I'm Off To England, and a Review of English Passengers!

Last post before England! As le boif keeps reminding me. I'm still struggling to heal myself of this fun-filled cough, before I away, but time is running slim. And yes, I'll be a good girl and do as granddad tells me: "be careful of pickpockets, they're rampant there" (in London). It's such a hassle changing currency. "That's why we have the Euro" yeah, I know, I know. But I'm just moaning, I'm not for us little Irish having Euro really. Being a part of the EU, sure, but the Euro is a bit much. Saying that, do they make wallets bigger in the UK? The feckin' £20 notes barely fit in mine. Pickpockets, come at me bro. Even before my granddad's warning, I was already expecting thieving folk, I mean, I've seen Oliver. It's not like England has changed since then or anything... In fairness, the accent hasn't. As I've said before though, I'm a sucker for an English accent, so I'm not complaining. As long as my Irish little self doesn't go around bursting into fits of giggles every time anyone speaks... It's such a funny accent like... Le boif will have to control me, if I can't manage to restrain. That, or make some sort of excuse that I've got an illness, or a mental disorder or something. You can't blame me like. For a silly little lady who thinks accents are hilarious to go somewhere foreign, what do you expect me to do?

Anyway, I finished reading English Passengers by Matthew Kneale today (I was determined to get it done before England). I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the mixed narrative and hearing all the different accounts of things; it kept it interesting, even past the plot, as the book, in my opinion, is all about the characters. Whether you love them or hate them (mostly the latter), it's very entertaining to read. The plot was interesting itself, what with its close association to the truth, but what I probably enjoyed the most, apart from the very unique, polarised characters, was the way in which Kneale connected everything. You know from the beginning it's gonna happen, but it's just the way he ties it all up in a ribbon, the perfect linking up of characters, plots etc. It actually made me say "aahhhhhh!" out loud a couple of time, in a 'that's how it relates' type of way. The story unfolds very neatly, no strings left untied, and by the time you're finished, you're at peace with it all, everything making perfect sense. All in all it was a very cleverly written novel. Very quick and witty. There were a couple of small parts where I lost enthusiasm slightly, and read less, but these were very slight, and towards the end, after reading 50 pages, you barely notice and you want more.

I'd say my favourite character was Renshaw, which I felt I sadly didn't get to hear enough of. However, my favourite narrator would have to be (after a lot of thought) Reverend Wilson, because (no spoilers, I promise) the way he put things is just fantastic. Not the English he used, just his way of looking at and thinking of things. He has an amazing talent for making something so ordinary out as something extraordinary (you could argue it's a religious thing, but to a point; Wilson is way past that point). For anyone reading this, who hasn't read English Passengers, I'm flattered, but I'd strongly advise you to read it.

Mainly, to summarise, I'd have to say it's a story about a journey, while there is a more exact plot, it's the journey that steals the show, and within the journey, the mixing of characters, that often would usually never mix by both choice and lack of opportunity shines though. I'm a sucker for good solid characters, even more so than for a good solid plot, and this book didn't fail to deliver. I may sing praises, but trust me. Or don't. Either way, read the book.

Packing Dilemmas, Holiday Excitement and English Boys

Packing is hard. It's not natural. How is a silly little lady like myself supposed to know what she'll feel like wearing every day for the next more than two weeks? C'est impossible! Nílim ábalta! I know some humans out there get their clothes ready days in advance, or at least the night before, and some of those inhuman humans can somehow pack confident in the knowledge that they aren't forgetting anything and have everything they need, but I'm not of these people. Yes, occasionally I know what I'll wear in advance, for an occasion! Not a whole fortnight... But usually I spend at least 20 minutes staring blankly into my wardrobe, completely dazed and incapable of choosing. There's never anything to wear. As a female, the words "I have nothing to wear!" being screamed every time I look for an outfit, are acceptable, and it is my right, as a lady, to have a mini tantrum or breakdown every time alongside this exclamation. Saying all this, le boif seems to think he's a lady in the clothes choosing department too... But no matter how many "should I bring a shirt and tie"s or "I don't know what shoes to bring"s he gives me, I have enough of my own packing dilemmas, I cannot play mummy and pack for him too! I don't mind his little clothes interjections every few minutes though, he is le boif after all, and a lovable one at that.

