On Sunday, I went to sailing practice despite that it was snowing again. Practices are held at the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Loaghaire (pronounced Dun Leary), a 25 minute bus ride from campus. We kicked off practice with an intense snowball fight and lots of complaints about the cold weather. The team has a brand new fleet of six Fireflies (a cross between the lark and an FJ, the crew must sit backwards), and we took them all out on the water. Here, in Ireland, the college teams sail in five regattas (team racing only) all year.
Before heading out on the water, we had a briefing with a coach (their first coach this season), who is an exceptional team racer. He went through the basics of team racing, and I am finally starting to understand the strategy involved. When we finally got out on the water, two hours late, the wind had died and we floated around the race course. I wish that I had gotten in a complete race, but it was a nice experience nonetheless. The kids on the team are super nice, and fairly welcoming. I'm going to try to make it to a few more practices this season, and to their weekly theory sessions.
I spent nearly five hours registering as a student with immigration. The experience highlighted how much more efficient everything is in North America. So far, my only pet peeves here are the constant presence of inefficiencies and lack of hot water on demand, but I think I can deal with both pretty easily.
Love,
Erin
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