McGuirks

30th October, 2011

Today I went to Mass in a church literally 3 mins walk from Amelia's house. In the afternoon, we went for lunch in an Italian-named cafe, where I had tasty french toast. We were hoping to go to the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art in St. Louis University but we had trouble finding the place and it was just about to close to we decided to forget about it. At 5pm we went to Amelia's church. It is an small independent church that reminded me very much of the Vineyard church that I went to in Minneapolis. There was guitar music and a long homily. I met some of the people from the Halloween party the previous night.

Afterwards we went to McGuirk's irish Pub for some dinner and folk music. I had toasted ravioli, which is apparently a St. Louis thing. I tried their McGuirk's Irish Ale, which was okay and their Guinness which was not good (you never know what you are going to get if you order Guinness in the US). There was a band playing folk music (see photo above). They played a lot of Irish folk. I was surprised to hear people joining in for many of the Irish songs, including The Fields of Athenry (even the extra bits). At one point, some guy started doing Irish dancing and he wasn't too bad. They also played the Baseball song as the St. Louis Cardinals just won the World Series on Friday and the music from the Budweiser Christmas ad (of course, Budweiser is from St. Louis). Finally two bagpipers came marching in. Amelia said that bagpipers usually only play two songs - Amazing Grace and  that Scottish tune that everyone knows but whose name I don't know (and they played both). Overall a fun evening was had.

An early halloween

29th October, 2011

 Myself and Amelia went to a cafe for breakfast. It is called Mississippi Mudpie and is pretty famous in St. Louis. I had an American breakfast and a latte. Amelia told me that the owner is also an artist and will put any image on lattes. She made me a zombie as halloween is coming up (see above).

After breakfast, we went to the Budweiser brewery. We first attended Beer School. This was pretty good. We learned the basics of what beer is made from, how it's made and then sampled four of the beers that are brewed there. We learned how to pour different kinds of beer, what to look for, what you should smell and taste. Afterwards we became certified brewmasters (another thing for my CV).

After beer school,  we went on the free tour. This was somewhat interesting though we had learned much of what was said at beer school. We did get to see a lot of the places where the brewing process takes place. At the end of the tour, we got two free drinks (not bad for a free tour). I wondered if the tour attracted alcoholics.

We left the brewery and went to Target to look for things for our halloween costumes. Amelia's housemates came up with an idea that I should be a leprauchan and Amelia should be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I had a lot of trouble finding a beard and didn't have many green clothes but I made it work.

We then went to a halloween party hosted by a friend of Amelia's. They are from her local church so they  were really friendly. Some of the costumes were pretty good though there were a few strange ones. They even put a costumes on their dog.

10 hours of travelling

28th October, 2011

Today I was heading to St. Louis. After a nice diner brunch with Sarah, I took the Van Gelder bus from Madison to Chicago. This bus was a lot nicer than Jefferson Bus and the driver didn't get lost. After a four hour trip, I had just under four hours wait in Chicago's Union Station. When you are carrying four bags on your own, doing anything is quite difficult. Luckily they had some lockers there so I was able to easily get some food and use the bathroom without dragging all my bags with me.

I joined the huge queue for my train at 6.20pm. I had never been on an amtrak train before. It was way better than the bus (and a lot cheaper). There was a lot of space, pull down tables and socket outlets at every seat. I mostly watched movies on the trip so it went by very quickly. I arrived to St. Louis where I met Amelia. We went to her place, where there was a "man cave" for me to sleep in in the basement.  

Wisconsin cheese

27th October, 2011

So Wisconsin is famous for cheese. It is known as the Dairy State. So I had a pretty "cheesy" day today. Before the cheesiness I went to the State Capitol Building in Madison. It is the biggest state capitol in the USA and it is a nice building. It is built in an X shape and had a huge dome on top. No building can be taller than the Capitol so there are no skyscrapers in Madison. The building is about 100 years old and is full of expensive marble from throughout the world and nice paintings. The observation deck gives you a sense of where Madison is situated (in between two lakes).

After the tour of the Capitol, I wandered around and happened upon a cheese store called fromagination (terrible name). The woman there was very nice. She gave me lots of free samples. She was impressed when I said that I visited Gouda in Holland (as she has never been outside of Wisconsin). I didn't tell her that she was pronouncing 'Gouda' incorrectly. I found out that chedder is what they mostly produce in Wisconsin but gouda is also popular. They had a selection of international cheeses as well, including cashel blue, manchego and pecorino cheeses from Pienza (which I tried in Pienza this summer and loved). I tried a sample of a 2 year old cheddar and bought a 12 year old cheddar. It was really good.

Next I walked down State St. It is a semi-pedestrian street full of fair trade cafes and ethnic restaurants. You can get a sense of the progressive environmental and gay-friendly Madison I read about in my guide book. State St. continues to the very large university (over 42,000 students in a city of 230,000). Like University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin is like its own city. I ate lunch in "Fair Trade Cafe", which was good (apart from the fair trade part). I saw a lot of posters, t-shirts and bumper stickers which say "Recall Walker". Scott Walker is the controversial governor of Wisconsin that wants to limit the power of unions and freeze public sector wages. He seems like a great guy to me but he is not popular in "progressive" Madison so people want to recall elections.

I visit the Veterans Museum, Wisconsin Historical Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art. The Veterans Museum was what you would expect. The Historical Museum was a little disappointing, though I did buy a state flag. Me and Sarah had fun trying to interpret the Museum of Contemporary Art.

We ate in a brewery (beer is a big thing in Wisconsin). I had a very tasty meal with a slightly offensive name, a Black and Tan Cheese Burger. I also had samples of a Scottish ale and Emirald Isle Stout, which are both brewed in the restaurant.We went cheese shopping afterwards and bought four different types of cheese and a bottle of wine, which we enjoyed while watching the pretty funny, Zombieland.

Norbertines and Packers

26th October, 2011

Today Sarah had to go to Green Bay. This worked out perfectly because I was hoping to visit Jake in St. Norbert's College in nearby De Pere. Strangely enough, Jake was actually leading a common prayer based on the study abroad experience that morning at 10am (exactly the time that I would be there). Students who studied abroad shared their experiences. It was really nice and coincidental. Jake talked about his experience in Cork and embarrassingly but kindly mentioned me. I got to meet the study abroad coordinator and some Norbertine priests in the college. The church on campus in quite nice. It is mostly wooden and they have nice stained-glass windows (even one of St. Patrick). Jake and the others involved in the prayer wore t-shirts that said "Please go Away" on the front, which I thought was quite rude at first but it wasn't directed at me but students who should go away to study. Jake is a good ambassador for UCC as 9 students are going next semester (usually there has only been one each semester).

