A Wonderful Weekend!

Last weekend, I had my first non-Bernard visitors to Dublin. My sister Ann and our friend Christabelle (our other friend Marilyn was also with us in spirit and another new ‘friend’ was with us constantly through the wonders of mobile internet ). They both arrived Friday evening, when I met the at the airport, and then the weekend ‘fun’ began.

We did not get up to much. We slept in (not enough Christabelle would say), we had some touristy things (The New Europe Dublin Free Walking Tour and a visit to the National Archaeology Museum), some shopping (Penney’s and Dunnes mainly, but other too), and ambled around the city. We had some really nice meals (OK only 2 nice meals)…one was Break fast at Bewleys Cafe on Grafton Street (not exactly breakfast, seeing that we went in at noon, and when we asked for breakfast they were like…sorry we stopped serving that, but since we wanted a hot drink and scones we were OK) and Dinner at The Oval Bar. The other meals were mainly fast food. They also got to meet my friend from OLV youth group, although Ann and Christa did not appreciate what that entailed haha.

I had a great time this weekend. We chatted and chatted mainly, and participated in a past time I rarely get to practice here in Ireland (or anywhere else for that matter). What is that you might ask?…well passing comments about anything and anyone who is passing by. What was the main topic of commenting?…The great fashion sense of Dubliners i.e. short skirts and shorts…the shorter the better…or alternatively track suit trousers…and we also got to see pyjama trousers out and about (more than once). The hair style of most people also got comments (the higher and the more tousled the better…sometimes it looks like a Cyndi Lauper video).

Well thank you both for coming…will be seeing Ann in 2 weeks and hope to get to visit Christa soon too . My only wish for this weekend?…that I had some more space in my room…we were on top of each other…but that should soon be remedied weeee…and that the weekend was longer.

Thanks again!

Freebies and MORE!

Today was the DCU School of Biotechnology Research Day. I woke up a bit early to go start my HPLC run and then went over to where the Research Day was to be held, to register and put up my poster, before proceeding to hear the presentations. But more about the actual research day in my research blog probably later on. So where do the freebies come in? Well, as part of the research day a number of suppliers were sponsors and they came with their stands…and more importantly FREEBIES. I never saw such an array of freebies on offer. Apart from the usual mugs, notepads, pens and pencils there were USB pens looking like playmobil toys, travel mugs, clocks, mobile phone holders, calendars, different forms and styles of notepads. All the stationery needs you can imagine and more. My favourite freebie…which I had to ask for myself as it was not actually a freebie I guess…a Sigma Aldrich Chemical Bottle (We buy lots of chemicals from Sigma, who have typical chemical bottles…but instead of having sodium hydroxide, or something of the sort, it says Assorted Swiss chocolates. It has hazard notices on it, and once you open it, it is full of Lindt chocolates…they were there for all participants to take chocolates, but I asked for an empty bottle (I want to use it as a pencil holder) and got a full one instead WEEEEEEEE. Another good freebie was a really nice bag from Fisher It will certainly be the bag of choice for most of us students to go grocery shopping for some time.

What was good about the Research Day was that we had to go to all the different suppliers, to get a stamp from each supplier (there were 13), which would entitle us to a draw to win €100 or €50. We still do not know who won the draw, due to a gas alarm going off just as the research day ended and the wine reception and prize giving started. We managed to get the wine reception shifted (most people just got out a couple of wine bottles and so on, but the raffle box remained behind). Well what I liked about it was that we had to go meet up with all the suppliers and talk to them. This made for some really good contact making.

Bring on the freebies and the next research day…:)

Irish Times

OK…so I have now been in Dublin for nearly 4 months, and what is one of the main factors which has surprised me here? TIME! It seems that the Irish did not take anything from their British neighbours? Everyone is always late and taking breaks and not available. For example, trying to find someone available is always a hassle.

Rant 1: Break taking

People at the University work from 9am to 5pm. That’s the theory at least. But everyone (and I do mean everyone) takes a 30minute coffee break at about 10am and a 1hour lunch break at around 1pm. Another coffee break at 3pm is not surprising either. That means that from an 8hour working day, people only work for around 6hours. And this is not having a coffee/lunch on the sly. Oh no no. This is approved and accepted by all. You see notices on most doors…this office is unavailable between 10-10:30 and 1-2pm or something of the sort.

