9:58 am July 3, 2011
I’m headed back to Dublin from Kilkenny and one day was just not enough. It’s a tiny little burg, but there was loads I didn’t get to do. I didn’t get down to Kilkenny until after most things had been open a bit, but I had such little direction to start. Getting to the caves was the hardest part. I walked for over an hour until I caught a cab to the caves, and I was quite worried as the fare began to rise into the teens. In fact I spent way too much on that part of the journey. The caves were well worth the trip, but I’m a bit worried about the rest of the trip now. I’m pretty much limited to no more nights out. I could probably go out with everyone, but I can’t spend any money. I’ll be like Ashley.
Good thing is, not going out will save me time for work. I should be able to get tons of video and journaling done. I think, from here on out, I'm gonna try and write something ANYTHING down each day. Even if I never complete the entry, at least get something on paper. I've been hatching this plan to try and get Ambi to type the journal. I'll be busy with video and the resultant journals about the vids I post.
Weird side note. So the cat next to me is wearing his Kilkenny hurling jersey and reading the UK sports page. Why isn't there a huge Irish Sports page? The TV is all British and most of the print I see is from the UK. That said, what I find most interesting is the lack of actual content. Most stories have a dominant image, like a picture of Rory McElroy with some cheesy header like, "Rory Glory Hallelujah." Seriously? What fifth grader is on the editorial board? Then there's probably only 6-10 column inches of actual content. And the content that is there is just fluff. There's no analysis, no statistical reasoning for any opinions put forth at all. None. There are opinions, some very strong indeed, but much of the analysis is on gut feelings, not number crunching or true scientific evaluation of talent. It's an aspect of the culture I just don't get, and probably never will.
Second weird tangent, no one says, "bless you," when someone sneezes, not even the person who sneezed. It's a bit maddening really. The Irish are such a kind and welcoming people, it seems as a paradox. When I say, "bless you," I'm often greeted with the quizzical, never the agitated, just puzzled look of curiosity. It's not like they haven't heard it before right? So why the reaction? What's the frequency, Kenneth?
Truly, I know this is no big deal, nor will it stick n my culture shock craw, where upon it shall agitate and fester into a nasty boil ruining my perception of my time here. But it will be placed in the Annoying Anecdote pouch, where it will be whipped out accordingly, accompanied by the phrase, "You know, in Ireland they..." To which friends and associates will respond with über-surprise and the word "really?" Yeah, just like that.
2:45 pm July 18, 2011
So I'm on the plane back to the States, and I've neglected from writing my cultural or academic journals in a while. I always feel like I have to write a few confessional lines of neglect to justify the lack of writing. I don't know why I do it, because I don't have to, or really even to anyone but myself and my writing conscience. I've taken to writing my academic journals on the laptop, and with all the videos and pictures on the Mac, it's a chore to crack open the journal and put pen to paper. I don't really crack the journal for an academic journal. Without the ability to edit, it makes them too hard to write here. Dr. Chown joked that my videos and pictures are like taking notes. I view them more as separate pieces or addendum. Considering I only have a few more academic pieces to write, I'm way ahead of the game. A few of my friends in the program haven't done any. Granted, more have done almost all of them, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one doing them online. We'll see how they look when I'm done.
No comments:
Post a Comment