Afterwards I went with Jake and his girlfriend Connie for a coffee to catch up.  It was great to chat and hear what he has been up to and his future plans. After a good chat, I added to my hat collection with a Russian-style hat that they were selling in the cafe. The photo above is myself and Jake in historic De Pere.

Afterwards me and Sarah went to Green Bay (home of the Packers - who I now know after winning an Aaron Rodgers jersey at last year's Superbowl). They are set up a little like Barcelona in that they are owned by the fans. And their fans are really dedicated. Apparently there are 80,000 people on the waiting list for season tickets (people leave tickets in their will). A lot of the town is painted green and gold. Sarah's parents have a Green Bay mailbox, green and gold lights outside, a GB welcome mat and many other pieces of merchandise. We visited the stadium, though we didn't take the tour.

An entertaining bus ride

25th October, 2011

Today was my trip from Minneapolis to Madison, Wisconsin. The bus left just a little after the scheduled time, which is pretty good for Jefferson Bus Lines. All was well until about an hour into our trip. The bus driver had to turn around and go back (the photo above is where we turned). We assumed he just missed a turning and was going back. He was then on the phone to someone for ages trying to figure out where he needed to go. He went back to the previous town. He then got on the right road. After going 10 or so miles down this road, he found out that he had to go back to the college in the previous town (Winona, MN) to collect people who were meant to be at the bus stop. He went all the way back only to find out that there was nobody there. We then went back on the road we were on. When we were getting into the next town, he had no idea where to stop. Someone on the bus directed him to the college but nobody knew where the exact stop was so he was circling the college for ages trying to find it. It was now clear that the driver had never driven this route before and had no idea where anything was.

He did have some sheets of paper with directions but these weren't much help to him. It was actually quite dangerous as he was talking on the phone, reading the directions on the paper and driving the bus at the same time. There was a woman behind me that was constantly saying how the driver didn't know what he was doing. The driver heard her and then shouted back that she shouldn't say that. He knew what he was doing but just hadn't driven in this area before. There was an old man in front of me who quietly said that this isn't language for a lady to be using. The bus driver was constantly on the phone and swearing after realising that he took another wrong turn. At one stop, he allowed some people to smoke (and almost everyone on the bus smoked). He almost drove off without 3 people on the bus. They ran up and stopped the bus after a few seconds. Then getting into Madison, he took another wrong turn and the old man had to direct him there. At Madison some girls tried to get off the bus to get something to eat because they had been on the bus for over 7 hours but the driver wouldn't let them get off.

I don't know why he didn't have a GPS. At one point a passenger handed me a phone because they thought I would know how to use the GPS on it but I didn't know. It was a pretty entertaining trip, though frustrating for those who had to make a connection in Milwaukee (they had to get to Chicago, though I don't know why they didn't take the greyhound express and it is quicker and way cheaper).

Anyway I made it to Madison just one hour late and met Sarah. We then went to eat before driving up to Green Bay area where we are staying the night.

A farewell pumpkin

24th October, 2011

Today I took it fairly easy. I only had two tasks to do today - pack and carve a pumpkin. Logan bought pumpkins for everyone to carve. Since I was away when they were carving them, they left an uncarved one for me. I had actually never carved a pumpkin before (nor a turnip) and I am not very artistic but I gave it a go anyway. I used Paul Power's design from 2006's halloween turnip in Iona. I remember liking the spiraled eye. Mine is the one on the right (from the photo above). The other two are my housemates'. Mine isn't the most artistic one but I think it's the scariest. They are sitting on the front porch outside.

I spent a lot of the rest of the day packing. I don't have too much to pack so it wasn't too time consuming. My air matress has a slow puncture so I think I will be leaving it here. Although I will be leaving tomorrow, my pumpkin will be here until at least next week. I've already paid the rent up to the end of the month. Somebody might as well get use of the house.

Dinkytown

23rd October, 2011

Today Eric gave me a lift to St. Cloud quite early so I could catch a 9.20am bus. The bus has free wifi so I actually watched the rugby world cup final. The bus journey was just long enough to watch it. After I arrived, I went to the house, dropped off my bags and headed out almost right away (I had a 2.5hrs transport ticket so I could use the same ticket to get back into Minneapolis). I decided to go to Dinkytown, which is by the University of Minnesota. I have heard from a few people that it is worth seeing. I guess the university is worth seeing but Dinkytown is just a place with nice cafes and bars (not really a tourist place).

Although I did accidentally come across a natural history museum and it happened to be free on Sundays. It was a pretty crappy museum with models of animals found in Minnesota. They did have an exhibition on coffee though, which I found interesting (the photo above is from the coffee exhibit - they are bags of coffee beans). I learned a bit about the history of coffee (only 1000 years old). The first beans were roasted in Ethiopia, then popularised in Turkey and spread throughout Europe via Austria. Europe's first coffee house was in Vienna. Coffee was seen as an alternative to wine in Islamic countries (and a way to stay awake for night-time prayers). Finland currently drinks the most coffee in the world per capita. Coffee is the world's most used drug. It takes up to 45 minutes for caffeine to be released in the body and the 'high' lasts for only 1 hour.

I wandered around the massive University. Wikipedia told told me that at over 52,000 students, it's the fourth largest school in the US. The university district is almost like it's own little city. They have their own hockey and football stadiums, theatres, buses, shops etc. I saw a lot of Fraternity houses. These are huge houses with flags and giant posters outside them. They all have Greek letters in their name. I also had a little tour of the Campus Ministries. There was Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist and Church of Latter-Day Saints all in a row. The Catholic building (with church inside) is on a different street. I wonder was it on purpose. They had a 7pm Mass, which I went to. The church was pretty full with students (even though they have 5 Masses on Sundays) but I guess it's a large school. Fellowship is a big thing with them. Before Mass, the singer asked everyone to stand up and greet the people around you. Also during the Lord's Prayer, everybody holds hands (even with strangers). And after Mass, they encouraged everyone to go to the reception to meet others.

