Watching the BBC cover the student protests in London. There were also some huge protests in Dublin a couple of weeks ago. They are protesting the possible increase in fees for tuition. It is really interesting to watch coming from a private education background. Obviously Ireland and Britain are not structured at this time for student fees (no work-study, no real financial aid) but that doesn't mean they can adjust to the changes. The biggest argument is that only wealthy people will be able to go to college.
I wonder if a small fee increase if coupled with practical measures would be the worst. The British government isn't making students evens start paying back their fees until they are making 21,000 pounds. I do truly believe that if people pay for something they appreciate it more. It is obvious that many students are taking their education for granted. Maybe the threat of fees is what is needed.
So different...
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Irish Government Upheavel!
Interesting article in the NY Times about the recent development with the Irish government.
Brian Cowen puts the Fail in Fianna Fail. Because humor is obviously the best way to deal with a crumbling government.
Brian Cowen puts the Fail in Fianna Fail. Because humor is obviously the best way to deal with a crumbling government.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Take Home Exam
Just a quick post, I am taking a break from working on my take home exam. Life is good here. I baked this weekend, ginger cookies and sugar cookies. Both turned out, which was a relief because they were both new recipes. Sam's dad was nice enough to let me use his kitchen and kitchen tools to make them. My house doesn't even have a mixing bowl. Went to a pub quiz last night and realized that I am pretty bad at pub quizzes. It's like all the information I need disappears from my head until the exact time that the paper is being collected and then I remember it again. It was good fun though and a nice break before beginning my take home exam. It is three essay questions of 2,000 words a piece. We have ten days to complete it which is a bit longer than I would like. I am a bit concerned about what the over achievers in my class are going to get up to in that amount of time. Hopefully what I write will be sufficient. It is so hard to judge when we haven't submitted anything else for this course and basically have no guidance on what exactly they are expecting from us. On the bright-side the questions are much more interesting than I thought they would be, although clearly some of them that are phrased as opinion questions only have one "right" answer. I am fairly certain based on the personality of one of my lecturers that dissenting opinions will be given a lower grade. This is a small example of my basic problem with the discipline of human rights, or at least they way it is being taught in my course. There is only one correct way to view a particular issue and if you happen to see things differently then you obviously don't support the human rights project. I am beginning to understand why it is so often criticized for like a religion. But, for all it's faults it certainly is interesting and I do enjoy studying it. I can honestly say that I am enjoying working on my take home exam. Hope all is well with everyone! The posts may be a bit sporadic as I near the end of the semester and the work load increases. I promise I will make up for it during my MONTH LONG winter break :)
Monday, November 8, 2010
They say never meet your heroes in person...
So the concert I was all excited about was in reality a disappointing. Scroobius Pip's music is awesome, but the Scroobius Pip the man seems to be a bit more on the side of politically incorrect annoying ego manic. Sam had a great time though, so that made it more bearable.
The night was not a total bust however; the opening act was fantastic. Kid A is an artist I know from my last fm stations. Didn't know anything about her, but loved what I had heard of her music. She was the opening act :) What a wonderful surprise. She has an amazing voice and is very much comparable to Little Boots and Ladyhawk both of whom I have been listening to religiously since they hit the scene. As a live performer she comes off as really sweet and down to earth. And since she was the opening act there were only like 20 or so people there to listen to her. Which is my kind of concert. Sit down, chill out, and listen. I do not understand the need that people my age seem to have to bounce around and run into each other at concerts. I prefer to enjoy the music not spend the whole concert trying not to get crushed by large boys.
Tonight I am going to a lecture series at the Irish Centre for Human Rights. They are having a former Guantanamo Bay detainee come to discuss his experiences. Should be interesting, especially since just two weeks ago we had a former judge and lecturer at the University of San Fransisco come to discuss the merits of the Patriot Act.
I am loving having an Asian market literally a minute from my house. Made a quick run to it this morning and made a delicious rice noodle, chicken, bak choi and chinese mushroom soup for the week ahead. Tasty and easy, the best kind of meal. I now live in fear that they are going to go out of business, but every time I walk by there is someone in there doing some shopping.
Got a package from my parents today. So just a quick shout out to say Mom and Dad you are awesome! They are obviously awesome for many other reasons than the fact that they send me goodies from home, of course, but this was a particularly nice surprise.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Oh and p.s. Just thought everyone should know that the Irish government is currently embroiled in a publicity scandal surrounding it's free cheese for the needy scheme. That's right folks, in the middle of the economic crisis the Irish government is gifting the needy free cheese for the holiday season. Happy Holidays :)
The night was not a total bust however; the opening act was fantastic. Kid A is an artist I know from my last fm stations. Didn't know anything about her, but loved what I had heard of her music. She was the opening act :) What a wonderful surprise. She has an amazing voice and is very much comparable to Little Boots and Ladyhawk both of whom I have been listening to religiously since they hit the scene. As a live performer she comes off as really sweet and down to earth. And since she was the opening act there were only like 20 or so people there to listen to her. Which is my kind of concert. Sit down, chill out, and listen. I do not understand the need that people my age seem to have to bounce around and run into each other at concerts. I prefer to enjoy the music not spend the whole concert trying not to get crushed by large boys.
