Jetlag Recovery, Waitress of the year and 'Green' Week

I'm trying to get better at blogging more because I know I've been pretty poor at it lately. I can't promise much excitement in my posts as, between work and my days off to relax, I don't have many exciting events in my life. My goal is to do a lot of fun things in the summer and 'love life' so for right now, I'm just going to work a lot and save up more for my 'summer of loving life' piggy bank.

Currently it's just about 3am on Monday evening and I'm about to turn in for the night. Seems crazy that I'm up late but this is quite the norm for me as I don't have a 9-5 job anymore and I don't have to work till 1230p tomorrow. I'm still adjusting back to Ireland time which is not fun because I've felt like a zombie in the last few days or so at work. Losing 5 hours in time difference is not fun and even though I only spent 7 days in Canada, re-adjusting myself back to Ireland time is a slow process. Luckily, my manager was nice enough to grant me my requested days off this week and then some. I had originally booked off March 17th and 18th (hm....I wonder why?) and then after he saw that I was struggling with recovering with catching up to the time zone differences, he granted me an additional day off...March 19th. Which is PERFECT because the final match for the Six Nations Rugby is on that day - Ireland vs England. If you don't keep up with world rugby - the Six Nations is like the FIFA Cup or the Stanley Cup Playoffs for rugby...and a VERY big deal here. I was working at the pub this past Saturday when Ireland was up against Wales and the place was beyond packed and I almost lost my cool a few times. Not like me...I know but with a combination of a packed house, trying to weave in throughout people who are glued to the screen (and their pints) with hot plates of food or full trays of drinks and they don't budge even when you say 'Excuse me!' gets a little annoying...to say the least. That being said, as of this Wednesday I will have put in 65 hours of work in 7 days since my return from Canada. That's 30 extra hours than I usually put into a regular work week but I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel - or the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow as the Irish would put it. In my case, it would be the pint of Guiness at the end of my shift on Wednesday. I'm supposed to be done by 5p on Wednesday which allows me a few hours to rest up before I start up the pre-Paddy's Day festivities (yes, us Canadians are going to start Wednesday night - it's the Canadian/Irish way I would like to think!).

So, my days off start on Thursday (17th) but I don't think I'll be sleeping in much because I want to get a hearty breakfast, hit the St. Paddy's Day Parade here (which starts at 1230p) and then try to hit a few pubs. I've been asking all week to my fellow Galwegians/coworkers the best places to go and what to do on the big day and they just said - hit up the pubs and find a seat and stay there because I believe by afternoon every place is packed till the wee hours of the morning. I'm hoping it's a nice sunny day but like a typical Irish person, I do expect the unexpected with the weather here. I've heard it will be nice, heard it will rain (shocker) but some are saying it might snow (no thank you!). But, either way, I don't think anything will rain on my parade (no pun intended) in terms of the fact that I will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day IN Ireland - a definite 'check' on my bucket list. :)

I guess that's about it for now...I don't know if I'll be posting again till after St Paddy's day (or whenever I recover) but I hope to have some fun pics to post and I have some pics still to post from when I was back in Ontario.

Until then, I wish everyone a safe and Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit from Galway, Ireland and a speedy post-Paddy's Day recovery. G'night!

While in transit...

NOTE: Apologies for the delayed post of below. I'm still catching up from jet lag and working 45 hours within 5 days doesn't leave much time to do much other than sleep/eat....if even. 