I walked back to take the train home and passed through the Somalian district. This was very interesting to see. It was like stepping into a different country. There were African shops, cafes and restaurants (and, of course, many Somalian people around).  I would be interested in trying some of this food or their coffee but I don't know if the places usually serve outsiders. It might be a bit awkward.

A fun day in CSB SJU

22nd October, 2011

Today I had a very busy day. It was my only full day in St. John's so it was good to make the most of it. Eric planned out a good day for me. First we met up with Mattie and Chelsea to go to a nearby orchard where you can pick your own pumpkins (see photo above), pet some farm animals, buy some fresh farm produce, sit on piles of hay etc. It was quite fun.

I then went back to St. John's and visited the St. John's Bible museum. I learned a bit about how the bible was made and saw some old texts form Europe and the Middle East. After lunch, me and Eric took a walk along the lake up to the chapel. It was a very nice walk on a lovely day (it has warmed up a lot and was sunny all day). I could really see how small the university is as we met Hannah and Maria on our walk.

After the walk, we went to St. Ben's (the girls campus) as Mattie invited us over for dinner. Eric brought over some venison and grouse that he and his sister shot and Mattie was cooking squash (which I have never eaten). Me, Eric, Mattie, Chelsea and Mattie's housemate ate a wonderful dinner. I thought the meat was excellent. We then rushed to the college where Ricky Skaggs was playing a concert.That was pretty cool. He did a half bluegrass and half country concert.

After the concert we rushed back to St. John's to go to Brother Willie's Pub, where the German club were hosting an Oktoberfest evening. I had the Johnnies Ale (which a Monk created). It wasn't particularly Oktoberfest-ish. They did have some decorations and some people had t-shirts and leiderhosen but they were playing modern popular music and didn't have those 1 litre beers.

Back in St. John's

21st October, 2011

Today I had a fairly quiet day. Because I had to take a bus to St. John's University, I wasn't able to do too much. I slept in, had an early dinner, packed and headed into Minneapolis to catch the bus to St. Cloud. Jefferson Bus was late again (but only by a few minutes). I met Eric at St. Cloud and he gave me a ride to St. John's. I dropped my stuff in his room and we went to St. Joe (where the College of St. Benedict is) to go to a bar and meet Matt, Mattie, Chelsea and Hannah. We had 2 pitchers of a Belgian beer called Fat Tire. It was pretty good. We then returned to the infamous Sal's bar (that's where all the cool kids go). We headed back relatively early and played some computer games with Eric's housemates. A funny story from the night was a man who saw my Irish-looking paddy cap (even though it is an Italian hat) asked me am I Irish. He proceeded to tell me that he knows a guy called Patrick O'Neill who says "for definite" all the time and was wondering if I say the same. Another randomer shouted "Nice hat" to me and then high fived me.

The photo above was taken in Eric's room. I noticed the Cork flag as soon as I walked in.

Me and Jeffrey Sachs

20th October, 2011

Two days ago I happened upon a church,which had a sign outside it advertising a talk by the economist, Jeffrey Sachs. I was excited to go along as I have read a number of his books about Eastern European transition and poverty. He was speaking at the "Westminster Town Hall Forum". The Presbyterian church in Downtown Minneapolis have guest speakers every month in the church. It is a very interesting idea. The events are free and open to the public and usually concern ethics.

Today they had two musicians playing at the beginning. They were pretty good and played some Irish songs. Then at noon, Jeffrey Sachs was introduced. He spoke about why America is failing economically and socially. He said that by all international indicators, the US is towards the bottom of lists of developed nations when it comes to life expectancy, educational attainment, debt burden and hapiness.He argued that the two parties have been to close with Wall Street and big businesses. He argues that America should follow the example of social democracies like Sweden and other Northern European countries. America needs to be civilised but the price of civilisation (the title of his new book) is higher taxes. While I wouldn't agree with him on many of his solutions, he does point out a lot of problems that I have noticed in America.

After the talk, copies of his book were on sale and he was signing books. I bought a book just so that I could meet him. He signed my book and I asked him for a photo (see above). Although I would disagree with him about many things, I look forward to reading his book. After the talk, there was a free lunch provided.

After lunch, I went to the Arts Institute, finally. It was a lot better than I thought it would be. They have paintings from a number of big European artists such as Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya, El Greco and Rembrandt. As well as their European section, they had a decent-sized Chinese, Japanese and Korean sections. They also had some ancient Greek, Roman and early Christian pieces. Their modern art section was a good laugh. I saw everything briefly but saw that they were open late on the third Thursday of each month (which was today) and they have special events. So I went back to spend a bit more time there in the evening. I heard a bit of the live music, learned a little about caligraphy and spent a bit more time in the European section.

I was pretty lucky today as I only accidentally heard about both the Forum and the Art Institute events.

Slow news day

19th October, 2011

Today was a very slow news day in my life. I didn't even leave the house all day. The highlight of my day was attempting the world's biggest crossword puzzle (see photo above). Though I didn't get very far.

I did hear back from the recruiting agency saying that to start me up with a job, they required some more documents from me. It's too late, however, as I have already made a decision to head back to Ireland. Later on this evening, I received a reply from the Irish Network in Washington DC saying that they will forward my CV on to some people there (I emailed them in September). Perhaps I am too impatient but if I followed every lead I would be committing for another month and there would still be no guarantees. Ideally I should have explored all of these options well in advance of coming to the US (but I only found out about many of them recently).

America's first Basilica

18th October, 2011

I went to Minneapolis today to buy bus tickets for my upcoming trips to St. John's University and Madison, WI. They have a really old-fashioned way of doing things in the Greyhound station. They recently got ticket machines but they don't work so well. Even the ATM looks like something from the 80s. You have to enter your name when you make a reservation using their machines. I have to arrive at the station 30 mins. early for them to put tags on my bag. It's not like I am going on a flight. I can put the bags on the bus myself. But you need to have official tags with your name on them. The ticket prices are also outrageous. It is often cheaper to fly. The greyhound to Madison was $61 (and it's only about 6 hrs). You would think that America's free market would come up with something better than this.

After about 3 weeks in Minneapolis, I have now seen almost everything so today I decided to go back and see things that I saw before. The last time I went to the Basilica, the main church was closed so I wandered in for a look today. It used to be called the Co-Cathedral. The building was designed by Bishop John Ireland (who designed the Cathedral in St. Paul). It is an impressive building. Like St. Paul's Cathedral, it is in a strange position as it is a good bit away from the city center.

