This is week two of my 10K training program.

Today I will run for 2min and walk for 2min, repeat 7 times. Thanks Mia for the little kick in the butt… That’s all I needed. Now I can concentrate on something at the gym rather than doing random exercises every time. I will continue to go to the sauna of course, it’s the nicest thing about Dublin.

The Norwegian account is quite expensive and complicated 🙁 How many Norwegian Krones do I have? How much is that in Euros? On top of that I can’t read the bank statements…

We can receive our scholarship in Krones or Euros so I’ve decided to open a bank account here in Dublin. A student account free of charge 🙂 Getting into bank proved tricky, the doors are like airlocks: Open the first door, go in, wait for the door to close, open the second door.

On Friday we had a guest lecturer from the University of East London, Dr. Mathias Urban.

Four things:
1. He is German
2. He had a Canadian Flag on his luggage
3. I have family members with the same last name
4. He works with Peter Moss

I have read a few articles and books by Peter Moss and like his way of thinking. Listening to Mathias Urban was as though he was reading from one of my favorite books Ethics and Politics in Early Childhood Education (by Peter Moss, surprise, and Gunilla Dahlberg). It was great to be inspired.

He mentioned one program that was launched in New Zealand, called Centre of Innovation. I took some info from their webpage. I like the idea of childcare centres working in partnership with a researcher… Maybe that could be my job later on.

“Selected services (they are talking aout childcare service) are designated COI for a three year period during which time they are contracted by the Ministry to: Research and further develop their existing innovative practice; and disseminate information about their innovation and the outcomes of their research. They work in partnership with a research associate who is contracted by the ministry to provide research support services to their teacher researcher partners.”

Time just flew by and I must say it’s a bit easier for me to be away from home this time. Thanks for all your support. Love you.

On the weekend we went on a beautiful trip to Howth. It’s just a bus ride away and really beautiful. Now I can say that I’ve arrived in Ireland. After the hike we enjoyed coffee and cake in a lovely cafe. A beautiful day. Wish you could have been there too!

It was so great to talk to like-minded people. It was very inspiring to exchange ideas and I’m glad I brought pen & paper to take notes.

Today only 3 people showed up. Olivera, Natalia, and Antje 🙂 We stayed until the coffee shop closed and then went back home for dinner. This is funny, because the three of us live together… So we left the house together, met at the coffee shop, and then went back home together. That just makes me giggle. Maybe next time someone else -who doesn’t live with us- will join us.

After talking to my friend Lucy this afternoon, I am feeling very motivated to read articles for school and to start thinking about my research proposal. Talking to Lucy made me realize how much I miss sharing the ideas in my head with others. I’ve arranged a study group and will meet my academic sisters at the coffee shop down the street on Monday afternoon. Let’s see where the conversations will take us.

Thanks again for the motivation Lucy. I miss you 🙂

The IMEC program I am taking here in Europe is still new and my friends and I are enrolled in the second cohort to ever take this program. This week we met Anna, a young woman from Poland who is in the first ever IMEC cohort. It’s been very very interesting to talk to her about her experiences. Their group just split up for the final semester. 6 stayed in Malta, 5 went to Oslo, and 4 are here in Ireland.

Yesterday Anna took us to a free classical concert at the Dublin City Gallery. I loved the animated pianist and thought of my piano teacher, Madeline, in Vancouver.

I often think of Madeline these days. When I saw her over Christmas I told her about my plan to sign up for the gym, because I have quite a bit of free time here in Dublin. She encouraged me to enjoy the time I have for myself. It’s working. I enjoy my time at the gym very much, especially the pool, steam room, sauna, and jacuzzi. I’ve also started running and even some light exercises for my shoulder. After all, it’s been a year since that skate boarder crashed into me and shoulder is slowly getting better.

One day over Christmas we booked a family appointment with THE Chiropractor on Commercial Drive. He fixed Ainsley (my sister in-law), Laurence (brother in-law), Evan (even though he didn’t want to get fixed), and me. Bjorn and Eileif came along as well. It was pretty fun. My tailbone is almost back to normal, my shoulder is better too. Yay!

Audrey and her family had all of us over for dinner today. It was lovely to be in an Irish house with an Irish family.

I think we’ve hit the bottom today… Now everything will get better. I’ m certain. Both moms, don’t worry, we’re fine. We’ll laugh about these first few weeks in Dublin pretty soon.