The Time Flies

Well, I have had another wonderful week in Ireland.  I really can't believe I've been here for three weeks already.  The time is flying by so much faster than I thought it would.  I can already tell I'm going to be sad to leave this country behind.  I think that of all the countries I've been to before, Ireland, by far, has the nicest people.  I particularly notice this when I drive.  I've never been to another country and thought "wow, everyone on the road here is really considerate."  But that's how it is here.  It really makes driving to work a much more enjoyable experience than I thought it would be.  In fact, I actually really enjoy driving the stick shift now.  I might consider getting one next time I get a car.  (=

Work really went better than I could have hoped this week:

This week we got pulled in on a project that was a lot of fun to work on.  They wanted our help on some marketing materials for part of their dessert line.  So they gave us an example Thursday at the end of the day of what they wanted and we had to have it done by the next morning.  In the morning, we presented it to everyone on the project.  And it turns out, they liked what we did so much that they had us redo the materials for the rest of the line, which they had already done.  So we spent the day doing that and our work was sent out by courier that afternoon.  They're using it in a meeting with British Airways this week to try to secure a deal for 5.8 million desserts.  That's a huge deal for a company this size.  We are definitely anxious to hear how the meeting goes.

This weekend is a 3 day weekend in Ireland, so some of the group decided to take off to London for the weekend.  Most of the rest of us took the opportunity to take the train up to Howth to do some hiking yesterday.  The weather was beautiful, but it was a little windy.  Dan and I decided to do a little spelunking along the coast.

Unfortunately, aside from being really wet and kind of gross, the cave wasn't very big, so there wasn't much exploring to do.  It was still fun though.  So we took off around the coast to hike.  It was really very pretty out there.

 I like this o-H-I-O picture just because it looks like I'm a lowercase "o".

We stopped at a pub to have lunch and it was one of the best meals I've had here.  It was a Beef & Guinness casserole and it was fantastic.  The only problem with them having such good food like this is that I eat entirely too much of it.

Today, I'm going to go spend the day exploring Dublin since I haven't had a chance to spend much time there so far.  And tomorrow I think I might walk around Blackrock and take pictures.  I really like the houses here. They're all painted pretty neutral colors, but they all have a different color door.

But currently, Lu, Jin, and Chi Hsien (our Asian girls on the trip) are cooking me French Toast, so I'm going to just leave it at that.

Until next time,

KT

The Left Side of the Road

Finally, a new post!  The past week has been a little crazy for all of us here.  We got to start working at our companies on Monday and have been busy ever since.  The company I'm working for is call Lily O'Briens and they are a chocolate manufacturer.  And a very good one at that.  (You should check out their site and see all the things that I get free samples of every day http://www.lilyobriens.ie/)  We are really enjoying working for this company.  The founder's name is Mary Ann O'Brien and she's an absolutely wonderful woman.  I swear if you could hear her describe her chocolates and desserts you would want to sit and eat them with her all day.  She's around the office a lot and is always popping in to see how things are going and to make sure we're getting enough chocolates.  Her office is easily the greatest office I've ever seen.  Chocolate everywhere.

Here's a nice shot of me taking a quick photo break:

We also got our car this week.  (It's an Audi A6...I'm a fan)  Now that has been an adventure.  It's not that easy to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road, from the wrong side of the car, with a stick shift...particularly if you've only driven a manual a handful of times.  I was just a bit terrified.  The first drive home was a bit rough.  I got used to the car by driving around the parking lot for about an hour, then we took off.  Of course, I had Whitney and Brian on the left side of the car letting me know anytime I was drifting too far in that direction.  Thankfully, we made it home safely and with no mishaps.  But now that I've been driving the car for a week, I feel considerably more comfortable with the whole experience.  It's actually kind of fun now.  Plus, it's always good to look down and see you're going 120...even if it is kph, not mph.

Last weekend, we also did a hop on, hop off tour of Dublin city.  It was a good way to get to know the city a little better, although I am definitely looking forward to exploring it some more.  The first thing we stopped to see was St. Patrick's cathedral.

We also, of course, did the tour of the Guinness factory.  Interesting fact, when the factory was opened about 250 or so years ago, the founder took out a very tight lease on the land.  Because of that, Guinness is locked into renting that land for another 8,750 years.  I'm not sure they're exactly worrying about what to do when the lease runs out.  The tour did a good job of explaining how Guinness is brewed, but that's not the best part of the tour.

At the end, you have a decision to make: you can learn to pour your own pint of Guinness and have your free pint there, or go up to the Gravity bar, get your free pint, and enjoy the view of all of Dublin.    We all chose to go up to the Gravity bar and leave the pouring to the exports.

Finally, that night, we made it over to The Brazen Head.  This was more of a "just to say I went" visit.  There is a Brazen Head in Grandview that we go to all the time.  So, it was kind of cool to get to go to Ireland and see the original.  Also, this bar was opened in 1198 (or something very close to that), so it was cool to see a pub that's been around since 300 years before Christopher Columbus even made it to America.  In the pub, they have one room that is completely wallpapered (including the ceiling) in bills from all over the world.  So we obviously had to leave ours behind as well.

Somehow, our OSU dollar ended up right above another one hanging right behind the bar.  We just felt like we should leave our mark on the place.

That's about all I have for today.  Hopefully it won't be a week again before I update.

Until next time,
KT

Culture Week

So we spent our first week in Ireland touring the island and getting familiar with the culture.  I have to say, this is a beautiful country with amazing culture.  I wish the tour could have last another week.  There are so many amazing cities I would like to have more time to explore.

