.

Revolutionary Traditions

The professor of this class, Gillian O'Brien, is another one that I'm quickly starting to adore. She walked into class, and told us the entire history of Ireland:

"Everyone left during the famine. If you didn't leave, you died. And it's always Britain's fault."

There were many reminders throughout the class that the fall back answer for every question regarding Irish history is "It's always Britain's fault." We'll be going on two field trips for this class: to a jail and a cemetery. Just in case you had any doubts about the nature of Irish history.

Celtic Myth and Legends

My last professor, Michelle Piazza, is an American, although by way of half a dozen other countries. She also teaches yoga in the early afternoons. This woman is perpetually in motion. Very energetic.

The class is actually more interesting than I expected, because we're covering a little of the Neolithic culture, some Celtic mythology, a tiny bit of Roman thought that crept in, the conversion to Catholicism and the melding of the old ideas with Christianity.

Bonus points whenever talking about the Celtic culture in Ireland: anything before 600 B.C. in Ireland is absolutely not Celtic, which includes the triple spiral pattern that most people consider Celtic. Anything after 400 A.D., ditto.

The Great IES Scavenger Hunt

Friday afternoon, we did a bit more orientation, and then the IES staff split us up and sent us all over Dublin in search of random things. I was in Group G, which also included my flatmate, Leigh. So, here are a bunch of pictures.

Despite missing two of the clues altogether, G came in second. We won CDs. Mine is Mundy's "Live & Confusion", which I've never heard of before. It's not the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it's decent. IES also provided drinks and munchies at the end of the hunt. I've noticed that there's a certain culture of getting drinks during or after many activities here.

The EBS Mixer

There's a school here for European students spending a semester abroad called the European Business School, that apparently has a lot of ties to the IES Center here. They had a mixer and invited all of IES. It was at Major Tom's Down Under, which is a club located underneath a shopping mall. A bit loud for my taste, as well as a few others. Myself, Denis (who lives in the next building over), Hilary and Abby (who both live in the building past that), wandered back to Hilary and Abby's apartment and watched Channel 4 for a while. Channel 4 is the all Irish channel, so we had the subtitles on.

This Weekend

I didn't plan any trips for this weekend, just because I'm still getting adjusted and all that. I'm thinking of going to the Irish National Museum and looking at things nice and slow. I also need to go by the Irish National Library and obtain a card. Not that they'll let me check anything out. It's a research library, rather than a lending library. But still. Books.

I'm trying to get a couple of people together and go to Galway either next weekend or the weekend after. The consensus seems to be this weekend, but I may have some sort of interview so that I can volunteer at the Jameson International Film Festival in mid-February, which I think would be an amazing opportunity.