Afterwards I went down to the Sculpture park again (the place with the cherry on a spoon). I had seen most of the sculptures already but it was a bit brighter today. They did have a conservatory with a sculpture of a fish by Frank Gehry (who designed the Gugenheim in Bilbao). The warm of the conservatory was very welcome after walking in the cold.

Walking down Minnehaha Creek

16th October, 2011

Today I had my first (and probably only) visitor to the house. Megan was down from Duluth so she popped in for a while. We had a nice chat and we made our way through some of the bigos. Megan is going to the Holy Land next year and she said that maybe I could join the group so as she left, we said "Next year in Jerusalem!" and we may actually meet next year in Jerusalem.

I went for my usual evening walk. For the third time, I followed the Minnehaha river upstream, which turns into the Minnehaha Creek. I walked alongside it all the way to Lake Hiawatha (above is where the creek meets the lake). Lake Hiawatha is very peaceful in the evening. There was nobody around. I could see the lights of Minneapolis but couldn't hear any noise (except for the odd plane passing). All I could hear were ducks on the lake. After my walk, I went to the cafe I went to the day after I arrived here. I had ice-cream outside that day. This evening, I had a hot apple cider inside. It is getting colder each evening.

A pleasant Sunday

16th October, 2011

Today I don't have much new to report. I got up very early for me nowadays at 7.30am to catch the 8am bus to St. Paul (see a photo of St. Paul above). I wanted to attend the "Sung Mass" at 9.15am in St. Louis King of France Church (or the little French church). I was happy to see the church because the last two times I went there, the door to the main church was closed. The church still has a French flag flying outside it. The "Sung Mass" was a little misleading as it meant that there was singing at the Mass. I was expecting the entire Mass to be chanted by the Priest.

After Mass, I went to Dunn Bros. cafe and had a pumpkin muffin for breakfast. Around this time of year, they put pumpkin in everything. I then took the bus back home. I watched the Rome Derby on ESPN3 online. This is a great website that has pretty much any football game in the major leagues live for you. Lazio won their first Rome derby in a number of years, which was nice.

After dinner, I went for an evening stroll. I wanted to follow the river that I followed yesterday (but follow it upstream). It was more difficult as there was no designated path alongside it. That meant though that I discovered a new place trying to find the river. There is a little park basically over the highway, which feels pretty strange. After walking for a little while, I realised that I left the pot of stew simmering. It would probably be fine but thought I should head back just in case.

It was good that I went back as Christian was having some friends over at the house to watch the Minnesota Vikings football (American) game. It was nice to meet them and watch the game. We had a few beers (I contributed some Murphy's) and watch Minnesota get destroyed by the Chicago Bears.

A walk around the block

15th October, 2011

Last night I stayed up until 5am watching the Rugby World Cup Semi-final so didn't get up until after 1pm. By the time I was ready to leave the house, it was already after 4pm. That meant that I had less than 3 hours of daylight left. I wanted to go to Minnehaha Park. This has a waterfall on a small river that runs into the Mississippi. I started the river walk before but couldn't finish it because it got dark. So I walked along the river until it joined with the Mississippi. It is a very nice walk. It's nice that one of the best parks that I've come across is within easy walking distance of the house. Th waterfall (above) is probably the nicest one in the Cities (now that St. Anthony Falls has been mostly man-made). In the winter, the falls freeze and you can walk behind.

After my walk, it had gotten dark but was only 7pm. I decided to go for a stroll in the park (the part with lights). There was nobody at all around. I then went for a wonder south of the house as I had never explored that area. I discovered that I am very close to the airport (closer than I realised). I can walk there in 20 minutes. I also discovered a pizza place, Singaporean and Mexican restaurants.

When I had finished walking, it was still only around 8.30pm. I decided to go to the local cafe. It looked nice from the outside and I remembered that they had beer taps. I went in and ordered a dark German beer. Just like other places I've been, they weren't sure whether or not to accept my driver's license and student card as ID. One of the girls working there actually studied in Ireland for a semester. Of all places, she studied in an art college in Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare. I have actually stayed there before and remember seeing the art college. It is in the middle of nowhere. I never thought that they would have visiting students from the US there. She also happened to mention that she just did the Camino de Santiago last month. She was pleasantly surprised when I said that I did it several times. She said that most Americans have never heard of it. I also met a guy who said that he is 100% Irish (though you have to go back around 6 generations). He was very happy to meet an actual Irish person. The other 2 people in the bar were a couple from Canada and Madison. They were very nice and were very interested in what I was doing here.

Buying a coat

14th October, 2011

After yesterday's introduction to the cold of Minnesota (even though yesterday probably seemed like a summer breeze to most Minnesotans), I decided that I should get a winter coat. I have also decided that I will visit the Rocky mountains so will need one there for sure. Today there was a cold wind all day. Even though the temperatures were not that low, it felt very cold. As I was walking in the city, I was glad that I wasn't going to experience the real cold of Minnesota. It is incredible how fast the temperatures have fallen. Just a few days ago, I was sweating it out in a t-shirt and today I was wearing a vest, long sleeve shirt, jumper, sports jacket and hat (and I was still cold). It may yet snow before I leave.

I went to Nicollet Mall, the main shopping street in Downtown Minneapolis. It is very convenient that all of the stores are on the one street. They have cheap places like Target, Macy's, Marshalls and Gap, as well as more expensive ones like Sak's, Men's Warehouse and a place that seems to sell exclusively Italian-made clothes (which was a bit out of my price range - $1,400 for a coat, for example).

I really hate shopping so I was really looking to find something straight away. I went into every store, except one and found nothing suitable. Target was too cheap, Marshall didn't have my size and Macy's 'small' size is  American small (which is quite large). The last place I went to was Sak's. Luckily for me they had a sale on. There was a nice woolen coat 75% off and they had it in my suit size, which is quite rare. It should keep me warm here and in the Rockies.

