Wins and Losses

Let’s start with the losses. My first Irish basketball match was a week ago. It was in Belfast at the University of Ulster Jordanstown. I was wondering what the logistics of match would be like, mainly because people are generally more laid back about sports here. The team (not the one I train but just one I’d been invited to play with) made the journey in about two and a half hours. When we got there we were given jerseys to put on, with numbers and everything. After some warm ups, with the typical upbeat music, the match started on time. Things were more organized than I thought. The referees weren’t very official though, just some guys from one of the men’s basketball team at the university. Our team was pretty rubbish. At halftime we were down by about six, and later on in the third quarter we were down by fifteen. We made a comeback though, and ended up taking the game into overtime. Overtime was not very long because the court was needed for some other sport, and we ended up losing by one. Although the end of the game did have some of the intensity and tension typical of what I’m used to in close games, the team didn’t seem all that gutted afterwards. I was glad I went and played though, it really was more interesting than I’m making it sound.

The other losses I’ve experienced these past few weeks have only been as a spectator. The club rugby team Phil occasionally plays for got beaten pretty badly… (something like 60-3). Then this past Wednesday his club football (aka soccer) team, who unlike the rugby team are really good, lost a closer match 6-4. Although it required braving chilly temperatures I enjoyed watching both. It has been interesting watching different sports (neither rugby nor soccer are things I’d watch at home) here, and just soaking in what the atmosphere surrounding sports is like here.

My recent “wins” have not really been literal wins, just exciting or fun things. One night a few weeks ago there was a reception for the visiting students of the English department. The reception was basically a chance for students to chat with each other and the professors. There was wine and “nibbles” at the reception. The “nibbles” turned out to be catered and extremely fancy. They were brought around on trays by well-dressed gentlemen. My favorite was the chicken and mango pastries. Speaking of food (I know, surprise surprise) I tried Irish stew for the first time at a restaurant the other week. It was made with Murphy’s (which is a rival of Guinness) and was so flavorful and delicious. I’d heard stews were a mixed bag, but this one was delicious, with tender beef and soft but not too soft potatoes and carrots and onion – a good hearty November meal.

I was back North again this past week for my reading week (meaning no classes), and the weekend following. Yes, I did do a bit of reading at Queen’s Library, but let’s just say that as usual I am not working too far ahead of deadlines. I also registered for classes back at Hope, and have my housing for the spring all sorted. Both of these were things that I was relieved to figure out and have set, and both were surprisingly hassle-free (or maybe I’ve just become accustomed to more complicated, bureaucratic systems here).

Something that I enjoy on the weekends I spend up North is attending Phil’s church. All of the sermons are preached very well and are quite thought-provoking and challenging. Over the course of the weeks I have attended both Old Testament and New Testament, familiar and unfamiliar passages have been covered and hearing the Word of God has been a huge source of encouragement. That said, I do have to confess that yesterday’s service was one of the few times that I have been tripped up by the accents here. The sermon was about Isaiah’s vision of God from Isaiah 6 and it starts by mentioning it as the year King Uzziah died. The word Isaiah is spoken quite differently than in the States, so that couple with its’ similarity to Uzziah proved a bit confusing.

Today was another instance of struggling to understand. I went to the North inner-city of Dublin with Edel, a lady that works for YouthBank, to get some interviews with some of the young people involved. The purpose of one of the interviews was to write an article for the website and the purpose of the other (more of a survey format) was to get information about a new program they are starting with managing money. The first was with two girls, fifteen year olds, who were new to being involved with YouthBank. They both had too-cool-for-school attitudes about them and were pretty hard to try to ask questions to, particularly because of their rapid chatter which often wasn’t directed at me. I got through it though, and can hopefully write a decent article out of it. My other interviewee was a 23 year old guy. He is a college student (at a college in Dublin I’ve never heard of and was friendly, but a bit shy. I liked getting to hear from people from a completely different part of Dublin. It's good to get a broader perspective of the young people in Dublin, as the demographic that attend Trinity aren't particularly representative of the city as a whole.

Time has been passing extra quickly, and as I glance at my quickly filling planner I’m realizing that I need to make sure to savor my remaining days and weeks in Ireland. I have a feeling they’ll be gone as fast as my bowls of honeycomb ice cream are.