Study Breaks/Cultural Exchanges

As I trudged through my second week of exams, the need for sanity breaks greatly increased. This, coinciding with my love of celebrating holidays that I really have no business celebrating, gave me a perfect idea. Cinco de Mayo celebration – Ireland style! On May 5^th, I went out to lunch with a group of friends and threw out the idea. I’m not quite sure why, but I assumed that everyone knew what Cinco de Mayo was. Wrong! Seven blank Irish faces gawking at me…I turned on the charm and described it in the best way that I knew how, “You know…it’s a Mexican holiday that Americans commandeered and turned into a day of drinking tequila and eating tacos.” The response was overwhelming, and the night out was a go! The best part was that they completely got into the holiday. I was receiving “feliz cinco de mayo” texts all day/night, the girls tried to accessorize appropriately, and they tried to keep the drink orders “traditional”. I found this completely hilarious and had a great time.

In turn, I was invited to watch the Chelsea vs. Manchester United soccer match yesterday. This may have well been a holiday to the guys I went with. We arrived at Hurlers, a popular pub near campus, an hour before the game because “it fills up quickly”, Rob warned me. Two hours of screaming, shouting, and cider completed, half of the guys walked out soaring, while the other half hung their heads in shame. 

We headed for “victory pizza”, which apparently seemed like the perfect time for them to give me a tutorial on everything I say “wrong”, and how to correct it.

Soda = fizzy drink

Comforter= duvet (regardless of it being a duvet or other type of comforter)

Trash can = bin

High school = school (college should not be referred to as school)

Gas = petrol

The list goes on for ages, but you get the point. I’m told that these vocabulary quirks are to be fixed by the time I visit them this Summer. I’m working on it.

One more week of exams ahead of me… I can’t imagine what sort of study breaks we’ll come up with.