Wednesday

Had my first class yesterday.  "The Global Conversation."  It's essentially a pretty broad look at how capitalistic, consumer behavior (see USA) is fucking up EVERYTHING.  I wish I could go into it thinking "I'm going to take what these folks have to say with a grain of salt," but at this point, it's pretty difficult to not believe that there's a whole lot of truth to just how irresponsible we've been living.

I was supposed to have another class ("Irish Folklore and Heritage Studies") in the evening, but another student and I showed up, and no one was there.  Was it because we simply don't have class this week?  Was it rescheduled or moved to another room?  Is there any way I'm going to figure this out?  I have no clue.  Ireland is cool, but this university has some major organizational issues.

Didn't have class today, so I decided to walk around the city, get lost, have a couple of pints, and write some letters.  Whether or not these goals are to be considered lofty or lowly is beside the point; it was a total success.  There are a few very pretty sights in Derry, but primarily, it is a grey, dirty, and worn down town.  It's had the shit kicked out of it since damn near the beginning of time by everybody and itself, and you can feel it in the walls, breathe it in, and see it in the cigarette butts on the ground.  It's overwhelming and beautiful.

The new OCMS album came out yesterday, and I've been listening to it a lot.  I can understand complaints about it not being the same raucous OCMS of the past, but my personal opinion is that it's perhaps not a huge step forward, but rather a broadening of their skills.  It's a bit of a downer, but I'd like to look at it as maybe some kind of bittersweet epiphany of a hangover after the hard, HARD night of drinking that was OCMS and Big Iron World.  I'm curious as to what the rest of you folks think about this.

Saturday

The poem on "The Writer's Almanac" was particularly good today.  "The Wordworth Effect" by Joyce Sutphen.  Fuck Wordsworth, just find the poem.

Week 1

Long time, no post, right?

I'll spare gory details, and relatively boring stories about my first week here.  Here's an incomplete list of what's gone on here in Derry, Northern Ireland.

-the disheartening discovery that most college students here listen to American rap and hip-hop

-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull isn't that great of a movie

-Jaffa Cakes are a chocolatey-orangey biscuit thing, and they're delicious

-the American economy sucks, and wants me to spend my life savings on a pint

-Every inch of this city is dense with historic conflict. It's difficult to not be overcome by it, but it's also a fascinating foil to the jubilant, lighthearted, and friendly people I've met everyday.

-there is no sunshine, in the best way possible

-thousands of years of socially sanctioned alcoholism means that the Irish can drink everybody under the table.  There's also a huge segment of the population that doesn't drink at all.

-I've been invited to join a rugby team.

-Our program director Jim Skelly is cool as hell.  We had dinner at his place, where he had Nina Simone playing when we came in.  Later, he gave me a glass of Talisker Scotch.  It was fantastic.

-Everybody drinks every night during the week.  However, the dorms are a ghost town on weekends, because everyone one goes home.  It's like a reverse of the US.

-Orientation lectures have informed me that fires and chlamydia lurk around every corner, and it's only a matter of time before one or both kills me.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday

Dear lord.

Okkervil River didn't come on stage until 11:30pm.  Consequently, we didn't get back to Bethel until 4am.  I still had some loose ends to tie up in terms of packing, so I just took a half-hour nap, finished packing, and drove home.  The rain lead to the creek flooding, so half of my driveway was underwater.  Slept through the entire car ride to KC without thinking twice about it.

I was really impressed by my mom; I don't think she shed a single tear until after I was gone.

KC to Newark was uneventful.  However, Newark to Belfast was ridiculous.  I became overwhelmed with faux-nostalgia for the US the second we took off, and I chose to embrace this.  I utilized the plane's spiffy multimedia gadget to listen to Toby Kieth's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" ("We'll shove a boot in your ass, it's the American way"), watch the Commie-ass kicking extravaganza of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, and drink twice as much Jack Daniel's as I had intended, because the stewardess didn't have the right change if I ordered a single.

And now here I am in Derry.  It's dirty, rainy, fast as hell, and I think I'll fit in alright.  The study-abroad director (Jim: well-read, conscientious objector in 'Nam, voice like Garrison Keillor; obviously I love him) took me and the other BCA students out for dinner.  The only thing noteworthy: "Bottle of Beer" was the only beer listing on the menu, so I ordered that.  What do they bring me?  Not Guinness, not Harp, not Beamish, not some weird shit I'd never heard of, but that good ol' W-T classic... BUDWEISER.  First fuckin' beer I have in Ireland, Budweiser.  Ridiculous.

I'll put some pictures up soon, of my flat, and the city, and maybe some rain.

Friday

It's raining like hell in North Newton, and will not let up.  Soon Bethel College will be completely submerged.

Working on getting everything packed for Ireland, and it's kind of freaking me out.  Going to see Okkervil River tonight in Lawrence with Taylor and Meredith, then hopefully hauling ass back to Newton to have one last whiskey with all the folks that matter.

I fly out tomorrow, first to New Jersey, then to Belfast, where BCA will pick me up and take me to Derry.

Hoping all goes well.

Tuesday

Hosted an informational session in the mod, with the hopes to educate myself and the masses on rye whiskey.  There was a nice Powerpoint presentation, and the shitty chair on the deck is no longer with us.

Sunday

John walked into the mod at about 12:30 am.  He needed a ride to the train station.  We talked for a couple of hours about girls and poems.  Nate came in and gave us a graphic description of the troublesome vomit he had just had due to food poisoning.  Then we hauled John's toolbox, moped wheel, and body-bag of a duffle downtown and sent him off to Elkhart.

Saturday

Listening to "This American Life" in the lounge.