Instead of New Year's resolutions

I’ve never been one to get into New Year’s resolutions…how much easier is it going to be to accomplish a goal at New Year’s that at any other time of year, I say;) So, in regards to that (and to cheer me up as I’m back to the books today and in full realization of the holiday being over!), thought it might be better to take a look back at the past year and list accomplishments. I know I’ve certainly had some that I’m proud of, and although I might feel a bit vulnerable sharing, I’d like to hear my friends’ and family’s as well. Here goes:

- recovered from a break-up, which made me work through and get to the other side of some personal issues, making me a stronger person, and brought me to a point where i have more to offer in the future, to myself and others.

- made a positive life decision to go back to university for my MA, in England, satisfying my need to live abroad at least once in my life, and increasing my confidence through the challenges that brings about…oh, and hopefully providing me the qualifications necessary for a career ripe with opportunity for growth and movement.

- have had to participate in some aspects of group work while on the course, if even just in regards to sharing ideas and workin with others on what the meaning of our assignments are;) i’ve never been a ‘group’ person, usually prefering one-to-one interaction, especially on a friendship level, so this has been a new and enjoyable experience.

- volunteered to be course rep for my program, which is probably one of the first times i’ve taken a volunteer position, as well as put myself in a place where i would have to speak in front of large groups of people.

- met some really impressive people on my christmas holiday to ireland, and have fingers crossed i’ll be able to get to know them better;)

Suz
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“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” -Kierkegaard

Karma

Having just returned from my xmas trip to Ireland, am feeling refreshed. It rained today for the first time—I’ll be arrogant and say Ireland was in tears at my leaving;) Saw quite a few places I hadn’t been to before, including Tralee, Doolin, Dingle, Killarney, Blarney, Cork and Cashel. The Blarney stone itself seemed like a load of touristy hype to me…I would imagine those who actually kissed it might have gone away with a few extra germs, yuck. Despite our tour guide leaving us behind at the last stop yesterday, the tour itself was quite nice. Before you gasp, he did return, after taking a vote from those on the bus, half of whom raised hands to leave us behind! In all fairness, we had walked a bit too far out at Glendalough, getting back at least 20 minutes late, but still. Later on that day, the bus was broken into, and the bus driver and one who protested loudly to leave us behind had some personal possessions (hence the title of the post…although I’m never glad to see someone get their things stolen). Met some excellent people and saw some amazing sites. We had a fantastic Christmas dinner cooked by one of the tour guides, while staying in a hostel/pub in a small town on the Dingle peninsula. Guess the villagers protested the pub being built, as it is right across the street from the church, and called the Randy Leprechaun;) Despite this, they tolerated the tour group going out to the beach with them Christmas morning and having a swim. Crazy feckers—I stayed behind with the newspaper and had a nice chill out. On the day after Christmas, which they refer to as St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland (Boxing Day in the UK), they have these Wren Day parades, in which the villagers dress up (similar to Halloween type costumes) and go in and out of the local businesses and pubs dancing and playing instruments, collecting for charity. This year, in Dingle, they were collecting for a new sports center for the town. Beats taking it out of the taxpayers pocket, hey? More later…

modified to add: description of pics—the wren in dingle, myself and a fellow traveller from my tour, cliffs of moher, glendalough, and…well, read my comment.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Happy Winter Solstice to all. Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year. As of the 22nd, the days will begin to get longer and we can all begin to look forward to sunlight and spring. Have copied a poem below in celebration.

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper
So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, fest, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!!

P.S. Loosely related…I lost my favourite, ‘born again pagan’ t-shirt somewhere…I’m guessing on the way to or from the laundry room. So sad:(

Next semester's schedule

Or as the posh ones here say….sshhedewl..er, something like that. Anyway, I’m going to whine about something I know I’ll get no sympathy on. I have to start classes at 9am three days a week, boo-hoo, which means I have to get up at 7am. The classes switch from mostly tourism related to mostly management related. I’ll be taking Strategic Management, Human Resource Management, Research Methods, and for my elective, most likely, Eco-tourism. I shouldn’t even be thinking about all this now, as I still have projects to do for this semester. Spent all day yesterday writing an essay on politics and policy making and need a break, so I’m going to go out, somewhere, today, even if it’s just to the grocery store to get the fixing for fajitas and a magazine or two to read tonight, and maybe buy a cheap dvd (I miss TV this week). I could say the only disadvantage to living in a new place is not having enough people to do things with, but that’s not exactly true. I’ve probably been more socially active then I was at home; I simply notice the down time more;)

