The First Weekend at UUJ

On the 19th I tracked down a very helpful professor who has handled many of the school's international students in the past. The most time-consuming part of registration was figuring out which classes I wanted to take, but once I had that nailed down, the process flew by so fast I didn't realize it happened. I walked into the building quite frustrated and walked out a short time later almost bewildered and holding an official student ID.

That evening I was invited to eat with a Portugese fellow I had only visited with briefly during orientation. We ate, visited, and had some wine in my mostly empty kitchen, as his was already crowded. My opinion of the Portugese, in my two instances of visiting with them, is that they are friendly, very willing to converse, and love their wine. Bruno tends to drink two bottles a day.

On Saturday, I rode my first train into Belfast to see the Garden Gourmet festival at the Botanic Gardens with Bruno, a French-Irish student named David, and two Americans named Zach and Jillian. We explored the park, enjoyed its flowers, trees, and grass and browsed the various exhibits of the festival. Everything from flowers to Bonzai trees to homemade wine were exhibited. The day was quite warm with plenty of sunshine, so we were glad to take advantage of it.

After wandering through Belfast, we rode the train back to the University. We had planned to ride another train north to Carrickfergus to watch the fireworks and Royal Navy Band, but missed not one but two trains. Our best alternative was to buy ice cream, walk to Belfast Lough (the shore), and play in the playground. We watched the fireworks from afar on a very nice evening. I am very grateful to David McAdams for his knowledge of the area and willingness to show around a bunch of foreigners.

On Sunday, 26 international students loaded a bus and rode to Newcastle in County Down. We walked along a deceptively large beach, walked a little into the town, and walked into the Mourne Mountains. It was another sunny afternoon well spent outside. I have a feeling sunny days like that will become a distant, fuzzy memory.