After my purchase, I noticed that the skyways were being used a lot (the photo above is from the skyway and overlooking the main shopping street). My hat also blew off with the wind and I hat to chase it down the street. So I decided that I would walk the skyways and see how far I could get before I had to go outside. I was able to walk to the end of the street a number of blocks without going outside. It is very interesting walking through them. You end up walking through places that you would never ordinarily walk through, such as a number of offices and stores. Because of the skyways, I read that the rent on the 1st floor (or 2nd floor in American speak) of buildings is often more expensive that the ground floor. All of the buildings are links so you can walk from one walkway to another and convenience stores and coffee shops have popped up near popular skyways. It's a very interesting phenomenon.

I came home and decided to go to my second Taize prayer of the week in the local Methodist church. It's only a 10 minute walk from me. They call it Taize worship. All of the songs were in English, even the Latin ones. It was strange singing 'Laudate Dominum' in English. It was done very well. The altar was set up nicely and they had an excellent singer, who sang all of the solos. Strangely though, they had a short sermon but no intercessions. Unfortunately there weren't many people there (only about 7) and only one other young person.

On the way home, I decided that I wanted something warm and wintery for dinner. I decided on Polish bigos. I got the ingredients and made a pot of it while listening to Polish reggae on my laptop. I just finished eating with a nice dark beer from a micro-brewery in New Mexico that my housemate had. The bigos is still boiling away and will do me for another few days I'd say.

Coming home

Hi everyone!

This is a special post to update you on my future plans. I have decided that I will come back to Cork early. I will be flying from JFK to Dublin on 11th November (arriving in Dublin on 12th).

Unfortunately I have faced one difficulty after another on my American adventure. After I applied for the visa, I intensified my job search greatly. However I didn't have anything confirmed when I went out to the US. This was a risk. After I hadn't found anything that I was interested in, I applied to any jobs that I was qualified for. I only got one call-back for a job in a bank in Wells Fargo in Minnesota. I was offered a job but I hadn't received my social security  card yet so I could not accept it (even though I could have legally worked without it). I returned back to New York and finally received my social security card after almost 5 weeks. I rang up the agency and they said that the job I was offered has been filled but there are many more jobs coming up shortly. I rang them every two days but nothing had come up.

It was then coming into October and most houses are rented from the 1st of each month so I took a chance and flew to Minnesota and rented a room for a month. I went into the agency and still they had no upcoming jobs. After a week and a half of no news, I knew that nothing would be confirmed before I had to commit to another month in the house. I had also contacted a few other people in the Irish community in the US and nothing had come up there either. Before I came, I said that if I had nothing confirmed after two months, I would return home and that is what I decided to do.

A number of things contributed to me not being able to get a job. At the beginning, I applied for jobs using my Irish address (when I was in Ireland) when I should have used a US address. I changed that towards the end but I may have missed out on a few opportunities because of it. Because of my Irish education though, the companies knew where I was from and so may have been reluctant to take someone who was on a visa (it could be too much hassle and I would only be there for 1 year, when they would have to pay to sponsor me). I was applying for policy jobs in the US so the companies may have preferred a graduate who studied public policy in America, rather than Europe. The economic climate is pretty bad here anyway. There is almost 10% unemployment and I met many American graduates (who went to good and expensive colleges) that could not find work themselves. The jobs that I was initially applying to were very competitive. People who are interested in policy here do internships in DC until they are hired by the company so even unpaid internships are difficult to get. I also realised that my broad economics degree is a bit of a disadvantage. I studied a little theory, policy, business, finance, maths and stats but the jobs that I was applying to were looking for someone with a concentration of one of these. If you know a bit of everything, you don't know any one thing very well. What I thought would be an advantage (in that I am technically qualified for many roles) turned out to be a disadvantage. I have noticed that many people study very specific things here for the Master's degrees (while their Bachelor's tend to be broad).

The visa I was on was another stumbling block. It was more restrictive than I realised. Once I found a job, I had to get the manager to fill out a form saying that my work is less than 20% clerical and that I am not just filling a labour force gap (I don't know how many employers would fill this up). This was also expected to be completed two weeks before I start work even though sometimes you may not meet the supervisor until you start. The manager should also come up with a training program especially for me and provide updates of my progress to my sponsoring group. The sponsoring group also said that I couldn't use a recruiter to get a job. I found out this after I made the commitment to go to Minnesota to wait for a job from a recruiter. Of course this isn't written anywhere on their website or booklets.

So you can see from the above that many things were working against me. If I had known what I know now, I wouldn't have flown out without a job confirmed. But I knew I was taking a risk when I came out here but that's life. Sometimes risks pay off, sometimes they don't. I still see my American adventure as a somewhat positive experience. I got to really experience the US in a way I didn't before. I met a lot of friendly and interesting people from all walks of life. I met a lot of friends that studied in UCC in previous years. I got to travel a little and will travel some more.

I still have almost a month left and I hope to make the most of it. I will stay in Minnesota for another week and meet up for a final time with some friends. I'll then head to Wisconsin, Missouri, Colorado and Kansas before heading back to Long Island for a few days before I head home.

Keep checking the blog and I'll see you soon!

Richard

The Hockey State

13th October, 2011

I have always wanted to see a live ice hockey game. My favourite game at one point in my life was NHL '99. It was the first game I got for the Nintendo 64. I remember playing with the Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings or, my favourite, the New York Rangers. I had never heard of Minnesota Wild because they did not exist until 2000 so weren't in the game.

Ice hockey is a pretty big thing in MN because of all the snow and ice they have, I guess. I heard that the season had just started so I thought it would be a great opportunity to see a live game. I knew that I was free tonight so I booked a ticket. I didn't know who they were playing until I got the ticket. They were playing the Edmonton Oilers, a Canadian team (because it is a Canadian and American competition).

So tonight I went along to see the fastest team sport. Like the baseball game I saw in Chicago last year, there was always something going on. Every time the game was stopped (and this happened a lot), there was music, games or announcements. There is a lot of audience participation with a number of competitions, some karaoke and lots of things to try and get the crowd going. Despite all of this, the game did seem a little long.

Games last 60minutes. There are three periods. The game is stopped frequently though. About 3 times every period, the game is stopped to sweep up the loose ice. Also if it is a draw, there is 5 mins of overtime followed by a shoot-out. The game was exciting at times but like all other American sports, there are too many stoppages. I prefer flowing games like football, hurling or rugby. The pitch also seems very cluttered so it is very hard for good chances to emerge. Th goal is so small and the goalkeeper so big (with all the padding), it's a wonder they score at all. I was at a low-scoring game, which ended 1-1.

