happy holidays and a happy new year!

Happy Holidays, everyone! And (for those of you who celebrate it) a happy Christmas!

I am spending today curled up in the house with Arad--we've been watching West Wing, we feasted on chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, and orange juice, and we'll be skyping in to Christmas with the family in a few hours. A quiet, but pleasant, Christmas.


My first Christmas tree of my own! Nothing glamorous, but still full of cheer!

Over the past month and a half:

-I've handed in two papers, one on feminist methodology and another on feminist theory. I've also handed up a thesis topic proposal, which I'll hear back on after the holidays. Next up: gender essay!

-I've played a lot of badminton. I think I'm getting worse though. Maybe the break will do me good. Or maybe it will just make me (even more) out of shape. Only time will tell.

-I've suddenly developed the urge to cook. I've made Dutch babies (twice), strawberry crazy cake, soy marinated chicken, biscuit cake (a la Liam), and of course the chocolate chip pancakes.

-I applied for two jobs, both of which I still might get (in the slowest hiring "process" ever, apparently). But now I have to wait until after New Year's to hear more. Sigh.

So, yeah, life is what it is. I'm happy it's the holidays, and I'm happy that Arad is here to keep me company. Love to you all!

for the first time in such a long time

I've been doing my course, and so far we've been covering feminist film theory, feminist methodology, and feminist oral history. One of the women in my course gave me Fat is a Feminist Issue to read, so I've been working my way through that.

Then there's badminton. I played in the Connaught Juniors Tournament up in Sligo two weekends ago, and placed second in the singles (losing to my teammate from UCC, so it's ok). Last weekend I was up in Dublin for the Irish Juniors, and really didn't make much of an account for myself at all. It was disappointing, but we all have our off days and our less-than-shining moments. So be it. This weekend I'm off to Limerick for the ISBT competition. Oh! I did get a badminton scholarship from UCC though, which means that this coming week I've fitness testing and have to go speak to a nutritionist and other such things. But yay for money (hopefully it will be enough to cover the cost of badminton, which is already at around E250 for this year).

I've also been really involved in the International Development Society. I was on the planning committee for our Diversity Week Event. The day we were asked to cover was on Race and Religion, so we put together a booth, a panel of speakers on discrimination, and a multicultural food gathering for it. I myself developed a survey on discrimination that we distributed, baked loads of challah, and helped set up. Below, you can see my challah baking extravaganza:



I was really worried that the day would veer towards the meaningless "Let's celebrate diversity!" kind of thing. It definitely could have been more substantive, I felt, but it wasn't too bad, and there was actual content about racism from the speakers. Of course, on the same day that I was devoting to anti-discrimination, my home state was busy voting to discriminate against gay people. So that was devastating.

In a small but hugely symbolically important windfall, at least Obama won. Watching him, Michelle, Malia, and Sasha walk on the stage for his acceptance speech was the biggest thrill. Knowing that these were the faces of the people who would represent our country for the next four years--it made me feel proud to be American for the first time, really. Don't get me wrong. I understand that, as he said, "this victory alone is not the change we seek, but only the opportunity for that change." Shark Fu (of Feministing but more well-known for AngryBlackBitch) puts it more colloquially, but no less aptly: "So I shall cherish this moment and rest my tired ass feet for a spell, for we have miles upon miles yet to walk..."

So yeah. I'm doing my best to stay active, both in a physical and political sense. And to resist the urge to just curl up and watch a DVD while wasting hours away on Skype. But the latter tends to win out. ;)

making it feel like home

I promised photos of my new abode, so here's the delivery (click on the photo for a mini-tour on Flickr):




Life here has begun to settle in to a routine of sorts. Or, if not a routine, at least there are predictable contours to my days: doing yoga in my room; badminton training on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and any other day(s) I can find people to call down to the gym with (which in the case of last weekend meant Friday, Saturday, and Sunday--SCORE!); attending the International Development Society weekly meeting; going to my course Tuesday-Thursday; sleeping in at the weekends; and Skyping every night with Arad until I reluctantly realise that bed cannot be put off for any longer.

Of course, having just asserted that things were rather routine, I now provide the exception: this week I am volunteering for the Cork Film Festival. This makes me rather busy--I am working a total of five four-hour shifts (Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) for the education outreach program. All this means is that I show primary and secondary school kids in to the theatre. I'm a glorified usher, and it's a glorious volunteer gig--while working my shifts, I have so far gotten to listen to John Kelleher, Director of the Irish Film Classification Board, talk about film censorship in Ireland and to see Kings, an Irish film starring Colm Meaney that I've been itching to see for months now. Volunteering also means I get free membership to the Festival, and get in to one film free for every shift I work (I'm having a love affair with this word, 'free'). Although I haven't fully decided yet, I am definitely going to see Great Shorts, Women's Shorts, and Brides of Allah.

It's all very exciting and in good fun. More to follow.

After seventeen hours of travel on top of a sleepless night I arrived in Cork, safe and sound.

A soft, green landing in Shannon

My home is lovely (pictures to follow in next post), though far out from college.
I haven't met the fourth person in the house yet.
The lovely (gorgeous for here) weather is buffering my homesickness.
So far, I have been to a barbecque, went out dancing, and watched the All-Ireland [Gaelic] football final (Kerry lost to Tyrone in the last five minutes--it was so close!).
I have lots to sort out.
And I am glad to be here, but I miss my last month's routine rather desperately. It was a good routine.

Already, I've had discussions about the educational system in Ireland v. US, homophobia in Irish men, and the changing gender roles for women. Food for thought.

list-making, an introduction

As the eve of my departure looms closer (less than a week now), I find it appropriate that I should take stock of the various benefits and losses of my decision to head back to Cork.

What I shall (sorely) miss....










The Bay Area, as taken from the Stanford Dish

• my adorable, apple-of-my-eye niece, Hailey
• Bikram Yoga
• my sister Becky
• Sun. And warm weather.
  
• Pearl Iced Tea
  
• fresh [cheap] fruit
• The Daily Show
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
  
• Trader Joe's
• milkshakes from Peninsula Creamery
• the availability of salads (mmmm, Pluto's)
• Netflix
  
• All of my friends

What I look forward to....

Cork City on a "cloudless" day

• badminton
• the people from badminton: Joyce, Edel, Lucy, Ann, Philip, Ronan, Enda, Liam, Gary, Ciara, Colm, etc.
  
• The Panel
• Home and Away
• tea, all the time!
• soda bread
• tim tams
• Irish accents (especially de Cork ones, like!)
• not really leaving school
• the availability of cider on tap
• making Euros, not dollars
• the English market

This list is a work in progress, subject to my wanderings and pangs of longing.