Monday, March 7th, 2011

So, I'm sitting in O'Hare Airport, Chicago waiting to connect to my flight to Dublin, Ireland. Unfortunately, the US is not as giving as Canadians and Irish people are when it comes to free Wifi access so I'm typing this up now and will post it later when I have access to wifi. It might not get posted till I get back to Galway but at least I am recording something now. Things I have discovered in Chicago airport thus far - like Heathrow, you have to take transit to get to your connecting terminal (luckily I have a few hours in between flight and they have a train that takes you from terminal to terminal, not a very delayed shuttle bus), eat before you go through security as there's NOTHING on the other side where the gates are, 95% of all the people working in Chicago are NOT nice to people (with the exception of the older security guard that chatted me up while I waited for my carry-on items to get scanned). It was disheartening to see how rude people are to each other here because I try not to have this negative perception of what all Americans are like because I don't like to judge or assume everyone is the same but unfortunately, through my travels in the last 6 months and the Americans that come into the pub I work at, most are not very pleasant. It's like they've been living a life where everything goes wrong in their lives and are annoyed when anyone talks to them. I will still continue to treat each person, no matter what their background is, with a positive attitude but this is what I've seen thus far. I should mention that the guys working at the fast-food place here in the Chicago Airport food court were quite pleasant…maybe a bit too friendly with their 'what can I get for you? you have beautiful eyes by-the-way.' or 'anything for you gorgeous'….a little much but better than an insult or rudeness! 

My trip back home was quick, as expected, but very enjoyable. It was so great to spend time with my family and friends and I thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to visit with me on such short notice. I didn't expect everyone to drop everything when I came home because I knew it was a surprise and I didn't give anyone the head's up but I do really appreciate the time spent together! Thanks to all my friends that came out for drinks last Thursday/Friday and I hope everyone had a great time - I know I did. Thank you to my parents for always spoiling me with the use of your vehicle so I could visit with others, your constant love and care and hosting the big famjam on Saturday - it was naturally a good feast prepared by all. I forgot how much fun Kelsey and I have on our playdates and I should have rested up better for it as she always seems to keep me on my toes. Thank you to my bff for always setting fun dates up for me/drinks with friends, being my shuttle to and from the airport and just for being you. I know that today was sad but before you know it, I'll be back for another visit and I'm really looking forward to you visiting me again and doing a bit of a tour around Europe with me. :) For those who I couldn't see, hopefully I will visit with you on my next visit. Nothing is definite but I'm hopefully looking to return back to Canada in just 6 weeks for a longer visit. I know, it sounds crazy but it's the best timing at this time of year because I can't really book much time off during the summer to come home as it's the busy season in Galway and I know that some of my family and friends are planning on visiting me in Ireland during the summer as it's the nicest time of year to visit. 

I think did everything on my list of 'things to do' when I was back home:

- had a lot of sushi (check)

- had a lot of Starbucks and Timmy Ho's coffee (check)

- ate Ken's French Fries (check)

- spent money on things I don't need with money I don't have - ie. Lulu's (check)

- caught up with friends in T-dot over pints (check)

- danced up a storm with friends and my shimmy'n partner (check)

- had a fun bff day (check - obvs)

- spent some quality time with my dad, mom, sis and the pup (check)

- picked up some Canadian snacks to bring back (check)

- spent time with my family over some country homecooking (check)

- playdate with Kelsey (check check)

- had Boar's Head wings/Cdn beer with Coopaloop (check)

- got my Rock Band fix (check)

- spent time with my G-ma and got a history lesson on our Irish/Scottish family (check)

I guess that's about it for now. Am I looking forward to going back to my life in Galway? Yes, but obviously leaving home again is not always a happy experience for me either. Knowing that I'll be visiting again soon and then people will be hopefully visiting me not too long from now either makes the trip back to Galway now a bit easier than the first time. Hopefully there will be no flight issues between now and when I land in Dublin and again with my 3-hr bus ride back to Galway. I'm sure I'll be back on the schedule at work for Wednesday and I'm even more sure that getting used to the time change will not be much fun either. Hopefully my manager will be nice and still give me St. Paddy's Day off (and the following day for recovery). My argument to him is that I will likely only live in Ireland once in my life and if I don't celebrate St. Paddy's day while I'm here - Irish-style - I'll never be able to forgive myself. He said 'Well, what about me? Shouldn't I get the day off?' and I of course said, 'um….you ARE Irish and have lived here your WHOLE life. That is the difference.' So - fingers crossed! 

Well, I guess I should go through security again and get to my gate. Going to let this traditional American meal (chilli cheese fries and Philly Steak sandwich) somewhat digest before I pop some Gravol into my system for this 8-hr flight….sigh. Sorry, Mom my options are kinda limited in terms of healthy things to eat in an American airport food court - but thanks for pumping me full of veggies and fruit before I left! 