A nice thing was that I got more bang for my buck because I got to see overtime (where they play with 5 instead of 6 players) and a shoot-out which Minnesota Wild won. Overall hockey is probably my favourite American sport but a cluttered field really disrupts the flow of the game, I think.

Minnesota History

12th October, 2011

Today autumn really arrived. As soon as I walked out of the house, it just started to rain. I ran across to the shop to get an umbrella. I was only waiting for the bus for about 3 minutes but my trousers were completely soaked (even with the umbrella). It was also very cold and I think it is just going to be downhill from here.

I went to the Historical Museum in St. Paul. I was actually here before. The last time I was here, I saw a number of exhibits but didn't buy a ticket. Since nobody asked me for a ticket, I assumed that these were free temporary exhibits and that there was another permanent one, which was better. So I bought a ticket, only to find out that I had already seen everything. But since I didn't spend a lot of time there the last time, I saw everything again and did get more out of it this time.

It is a strange history museum. It is not really that historical. It doesn't tell you much about the first settlers or why the cities grew etc. The exhibits are quite different. One (from the photo above) featured the Minnesota Top 150. This featured people, places and things from Minnesota. For example, Greyhound Bus, Bob Dylan and Prince. It was interesting to see important things and people from Minnesota that I didn't realise were from here. There was also an interactive quiz about Minnesota. The questions were very tough but I still managed to get 7/10.

Another exhibit was looking at ordinary tenants from a house in St. Paul over a period of time. They rebuilt the rooms and you could find out about the people who lived there. There were first Italians, then Irish, African American and Hmong. It was interesting to see the various immigrants that came to Minnesota. I learnt that half of Italians that came here returned home and that Minnesota has the highest number of Hmong in the USA. They came following the Vietnam war as they fought on the American side. It was tough for the Hmong people because they didn't want to come here but would be killed if they stayed in Laos and they weren't allowed to stay in Thailand.

I was going to go to a talk in the Cathedral afterwards but since my trousers were wet all day, I was feeling a little sick and cold so I went home and had a few cups of tea in the warm house.

A cherry on a giant spoon

11th October, 2011

Today I stayed at the house for most of the day. This is because Ireland were playing their final Euro 2012 qualifying match against Armenia. I was able to watch it online for free on ESPN3's website. Since that was in the middle of the day, there wasn't much point in doing anything before that.

After the game, I went to a Taize prayer that I saw advertised in the Basilica of St. Mary (America's first Basilica). The service was nicely done (though it could have been darker). There were a few young people but it was mostly people who were 40+. It really hasn't caught on with young people the way that it has done in Europe. I knew all of the songs, although they sung some songs in English that I learnt in French or Spanish. They had piano, fluto and clarinet players. It was nice but not truly Taize-like in that it wasn't all that ecumenical. They had confession throughout the service, they prayed for the Pope and Bishops and during The Lord's Prayer, they finished it at ...evil, until a number of people at the side continued ...and thine is the kingdom.... Overall thought, it was nice to be back at a taize prayer. It had been months since I was last at one.

I had hoped to see the Basilica but the main church was closed so I'll have to go back. I went to the Sculpture Garden just down the street. I saw the famous cherry on a spoon (see photo above) that you can see in a lot of Minnesota tourist ads. There are a lot of smaller sculptures as well. However as it was getting dark when I got there, I couldn't see too much. I'll have to return here when I re-visit the Basilica.

I returned home, cooked a late dinner and watched the Mexico V Brazil football match with my housemate (who is of Mexican ancestry). Mexico lost.

More lakes

10th October, 2011

Today I went to three of the larger lakes in the Twin Cities area. I had to take two buses to get there. They are situated just beyond Uptown, which is a really hip area in the Cities.

First I  went to Lake Calhoun, the biggest of the three lakes I would see today. It is the biggest one I have seen in the Twin Cities. I walked around most of the lake and briefly walked by the Lake of the Isles, where I saw a monster (see photo above). The lakes were nice but it was more of the same. I have seen so many lakes and parks here. The day was also very overcast.

I got lost for a while but eventually made it south to Lake Harriet. This is a very popular lake in the summer. They have summer concerts here and there is a lot of boating activity. I had walked enough so I couldn't be bothered walking around the lake. I came across an old train line that used to take people from Downtown Minneapolis to Lake Harriet for summer concerts.

I wandered back slowly to Lake Calhoun. I tried to find a church with a gold dome that I noticed in the distance. After a lot of searching, I found a Greek Orthodox church. Just as I got there, it started lashing rain. It was my first rain since arriving in Minnesota over a week ago. Luckily they had a roofed garden where I could sit for a while.

Afterwards I went back to Midtown, where I had planned to meet some couchsurfers for Happy Hour in a pub/restaurant. I ordered a beer and because it was Happy Hour, two beers came out. (I thought she made a mistake at first). So I got to meet a few more people in the area. One of the girls is a huge Chicago Bears fan so we watched the first half of the game. She was very animated throughout.

Trip to the zoo

9th October, 2011

Today I went to the Minnesota Zoo with some couchsurfers (see photo above). I saw it posted on the Minneapolis Couchsurfing page and thought it sounded fun. There was a fairly international group with representatives from Germany, India, Russia and the US. Luckily one of the girls offered us a lift as buses to the zoo don't run on Sunday. The zoo is nice enough, although not the best one I have been to. Both St. Louis and Omaha's zoos are better I think. The company was nice though. Since I don't know many people in Minneapolis, it was nice to meet up with a few others living here. They were all very friendly.

The zoo was in a few sections. They had a tropical trail, a Russian trail and a Minnesota trail. It was quite fun. I generally enjoy zoos. Afterwards we went to the Mall of America for lunch/dinner. We ate in a noodle place which was pretty good (and cheap enough). We then went to an ice-cream place where they mix ice-cream with a variety of candy bars, cakes etc. This was okay but not great. It was basically like a McFlurry and it cost as much as my lunch for a small cup (which was huge).

While the girls stayed to do some shopping, me and Venkata made our way home. On the way though, I wanted to stop off at a military cemetery. It looked really impressive from the train with thousands of small white headstones. We got off there and talked about cultural differences in how people treat the dead. In the cemetery, I was also reminded of my granny whose 1 year anniversary it is today. I was thinking that she would be happy to see me to be out and about on such a beautiful day.