So what does this mean to me? Generally whenever you want to talk to someone they either away at coffee or at lunch. Then there are the myriad other people who work either mornings only or evenings only or 3 days a week and a million other options. So you can never really know when you can talk to them. And what’s with the 6hour work day? People in Malta also work with the 8hour day…but that is 8hours of WORK…i.e. you would work from 8-5, with 1 hour of break in the middle.

Rant 2: Timeliness

OK, I come from Malta, we are Mediterranean, and we are not the most time conscious people. And I have worked in a company, where having a meeting postponed continuously and happening the next day is the order of the day. But people here in Ireland take it to a whole new level. Last week I was at the Graduate training, and students actually just stroll into the lab whenever. Coming 20mins late?…no prob…come right in and start with your work. No I am sorry or anything. After lunch, everyone is also late again. On the first day I decided to go down to the lab 5minutes early…only 1 British guy was already there…otherwise NO ONE…they either come on the dot or later.

Oh Well…will get used to it!

A busy week is over

Last week was a busy week, where my days mainly revolved around the Graduate Training Module I signed up for: Advance Analytical Techniques. You can read all about it in my research blog, so please go and see what I was up to HERE.

Reduced to Clear

Tesco…Reduced to Clear…is fast becoming my Weekend food selection. So what is this? The Reduced to clear section is a small section of Tesco outlets which are going to get to their useby date in a couple of days (or the same day). Therefore their prices are reduced so people buy them. I only realised where this aisle is a few weeks ago, but generally when I go in the evening it is nearly empty. But I now figured out that they put out the food in the morning…therefore on weekends, I have started to make my way to Tesco (this has been my 2nd week) and to this aisle to buy my weekend lunch and dinner selection.

This has been a great opportunity for me to get some food which is out of my repertoire for weekends. Generally I buy ready made meals, which I just pop into the oven for 20-25mins. Till now I have had pizza, shepherds pie, steak pie, lasagna and quiche lorraine. The food is quite good, and it allows me to eat such dinners I would not cook for myself…besides being quite cheap (e.g. €1.45 for the shepherds pie). Some of the Tesco reduced to clear aisle is still not reduced a lot…so I do not get them. But generally you do get some good bargains.

Movie Evening

Yesterday evening was my first night out in Dublin (excluding Christmas parties). And what did I get up to? Oh nothing much, by I went over to Monika’s place for a Movie evening. I had a couple of movies so I just went over with some microwave popcorn and pizza at 6pm. I was also excited to see the rooms on campus, and WOW…those rooms are big, and you get the longest desk I have ever seen. The bed seems really miniscule in these rooms because of their size. So cannot wait to move onto campus in a couple of weeks. By the way…for all of you expecting a mansion when you come visit, you are mistaken…these rooms at around 16.5 sq m, including a desk, bathroom, bed and wardrobe…so nothing too big. But compared to what I have…much much bigger.

Well we settled in and started discussing what we wanted to watch. We settled on Little Fockers…Monika had not seen the other movies about the Focker family, but she still could follow and we laughed our head off. It is a comic movie…nothing too out there…you know most of the jokes, but still a great night in movie.

After the Little Fockers…and some dinner (not my pizza…cos Monika had cooked some pasta it seems…mmmmm it was good…pizza will be eaten today). we decided to watch another movie…this time the decision fell on Black Swan. Hmmm…we did not really get the movie…it is confusing and dark…not something I liked too much…would have been disappointed to have paid to go watch it.

But anyways the night was a great success…cannot wait to have Monika over for my hosting of a movie evening (though would need to clean my room grrrrrr).

Zumba

This is a week of new activities in Dublin…after softball and swimming, today was my turn to try Zumba…this is a new class showing up in the DCU gym group schedule. Unlike all other classes, members would have to pay €5 for the class. However today was a free starter class so I obviously signed up to go and try it.

The class was held by two girls from Zumba Ireland and it really was a class of calorie burning fun. I really enjoyed myself and at the end of the day it is a really good workout. However I am glad there were no people there that I know, cos there were some moves I will certainly never repeat out of the confines of a Zumba class. Here is an idea of a class and you could understand better why:

Overall what is my verdict?…A really great class…Will I be back?…Seriously doubt it…the DCU gym group schedule is packed with interesting classes, which are free…so why pay €5 a week to go to this class? They do not even have an option of say €20 for 5 classes or so. I seriously doubt they succeed…but hey I am in Ireland…so what do I know?

