Sometimes when i do sit-ups i fart.

Okay so where to start, I have been reading over my last few entries and they seem to be largely consisting of “What-I-Did-On-My-Holiday” posts. Informative perhaps but not very interesting. Therefore, since I am approaching my 2-month anniversary here, (yes believe it or not it has been two months since that barbeque in my back garden and the last time I saw any of ye) I will perhaps do a bit of a critique of my visit so far.

Job Life: I will admit that there are some periods in the job where I am bored stiffless, tired and constantly staring at the clock. It is however constantly improving. The longer I spend there the more things I am able to do and the less I have to do the boring, monotonous but simple tasks. Being able to chose which books to order or learning how to make new drinks makes it much more satisfying to work there. I am also getting to know the staff and the regular customers more so I am have a better laugh working and except for Bi-polar Betsy’s Mr Hyde aspect there is no one I don’t get on with. I usually come home wrecked however as I am mostly on my feet and rarely get a chance to sit down for 8 hours straight.

Home Life: Again, I am pretty satisfied with this. The house and the garden are gorgeous and I am getting on very well with Suzanne and Patrick. Patrick is coming out of his shell more and it turns out he is a pretty funny, if dry, kind of guy. Suzanne of course is great. They call her my Mother inside in work but to be honest she is more like an older sister or a young aunt. She asks very little from me bar cleaning up after myself and doing an hour or two a week in the garden and we also have a lot in common as I mentioned before. Plus, between her spending a lot of time in Ireland over the last 15 years and Patrick having gone to secondary school there for a while (4 years in Foxrock boarding school, he is good friends with Gabrial Rosenstock the poet) and living in Dublin for a few years, they are well up on Irish culture and seem like less of a pair of Yanks and so I do not feel that much isolated from home.

Love Life: Ha! Did you ever think you would see the day when you saw me talk about my love life? Myself and Lacy (I cant be bothered with the whole Madam thing, seems a little forced) are getting on grand. As I said before we aint going out but neither of us is seeing anyone else if you get my drift. She is sound out and I am only getting fonder of her as time goes by. She is a cool kat and is rather than making work awkward it only makes it more of a laugh. It is a most uncomplicated relationship, we don’t have to try and appear to be lovey-dovy in public (in fact we avoid it, it is still only Susanne and Bi-polar Betsy who know in work) and we are really just two good friends….with benefits. Hopefully that is the way it will stay, I will afterall be gone in a month and a half.

I think you could sum up this summer in one word: Uncomplicated. And I think it is because of this I am enjoying it so much. Bar Lacy and Suzanne, there is nobody who has any influence whatsoever on what I do with my time and anything those two suggest I usually find very enjoyable. My life over here is incredibly simple and I am relishing it. There are no feuding parties I have to juggle, family responsibilities I have to fulfil or social pressures to conform to. Over here I can watch what films I want, listen to what music, rent what videos or wear what clothes I want. I don’t have to worry about the perpetual harassing globs of scum that settle on street corners or comic but irritating family opinion. Could you see me dying my hair white and am seeing a 30 year old women in Clonlara? I couldn’t.

But another thing about my time here is that it is just one summer. Like I said, I am going home in 6 weeks. I do not know if I would feel this positive about this place if I were here for six months or a year. Perhaps the anonymous autonomy would get depressing and lonely after a while. It is knowing that is only a break and I will get to go back home at the end that makes it so pleasant. I can enjoy myself here then return to that family and that Clonlara and start again, perhaps not where I left off, but in a setting that is familiar and predictable to me. Don’t get me wrong, while I am loving it here I am always looking forward to going home.

So in closing folks, while i am having the, perhaps uneventful, time of my life here i am still looking forward to seeing all ye guys soon and being home again. I am just going to make the most of my time here and when it is over its over, i dont think i have reason to come back. The same cant be said for home.