Belfast is Northern Ireland, UK. So they used the £ Pound here, not the Euro, and are a part of the UK.
Things I've noticed they say a lot here...
- "Grand" - Grand is the American for good, or fine, or sure, but sounds weird to me. That's grand, I'm grand, it's grand...etc. Question: "Would you like a bag with that?" Response: "No, that's Grand."
- "Wee" - Would you like a wee fork with that? Can i take a wee message for you? Do you have a wee bit of paper? They say is in every sentense.
- "that's brilliant" - interchangeable for the American "yes/fine". Or meaning, they like something. Example: "Would you like some more milk?" Response: "No, that's brilliant".
- "Ie"- Almost every sentence ends in Ie. Pronounced "eye".
Something silly about Belfast. (This is a very "American" complaint)They city closes at like, 4:30pm. Some stores in the downtown area stay open till 7pm, the latest. This made is VERY hard to work a full day at the university, and then get anything done after that. But talking to someone in the hostel, there are towns in Scottland where they don't even have a bank. They have a truck that drives around, which is the bank, and if you need to do any banking, you have to run up to the truck. So, I guess comparing it to Scottland, Belfast is NYC.
The accents in Belfast sound "less Irish" than the south of Ireland. Most harsh maybe? The weather was freezing like a Maryland winter the first day (had to buy gloves), rainy and hot the next day (was toally sweaty running around campus), and cold/hot/cold/hot/cold on Wednesday. My deduction: There is weather out there when you leave So Cal.
I spent a tired sunday walking dowtown to city centre. Had to buy a new camera, groceries...etc. Their department stores have grocery stores in the ground floor! It would be like the basment of Bloomingdales having a safeway. Except it wasn't Safeway, it was the Bloomingdales food dept. The buildings around Belfast are amazing! They all look so old, and beautiful!
My first day on campus recruiting again went well. Running all around, looking for the biggest lecture calls to make and announcemnet in. I ran out of all of my flyer for the whole week by Monday before noon. SO i guess that's awesome, but sucky..because now i need to get more printed! Rumor has it northern irish don't travel much. Also, it is "study week" so a lot of kids are off campus studying for exams next week. But I still had fun running around talking to all the classes. My boss said I have 10 online applications already, so that's cool. Tomorrow is my 1st information meeting day, where kids come to listen to the meeting, and then hand in an application. (My legs were kind sore from being on my feet all day, which made me laugh. Who knew walking all day was hard work?)
Funny things that happend my first week traveling:
- My camera broke
- I blew up my hairdryer and my travel converter (that obviously did not work)
- I lost my debit card
Plans:
Tomorrow is 10/28, the first day of info meetings. After that, I have to catch a 7pm flight to London. When I get to London, I have to get a train to Cambridge. I work on Friday setting up campus, looking around, getting my printing done, and then I'm going to get on a train to Norwich to stay with my friend Ellen for the weekend! She was a recruiter with my in 2008 in Australia :) I have most of my accomodation sorted out, still waiting on where i'll be the last trip. Overall, having a good trip. They days are really busy and I'm super tired at night. But busy is good! No time to really explore the city, only on weekends. So kind of a bummer i have only seen the University of Belfast, but that's all part of the gig.
Fun Fact: Did you know near Belfast is where the Titanic was built?
Hostel life:
I met some interesting people in the hostel. After recruiting I go back and made myself dinner in the kitchen. The first night, this guy who was obviously nervous, sat next to me. He was from belgium. He appoligized for being nervous. Then he proceeded to tell me about how he got kicked out of a hostel in Irealand for bad conduct. He said a girl there reported him. He said he told her some things, but she also told him some things, so he didn't understand why she told on him. He also said he was staying there for free, and the hostel owner (male) was hitting on him. But then rambled on about the "bad situation", and having to leave in a hurry. I'm quietly listening, totally exhausted, wondering how on earth he thought this creepy story was appropriate to tell a total stranger/female/first impression.
I haven't seen him around again... hopefully he's not in another "bad sitution".