A quick recap of the week:

Monday:  We headed out of Dublin to Belfast.  We mostly just stopped to eat here, but we did get to see some of the murals that have been painted all over the city after the troubles.

Also, that day, we went out to the Giants Causeway.  The Causeway was formed by molten rock hitting the cold water of the ocean.  But this particular rock formed somewhere around 38,000 columns.  The result is pretty cool

 Thanks to Vijay for this picture.  Excellent timing with the splashing wave.

That night we headed to Derry (Or Londonderry, depending on which side you're on).  We had a quick walking tour of the city, which was an important site during the troubles.  Our guide explained it like this:  a couple decades ago, the city (and all of Northern Ireland) was basically a war zone.  So, to my parents, going over there might seem like a big deal.  It would be kind of like my kids, when they're this age, going to Afghanistan as a tourist.  That really made me understand more just how serious the problems there were.  Now, there is still a big divide between the loyalists and those who want Northern Ireland to be free from England.  The bridge below was opened a few weeks ago.  It's a foot bridge that connects the two halves of the city.  Apparently, when it was opened, one lady was particularly nervous about crossing because she hadn't been to the other side in 31 years.  It's amazing how much of that still remains.

That night, we did get to experience a good Irish pub.  It was pretty relaxed.  There was live music (4 guys sitting around a table with instruments playing and singing) and we just chatted with the locals and had a good time.

Tuesday: Did a lot of travelling this day.  We did tour a castle, Donegal Castle, and enjoy a festival in Galway.  It was their arts festival, so there were performers on almost every corner.  It's also a college town, with a fun atmosphere.

Wednesday:  This was the day I was the most excited for.  We got to go to the Cliffs of Moher.  These cliffs are one of the reasons I have wanted to visit Ireland for so long.  And they didn't disappoint.  The highest point of the cliffs is about 700 ft high.  It's even more impressive than it sounds.

And of course, the obligatory O-H-I-O.  This is one of my favorites from the week.

After this, we headed into Killarney, where we spent that night and the next.  Killarney might have been my favorite city.  We had a blast here.  We also got to do the ring of Kerry, which has a lot of beautiful scenery.  We also finally got some bad weather this day (we were really lucky all week), but it was kind of cool to see so much mist coming in on the shore.

All in all, this week was amazing.  I am really enjoying being here.  We also had a great tour guide who made everything very entertaining.

I am looking forward to getting to work this week though.  We drove past the office today...it's not close to Blackrock (where we're staying) at all.  That should make it fun since I have to figure out the driving a manual thing.  It should be quite an adventure.

I will leave you with one last thought.  Peter, our tour guide was telling us about some Irish folklore.  I'll share one I found interesting.  Apparently, if a person sees seven white horses in one day of travelling, they will be married by the end of the year.  I'm not sure how often that works out, but...

I saw exactly seven white horses the other day.

KT

Quick Post

Good morning! I'm in Londonderry this morning. Not a lot of time to use the wifi, but I wanted to check in. We went to Belfast and the giants causeway yesterday. Got some great pictures that I'll share later. Then we stayed here last night and went to a little pub with live Irish music.

All in all having a great time and excited to see everything else.

Have a great day!

KT

Hello Ireland!

I'm finally in Ireland!  (=  And so excited to be here.  After a bit of interesting travel, we got in at about 8:30 this morning, Dublin time (3:30am Ohio time), so we have been understandably tired for most of the day.  So, after almost losing an MBA student to a rapidly backing "Paddywagon", we boarded our bus and headed for Blackrock.  We are staying on the business campus of the University College of Dublin.  The apartments each hold 6 students, but I am conveniently located in the apartment that only has 4.  Also, we have the best view from our living area.  

The rooms are a little small, but I don't intend to spend much time in here, so it doesn't bother me at all.

I am, however, slightly concerned about the bathroom.  

The bathroom is quite small, as you can see.  And yes, that is the shower curtain hanging down next to the toilet.  And no, there is no divider on the floor at all.  So basically, the whole bathroom is the shower floor, the curtain just blocks the water from getting all over everything else.  It should be fun to use this for the first time in the morning.

We did take a quick tour around Blackrock after we found our apartments.  The city is pretty much everything you could want in an Irish city.  I really like the houses here.  They're all fairly neutral colored, with brightly painted doors.  I'm hoping to spend some time walking around to find some favorites to photograph soon.  We decided to grab some food and headed to a local pub, where I had my first meal in Ireland: Bulmer's and Irish Stew. Delicious.

On the way in, we ran into a man who stopped to chat for a while.  About 80% of his sentences either started with "You know what I love about America..." or ended in "...only in America."  It was interesting to get his rather blunt (but funny) opinion on the US.  Also, he said that with our accents, we could be married off to an Irishman in no time if we wanted.

On that happy note, I need to pack for the week's trip around Ireland and get some sleep.

Until next time!

KT

On the Verge of Leaving

It's 5 days from my departure and let's be honest, I'm not even close to being packed.  Suddenly July 9th seems so soon.  I just thought I'd add one blog before I take off.  

So here's some background before I go.  I'm an MBA student at the Ohio State University.  This summer, I am working on a consulting project for Lily O'Briens, a chocolate company in Ireland.  I get to spend 7 weeks living just outside of Dublin and could not be more excited.  Ireland has been in my top three places to visit for a long time, and I can't wait to get there.

Once I'm done working, I have a few weeks before I need to be back in Ohio for school.  So, since I will already be in Europe, I might as well do some travelling before I return.  My destination cities are London, Barcelona, Nice, Interlaken, Milan, and Venice.  

Stay tuned and I'll start updating once I'm across the pond!