Western England

A long, wordy post....

Saturday I had one of those "oh my god what a small world" experiences. Try and follow. Stop me if I lose you. My roomate Graham goes to St. Michaels College. His best friend (Matt) from St. Michaels is studying abroad in London. Matt made a friend (Brian) in London from BU, and they came to Dublin this weekend to hang out with Graham. I sort-of kind-of knew Brian back in Boston (we know many of the same people), but was never introduced until this past Saturday. So while Graham stayed in with his other friend, I took Matt and Brian out on the town, back down to The George. Obviously, most of our conversation was about the comparisons between the Dublin and London abroad programs. London is uber-expensive, but their housing is right in the city (not a suburb). They have RA's and live in suites, we all have our own rooms, but they can choose their classes, while we all take the same. They have the Tube, we have the bus. To quote a movie I quote often: "I mean, we all have our plusses...and our minusses." (Name it, and I'll give you a dollar). It was nice to get a view of what life would have been like if I had chosen London, and to talk to other BU people about what they see as pros and cons of each.

Today, in class, we talked about Northern Ireland and "the troubles." It is impossible for an Irish person to discuss the issue without taking a side, but I applaud my professor for being as objective as he could. It isn't right to sum up the situation as quickly as I'm about to, but so everyone's up to speed: The majority of the North (Protestants) feel like they are a part of Britain, but the minority of Catholics who inhabit the same area want a united Irish state. Years of unrest. The peace process has been in place for almost a decade now, but it seems to me that if the North wanted as little to do with Ireland as they did, why even keep the name? Why not call themselves Western England? Sounds a lot less Irish than Northern Ireland, and alot more British. I'm making a shallow joke, but like I said, the situation is much heavier than my rendition. But yes, mom, I do go to class and learn things...interesting things.

I guess it's just refreshing to get a view of another country's history without the default American perspective we get in our own classes. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, I'm not picking sides, I'm just saying it's nice to be able to look at things differently. Agree with me or don't. Doesn't matter.

To end on a light note, I'd like to give a great big CHEERS to the people who say stuff in a class that makes the rest of us look around and say "Are they kidding? Did they say that out loud?" Like arguing with facts, or comparing wars that have absolutely nothing in common in cause or result, or talking about your favorite author when it has zero relevance to the rest of the discussion. Cheers! You keep me entertained. And I woudn't have it any other way.

Going to Belfast on Friday, and London for the weekend. So, you can expect more fun and picture-filled posts this time next week.

Peace-out!