For Serious Y'all.

Okay, time to get serious. This is the first blog entry where I feel somewhat legit, it being the night before my journey and all. I can only imagine how warranted a blog entry will be when I am actually IN Ireland.

Update: I did manage to pack, but not without distress. I don't like packing. I do like adventures. Sometimes we have to pack if we want to go on adventures (even though adventures could prove more adventuresome if forced to improvise because you didn't pack).

When not packing, I spent today saying good-bye to some friends and family. And in the process I have decided that I have just about the best family and best friends a gal could ever ask for (if you're reading this blog, that's probably you!).

I'll write again FROM Ireland!

Leave me alone with God
as much as may be.
As the tide draws the waters
close upon the shore,
make me an island, set apart,
alone with you, God,
holy to You.

Then with the turning of the tide,
prepare me to carry Your presence
to the busy world beyond,
the world that rushes in on me,
till the waters come again
and fold me back to You.

Sticking it to the Sumo Wrestler

You know, there are a lot of pressures that the world places on us. Things like "not being a burden on society" and "taking a shower before 3 in the afternoon". And with all of these pressures bearing down on me like an Olympic sumo wrestler, I figure - why add more? Why encourage the sumo wrestler to eat at Hardee's before he sits on me?

Therefore, I am pleased to inform you, dear blog, that I will not be choosing a theme music artist. The pressure is simply too great. And in the name of sticking it to the man, it is now 3:30 pm and I am still in my pajamas. So there world.

I will, however, say that three albums by three top shelf artists have been on a tight rotation in the CRV disc player and I can assure you that they will provide many a background song to many an Irish adventure.

If you are interested in my favourite music keep reading this paragraph, if not, skip it (I wont hold it against you because this blog was advertised as an update on my abroad experiences, not on musical opinions.) Here are my current most favouritest artists/albums with a link to sample them:

The Avett Brothers The Second Gleam Listen
Greg Laswell Three Flights from Alto Nido Listen
Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death and All His Freinds Listen

Having the same music in a different location is always a security blanket for me while in transition. (Here is a shout out to some people in transitions -- Karver with his job, Anna with her adulthood, Eli with her country, Sam with his age, Luda with her wok, Spanky with his poor eyesight).

Alright. The countdown is T minus one week and I have checked some to-do's off of that fateful list -- camping with Emily and Greg, going to the beach with Rachel, hanging out in the sweet new apartments on campus. The things I have left to do are packing, figuring out finances, getting transportation in line, understanding how phones work, and blah blah blah. I'll keep you updated.

The Importance of Prioritizing

*Advice alert* When preparing for an extended period abroad it is important to be organized and have all aspects of the trip thoroughly thought out, preventing as many foreign mishaps as possible. I suggest making a to-do list.

That being said, I have been focusing on one thing at a time on my list -- logically leaving the less important tasks (flight times, housing, figuring out how to exchange currency, transportation plans, registering for classes) for last and beginning with the more pressing matters (wourking on spelling with added u's, highlighting the route from my apartment to Bono's favourite pub, starting a blog, etc).

But of all of the preparations that need to be made and the tasks that must be checked-off, there is one particular question that must be sourted out before I can rest easy and get my full 14 hours of sleep a night.

What will my theme music in Ireland be?

Keep in mind, music is like mood plastic wrap - squeezing and locking in all of the flavours of what I assume to be an innately emotional country (cue the light rain, the rolling hills, the billowing clouds, the mossy walls, the romantic history, the poets, the stone castles, even cue the strangers, the other side of the ocean, and the hundreds of miles between my mother and me).

There is much to look forward to with the theme music artist, including, but definitely not limited to, being the background melody in a dramatic post-trip photo montage.

I have narrowed the choice of theme music artist to a lucky few.

Never fear, I will let you know when the final cut is made.

T minus 18 days.

Here is visual of the loverly city of Galway, where you can mentally photoshop me into the streets.

I had a bagel meeting with Miss Hannah Ford this morning, where she gave me the low down on her recent Irish adventures. Her sight-seeing must-do list was very helpful and her enthusiasm about the country makes me all the more amped.

Go Green.

Cead mile failte (welcome) family, friends, confidants, classmates, counselors, teachers, campers, fellow church members, neighbors, acquaintances, role-models, pets, imaginary friends, and Sufjan. This is my blog. My newsletter. My life update. My heart on my sleeve. My hey-I-miss-you-and-I-wish-we-could-talk-in-person-but-I-am-far-away.

Beginning this blog is, in a way, like my trip to Ireland itself. I have heard of both blogging and of Ireland, but I have never traveled to the foggy and mysterious space of either. So, I guess I will just put my guidebook in my fanny pack and hope for the best.

I will be flying into Shannon, Ireland on August the 30th and then taking a train/taxi to Galway in time for orientation. Galway, according to my fanny pack guidebook, has always attracted a large bohemian crowd of musicians, artists, intellectuals and young people. I'm not inferring anything about myself, I just thought it was an interesting tidbit. Another tidbit is that Galway is the fastest growing city in Europe.

The National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI) homepage