It's Eddie, Not Johnny

After my last class today, which ended at 5, I convinced Alice to go book shopping with me. After wandering around two bookstores in Galway city center without finding what I was looking for, and after we mocked several dozen books (what? they were weird), we left to go home. On our way, all lit up on a street corner, is Eddie Rockets, the one I took a picture of when I first got here. Conveniently, I had a buy one, get one coupon for burgers in my pocket, so we stopped to have a furtive American supper while pretending to integrate with the general Irish population.

Okay, so what's my point? All of the pictures that you see of Ireland show rolling fields, crumbling stone walls, breathtaking cliffs, the whole nine yards. It's funny that Galway is never really in those pictures--or at least not the part that people actually live in. Close your ears so you don't hear the accent and you'll feel like you're at home in any American city.

Eddie Rockets is a perfect example of this. It's just like Johnny Rockets, only pricier (but then, everything is more expensive here) and the 50s music is more incongruous. Along with its cohorts in crime, Americana seems to be taking over the city. Along the walk in is a Subway; in between the bookstores is a McDonald's (albeit a very, very fancy one). It seems sad somehow that this beautiful country is being taken over by...us. I wonder what the locals think.

Even more true is that it's happening everywhere here. At a lecture on Tuesday, my professor mentioned that officially over half of the country now lives in cities, not the countryside--something that has never happened before in Ireland's history. Is that necessarily a good thing? Is it bad, either? I don't know what to think about it, except I feel almost guilty about it and can start to see why some people here glare at me when they hear my accent. I've learned to be remarkably quiet when I walk around, especially when I'm in shops. Pity Courtney hasn't learned that; with her around, we usually annoy any anti-American on the street.

Maybe that's why I find it so hard to try to integrate here. The program I'm studying with, API, warned us that the first few weeks are crucial. If you don't get out and get immersed in the culture/start making friends with the locals, you'll never do it. Those habits that are made at the beginning stick through until the end. And it's horrible, but all I have are American friends. I had such good intentions, and I'm turning into one of those cases we were warned about. I sit home at night while everyone else is out partying and making friends, usually either reading a book or, like tonight, watching a movie. Or worse--sometimes I research internships or do homework. I haven't changed anything that I would normally do at school (okay, less Gabe), but here apparently that's not the customary way to act. It makes me so confused. Surely there must be some other people like me in this country, who don't drink and go out several times a week just because they're away from home and can?

I guess American friends are better than nothing, although I certainly didn't come here to meet them. But traveling around several countries, including this one, on the weekends is better than doing nothing at all, so I guess I should be thankful for that. And the semester is young; we'll see what happens.

As for my day today: I spent three and a half hours in the library (I finally snagged a computer there and darn it, I wasn't going to let it go for nobody), figuring out which internships to apply to, who would write my letters of recommendation, trying to write some cover letters and statements of interest. I've got a ways to go still, but it's a start. Cross your fingers that get an internship--and, God forbid, a PAYING one, so I don't have to go back to the mall this summer.

Besides that, the day was pretty uneventful. Lots and lots of ketchup for lunch and supper, and finally finished a book I started earlier this week. And talked to Gabe and Peaches. I think I made a dent in my lists, although I suppose not too much got crossed off. But writing "figure out internships" is sure a lot easier than actually doing it!

So with all that down, I hope everyone's happy and settling in for a good Friday. Good night!