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ChickenRiceChu
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Name: Jimmy
Birthday: 2/12/1981
Gender: Male
Interests: Cooking and dreaming of owning "Manna" one day, finding ways to worship my personal Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (painting and playing guitar are the hobbies of the moment), and bargain shopping (online, at outlet centers, at Ross/Target =D).
Expertise: hahah... To be determined. All i know is I want to know God more and make Him known...
Occupation: Accounting/Finance
Industry: Computers (Hardware)
Message: message me
Member Since:
6/5/2003
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| So I've been in Dublin for the past five days and I've got to say that the Irish accent is incredibly charming. The British accent is a bit snobbish and the Scottish accent is a bit harsher to the ear, so the Irish accent falls in this happy middle ground.
One of the nuances is that the sound you make for words beginning with "th-" like "thanks" is pronounced with a hard "t' sound. So instead of "thanks" you would say "tanks." This endearing speech pattern snuck into a conversation I was having with a colleague and I said what time in the afternoon he was free to meet. He said (and I subsequently heard) "Tree dirty." For a few moments I just stood and blinked. Then the moment of comprehension followed with a good few minutes discussing how Irish pronounce things differently (arguably, "correctly" =P).
Other than the speech lessons, here's a list of things that have made an impression on me:
- people here are really nice. i've gotten lost countless times because street names change every other block. every time the person would actually walk with me to the correct intersection and sent me off.
- The expressions used are much more grandiose. Common interjections are "Brilliant!" "Grand!" "Lovely!" "Fantastic!"
- the pubs here are first of all very very old. but amazingly, they're pretty clean. no sticky floors. amazing. and they usually have some form of live music. and people actually will spontaneously erupt into drinking songs. It's like medival karaoke =D My favorite (I only heard like 3) - is known as
"the one about the tart with a cart". =D
- celtic folk music is reaaallly relaxing to listen to
- you can experience all 4 seasons in one day. there was one day that started off sunny then clouds rolled in and it started pouring in the afternoon and at night it was cool but clear and breezy.
- People at work are very fun to talk with. One lunch conversation included trying to figure out the genus for octopii, the economic impact of capitalism/democracy on europe, corny jokes (my contribution), food you would never eat, commuting to work, and the number of shoes in women's wardrobes.
- Old habits are hard to break. They drive on the right side of the car and on the left of the road. so at cross walks you're supposed to look in the opposite directions you would in the states. And they have written down on most cross walks which direction to look with an arrow pointing in that direction. I still look the wrong way.
 - Guiness tastes REALLY good with dark chocolate or buttered toast. I can't explain why.
- I'm going to see Riverdance. In dublin. I'm so excited I could burst =D
while it has been fun, I'll be very happy to be back home. Primarily, to get back to sleeping normal hours again is what I'm most looking forward to. Although I got some major reading done, it's a bit disconcerting to be up for 21 hours of a day. and i miss my pillow. and friends. =) but definitely can't complain... this will definitely go down as one of the "funner" business trips I've been on.
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| I recently started with a book group that is reading through the Brothers Karamazov. Very quickly I found that I am somewhat out of my league.. but it's fun =)
Of course, I should have expected a group of hardcore literary-types because who else would choose to read dense works of Russian literature during the summer for fun. But I've always wanted to try a reading group and I've attempted to read this book several times on my own and have crashed and burned all three times (although successfully reading incrementally more each time).
These people take notes. They read commentaries on the translations of Dostoevsky and actually look up cross-references and bring laptops to look things up during our thursday night discussions. It's really quite intimidating. But even though they are thoroughly hardcore and very well-read people, I think that it's nice that they are tolerant of a book group newbie like me that obviously is in over his head on this one =P
I'm going to attempt to rise up to their level of english nerdiness by starting a reading journal to jot notes as I read. What I've learned so far:
- Russian names are incredibly difficult to sort out because sometimes nicknames have little or no resemblance to their given names... ok so that's not totally different except that Russian ones are much longer and constructed with unfamiliar combinations of consonants and vowels
- This was Dostoevky's last novel before he passed away
- There's a character in the book that very may well be one of the first charcters depicted with autism
- hands and bowing are symbolic. of what i'm not entirely sure ahahahhahaha.
And of course when I toss the book aside to take a break, I must say that THIS SEASON OF SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE is SOOOO GOOOOOD. =D I think it's way better then last season. Although the prize is pretty lame (who wants a contract to dance with Celine Dion in Vegas???). Oh well... makes for good TV.
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| Today while at lunch, I was telling my cousin Brian how I had this system to get a to-go box and work my way backwards from dessert to the main course to strategically plan my meal. I also get a to-go box because a) one time i dropped my plate from two flights of stairs up in a most spectacular fashion and b) this way i just find the nearest trashcan and don't have to walk all the way to the other side of the cafe to bus my tray. Moreso b than a. I say this is dining in the most energy/time efficient method. He shakes his head and says I toe the line of efficiency and sheer laziness very very closely.
I claim to be efficient =)
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| it's amazing to think how much can happen in a moment. although a terrifically unspecified amount of time, suffice it to say that it is short and fleeting and somewhat evasive. but they happen all the time and more often than not I'm looking the other way. or I'm too busy to notice. or both.
but today during sunday school among a group of about 10 middle school students I had a moment. It wasn't an earth-shaking theological epiphany or the advent of a revival or anything show-y like that... it was just one new kid raising his hand because he had a prayer request.
now to note - the typical thing on the prayer request list includes that suzie (ficitional name) will do well on her test (actual request), that buster would make it onto the soccer team, that so-and-so's friend would feel better which, don't get me wrong, are real and important things to pray for. And we do so regularly, so that's what I was prepared for.
but now it's this kid's turn to share and he's a bit timid... so that's how I could tell it really meant a lot to him. He looks at me and then quickly down at his shoes and says meekly but with the innocent honesty of an 12 year old: "My dad is a police officer. could you pray that he stays safe? I just want him to be safe."
and you could see it in this kid's eyes that this was something that really was on his heart. that he loves his dad and he's genuinely praying for him to be safe. and something tells me this kid runs and gives his dad a big fat hug each day he comes home.
truth be told, i think that's a really beautiful thing - the youthful, untethered, love of a son for a father. it was so unexpected, so simple, so short, so true all at once it took me a few seconds to get around to answer him and say sure - yea - we'll definitely keep him in our prayers...
perhaps I'm reading too much into the moment or being unusually sappy. but for whatever reason, I had a moment and I wanted to jot it down to remember one of those moments that could have got away... but didn't go unnoticed...
thanks, God =)
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