Three Month Reflections

     I've been in Ireland for almost three months, and in that time I have completed a record number of Life Lessons.  A few of these are recorded below, in no particular order.

1.Guinness can taste good sometimes. In Beef and Guinness stew and in no other context.

2. It is impossible for me to drink a glass of water without spilling some of it on my shirt.

3. Watching your personality change is weird and kind of scary, but it's not always bad. Since being here, I've watched my whole self tone down, and my conflict-resolution skills have skyrocketed. I'm the one that gets along with pretty much everyone, and that is a new thing for me, but I like it a lot! Changing isn't a bad thing--it just means I'm growing up.

4. Blogging is a surprisingly effective procrastination technique.

5. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do to help. You can only comfort.

6. The Lindy Hop is not impossible to dance.  I used to be dreadfully afraid that someone would ask me to dance at swing dances, and would try to dance the Lindy Hop with me, and I would fall and disgrace my family name. This fear was very rational, as it stemmed from some particularly traumatic experiences. However, a three-hour practice session did the trick, and now I am very competent!

7. Experiences are more important than grades.

8. There is nothing you can do to make a mean person nice, or force an unreasonable person to see reason. 

9. I am so, so glad I am an engineer. This semester has been a nice break from the incessant problem sets, but I have never been so ready to return to the world of math-based classes. While I don't mind a few papers, this overload of writing assignments has withered the math side of my brain.  I never want to write another paper again.

10. Art can be interesting.  Believe it or not, this is a new insight for me.

11. Both mud-stained and colored-Holi-powder-stained clothes require at least three cycles in the wash before they're clean.

12. If someone talks to you repeatedly in class, this does not necessarily mean they want to be your friend.  My lack of Irish friends is more than a bit galling now--after three months, you'd figure I would have made some Irish besties by now. However, Irish friends have proven to be more elusive than a unicorn. I can now talk to two people outside of class without it being awkward.

13. I have visited a country without a McDonald's. My life now has meaning. Thank you, Vatican City!

14. The weather in Ireland is really, really terrible. I asked  my Irish friends when it would finally be warm enough to go outside without a coat. One of them said you can sometimes swap your winter coat for a rain coat in June. The other said that during the first two weeks of June, if it's sunny all day, for two or three hours in the afternoon I could go outside without a coat.