Messy hands and PE in the cold

Today was an excellent day. Today the sun decided to shine and it was actually pretty nice, it was a cold day in California, a warm day in Ireland. I'm getting better at finding my way around, by that i mean that I can find my way to the library and the locker room, that's about it. The first part of my day we had a few study block which was nice, I got to get ahead on some homework from America (the picture is of Alyssa in the library, hard at work). For the second period of the day the physics teacher, who was also head of IT, wanted us to come and talk about our iPads. So we gave an impromptu presentation to the physics class and him about apps, pros and cons, and our textbooks. They are thinking about getting iPads for the first years to use so they want to know about our experience. We may have to go to a teachers meeting and answer some of their questions too. Pottery was really fun. It was their last class of their module before they rotate classes so the teacher brought snacks and drinks for them. Rebecca, Molly, Golddy and I made little pots and cups. It was a pretty easy way to spend an hour or two. When all of us are at lunch with the Irish girls, I almost don't even feel a difference. We talk and make jokes and act silly, it's all the same. After lunch I had PE, but I don't have any clothes. I wore a mishmash of other people's clothes. Borrowed shorts from Alyssa, a shirt from another girl and I was ready to go. No one should ever be in shorts and a tee shirt in Ireland. I thought I was going to freeze. I didn't, but that was mostly thanks to the PE part. We played netball, which is a very odd sport that I've never played before and would take too long to explain here. It's a little like basketball except when you have the ball you can't move and only advance it by passing. I am very tall. I am very good at netball. Alyssa didn't have as much luck but she did pretty well. One of the drills we used to get us used to passing was one that we did for basketball so I was able to impress everyone with my amazing athletic abilities. At the end my fingers and toes were happy to be warm again.I'm leaving Rebecca's today because Cassie is back. I'm going over to her house soon. I'm sad to leave Rebecca's, I really like it here, but I'm sure it will be very nice at Cassie's house. I will have to update you if anything interesting happens. Tomorrow we are going to a cemetery! It's super old and has some famous Irishmen. I can't wait to write about it. I will take lots of pictures with my camera but unfortunately I don't have a way to upload them to here. I will ask Alyssa to send me some so you can look at them a bit.
Until next time

My First Day!

My first day of school was very interesting to say the least. For starters, the school is small, but the building used to be a hotel. This means that there are a seemingly endless number of staircases and rooms. The first thing you notice when you get to school is how noisy it is. Our school is noisy too, but here all the years pack into their own bathroom/locker space to hang out. This means that to get anywhere you have to push your way through throngs of people. The uniforms of the girls are all green and identical, which mean us American girls stick out like sore thumbs. Our host girls liked to play a game at lunch and see who was staring at us. Several times today I got asked if I went to a different school than the other girls because I was wearing a gray skirt and they were warring plaid skirts. When we told them that we simply had a choice of two different skirts they were pretty surprised. We went to homeroom and then we went up with Ms. O'Brian, the grade coordinator, to arrange our schedules. We started out with the essential classes we needed to keep, such as math, English, and chemistry, and then filled out the rest. I'm taking a classical studies course with Golddy which seems really cool. Ms. O'Brian gave all of us lots of study periods so we can stay up to date on our schoolwork from home. Needless to say I will be spending a lot of time in the Library. Today some of the students were saying what lovely weather they were having because the sun was out, well believe me it was still freezing. Tomorrow I have lots of study periods and pottery ( I'm really excited for that! ) along with P.E. with Alyssa. Next week the students will start their work experience and all of us will go to community care ( community service) in towns! Like real proper jobs where you spend the whole day helping in charity thrift shops and with the disabled. I'm a little worried about that, I'm not always good with talking to complete strangers. We took the dart home today, I really like it. All the Irish girls think we are really funny and loud with our shirt skirts and weird accents. I can't wait for them to come to America so we can show them all about us! Tonight is my last night staying with Rebecca because Cassie gets back from her vacation tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be in another house! Overall today went really well, and I only got lost a few times. By the end of the day I could even find my way back to the locker room with limited wrong turns. Tomorrow should be very interesting.

Into town...

I had a really good day today. I was able to sleep in till about 10 which is always a good way to start off the day. I have been trying really hard to get myself adjusted to the time zone. I had chocolate rice crispies for breakfast. Then I hid in my room a bit and read and did homework until lunchtime. For lunch I had a grilled ham and cheese which was pretty good, with hot chocolate of course. Rebecca and I chilled and watched tv for a little bit. The Comedy Central network here just plays reruns of Friends and Two and a Half Men. We even watched a bit of Big Bang Theory, aside from the commercials I probably wouldn't be able to tell the tv from here and home apart. The Netflix here is amazing though, they have so many titles! In the afternoon Rebecca and I took the dart ( the train ) into Dalkey a town or two over. It was so cold! We went to meet some of her friends and get some food. We went to a little cafe first and had cokes. All of Rebecca's friends are so nice! They are all really friendly and cool. That cafe had to close so when about to explore Dalkey, which isn't really much to explore. We stopped at a mini mart and Alyssa and I had kinder surprise eggs. They are so good, but they are illegal in the US for weird reasons. We stopped by at the castle that was there, becaus is Ireland it seems there are just random castles in places. We continued on into another cafe called mugs where we got hot chocolate ( this is probably going to be all I drink here) and talked. I am so excited to go to school tomorrow! It's going to be amazing, I just know it. I can't wait to write my post tomorrow and tell you all the details.