A possible dissertation topic

It’s about time to start thinking about a dissertation topic. Didn’t realize we had to choose very early on in the next semester, as one of the modules is Research Topics. I’m thinking about doing an assessment of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism (development) on the residents of Belfast. That would mean taking some time in the summer (?) or maybe spring to go interview people (will learn more about exact survey methods next semester). One of the aspects of the report I just finished for International Tourism & Globalization was to look at impacts of tourism—economic, environmental or socio-cultural. I chose the latter, and found it difficult to find information. Emailed the Belfast City Council, and they responded saying they had no data, as they didn’t have the resources to do a survey. Someone has to do it, right;)

And on the subject of writing, a special congratulations to my friend Matt for a recent publication:
http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjb/2005/057.php

Happy Christmas to All

Well, I am leaving for Ireland a week from Wednesday, so thought I would get a short xmas note off before then. The build up to Christmas has so far included a trip to the German Christmas Market with the expats, and tomorrow I’ll be having a small gathering at my place for my classmates before we head off to have tapas at a restaurant one of the girls works at. (Hopefully have some pics to post later). I’ve bought some Christmas crackers and drinkies for tomorrow, and put up a few decorations. Many of the classmates don’t celebrate Christmas, I don’t think, so it should be fun to share experiences. I’ve completed two of my assessments, so only four left:)
modified to add: If you’d like to see some pics of the city centre in Leeds: http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/in_pictures/index.shtml

You're the only one who can talk sh*t about your own family

I’m starting to find myself getting irritated by ‘outsiders’ making anti-US comments. The big ones seem to be that all Americans are fat and promiscuous, which I’m getting tired of hearing. On top of that, I’m weary of the fact that I have to keep apologizing for a man I didn’t vote for, as well as the stereotypical attitudes perceived of Americans by the rest of the world. The last straw for me was finding this article in The Guardian on-line last night, written by Lionel Shriver, who is all the rage here for her book, We Need to Talk About Kevin, which I refuse to read. (It is the first book the university book club is reading, which I had signed up for.) My limited encounters with the writing of this woman have left a bad taste in my mouth, and this last thing doesn’t help.

Dark days and cookbooks

Well, it is starting to get dark here by 3pm and is completely dark by 4pm. Thank god the winter solstice is only 15 days away. And on that note, I will be leaving for my Christmas trip to Southern Ireland that day, going on a backpacker tour. Will have a day or so in Dublin on either end and can’t wait to get going. I haven’t been to the island of Ireland since I left last September, so this is the longest I’ve been away in over 3 years.

On another note, I’ve decide to submit a story and recipe to a cookbook an author I admire is planning on putting together.

Are you tempted to become self-employed…and is the USA an innovator?

According to a report from Eurobarometer in 2004, 46% of Americans are tempted to become self-employed, as opposed to 33% of the EU 15 and 32% of the EU 25. Why the big difference? Well, supposedly it has to do with the attitude of different countries/people in those countries towards the possible failure of the business. In my Tourism Politics & Policy class today, we discussed this and the tutor said it is the common perception that Americans feel they can pick themselves up, dust off and move on if they venture into small business ownership and fail, whereas in Europe, it is humiliating to fail and therefore, people may not want to take the risk. I’m not sure I agree with this generalization about Americans, but then again, I don’t know that I have the backgroud knowledge to make a completely informed decision. Any thoughts?

Also, during this discussion, I heard America referred to, once again as on many other occasions since I’ve moved here, as an innovator. All things start in America was a comment made by my GP the other week. I’m surprised by this. I guess it is true that we do initiate a lot of things, but we also are behind in some ways, I think, and we are such a young country in relation to the rest of the world. Can we really have that many fresh ideas? If we do, why do we? It’s an interesting concept to me.

My new home

From my dorm room, I can see Kirkstall Abbey in the distance. Not a great pic, but you should be able to make it out.

I am also right next to the Leeds-Liverpool canal, and often look out to see people fishing in the morning, sometimes under huge umbrellas when it’s raining.

Have also included a pic of my tiny “home” for the rest of the year.

Suz