Second Chances and Cheeseburgers

Okay, okay. Yah, I know. But I'm giving it another shot, right? And that has to count for something.

I arrived in Cork yesterday just in time for the start of the new semester after one canceled plane flight and a reroute through Chicago. I think I literally had a 24 hour journey from door to door. After a semi-quick settle in yesterday, things are starting to fall into place. I've already had my first class (Sean-Nos singing) and I've just gotten back from my first run to Tesco to pick up the things I need for this week. Given that I brought back about thirty pounds of 'American' food, I think I'm going to eat tesco stuff during the week (sandwiches for lunch, and something that I make on the weekends every night for dinner) and treat myself to American food on the weekends. Hopefully, this will cut down my grocery bill a little, as I'll only have to by the makings for one main meal (four days, Mon-Thurs) as opposed to two (each one made to last for three to four days to cover the entire week, plus lunches on the weekends). After talking about how to broil hamburgers (Barby tends to fry in oil), I've decided that cheeseburgers will be the way of the week. I've bought a pound of lean mince and six whole wheat sandwich rolls, meaning that this week's main meal can actually last me through to Saturday lunch, if I want it to. If I get tired of burgers, I'll freeze the remaining two for another week when I'm looking for a change, but don't want to break into the American food.

Since I'm done with class for today, I'm planning on using the rest of my time running errands and putting my room to rights. I've already hit tesco, but there are some things I'd like from the English market, and I need to buy more hangers from Penney's so that I can hang up all of the new clothes I've brought from home. Maybe I'll even stop at the library from some CDs. Later tonight, Amy's dragging me out to the Spailpin Fanach for a meeting of Traditional Music Society at UCC (Amy is the the other student in my class with Connie O'Connell for fiddle).

Things I love about Ireland:

1. Normal sized apples.
2. Sunny days (today has been sunny all day!)
3. being able to walk EVERYWHERE.
4. the phrases 'tanks a mil' and 'no, you're grand, like!'
5. the National Help line to Quit Smoking (posters are everywhere, now)
6. The crust on Bremmans' Wholemeal bread