Featured on UCC International Blog

Good morning there, and happy Saturday to you! It's definitely getting colder in Cork now; woke up with frost on the window and three sweatshirts on. It might be just about time to pull out the hot water bottles...

This morning's post is quick; I just wanted to share a little coolness with all of you faithful readers (the plethora that you are)! I wrote a couple of quick blog posts for my university the other day, and both were put on the UCC International Students' Blog. Check them out here. It's currently the top two posts, pretty obvious with my byline below.

Enjoy! Wishing you a lovely autumn morning!!

Photo credit

How To: Find Autumn in the Rain

Beautiful, isn't it? Welcome to my morning run last Saturday. I live so close to the city and so close to the country, a step in either direction takes me to two different worlds. But notice anything weird about this picture? That's right, you figured it out. It's GREEN!

Maybe you're bad with calendars, and dates, and life, and seasons. But it is October, which, at least for me, usually means autumn! Leaves! Red! Yellow! Hot chocolate! Pumpkins! But here in Ireland, it really just means a little bit crisper, a little bit colorful, a lot of rain, no pumpkins. The poor Irish.  Never dramatic changes in seasons, always small incremental ones.

So I've been madly hunting around for even just a small hint of autumn as an American remembers it. It's truly an adventure. Here's what I've found so far.

After a rainy night, the morning is perfect. But very green... Wait! Do I see some yellow leaves happening?

On the river run around the neighborhood (a post for another day). We'll blame the pitch for the green here....

YELLOWISH GREEN LEAVES!

As you can see the pickings are slim. But the lack of abundance in the leaf department turns into a small blessing. Never have I appreciated every single little leaf, every small moment of crisp breeze, and every cup of hot chocolate. It's not a given that red, yellow, and orange will surround me; but the mild changes force me to appreciate every mild, little thing. Happy Autumn, Ireland!  

Spotted at UCC's main quad. Success! Truly red! But it might be the only red you'll find in Cork.

How To: Celebrate a Ridiculous Holiday

The last Thursday in September is a ridiculous one in Ireland (and all over the world, in actual fact). It is Arthur Guinness Day! The international Guinness toast takes place at 17:59GMT, and people all over the world (who are aware of the event) toast their pints in unison.

Guinness pays for almost all festivities planned in major cities. Some of the bigger bars in Cork had headliner acts. Apparently Kodaline has been here a couple of times (supposedly they were in the city this time, too), Ellie Goulding, etc. Pretty cool, actually. But there are plenty of places that just serve reduced pints and gather people for an evening of fun. 

I was already in town early enough in the day, so M came and met me and a couple of classmates at The Wash. We had a couple of pints and headed over to meet the friends over at one of the bigger bars in Cork, Crane Lane. We spent much, much longer in the Crane Lane than I think I've ever done in one night, but we had great fun dancing and queuing for hours on end.

Now if you do this "holiday" right, you will be like me and have utterly no pictures. Any photo I have was screenshotted from a snapchat the next morning. #winning right?

M and I, I don't remember who we were responding to, but it was probably deserved.

Our favorite place... utterly packed.

Plastic pints to ensure they wouldn't run out (or break...!)

Any body else celebrate Arthur Guinness Day this year? What sorts of things do you do in your city?

And if you missed out, don't be down. There's always next year!