Living The Life...Well Almost

So I know it has been awhile since I have blogged. I am a bad blogger....but I promise I will start blogging at least twice a week. So let me update you.

We have now had two full weeks of classes, and I LOVE it!!!! I especially love my contemporary class. It reminds me so much of Marcy's classes back home. All of my classes but two are held at the Crescent Arts Centre. It is an amazingly nice building, and I can't believe we are using their space. I have been sick this week, so I haven't been at my best. Those of you that know me will know how much that bothers me. Over here, they tend to give you all of your assignments for one term all at once. This can be a wee bit overwhelming, but I am coping. My to-do lists are many, and I am(like I always do) getting a head start on a lot of them. So basically this once again means that I will most likely have no life. Oh well. I did find out that the 2nd yr HNDs will be taking a Master Class, that is usually only open to professional dancers, with Russell Maliphant!

Kenzie & I have had fewer moments of getting lost now that we are getting used to the layout of the city. Except for today....when I mistakenly did not get off a bus when I should have. It then proceeded to change routes and numbers. Needless to say, I took a detour way up into northwest Belfast. I am not real sure I will want to go back. We have been finding lots of restaurants from back home, and SURPRISE, they aren't very different. We have found KFC, MCDONALD'S, BURGER KING, SUBWAY, TONY ROMA'S, and T.G.I. FRIDAY'S. The last two were the most impressive.

All of the Stranmillis students are here now, and I can honestly say that I miss the quiet. I liked when there were only five of us. Dinner has been pretty good(we had some amazing lasagna tonight). I have not been able to have breakfast due to scheduling but I will definitely try to this weekend. I am still trying to think of a way to get Kenzie to stay for the Spring. I think between me and all of the drama students we should be able to think of something.

Till next time!!!

The past few days have been extremely interesting to say the least. Kenzie and I had registration on Friday. We took our 8 bus from Stranmillis to the City Centre, and we proceeded to walk around for about 20 minutes looking for the 3 bus. We finally asked someone where the 3 busses were and he directed us to the right hand side(facing the building) of City Hall. We knew that the buses all went to City Hall, but we didn't quite know where they all stopped.

Once we arrived at the Tower St. building, we knew we were very early. I was introduced to one of my professors who showed me to Sandy's office. Sandy is the Course Co-Ordinator for my course. She then introduced me to another one of my professors(Laura). Laura showed me around the building and then took me back to what they call the cantine. At this point we had to wait until our registration time. Sandy brought me my form to fill out, which was kind of confusing. When it was time, we were called into the room to get our forms signed by the course tutor. Sandy proceeded to tell me that most of my classes will be held at the Crescent Arts Centre, which is near Queen's University. In other words, they will be held a good bit closer to where I am staying, and I will only take one bus to get there. I will only have to go to Tower St. two days a week in the afternoons. All in all it went very well.

On Saturday, we took a trip up to Belfast Castle. I will post a picture below. It was absolutely gorgeous. It took us almost an hour to reach the castle, mostly because we somehow managed to take the LONG way around. However, I will say that it was completely worth it. We were able to walk through part of the castle, the garden, and the cellar. We heard a lot about the history of the castle and who inhabited it. The flowers that were in the garden were gorgeous, and the view was to die for. We did find a shorter way down and returned to Stranmillis after almost 5 hours.

Today, we had our first day of orientation, and all I can say is wow. Parts of it were interesting and informative. Other parts were, as the Irish say, "a bit of craic". I am looking forward to the rest of the week and the beginning of classes.

Until next time kiddos....

Almost A Week

It's been almost a week since I have been in Belfast! I still am in disbelief. Kenzie arrived Wednesday, and it is so nice to have someone here from the states. There are now four of us in the hall; however, in two weeks we move into our permanent rooms. It's been nice to get out when I want. The bus system is a new thing for me. At home I drive everywhere I go, but here you walk(and I have two nasty blisters to prove it) or you ride the bus.

Tuesday I went to the International Office for BMC and handled last minute details with them. Wendy, who works the front desk in the halls office at Stran, let me in on the fact that there is a small pharmacy that is right outside of campus. This will be great knowledge to have if I need one or two things.

Ireland is just as gorgeous as everyone imagines it would be. Lots of pics to come! Kenzie and I have registration in the morning, and this will be our first attempt at transferring buses. We plan on doing some more food shopping once we get back. And I will attempt to open a bank account hopefully.

More to come!
Loves