Swimming :)

Unfortunately no…not in the sea in Malta…but it was great fun nonetheless. It was in the DCU pool. I have been a member of the DCU gym since last October when I moved to Ireland, however I never managed to make it to the pool, even though it was one of the things which I really liked. Monika, a friend who is also on the ATWARM programme has gone twice and said she really liked it, and out plan was to make our way there as soon as the Christmas holidays were over.

DCU pool

Since yesterday was her first day back from her Christmas holidays, we quickly made plans to go in the evening, to have a swim and catch up. We met at 7:30pm and made our way to the pool. And Oh what bliss is was. My sore muscles (from last Saturday’s softball tournament) certainly enjoyed it. We swam and chatted, and also made it to the sauna and steam room. The temperature of the pool was just right (although freezing it seems after going to the sauna and steam room hihi). I really like that it was not too busy and so we could swim and chat to our heart’s content.

Thank you Monika for making me get to the pool, and for your company. Cannot wait to be back

Back into the swing of things

I have been meaning to join some sort of sport team (preferably softball or handball since I have some prior experience) since I moved to Dublin. But I could not find one that suited me…i.e. located close or else in the case of softball even training…with softball the season runs from April-September…so when I came in October the season was just finished. However when I was at home for Christmas I decided to take another look around. And sure enough Softball Ireland were organising an Indoor Softball tournament this weekend. I sent an email and hoped for the best. Sure enough I received a reply from one of the organisers who found me a team and also put me in contact with a team that plays close to where I live for the tournament…The Flyers…who train close to the airport, which is handy enough for me. One of the girls from the Flyers was actually on the team I was with for the day.

Well this morning I could not lie in, cos at 9 I had to be at the ALSAA sports club. Luckily it is also where the Flyers play so it is just 10mins by bus away (although I did have to wait 20 minutes for the bus to come). I got on the bus and hoped for the best, that I could recognise the stop and get off at the right place. I started hearing two guys behind me talking. First it was something about metacarpals and metatarsals. But then the conversation turned to strikes and pitching. Hmmmm I said…so I turned round to them and asked them whether they were going to the Indoor Softball Tournament. They said yes and off we got together. Once off the bus we chatted a bit and we realised that we would be playing on the same team YEAH! First contact made.

We got into the gym, and had a short briefing on the rules of the game (they are somewhat different to the outdoor version). 10 teams were playing, on 3 different courts (1 big court divided into 3). On each team a minimum of 3 girls have to play at a time, with 8 players fielding. When batting everyone goes in line, 1 boy 1 girl and everyone gets one ball each…either a ball and you get on base, or you hit and get on base (or no) or you strike out/foul ball and you are out. The scoring system is a bit complicated (did not bother with it), but you can get negative points (OH JOY!). There is a set time for each inning and people keep on batting until the time is up. Each game had two innings.

The people on my team were really great…we did not do too well…but we had a great time. It seems that my team (the Usual Suspects) has a reputation for being big on the fun They all welcomed me right in and I had a great time. My batting and fielding were not too horrible. I also did a couple of really good outs on third in the last game weeee…and got crowned the Third base queen at the end of the night…so that was a good thing. And what’s more…we won the plate final and so we got a small trophy…a shot glass of Dublin weeee. After the games (there were the semifinals and finals on for the cup) we retreated to the bar upstairs for some drinking and chatting. I stayed for a bit then headed for the bus back home, so that I could update you all.

Overall it was a great day out…Thank you to Cora, Shaun, Ciaran, Ger, Mike (I think), Sinead, Suzanne and Sarah for making me feel so welcome. Can’t wait for Feb/March when preseason training for the Flyers starts…or April when the games start. I had a great time and will definitely be back

Visitors!

Weeee…I might get another visitor in January. At the end of January, my sister Ann will be visiting me for the first time in Dublin (3 weeks to go weeeee). Today I got talking to another friend Christabelle, who has been planning to come visit some time. She decided that she would join my sister on her weekend visit and so will probably join her. She still needs to buy her ticket etc…but hopefully she will make it.

Therefore in 3 week’s time I should have a minimum of 1, but hopefully 2 (anyone else??) visitors. I have something to look forward to, which is great, especially in these dark nights. It seems that since I moved back after Christmas I am waking up in the dark (sunrise is around 8:30am) and getting home in the dark (the sun sets at around 4:30pm). I cannot wait for the longer days to come. Here in Dublin, winter days are much shorter to those in Malta, but then summer days are much longer. From what I can see, the days grow longer by around 10 mins a week…come on longer days come here come here. And most of the time where the ‘sun’ is out, I am inside …so come on sun…come come