Long Time Passing

I know, I know, the blog posts are coming few and far between these days. The truth is, it takes such a long time to put a post together, and a lot of the time I'd rather be playing my flute or reading than sitting at the computer. That being said, this is my only written record of what I'm up to over here, so I have to keep up with it.

I've just finished my Monday joinery class. We cut wood to start a project, of which I shall explain more later. I had the best weekend; my friends from home visited, and I haven't giggled (or been thrown about by the wind) so much in months. It was the coldest weekend, because of the wind chill, that I've endured since moving here, for sure. I think we need to work backwards to go forwards, so I'll start where I left off, and update you on last week before going on about this weekend.

Pedagogically, last week was not the best, and I was a little disheartened because of it. Our lessons were, at times, unstructured, and there was a lot of being left to our own devices, with too little wood and tools that were in need of a good sharpening. The problem is I want to spend absolutely days, if not weeks, practicing the one joint over and over, but because of the nature of the course that's just not possible. So instead it feels like we're racing through things, and it makes me a little sad/frustrated that I can't get the most out of my time.

I made a promise to myself to stop comparing my progression to others in the class, to just go at my own speed, and to try and make less mistakes. Lots of tiny mistakes lead to an overall mediocre finished product. This week has started so much better. I'm making a flute box as a project, so I got my dimensions planned today, practiced a dovetail joint (disaster, but hopefully tomorrow will be better), got some wood and learned how to use the saw and planing machines properly in a small group.

Outside the world of woodwork, last week was a bit of a mixed bag. My ballet class went very well and I'm noticing some improvements in my posture. Our budgetting is going swimmingly, and I love how little we're spending here. I finished reading Slaughterhouse-5, which is definitely the most enjoyable book I've read in a long time. Unfortunately, the job I thought I would definitely have didn't quite work out. The langauge barrier was too big of an issue, and so I have to look elsewhere for employent. I'm going to go to the local Irish bars, where it's presumed you're an English speaker.

So, onwards to this weekend I think, as my dinner is waiting for me downstairs. The girls were delayed by a couple of hours at Dublin airport, but no harm done, as I met up with a friend who goes back home from the airport every day. I also really enjoyed the buzz of the Arrivals hall. I love airports, so I was more than happy to sit nearby with a coffee and watch the kids wave Danish flags and wait for their dads to get home. I also had a Danish flag, and at the modest hour of 22.00, some two hours after their expected arrival, two of my best friends arrived at my new home.

We took a train back to my apartment, giggling and joking the whole time. I don't think I've laughed so much in a long time. We took in the usual sights, the Little Mermaid and Hans Christian Andersen on his self-named street. We also ate a lot of cake, had delicious brunch, and went to a decidedly Twin Peaks-y karaoke bar. I couldn't believe how quickly the weekend flew by, but luckily just four days ago I booked flights home for Easter, a glorious 8 day trip. I am honestly so excited to go home and see all of my friends and family.

Ok, I'm going to wrap it up here, I'm off to eat some dinner before getting down to some future life planning I have to do. I'll post some pictures soon.