Happy New Year! I hope everyone is off to a great start in 2016.
So, a lot has happened in December and I will try to remember it all.
There is another first year PhD student whom I have become friends with and she had invited me over to her house to meet her family in Dungannon. I went in early December, and tried my first curry! It was very good. It was a seafood curry, and I would most definitely get that again. After dinner, we walked home and watched the popular TV Show: "I am a celebrity, Get me Out of Here!" Must say, I am not a fan. But to be fair, I had no clue who any of these celebrities were and I am not too big on reality TV. Then we talked and just relaxed. The next morning, my friend and her husband bought me coffee from her favorite shop and we all headed to Belfast for Christmas shopping...well I bought warm clothes. :) I also bought some Batman bedroom slippers...Happy Christmas to me!
And then it was basically all work and no play. I did see my first NI movie...Hotel Transylvania 2 with a friend from my office. That was a good movie, minus the annoying unsupervised children in the theater. I also saw, The Night Before... It was funny, but totally a Zach movie. If you know our family, you know my brother and I have very different. taste in films. He likes the Hangover and Ted and those kind of movies, I like Inside Out, Elf, and the Book Thief. Very different taste.
I submitted my final 100 day proposal Dec. 15 and celebrated with going into town for some good coffee on the 16th. My proposal was accepted on the 17 and all was done in terms of that. I resubmitted my power point, my outlines, and my first chapter draft on the 28th of Dec. I know I will need to make some edits, but it feels good that they are out there. I completed reading 20 articles over the break, and later today about to read the International Suicide Handbook. Depressing, I know... But being the nerd I am, the book contains articles on Neurobiology of suicide so that will break it up some, along with some episodes of Will and Grace. :) I have tried to separate work and home for as much as I can in 2015, and I think I did a really good job. I plan to continue that for 2016. I am trying my hardest not to do too much on weekends/after 5pm as it is a depressing topic...says the girl who wants to work on dead people. :) But I think my work schedule has worked for me this far as some of the other first years had to push back their 100 day presentation, and some other students seemed shocked that I have already written my first chapter. As soon as I get the ok on my outlines, I can start really writing my lit review and theory chapters. Monday/Tuesday I am filling in my ethics application to have my supervisors read through it before I submit it. I hear ethics is the hardest part, so we shall see. I have my first presentation on Jan. 14. I am really nervous, as I hate public speaking, so fingers crossed it goes well.
So in terms of work, that is what I have been doing.
Before Christmas, I had coffee with the first 2 friends (James and Julie) I made here, who have the same supervisors. One just returned from America where he celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time. :) And the other was just about to leave for America... I find it funny, that the American is staying put and the NI are leaving. It was nice catching up with them and hearing about his first Thanksgiving. Then the following week, Julie and I went and celebrated Christmas...she took me sight seeing. We stopped at a local ice cream shop called Maud's which was created in the village she is from, so I had Northern Irish Ice Cream...Very good. Then we drove to Belfast Castle, and went inside to see some of it. We couldn't see it all as there was a wedding reception, and then drove by the titanic museum. Julie was the tour guide and gave me some history on each of the sights. It was a fun and enjoyable night. The next day, I went to lunch with some of the friends I made in the office (Anne, Medbh (Pronounced Mave), and Helena). These girls, plus the one from Dungannon, are who I eat lunch with and somehow we always end up talking about body farms. :) I don't know how that happens...as am not the one who brings it up, 50 % of the time! :) We went to Nandos, where I looked through a Bible size book of Allergy free foods. Now I know what I can eat and will just stick to it...never branching out at that place. LOL. I tried peas with mint, gross. Anne said they were the best there...they were disgusting. Mint should not be in vegetables, esp. with chili flakes. Then Helena and I went to Clements for coffee, I enjoyed it. I also learned there is a Savers! and a Paperchase in town! Oh, be still my heart! This just made my day! Happy Christmas to me again! Then we went to see Grandma, with Lilly Tomlin. It was amazing. I loved it. And we followed it with coffee from Costa and my first trip to Victoria Square Mall. This mall was amazing. It is half inside and half outside. And you can go up to the top and see all of Belfast. That was cool.