I will try to blog again when I land but I imagine this will be posted once I get back in Galway due to lack of free Wifi access between now and then. Again, thanks to all my Canadian friends and family for the great visit. I will miss you all and I'll try to get back soon again for a longer visit. Until then…love life! 

Surprise, I'm in Canadia!

First off - deepest apologies for the lack of blogging lately. To be honest, I haven't posted much because not much has happened in the last month or so. I worked a lot of hours at the pub because I'm trying to make a dent in my Visa and because the two full-time servers resigned, I was the most 'senior' server they had...which is hard to believe. I guess Ireland has its' share of job turnovers just like Canada. It's hard to believe now that I've been in Ireland for almost 5 months now but like everyone says, 'time flies when you're having fun!'.
Now the biggest update - I decided to surprise everyone and come to Canada for a quick and jam-packed visit! Yes, the only person that knew was the bff (Rimi) as she's the only person who DOESN'T like surprises and also would be upset if I took a taxi from the airport. So, thank you Rimi for keeping it a secret (for the most part) for over a month. I know you were bursting at the seams everyday!
I took the 345am bus from Galway to Dublin early Sunday morning as my flight departed at 9am to Heathrow (ugh, I know) and then with the past experience I had with Heathrow on my way to Ireland last October, I rushed from my plane to my connecting flight with 10 min to spare (almost 2 hour layover to note). So, by the time I got to Toronto I was exhausted to say the least but also very excited to be home (with the exception of the frigid temperatures) as I hadn't slept since Friday evening because I didn't see the point of going to bed Saturday night if I had to take the 345am bus.
Naturally, Rimi was waiting with a big 'love bug' sign and jumping with joy and said she had been waiting for over an hour...doesn't surprise me and I love her for that.
So, after 1.5 drive back to Harrington the moment had finally arrived to surprise my family. It's been tough not telling my Mom and family/friends about it as I hadn't seen them in almost 5 months...especially when hearing how they couldn't wait to see me in April when I originally planned to come home (and still am planning to do another visit in April too!). It was funny seeing their expressions. I luckily had learned that my sis and bro-in-law would be over at Mom/Dad's for dinner as they are leaving this Friday for their 3-week adventure to Costa Rica (jealous!) so it was perfect timing. I told Mom that I would be 'calling' from Galway so they said they were waiting by the phone but I decided to take it one step further. :)
When I walked up the stairs, they still had not realized that Rimi's car was in the driveway and when I knocked on the door I just saw Mom stare at me in awe and kept saying "It's Shannon? It's Shannon!"and then my sister was frozen behind the counter cutting fruit saying "Shannon! Shannon's home!"...ha. Mom literally stood there with her jaw dropped for over a minute when I finally opened the door because I realized she was frozen in her stance to not open the door. After that there was lots of hugging and laughing and more hugging and it was a great moment after all these months. Rimi, being the great friend she is, took some pics with her phone and see them below. :)

So, it's been a whirlwind of a week thus far and I'm just about half way through it all. It's been funny seeing people's reactions in town that are confused when they see me when I should be in Ireland. It's definitely difficult fitting visits in with everyone but I think, being the planner I am, I have organized a way to fit in a small visit with everyone. Luckily, I will be back in the end of April for a longer visit and the annual "Shimmy Bash". I've realized how much I miss things like sushi (ok, it's not Cdn but we don't have it in Galway!), driving (I miss you Trix), my pup/fam/friends, Boars Head wings/Cdn beer (tonight's dinner), and TV. I've been watching Food Network Canada, Canada AM and anything NOT Irish as, I'm sorry my Irish friends, Irish TV sucks and I'm glad I didn't invest in cable at our apartment. Oh - and Jonny, just for you I've been watching TSN and lots of hockey to get mine and your fill.
I guess that's about it for now. Going to go see Gramma again today to show her some of my pics and then more visits with friends and family. Down to Tdot tomorrow for some drinks/dancing and bff time (BFF-Friday) and then back to Stratford on the weekend for more family/friend time. I knew this week would fly by but I wish it would slow down just a tad...ah well.

Will try to post another update before I depart back to Ireland but we'll see...