The life and wanderings of Steven, Heather, Olivia & Abby: Visit from friends in the UK

I am not very good at this whole blogging thing, but here is an update of some of the different things that Heather and I have been up to the last month or so...

We had a visit from some of my Academy buddies that are studying over in the UK right now. They came in for the weekend to watch the Irish National Rugby Team take on the Samoans. For my first Rugby match, I probably spent more time trying to figure out the rules then I did actually watching the game, but I had a great time.

Mike, Heather, Steven, Luke @ St. Stephen's Green Park, Dublin

St. Stephen's Green Park, Dublin

The game took place in the brand new Aviva Stadium which, as you can tell, is a large stadium for Ireland. I dont think that they were even close to filling the stadium. Yet, despite the large number of vacant seats, you can tell how worried the stadium officials were about people jumping onto the field after the game ended. At about five minutes left in the match, lines upon lines of security guards wearing bright yellow reflective jackets, took position along the borders of the pitch. It was rather anti-climatic as nothing happened once the match was over. As we were leaving, an Irishman behind us told us that the game was boring despite our win. Unfortunately, Heather was unable to make it to the game with us because she was getting ready for the celebration of the Marine Corps' Birthday that was to take place later than evening.

John, Brian, Ruben, Mike, Steven & Luke (friends studying in UK)

Switching writers.... the 235th Marine Corps' Birthday Ball on the 13th was a lot of fun. It was held at the Round Room of The Mansion House in Dublin. The room was very beautifully decorated. The ceiling was probably my favorite part of the room. It was a dome style top with twinkle lights in it, so when the lights were turned down it looked like we were under the stars- minus the freezing temperatures outside. Two other Mitchell Scholars were able to come with us to celebrate, Joey & Yongjun. It was a fun night of good food and great friends! A common question we get is this: Are there any other Marines in Ireland? The answer is yes. A total of 14 were at the Ball including Steven. Several of them work at the US Embassy in Dublin as guard or other staff, some are retired Marines now living in Ireland, and a few others flew in for the occasion.

All the Marines at the Ball

I had the opportunity to also experience my first rugby game here in Ireland. We traveled down to Limerick/Munster for the Munster vs Australia game. One of Steven's friends from his History program at school, Eanna (Ay-na), invited us down to the game with him and his girlfriend Clair. Prior to the game, we met up also with Fagen, who is currently studying in Limerick. The game was so much fun! There was a pre-game show with fireworks, men on stilts and a "drum line" so to speak. Beings as I'm still learning about the game and didn't really have a great grasp at the game, I have to say my favorite thing about the game was the crowd. They LOVE (possibly an understatement) their Munster team and this was a big game for them. I have to say, the game looks pretty brutal, especially without any pads. I thought for sure someone would have dislocated or broken something- it seemed like the medics were on the field after every couple of plays. The weather was horrible that night- a lot of wind and a lot of rain! Thankfully we were in the nosebleed section of the stands which meant that we were shielded from the elements. We ended up winning and the field was rushed by a lot of the fans at the end.

In the nose bleed section - but still dry!

Pre-game show

One of the many fights that broke out- after they were broken up the crowd would always
sing the Munster fight song.

Christmas time came up really fast! Since an artificial tree was out of the question, I was able to talk Steven into driving down to Slater Valley (south of us) and having us cut down a Christmas tree. It turns out that if you go half way thru November, you get to be the first customer. It was in interesting and very fun experience. To start off with, there was sheep wandering around the trees. It was actually entertaining... one of those moments where you tilt your head to one side, smile, and look at it and go "huh, look at that." He eventually wandered off and the farm dog followed us until we found a perfect tree that was just our size (literally- it's pretty much as tall as we are). Steven cut it down, dragged it back, and stuck it in the back of the hatchback car we rented. We now have it up and all decorated in our family room.

Sheep wandering around the trees

Just our size Christmas tree

We've also been having a good time just going into Dublin. The lights have started to go up all over the city and we have gone down a couple of times just to walk around. Steven took me to dinner in Dublin at our favorite Thai restaurant for my birthday. It was fantastic! Below is a couple of the pictures from walking around after dinner.

Christmas lights in Dublin

Baile Atha Cliath = Dublin

This weekend we have the opportunity to get together with all of the scholars and to celebrate Thanksgiving. Today we went around Dublin. We had the chance to go for tea time at the Aras an Uachtarain (The White House of Dublin). It was beautiful and we had a great time. Interesting fact: the presidential position is not an executive position in Ireland. It is also the only office which holds a fixed term. Other than that, the people in government can hold positions not exceeding 5 years.