For Christmas, I went to a staff members house. I attend church with her a her family and spent the day with them. Now, I have yet to go to church, as I was told by a friend that you have to pay to attend services. Come to find out, this is not true. It was a nice service. They asked trivia questions, did an Ugly Jumper contest, and let the kids show off their gifts. A little boy brought in a live Turtle... It was amazing. I think the Pastor was a little shocked. As much as I loved the turtle, my favorite was the little boy who was so proud of his gift of the 'men at work' sign. The sign was bigger than him and he was so proud of it. So funny. We then went back to her house where, I met her family, 2 kids and a husband. Her son is a professional rugby player, her eldest daughter is a graphic designer, and the youngest is still in secondary school. Her husband is a Chaplin to the prison in the area and to the hospice center. It was a fun time, a little hard to stay focused with all of the Christmas flashing flights. The kids were very shocked about the way we spend Christmas, and how I am allergic to so much. I did try Brussels sprouts for the first time. I love the brunches at my aunts house and family get together, they just thought it was very odd not to have turkey and ham and the immediate family. But then again, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving. :) We also played Heads Up, which is a fun game, and since we only played one round, I tied for first. We watched Strictly Come Dancing (Their version of Dancing with the Stars)...again it was not that fascinating as I did not know any of the celebrities, and they allowed me to watch Doctor Who! I was extremely grateful for everything, even the DW watching time, esp. since my favorite character made her appearance. :) Then the girls painted my nails, and I swear, I have never seen so much nail polish in my life. It was a huge box...about the size of a laptop box, probably a little bigger, and the colors were separated in individual bags... Tyler would have loved it. Actually she would have lost her little mind. This girl had every color you could think of, plus stuff to do fake nails, file, cut, etc. I got hot pink with black and pink sparkles, as I figured it would match my Jan. 14th outfit. It was fun.
Then comes New Years Eve. I made my way back down to Dungannon (where I first started this post). I started my NYE with a trip to Belfast for some Costa Coffee (Their Holiday flavors wont be around too much longer) and picked up some minor shopping. Then headed on to a bus (I hate buses, but did it) to Dungannon. There I met my friend and the rest of her family (Finally met her oldest 2 kids). We had a lovely dinner, and I had a Christmas Pudding for the first time. It was good, but I don't think I would buy it often. Around 11 we headed to her brother is laws house, which is next door, for their party. I have never met a family so big in my life. My friend and her husband are each of 6 kids. This party was crazy. It was hard to really focus again, due to the flashing lights on the ceiling. (Stupid seizures). Then comes midnight. Balloons dropped from the ceiling, people were popping them like mad. And then the hugging and kissing started. I figured I was safe, as I am not with anyone, so no one to kiss at Midnight. Wrong! The Irish don't care. LOL. The hug anyone and everyone and kiss you on the cheek, even if they just met you an hour again. This American girl, who is not big on hugs or kissing was a little shocked. And I had never been kissed so much in my life. In terms of kisses, I think I am good for the rest of my life. :) The kids, and the grown men acting like kids, set off fire works in the back yard, lit a tree on fire (As I over heard), and played with sparklers. Then as my friend and I were leaving, they started Irish dancing. Dang stupid flashing lights. I would have loved to have seen that...except in a way I am glad, as I think I might have been pulled into dancing with them. LOL. So we headed back, had a nice talk for a while and went to bed. When we woke up we went for a walk, and I got to see the lovely little town. We tried to go to O'Neils Hill, as you can see the majority of the counties from this hill, but it was closed. Next time. It is a lovely town, but a funeral was happening. That poor family. We then went back and had a nice lunch, hamburgers from the local butcher and she called them Bap's....I think it means sand which. Then I tried beet root juice. I liked it. We talked a little longer, bouncing ideas for each of our projects off of each other. And then headed back on the bus to Belfast. I then started my New Year with a lovely coffee from Cafe Nero (The sign looks like Cafe Nerd) and headed home.
I am so thankful for these lovely friends that I have made. Without them, the holidays would not have been fun or interesting! These girls, and James, allow me to vent when the stress of the work or meetings become too much, as they all have been there, and they vent back.
Here is to a wonderful 2016.
I know some are struggling with sickness, loss, pain, and heartache, so may you find peace and comfort in the new year.
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