Aug
18

Back to school

Back to school: that's the sign in all the shop windows at the moment. The kids of Dublin all head back to their classes soon, so their moms and dads are out in force getting new school bags and uniforms for them. This will be the first fall when I'm not "back to school" -- as in, I'm out of university now. I have to say, much as I enjoyed studying back home and in Trinity College, I'm really glad it's over. Sure, the work I'm doing is not really a "career" -- although I've learned a lot in the kitchen already -- but I do feel ready and willing to take on more than just studying!

I guess for a lot of people this is a melancholy time of year, what with going back to school and the days starting get shorter, and all the rest of it, but here in Dublin fall is actually perhaps the nicest season. The unpredictable weather ceases to tease you because it's fall, and it's supposed to be like that, and because there's so much on. In September and October alone, there's the Fringe Festival and the Theatre Festival followed by Hallow'een, which was, of course invented by the Irish in the first place. Going out every night is beyond my budget, and not possible as I'll be working a lot of the time anyway, but there are free things on too, so with a little organisation, it's possible to join in the fun even without spending a lot of money.

Another great pleasure of the coming fall in the city is the fact that the pubs start to go into winter mode. And personally, I prefer them like that. The old-style pubs have real fires in the grates, and hot whiskey or that great decadent treat, hot port-and-whiskey replace mojitos and chilled beer. I love hot whiskey, but you'd feel silly drinking it in the summer. 

I have a major treat coming up that will bring my back to my love of Irish writing: My best-friend-in-Ireland's Mom has bought tickets for the three of us to go see a Night with Seamus Heaney at the National Theatre, the Abbey. Seamus Heaney, as you probably know, is Ireland's most famous living poet, and a holder of the Nobel prize for literature. It's exciting to think of seeing him in the relatively intimate setting of the Abbey. Something I love so much about Dublin, and still haven't gotten used to, is how accessible the great and glorious are here. You can go to a concert, and the odds are good the famous guy on the stage will be having a quiet drink in the bar afterwards, and people won't disturb him because it's not cool, or they don't want  him to get a big head. Seriously -- I saw Neil Jordan at the Museum of Modern Art a few months ago, and everyone just ignored him studiously as he drank his coffee downstairs.

2 comments:

I can't BELIEVE THIS!!!! Seamus Heaney!!! WHY in the name of scrambled eggs did I not hear about this this! I would've stayed soooo much longer! Andthe festivals!!! Grrrrr.....

 

I know! I didn't hear about it either, not until the tickets had been bought and I was invited. But apparently it's almost sold out already as it is.

 

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