New Friends From New Places! :)

The plan for this morning was to sleep in because I really had no plans for today. Doors started getting closed quite loudly around 8:30 so my sleep in idea did not really happen. So I decided to watch a movie and stuck in Revolutionary Road. Hadn't really heard anything about it before so I didn't know what I was about to watch at all but it ended up being pretty good. Mostly it was a good time waster which is what I was looking for! So...last night I messaged one of the girls that I met on the field trip we went on to Carrickfergus and explained that I haven't really gotten to know anyone and that if she ever wanted someone to hang out with or anything I was pretty much always available. She said she was in the same boat so I said we should hang out this weekend. She messaged me on Facebook today asking if I wanted to go with her and some other girls to Tesco's to go shopping and I took her up on the offer!

The girls are all very nice and I'm hoping that we can become closer friends than it seems like me and my flat mates are going to get to be. Ally is from Arizona, Andrea is from Austria, Jenn is from Indonesia and Jing is from China! It's really a lot of fun to get to know people from such different places. I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to make a group of Irish friends but I am definitely thankful for the International students who all know what each other is feeling and what we are going through. I feel lucky when I'm with Andrea, Jenn and Jing because I feel like I'm having a hard time but then I feel very thankful that the language here is my first! We had a good time at Tesco's. It's a grocery store and I didn't need any groceries but it was fun to go along. I did get something because I HAD to! It's too funny...one of the things that they have at all the grocery stores here is pre-made pancakes! I thought the idea was funny so I had to get some. And everyone knows...when you get pancakes you also need syrup and peanut butter! (But I forgot milk! I always drink milk with pancakes! But it's ok...I just went to the little grocery store in the student village here. It's a bit more expensive than the grocery stores but you are glad it's there for emergencies..and yes..milk is an emergency!)

When I got to Ireland and was in Dublin talking with my advisors they were saying how there are differences that we will just have to deal with. Maria said, "We don't do mac and cheese and our peanut butter tastes different...get over it people!" Haha...don't care about the mac and cheese, I can do without for 3.5 months. However, the peanut butter thing worried me! But at the store I found skippy and was excited because I figured you couldn't go wrong! Got home and it tastes just the same. :) (I don't now if she was speaking for just Ireland and not N. Ireland, or if she meant not normal mac and cheese but they do have something called mac and cheese here. Scary looking though...it's in a can...like I said, I can go without for 3.5 months!)

Tonight the flat mates are going to a house party so I've got the flat to myself to indulge on my pre-made pancakes. ;) Planning on skyping Robert a little later today which I'm excited about! Tomorrow is my last day of my over 4.5 month long summer...and it's my last summer while I'm still in school...that's a bit crazy.

One of the things I noticed when I was at Tesco's that I didn't notice last time was that the checkers have office chairs to sit in while they are checking groceries. Why don't we do that in the states?