Zombie night

8th October, 2011

I was so tired after being up late watching rugby that I slept in today. I had breakfast at around 1pm. Again I just skyped with Brendan and Edmond for a while. At 5.30pm, I left the house to go to the Vigil Mass in the Cathedral. When I went there, I saw quite a lot of people dressed like it was halloween. Then I remembered that it is the zombie pub crawl. So hundreds of people in the Cities were dressed like zombies which was amusing. I didn't get very good photos but you can see someone dressed up above. Tonight was also the opening ice hockey night for Minnesota Wild so a lot was going on in St. Paul. I got back quite late after a mix up with the buses. I just got a pizza from the local pizza hut for dinner. I also checked out the local (and very large) off-license. I found some Murphy's which I bought so my housemates can try a Cork stout. Beamish isn't available here at all.

An interesting evening

7th October, 2011

Today I didn't do much during the day. I chatted a bit on skype and then I watched the Ireland - Andorra match. I had a very busy evening though. I first went to St. Paul for their annual Rosary procession from the Capitol to the Cathedral. I left the house at 4.30pm as I had to take 2 buses to St. Paul. I got off at the Excel Center and bought a ticket for the Minnesota Wild ice hockey game this Thursday. I then walked to the city as I had a bit of time. I wanted something quick so I ate in McDonald's. It is actually the first time I have eaten in McDonald's since I came here. I then walked to the Capitol.

We processed to the cathedral but they didn't bother lighting candles as it was very windy out. After the procession and prayer service, I took the bus to Minneapolis. I'm getting to know all the different bus routes at this stage. I had planned to go to an Oktoberfest celebration in a German pub but it was north of Minneapolis so by the time I got there, I would have to leave for Downtown again (as I wanted to watch the Ireland V Wales rugby match).

Instead I went to Nye's Polonaise Room (See photo above). This is a Polish bar/restaurant. It was on the 150 things to do in Minneapolis list. The "World's most Dangerous Polka Band" were playing but they weren't playing polka unfortunately. I stayed there for one drink. Despite being a Polish bar and having signs for Tyskie, Zyviec and Okocim, there wasn't a single Polish beer on tap. I had an "Oktoberfest" beer, which wasn't very good.

Afterwards I headed to "The Local", an Irish bar, to watch the Rugby World Cup Quarter Final between Ireland and Wales. I had a bit of free time though so I went for a wander. It was a little like Cork at night. I saw a girl urinating in public, long queues to get into clubs (which had red carpets), girls not wearing enough clothing and walking barefoot through the streets.

At Midnight, I went to "The Local" to watch the match. There were quite a few Irish there - some were my age but quite a few were in their 40s. I was curious as to what they were doing there but wasn't talking to any of them. The game was disappointing. Ireland were outplayed by Wales. I don't know what happened.

Afterwards I took the 2.18am train back home (the handy thing about living close to the rail track). I then tried to watch the England - France game but was too tired.

Inside for the day

6th October, 2011

I did so much walking over the last few days that I decided to rest today. I think I pulled some muscle in my foot so I decided to give it a chance to heal. I also wanted to catch up with friends and family in the afternoon. I actually didn't leave the house all day, except to eat dinner outside the back yard with Logan, my housemate, and his girlfriend.

Since I didn't go outside, above is a photo from my bedroom. The house next door was demolished just a few weeks ago.

So today I met the other of my two housemates. Logan was in Duluth on placement until now. He's a very nice guy. This morning, I took a note of all the bus locations and times. It's good to have it just so I don't get stranded somewhere. Afterwards I skyped with family and friends. I uploaded some photos and videos. In the evening I made dinner and ate with Logan and his girlfriend.

I feel bad for wasting a perfectly nice day but hopefully my foot will be back to its best tomorrow.  

The Mill City

5th October, 2011

Today was a hot day (about 29 degrees) and I spent most of it walking around in the sun in the city. I walked the Minneapolis heritage trail around the Mississippi by St. Anthony Falls. Minneapolis used to produce more flour than anywhere else in the world. It was thanks to St. Anthony Falls (above), which is the only proper falls along the whole Mississippi River. The falls powered the Mill, which led Minneapolis to be known as the "Mill City".

I walked over the historic stone bridge and visited the Mill City Museum. The museum was well done. It reminded me a little of the Guinness Storehouse as it was about a food product, it was quite interactive, there was a bread sample and an observation tower.

Along the Mississippi

4th October, 2011

Today I went on a pretty long hike. One thing I love about the Twin Cities is that there are loads of trails and parks around within the cities. I am just a 30 min walk from the Mississippi River (one of the longest in the world - it flows from North Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico). I walked south along the river (see photo above) to Fort Snelling (a rare historic site in Minnesota). You couldn't actually enter the Fort but there was a visitor centre (and I was the only person there). Fort Snelling is built on the site sacred to the Dakota tribe who lived in Minnesota before the Europeans arrived. The spot is where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers meet. It was a nice walk, which was like an obstacle course at times because I went a little of the main trails. I had to cross a stream via a fallen tree and climb up the side of a cliff (it was a gradual climb but still challenging).

I walked back on the main trail to where and started and decided to stop off at a diner for lunch. I got a sandwich entirely full of meat. It was pork that they roast for 6 hours and was very good but was too much meat for me.

After lunch, I was close to home but decided to continue North along the Mississippi to Minnehaha Park. Minnehaha Falls are (I think) the largest waterfall in the Cities. I saw a photo of the falls in window where the water is frozen. It looks really cool. I walked along by the small river than flows from Lake Nokomis (where I was yesterday) to the Mississippi. It was nice to just follow the river and use the rocks as stepping stones. I do love climbing around things.

Tonight I finally unpacked everything and tidied my room. A tidy room gives me so much satisfaction. And I don't have much stuff here so it is easy to tidy. I am missing a locker, a desk, chair and a proper bed but I don't really need any of those things. I am getting used to my air matress. It's actually quite comfortable.

Exploring the neighborhood

3rd October, 2011

Today I explored the local area. I went to the closest lake, Lake Nokomis. There is a little park around it and a 2.7 mile walk, which I did. It also has a little beach. The lake was very cold despite the fact that it is just after summer and the weather is still in the mid 20s. I don't know what the etiquette is here about saying hi to people in a park. Some people smile, many just look forward and there is always one guy who says "Nice day, eh?" in a really strong MN accent. After my walk, I decided to stop off for some ice-cream at the Nokomis cafe.

