Day 4

Today we had another day of orientation. This time it was for academic advising and we went to the beginning at 930a.m. and got our packets. Most of us stayed for the sociology department advising because it was the first one and we figured it would let us see if it was worth staying for the rest of them. It is safe to say that we found it almost useless. We were given a packet which was probably the most useful thing they gave us, other than that we barely understood what the guy was saying and realized that they register for classes wayyyyyy differently than we do. We don't actually register until the 20th of January but apparently for sociology classes you have to register on the 10th of January. They also have modules (lectures) and then seminars which are smaller and more discussion based. The seminars close faster and there are only a couple of spots held for visiting students so they are hard to get into. To register for sociology classes and in general you just drop a piece of paper off on a certain day with all of the classes you want to take written down. I cannot imagine all of the visiting students being in one place trying to drop off a piece of paper so we will see how that goes.

After we got bored of advising we left and most of us went back to the apartments. After hanging around for a while I decided to wander around. I went and bought tape so that I could decorate the room and I also bought wine. :) After that I decided to walk in a different direction. I went towards the water and it is BEAUTIFUL!! I took a lot of pictures and it just felt nice to be near water again. The only thing I did not enjoy was the temperature. The air was freezing but no rain so I could not complain that much.

For dinner we got a rotisserie chicken and split it between the four of us. It was really good and then we each made our own side dishes. I had pasta and broccoli and cauliflower. The dinner was really good. All of the girls came over later that night and we had wine and some drinks and then we decided to go out. We went to King's Head which was SO MUCH FUN!! Probably one of the best nights so far. There was a live band who was playing a lot of American music but dancing kind. It reminded me a lot of Crab's Claw type of music on karaoke night. There was a little old lady who was probably about 60 dancing with us and she was hilarious. I think she said she had been married for 50 years (Oma this could be you when you come visit). We then decided to leave and we went to Sonnys again. IT WAS PACKED!! I could not believe it. I did not love it there this night and most of the group had left already so there was only about 6 of us left. It was okay there, the music was very American (top 40) but you could barely move. We left and decided to go back to King's Head. Good decision on our part. The little old lady was still dancing, this time her friend was also dancing. The other lady was even older than 60 and was dancing up a storm. A bunch of the younger guys were dancing with her also. It was hilarious.

Fun Fact: In Galway if you are not done with your beer you can get a to-go cup. They have stacks of plastic cups near the exits of bars and you just fill your cup up with your beer and leave. It is perfectly legal to walk around the streets with a plastic cup of beer. You are not however allowed to walk with any glass cups or bottles. I can't wait to get my first to-go cup.