Justin-5, Life - 0

I am kicking life's butt right now. There is simply no other way to put it. Let me tell you of my last couple of days.

Point Number 1 - I plan my trip to Athens. This is going to be so exciting. Hanging out with Britt will be spectacular and she has so many awesome things planned. And it is probably going to cost me only a bout 250 pounds all together, all expenses there, i.e., food, plane tickets, bus fare, the whole shebang.

Point Number 2 - I get my rent reduced massively. Pretty much went over to my landlord's house and he started talking to me about how I was enjoying the house. I said it was fine and then he asked about some specific stuff like my room, bedding, water, and other things he had heard rumors about. When he heard that I went five days without hot water, that I have no storage in my room since it is all taken up by the other housemates, and that the house is absolutely filthy, he decided to reduce my rent from 150 pounds a month to merely a 150 pounds, period. So I can live in this house for 150 pounds, which means I saved 300 pounds! WOOO HOOO!

Point Number 3 - Zorbing. It has always been one of my life goals to get into a big plastic ball and spin in it as it rolls down a hill. Have you seen those before? Well, I thought, that will never happen, then, as I was looking through the events of Summer Madness (a retreat I will be going on in a couple of days), I discovered that they are having a zorbing event. I look up 'zorbing' and sure enough, it is that big plastic ball thing! I will be doing that this Saturday! BOOM!

Point Number 4 - Tai chi lessons. So, I have always been interested in Tai Chi and other ancient forms of expression and martial arts. Well, every Sunday I have passed these two people doing Tai Chi and wished I could join them. Well, this past Sunday, I got the guts to go talk to them and I found out that they are just doing it for fun and the guy there was the instructor. I asked if I could join and he said sure! So pretty much I am getting weekly Tai Chi lessons for FREE! I did 3 1/2 hours on Monday and it was entirely FREE!! BOOM!

Point Number 5 - Master Chef. So I have decided to cook my own food, and get creative since sandwiches and porridge just aren't going to cut it anymore. So, on Friday, I tried my hand at chicken stir-fry. I quickly discovered that I was going to have to improvise on my measuring (no measuring cup) and some of the ingrediants. It turned out not half bad. Then just today, I decided to make up a recipe for chicken breading, since you can't buy it here. And pretty much, making it all up as I went along, using the basic understand of chicken breading, I freaking made the best chicken I ever had. Even another housemate here loved it! Boom!

Eat it life (this was kind of long... sorry).

Why yes, Mr. Gerardot, I would love to hang out with you.

So yesterday, the other guys of my household decided to throw a birthday party for one of the guy's little sisters. I believe she was turning 20 and so they threw an 80's birthday party for her. It was cool, except I was not informed about it until yesterday at work. I was okay with it, not a big deal.

Now, as many of you know, I am an extrovert. However, upon coming to Ireland, I have become probably more introverted due to culture shock and not having any friends... well, last night was a great opportunity for me to hang out with a bunch of people my age and have a good time.

So, upon arriving home after a 9 hour work day, I honestly wasn't up for a party very much (not that I do parties much anyway). So, I hung out downstairs with the party for about, a 1/2 hour, had a non-alcoholic drink (it sucked) and talked with some people and met some new ones too. Then, I retired to my room (did I mention this was a drinking party?) Anyway, I hung out with myself for a while, then went back down, talked to some more people, hung out for maybe another 1/2 hour, then retired to my room at like... midnight. So, basically, I hung out with myself last night despite a party going on two floors below me.

And this is what I learned... that what I did last night was okay. Surprised? I discovered last night in my pondering that I felt pressured by my friends (intentional, unintentional, and perceived) to be social and hang out downstairs. I could hear [insert friend's name here] saying 'Justin! Go downstairs and have a good time!' I could hear [another friend] say 'Justin! You are in Ireland! You are wasting your time!' But you know what, I decided that this wasn't true. Be it for whatever reason, it is okay that I am not mister super social here! I realize that socializing is important, and trust me, I do a lot of it during my job and sometimes at home too, but I shouldn't feel like i HAVE to.

Along this wave of thought, I began to find myself comparing my choice in introversion and compared it to another new arrival intern whose name shall be unsaid. Intern (as I shall call this person) has been here for less time than me and is only 18 but since having arrived he has been out and about almost every night, but consequently, has been drunk almost every night. Anyway, I found myself comparing my actions to his, thinking, 'It is better to be antisocial than be that.' Then I stopped, and thought, 'Why am I comparing myself to him? Is there a point in that? It isn't uplifting AND I don't have to compare who I am to someone else!'

So, I have arrived at the decision that for now, it is okay for me to be an introvert. I like my company (for now) and when I am ready to be more social, I will be. The important issue at hand here is that I choose whatever works for me (wow... that sounds relativistic).

Pondering the Breadth

Yesterday, YI did something that I was surprised at and thought was an excellent choice. For Lifeline (15-18 yr olds) we had interviews for the Summer Schemes (kind of like summer school without the education). Let me explain. Summer Schemes is a time when YI will host activities that last all day long for young kids in the neighborhood. We use 15-18 year olds to volunteer and help run it as we, YI staff, are in charge of programming. It is a really intense time of year and I am really looking forward to it. But yesterday, we held volunteer interviews.

This was a really good activity and one that I think other youth organizations should implement more often. It is given the young people a change to develop skills they will need in the future, while boosting their confidence too. They get feedback as to how they did during their interview, are put through pretty stressful waiting, and are not guaranteed a spot. All of this is made to feel as life like as possible.

I really liked the way it work and hopefully, the way it turns out. Today we have a volunteers dinner for all the volunteers from the past year, recognizing their efforts and work. Tomorrow, we have a men's breakfast, all day long football (soccer) tournament followed by... another dinner! I love dinner! So yeah, tomorrow should be an all day long event... 9 AM to 9 PM. Dang... too bad I don't get paid... lol.

A Whole New World

I still have not figured out this culture at all. Today, we played soccer with some of the TARGET guys (TARGET is the guys program for kids who are more serious about their commitment to YI). We went to Lady Dixon, a park in Poleglass [Catholic] part of town.

Once there, we hit the football [soccer ball] around a bit when we approached by some lad who challenged us to a soccer game. Before we knew it, we were on the field with a whole posse of drinking, bare chested guys who are of an indiscernible age. I of course am intimidated into silence as we set up the field using bags of alcohol and unadorned shirts. I get put on the team of drinking Irishmen and only one other YI staffer. I thought - 'great... I get to be the States kid on the Drunken Family Reunion team.'

Well, we played for a long time and they were actually pretty nice. Aside from their foul language, whenever someone messed up, the phrase 'unlucky' was thrown out frequently, almost like they were saying it wasn't the person's fault that ball went astray. So, envision with me this scene. A bunch of shirtless white guys playing soccer, drinking beer on an open field, yelling profanities and ... semi-encouragements, having a good time as their family sits about twenty feet away, older men and women, laughing and enjoying more beer on a Tuesday than the average Frat house on a Friday. In addition to this, I can't understand entirely what they are saying as apparently one of the guys had the last name of Niger. Yep.... awkward.

This culture is so interesting. This was during a YI excursion! I never felt in danger at any point, but I definitely have felt less awkward in my life. It was very interesting. Looking back, I think it is kind of funny, but then, it was just interesting.