DUBLIN

The entirety of the Aer Lingus plane is green. The seats are green, the outside is green, there is even a giant shamrock on the side of the plane, there is no secret where we are going. For this flight Alyssa and I were seated together, which was really nice. They had a really nice entertainment system, I watched a movie called The Sapphires, it was about an aboriginal singing group who went to Vietnam to perform for the soliders  in  the 60's. I really enjoyed it. I also watched a bit of Sherlock, which is always good. It was my first time having a meal on a plane and I thought it was pretty good. We had a lasagna looking thing with bread, a brownie, and some cheese and crackers. I ate it all. Afterwards we all tried to get some sleep, Alyssa succeeded (amazingly) but I didn't get very much. Turning out being super tall and trying to get comfortable on a plane is not ideal, who knew? When we arrived at Dublin I was a little nervous about going through customs but that turned out to be a breeze, and we all found our luggage pretty quick. When we left baggage claim there were tons of girls outside, it turns out that they thought that Cody Simpson (the Australian Justin Bieber I'm told) was coming. I'm staying with a girl named Rebecca for a few days until the girl I will be staying with, Cassie, comes back from skiing in the Alps. We arrived at her house at about 10, and I immediately went unptairs and fell asleep until it was dinner time. Her family is very nice, we had lasagna for dinner. They are out to see her brother's play so Rebecca and I stayed at home to chill. We had hot chocolate and got to know each other. She likes Harry Potter, the Avengers, and The Lord of the Rings. Needless to say we get along well. Tomorrow we will go into town to meet with all the other girls to talk and meet everyone, I'm looking forward to it.
Still don't quite know how to end these..
Until next time!
-Emilee

Chicago!

So it turns out that I couldn't post an update while I was in Chicago because the airport didn't have free wifi. However I wrote this post while there and on the plane. 

My flight to Chicago went really well. The person in between Alyssa and I was very kind and switched seats so we could be next to each other. She was a very interesting women. She had a thick accent that I couldn't quite place and was dressed flamboyantly. She had a huge wedding ring on and giant blue earrings with a matching necklace. She was very kind, when Alyssa complimented her on her blue Prada handbag she replied "Thanks! I bought it for myself for my birthday! Because If you don't buy it for yourself, then who will?" Wise words airplane lady, wise words. There was a little turbulence in the middle, but not much, at least not enough to wake Alyssa. Alyssa has a very rare and very valuable talent, she can sleep through anything. The flight passed quickly with intervals of music and napping. 

People weren't lying, O'Hare is huge. We had to take a train just to get to the international terminal. When we got there we stopped at McDonalds for some suspicious looking fillet o' fishes ( we are good catholic girls). Rebecca had a chicken snack wrap, minus the chicken. She basically payed McDonalds to put some lettuce inside a tortilla with some cheese. We had to go through security AGAIN, which was only a minor inconvenience. 

It's weird to think that I've spent the entire day sitting, and walking, and sitting, and walking.

 Huh. Next stop, DUBLIN!

Waiting...

Everyone is here! We are all waiting in the terminal for our first flight to Chicago. Molly was a saint and made us all cookies. We should be boarding in about 15 minutes, as Ms. Callinan would say, "the excitement is building!" We all get along so well, I now know that I have nothing to fear. We are all like Hobbits going on a magical quest, except Rebecca is Legolas, because she's blond and pretty. We also all enjoy second breakfasts. I have to suppres the urge to yell "IM GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!" The flight itself should be very easy, I have an aisle seat ( necessary for my giant legs) and Alyssa is in the window seat in my row.  I just there isn't a creepy person in between us.  I have rented some movies to watch and have an assortment of books to read. BRING IT ON!
Update to come when we get to Chicago.

I Should be Packing: An Introduction to my Blog

HELLO!
I'm Emilee, and I would like to apologize in advance for the unavoidable grammer and spelling mistakes that are sure to pop on this blog in the next few weeks. I leave for Ireland in two days, tomorrow is my last day at school. To say I am excited for this trip would be an understatement. It seems to have just hit me that I am actually leaving. An indicator of this would probably be the fact that i have JUST started packing. Don't worry, I'm almost done, and I made a list so I won't forget anything. However, knowing me, I probably have forgotten something.
Everyone keeps asking if i'm nervous, and I keep telling them that i'm not. Well truth be told, I am very nervous. I have a layover in Chicago at O' Hare. Every time I tell someone this they always mention that it is HUGE, and would be terrible to get lost in. I am not worried about it being too cold in Ireland. I am not nervous that my host family will be mean.I am not scared that people won't like me or that I won't fit in. I am worried that I will get lost at a gigantic airport and never make it to Ireland. This, combined with the fact that I get very nervous asking for directions or help in public places could be a very bad combination. Whenever I think that, I just remind myself that I am going to be with 3 other very capable, and very smart young women. When I remind myself that I won't be alone, and that this will be a group experience, I can't help but get a big goofy smile in anticipation for Friday.
So stick around, and hopefully I will get better at this blogging thing, instead of just jotting down ramblings while listening to Childish Gambino. I will try to write my next post in the airport, won't that be exciting.
BACK TO PACKING!