"So, what's next?"

Ah, university life, a time in which you have the opportunity to learn about yourself, find your true passions in life (#career), become more independent, and learn to flutter your social butterfly wings. You enroll, sparkly-eyed and with a head full of sophisticated parties, glorified sports success, and academic perfection. Graduation is but a small light in the distance, so far away that you are sure you will have your life and career ambitions sussed out by the time you get there. Four years? That's aggeeess away!

Well, boys and girls I am here to tell you that four years flies and post-college life does not hold all the answers you once so optimistically presumed it would. You probably didn't do as well in college as you would have liked, thanks to persuasive housemates, belligerent nights out, Four Star Pizza, watching Coronation Street omnibuses, and generally procrastinating. Procrastination in fact is probably your most developed skill after your four years. Three essays, a presentation and an in-class exam this Friday? What a PERFECT time to watch "Game of Thrones" episodes back-to-back! 

You probably haven't participated in much sport since you left mandatory PE class in school. If you did, be honest. You didn't join for the joy of sportsmanship or the sense of fraternity you only get from being part of a team. You did it because of the club's social nights out, during which it wasn't unusual to see you down Jaegerbombs while smeared with U.V. paint. Classic.

Your emotional well-being during final year was probably a split between panic, determination, wondering what's been happening in Corrie, panic, boasting about how much you are doing to people you don't like, freaking out about how little you are doing to people you do like, trying to eavesdrop on said conversations between others, panic, and dreaming of the end of exams and the first frosty pint of freedom. 

By the time you put down the pen in your final exam, the feeling of elation you expected to embrace you is achingly absent. As you walk out of the exam hall and of your undergraduate college life, there isn't any confetti, fireworks or applause. That's it. Life, as corny as it sounds, goes on. What you didn't expect is at the very millisecond your pen grazed your desk with the finality of your academic voyage, a signal, undetectable to you, transmits to everyone you've ever met. No sooner have you walked out of the university grounds, you bump into Mary, your mother's best friend's cat-sitter you met once for five minutes in 2002. You've barely exchanged pleasantries,  when in comes the big question. 

"So you've just finished uni, haven't you?"

"Yeah, literally just finished my last ex-"

"So, what's next?"

"Ammm-"

"What's the plan? What are you going to do with your life? What are your ambitions? What have you decided to do with the next 40 years of your life? Hmm, hmm, hmm?"

And so, it goes on. This isn't an unique experience. You will be burdened with this sort of investigatory torture for at least another 5 - 7 years. The answer "To be honest, I'm not sure" or "Oh, I'm just enjoying life without exams at the moment" don't sit well. Nor does "Well, I'm just going to take this year to work a bit and figure out the next step". No, no, no. 

You should be saying things like "I'm dedicating my life to God and am moving immediately to a missionary retreat in East Timur" or "I've found myself a soulless office job which will more than likely drain me of any semblance of joy within two years but I will stay there until I qualify for the OAP bus pass". I honestly think it would be more acceptable to say "Oh, I've recently found myself a position as a sex worker. It lets me dictate my own hours, it pays well and I really enjoy it" than "Oh, I don't know yet". God. for.bid.

I should however clarify that not knowing IS FINE. Not knowing your plan for this year let alone for the next forty IS FINE. Telling Mary the cat-sitter to do one IS FINE. So in the words of TayTaySwifSwif, shake it off. You'll sort it out. Probably. And if you don't, doesn't that make you all the more interesting. 

At least, that's what I'm telling myself... Graduation is next week. We'll worry then...

S

Exams be gone!

Hello, hello, hello! I, like Megan, am also alive and fine and well, albeit praying for my exams to be over. I'm rather busy, but my proudest achievement of the semester may be my ever improving skills of procrastination. For example, today I woke around 12.30pm (#noregrets) and had a bit of a study sesh (for all of an hour). Then I had dinner, my lovely lady pal Tuffy called round, we had tea, decorated her (fake :( ) Christmas tree, went for on a chocolate run to Dunnes, had pizza and said chocolate and watched "Elf". Great way to spend your study week! 

The evening previous, I came back from a quick two days at home (Christmas shopping with my brother and sister!) and went ice-skating with some of my classmates, which was great bonding time. Tomorrow night then, my sister is coming up from Cork and we're going to see the ever wonderful, sublime Little Green Cars in the sold-out Dolan's. It's. going. to. be. UNREAL. If you haven't heard of them, then you seriously need to listen to their debut album, Absolute Zero. Here's one of my favourite performances from them, though they are all serious winners.

I've had two exams, oral exams and essays already done. I have one more this Monday, the dreaded German exam. I however am finding it increasingly difficult to keep focused. I find German to be my weakest subject and considering that I feel like I'm finished, I feel really non-pulsed by the whole affair. I hate being stressed and after spending an Erasmus year stressed beyond belief and getting sick as a result, I am doing as much as I can to not get myself into that state again. At the end of the day, I'm doing this degree to get a piece of paper. It's certainly not the bee all and end all. 

I will need to pull the ole socks up with next semester but right now, I'm too excited for Christmas with the family. I'm also going to see the absolute gem that is Hozier in Cork next weekend with Jessica and Ruadhrí! AHHHHHHH! He's just performed for Other Voices in Dingle over the weekend and his gigs have sold out countrywide so we're VERY excited.  

Not only that, but I am also heading over to Liverpool to see my dear friends, Emma and Monica, two days after St. Stephen's Day! We're minus our lovely field mouse, Rachel, who is currently conquering the jungles in Thailand. The girls visited me in Cork last February and we'd a great time, so it's now time to return the favor.

I've never really been to England as a tourist before so I'm really looking forward to visiting. I'll be there for New Year's too, which I'm SUPER psyched about because it's usually a bit of a shite evening around my parts. I'm going to see lots of Beatles-related things, and go to somewhere called Chester Zoo which is supposed to be one of the best around. There's also been mention of a £1 tequila bar. Uh - oh. I hope to get as many lovely shots as Megan did when she visited Dee in joymanee. 

Also, have to say a huge thanks for the lovely post by Megan wishing me the best on my birthday. The picture she used was one of me acting the maggot nearly two years ago when Shannon and Megan came to visit me in Vienna. On the spur of the moment, I decided to join them on a two day jaunt in Prague which was beautiful and creepy in equal measures.

For example, our hostel had this slightly questionable bathroom situation.

Gorgeous, right?

With lots of cute Soviet Union era cars

Some lovely graffiti on the John Lennon wall. 

Here's Megan sitting forlornly on the banks of the Danube, back in Vienna.

And us hanging around on the ole Enzis, ya know

   I turned 23 a few weeks ago (ewwww) and had a big party to celebrate. It was a Late Late Toy Show/Movember birthday party and we raised some money for charity, while wearing Christmas jumpers and moustaches and bashing the shit out of pinatas and having a barbecue and pass the parcel. Lots of fun but unfortunately Megan was stuck working and couldn't come :(

Dee turned 23 three days later and she is by all accounts having a fine time in Germany. Ciara, you need to fill us in soon too! I hope to see ALL of you over Christmas for Crane Lane pints and a chance to meet similar sorts to the 5 types Dee and Megan encountered in Havana's over the past few months. 

That is all of the news. Here are some pictures of recent times.

Toodles

S