Tonight I am going to a lecture series at the Irish Centre for Human Rights. They are having a former Guantanamo Bay detainee come to discuss his experiences. Should be interesting, especially since just two weeks ago we had a former judge and lecturer at the University of San Fransisco come to discuss the merits of the Patriot Act.
I am loving having an Asian market literally a minute from my house. Made a quick run to it this morning and made a delicious rice noodle, chicken, bak choi and chinese mushroom soup for the week ahead. Tasty and easy, the best kind of meal. I now live in fear that they are going to go out of business, but every time I walk by there is someone in there doing some shopping.
Got a package from my parents today. So just a quick shout out to say Mom and Dad you are awesome! They are obviously awesome for many other reasons than the fact that they send me goodies from home, of course, but this was a particularly nice surprise.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Oh and p.s. Just thought everyone should know that the Irish government is currently embroiled in a publicity scandal surrounding it's free cheese for the needy scheme. That's right folks, in the middle of the economic crisis the Irish government is gifting the needy free cheese for the holiday season. Happy Holidays :)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Concert Tonight
Scroobius Pip is playing Galway tonight and I could not be more excited. Long story short I discovered one of his songs ages ago, loved it, book marked it, and then my computer crashed so I lost all my bookmarks, couldn't remember his name etc. Fast forward to three weeks ago when Lean tells me Scroobius Pip is coming. I have no idea who he is, the name doesn't ring any bells. So I go back to my house, youtube him and low and behold it is the mystery artist of the song I have been searching for. Talk about a happy coincidence! I heard he is pretty decent live and the show sold out about 3 weeks ago! So happy I got tickets. He is rap/spoken word poetry and does really neat music videos as well. Just seems like a smart guy with a quick wit that doesn't take himself to seriously. Not nearly enough people like that in the music industry...haha.
Anyway that is the highlight of my weekend.
The rest of it is dedicated to working on my paper, reading for class and taking care of a sick Sam.
Anyway that is the highlight of my weekend.
The rest of it is dedicated to working on my paper, reading for class and taking care of a sick Sam.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
A Visitor
Hello all! I have had my first ever house guest :) Chris, on of my friends from Olaf is working in Cologne, Germany. He had some vacation time and decided to come visit me! Mainly because I was the closest person to him, being that we are both in Europe. I had such an amazing time! It was so nice to be able to do all the touristy things in Galway with someone who had never been to Ireland before. He is an archaeologist so he got a big kick out of seeing the old ruins scattered around the area.
The first day/ EXTREMELY EARLY MORNING, of his arrival (he came in at 3:00 am), we headed up to Horse and Lean's apartment for the tail end of a house party and just to say hello to everyone.
The next day I had class so Sam and Chris did a bit of a stroll around town. We then walked out to Salthill down the Prom, in the pouring rain (my idea) and were all completely miserable and sopping wet. So we stopped up in Sam's Mom's house for a cup of tea, a chance to dry off and to play video games with Sam's youngest brother.
That night we went out to Cuba with Nuala, who was back on break from University in Dublin, and some others. Then on to a house party where I got to play pool for the first time in ages!
The next day we were all exhausted so we slept in till the afternoon. Then went out for a bit of a walk around the bay and were lucky enough to time it so that the mackerel were around. There must have been hundreds of them, and thousands of the little sprat they eat in the water. The mackerel in turn attracted the seals. There were six seals out in the water, barking at each other and chasing after the fish. That is most the seals I have seen in Ireland in the water! To top it all of there was also a rainbow. I could not have asked for a better picture of Galway for Chris.
The next two days Sam's parents were kind enough to take us on a couple of day trips, which really made the vacation.
Sam's mom took us out to the Burren, which is always gorgeous. I had only ever been there on one of the bus tours so it was nice to get out with someone who knew some more secluded spots not seen by many tourists. We went to the ruins of an old monastery which had a round tower on it's grounds. I don't know if this is true or not, but apparently round towers a unique to Ireland. Then after that we went for some fish chowder. A real treat for Chris who loves fish and never gets to eat it in Germany. Then on to Burren National Park where we visited an ruined hermitage. It was in a really beautiful little fairy forest, with a holy well and everything was covered in bright green moss. It was such a contrast to the barren landscape of most of the Burren.