On my way home, I took some photos of various trees. October is a great month to be in MN as all of the trees are turning so there are beautiful red and yellow leaves. I also decided to walk around the street of shops a few minutes from the house to see what there is. Basically everything you want is just a 10 min walk away. There is a convenient store, a small supermarket, a laundrette, a barbershop, a bowling alley, 2 petrol stations, 2 fast food places, an Italian restaurant, a diner, a public library, a dentist, a post office, 2 banks, a repair garage and an auto dealer. I also found a nice little clothes shop that has lots of winter clothes that I will probably be buying. Right next door, there is a second hand book shop. There is also a fire station across the street, which may turn out to be annoying during the night. But at least if I start a fire, it should be put out quickly.

Marathon

2nd October, 2011

Today I decided to go to the 10am Solemn Mass in the Cathedral of St. Paul. Unfortunately I missed the first bus and didn't get in until 10.30am. Just outside the Cathedral, the Twin Cities marathon was taking place (the photo above was taken from the Cathedral steps). I sat in for the end of the Mass just to see what they considered a Solemn Mass. What they consider solemn is different from St Peter and Paul's in Cork (not as much Latin or incense).

I decided to stay for the 12 Mass so I wandered around the church in the meantime. I spoke to the Priest about getting more involved over the next few weeks. He told me that they have a yound adults group that do sports and socialise every Friday and have a more faith-centered meeting every Wednesday. I hope to get involved with them. The priest, Father Joseph (another Fr. Joe) also said that he would ask some of his parishioners, who are bankers, if there were any vacancies for an Irish guy. He pointed out the St. Patrick's chapel to me as well. I had been there before but I decided to go back. They even have green Connemara marble in the chapel. As I looked around the church, I realised that there are a number of Irish connections. Almost all of the crosses in the church are Celtic-style crosses. I looked at the list of Bishops from the formation and all, except 2, had Irish surnames, including Bishop John Ireland who commissioned the building. The 12 Mass was almost the same as the Solemn Mass. There was just a little less chanting.

After Mass, I had to cross the marathon line to get back to St. Paul town. It was funny to see it.There were a lot of people who were ringing cow bells and others who took it upon themselves to motivate the runners with words of encouragement like "Good job" and "You're looking great". When I crossed the line, I looked for somewhere to eat. I was amazed that so many places were closed and there were very few people in the city. People really stay away from the cities here on Sundays (same was the case in Minneapolis).

While the day was lovely today (around 25 degrees C), it was very cold last night. I knew I had to get some sheets, a quilt and pillow. I got some great deals in Macy's. I then had to get home (with a massive Macy's bag). Because of the marathon, loads of the streets were closed so I just decided to take an hour long bus to Minneapolis, where I knew I could take the train. So I had my own little public transport marathon today. 

My new home

1st October, 2011

Today I was supposed to see a fifth house but got an email in the morning to tell me that the room was no longer available. I decided that House 4 would be the best. It was close between House 2 and House 4 but I got a better vibe off the people in House and the location was better (closest to light rail). The problem was that the landlord of House 4 said that he had four others viewing the house so I had to wait until they had viewed today. I thought that he would give the room to one of the others because they could probably commit for more than a month (I can't do that yet).

I decided to go to Mall of America as it is close-by the hotel. I think it is the biggest Mall in America. It is huge. They have a theme park in the middle of the store. It was pretty cool. I text the landlord of House 4 to see if he would give the room to me and he said that he would. He called me back and said that I could move in straight away, which is great because I didn't want to stay in the hotel again. Knowing I had a place (see photo above), I bought an air matress in Sears to be my temporary. He left keys at the back door for me. I moved in as soon as I could get down there. I have been in the house on my own ever since.

There is a convenient store just across the street which is really handy. They have a good range of stuff and it's really cheap (the cheapest I've seen in the US). I bought some stuff for dinner and breakfast and have managed to find my way around the kitchen to cook some dinner. I will explore the area more tomorrow.

Viewing houses

30th September, 2011

Today I flew to Minneapolis. I aimed to get the 6.30am train from Hampton Bays. When I got to the station, I found out that the train was cancelled. The next train wasn't for another few hours so there was no way I was going to make the flight. Sal kindly offered to drive me the 90 mins to the airport. I ended up being there very early. I arrived into Minneapolis and headed to the hotel. The bus I had to take was a very small one so when I got on with all my bags, the driver asked me if I was on the right bus.

I got to the hotel and looked up where I had to go in order to view the 4 houses I arranged to view today. Because people replied at different times so I had to go to one place, then further north and then back south again.

House 1: The first house was quite far south (close to airport). The landlord was very nice. He showed me around. The place was a little dingy. There were 3 tenants. The tenant in the basement was a drummer (which concerned me slightly). The area was a very suburban and next to a huge park. There weren't any shops or amenities close-by that I could see. The main thing going for this house was that the bedroom was pretty much fully furnished.

House 2: This house was in an area called Powderhorn. This was a very nice house and very high tech (there was a video camera at the front door and a separate door bell for each room. Two guys and a girl live there and the place is quite swanky. They had a really nice garden out the back with lots of flowers and a little fountain. They had a common attic area with desks for studying and a spare bedroom for guests. Overall it was a very nice place. The main disadvantage was the location and the fact that the room wasn't furnished at all.

House 3: This place was the worst place. It was just a few blocks form House 2. It was a very small lower level of a house. I would share with one guy. It was a strange setup because the guy sleeps in the living area and the bathroom is accessed through the room I would take. I wouldn't really like someone going through my room when I am asleep. This was the cheapest place but for a reason.

House 4: This place had the best location. Two guys live in the house and it has two bathrooms (so the best ratio). The two guys are medical and pharmacy resident students. They are both very nice. They are very busy so won't be around a lot. The guy who gave me the tour said that he only saw the last housemate about 3 times because he was so busy. This house was nice but a little less nice than house 2. The basement had laundry facilities and a little study/chill out area. The bedroom was a little equipped with a dresser and the possibility of a bed.

After House 4, I was again fooled by the scale of the map. Everything looks closer than it really is. It took me over 2 hours to walk home in the dark. I first had to get around the airport and then came across a main road that I had to go out of my way to cross. The photo above is the overpass over the road.

Which house did I choose?