Sam's dad took us out by Roundstone, a little town known for it's Bodhran's (an Irish Drum). We went for a walk along the beach and I saw a hare! This may not seem that exciting, but Irish wildlife pretty much consists of fish and sheep. A hare is by far the coolest land mammal I have seen in Ireland thus far. Then we went back to town for another serving of seafood chowder and out to Ballynahinch Castle for a warm cup of tea and some fruit cake. Then a walk around the grounds of the castle which are absolutely stunning. The castle was the residence of the founder of the RSPCA, Humanity Dick.
We came back, played two rounds of Cranium and then Chris left the next day. It was so nice to see a friend and so much fun to have a little staycation in Galway. Long story short, if you want to come visit I am happy to show you around :)
Now it is nose to the grindstone working on my paper and doing my readings. Luckily I am really enjoying learning about my paper topic, analyzing the use of force in the South Ossetian conflict in Georgia in 2008. I am so happy I am able to do my paper on something that merges so well with my area of interest. Other than that I am keeping busy with Archery and Kayaking.
In other news "we" have still not turned on the heat in the house, ie the housemates, who are apparently much more tolerant of the cold than I. Forced to take drastic measures I have purchased two hot water bottles which I have deemed the best investment ever! I actually got so hot last night I had to take off my duvet and just use a blanket. Unfortunately they only work when I am in bed and do very little once I have to get out of bed. This has made waking up for class and getting out of bed a bit of a challenge. Haha.
Hope all is well with everyone!
The first day/ EXTREMELY EARLY MORNING, of his arrival (he came in at 3:00 am), we headed up to Horse and Lean's apartment for the tail end of a house party and just to say hello to everyone.
The next day I had class so Sam and Chris did a bit of a stroll around town. We then walked out to Salthill down the Prom, in the pouring rain (my idea) and were all completely miserable and sopping wet. So we stopped up in Sam's Mom's house for a cup of tea, a chance to dry off and to play video games with Sam's youngest brother.
That night we went out to Cuba with Nuala, who was back on break from University in Dublin, and some others. Then on to a house party where I got to play pool for the first time in ages!
The next day we were all exhausted so we slept in till the afternoon. Then went out for a bit of a walk around the bay and were lucky enough to time it so that the mackerel were around. There must have been hundreds of them, and thousands of the little sprat they eat in the water. The mackerel in turn attracted the seals. There were six seals out in the water, barking at each other and chasing after the fish. That is most the seals I have seen in Ireland in the water! To top it all of there was also a rainbow. I could not have asked for a better picture of Galway for Chris.
The next two days Sam's parents were kind enough to take us on a couple of day trips, which really made the vacation.
Sam's mom took us out to the Burren, which is always gorgeous. I had only ever been there on one of the bus tours so it was nice to get out with someone who knew some more secluded spots not seen by many tourists. We went to the ruins of an old monastery which had a round tower on it's grounds. I don't know if this is true or not, but apparently round towers a unique to Ireland. Then after that we went for some fish chowder. A real treat for Chris who loves fish and never gets to eat it in Germany. Then on to Burren National Park where we visited an ruined hermitage. It was in a really beautiful little fairy forest, with a holy well and everything was covered in bright green moss. It was such a contrast to the barren landscape of most of the Burren.
Sam's dad took us out by Roundstone, a little town known for it's Bodhran's (an Irish Drum). We went for a walk along the beach and I saw a hare! This may not seem that exciting, but Irish wildlife pretty much consists of fish and sheep. A hare is by far the coolest land mammal I have seen in Ireland thus far. Then we went back to town for another serving of seafood chowder and out to Ballynahinch Castle for a warm cup of tea and some fruit cake. Then a walk around the grounds of the castle which are absolutely stunning. The castle was the residence of the founder of the RSPCA, Humanity Dick.
We came back, played two rounds of Cranium and then Chris left the next day. It was so nice to see a friend and so much fun to have a little staycation in Galway. Long story short, if you want to come visit I am happy to show you around :)
Now it is nose to the grindstone working on my paper and doing my readings. Luckily I am really enjoying learning about my paper topic, analyzing the use of force in the South Ossetian conflict in Georgia in 2008. I am so happy I am able to do my paper on something that merges so well with my area of interest. Other than that I am keeping busy with Archery and Kayaking.
In other news "we" have still not turned on the heat in the house, ie the housemates, who are apparently much more tolerant of the cold than I. Forced to take drastic measures I have purchased two hot water bottles which I have deemed the best investment ever! I actually got so hot last night I had to take off my duvet and just use a blanket. Unfortunately they only work when I am in bed and do very little once I have to get out of bed. This has made waking up for class and getting out of bed a bit of a challenge. Haha.
Hope all is well with everyone!
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