So, how about I help all you packing people out there with a few tips I came up with all on my own?

1. If you're going on a plane, pack at least 3 big bottles of nail polish remover, shampoo and conditioner, along with your machine gun, hand grenade and blades, just in case customs start giving you any trouble.
2. Also if you're going on a plane, don't bring your passport, nobody cares about them anymore, I mean technology has taken over, your iPhone will suffice.
3. Bring as many suitcases as you want, it's not like they charge you extra to bring another.

That's how aeroplane packing works, right?

Anyway, as you might have guessed, I'm not going on an aeroplane - oh, and the destination is England by the way - because ferries all the way. My favourite bit will be the 5 hour car journey in the Nissan Micra with us three kids in the back. It'll be so roomy. I can't complain though, le boif's family are pretty much treating me to a holiday, and even surprised me by extending the holiday so we can go to a Japanese festival (wannabe Japanese nut over here). Aren't they so cute?

Even if it's only across the water, to England, we're all still very excited. I have never been, believe it or not, and my fears of going are trying to remember which side of the escalator you're supposed to stand on, and which side to walk on (Ireland doesn't have any of these silly little rules that make sense, we don't like social unspoken rules, we like Guinness), that I'll get extremely lost and accidentally die, and that I'll fall in love with every single person there with an English accent. I'm a sucker for a cute English boy, ask le boif, and even he is worried about silly little me cooing, giggling and fangirling every time I meet a young fellow with a cute accent, especially his silly little friends! I'll try to restrain myself but I am a girl after all, you can't blame me. I will end up with an English accent after being there for a while though. Camouflage and all that jazz. Gotta be careful so I won't get the "no dogs or Irish" response my granddad did... I kid, it's not the 60s anymore. But I do tend to develop an English accent when chatting undilutedly to English people (and by undilutedly I mean only). My Japanese friend has ordered me to Skype her when my accent reaches its peak. Even Japanese girls love an English accent... I'd say le boif will get a top up on his little London-Irish accent (the Irish part obviously, I jest, I jest) and that'll keep me entertained for at least the rest of the summer. He'll just be stuck saying the words dance, France, girl and bad-ass for my giggles, but he's aware of these terms and conditions.

Just as I'm aware of the terms and conditions relating to le boif's clothes shopping, and over-excitement. I will be playing in suit shops all day, and I will be given at least one headache from rapid loud nonsense speak. But such is love, eh? I put up with his silliness, while he puts up with mine. Happy out.

A Splash of Poetry

It's a terrible moment when you can't taste your coffee. I can smell it, and it smells as divine as always, but it sits there teasing me. I can feel it there lounging about in my mouth when I take a sip, but nope, no taste follows.

Anyway, today is quite an uninspired day, with a quiet me, so I've decided I'll share my writings from two more inspired days, when I had so very much to say. In other very hipster words, you can read my poetry.

The quintessence of beauty, tranquility and peace, to the foreign eye,

Is to me, a given, a burden and frankly, a bore. 

I long to be occupied, to be amongst a different species of breath,

A more active, more involved habitat, where swiftness is daily. 

But another variety calls, a more seductive, serene surrounding.

Salt, pine, sand or blossom; I suppose I could rest my head there with the same ease.

Until then, green will keep me captive in its manufactured wilderness.

And one more, in a sonnet type style.

A droplet patiently awaits its cue,

Suspended within a cotton-like fluff.

Its call is sudden and it falls when due,

Its force is gravity, its journey, rough.

As it falls, along with its brethren - quick,

What exhilaration they must enjoy!

They race one another, boasting their shtick,

With blatant disregard, like bombs deploy.

Sights the human eye can't hope to behold,

Stretch on for what seems to them a lifetime.

Each generation of droplet grows old,

And the view of the next is smoke and grime.

But each ending won't alter, just remain,

The death of a droplet, lost in the rain.

I have no titles, nor headings, forgive but don't forget me. 

I apologise for my silly little lady self today. 

My Boyfriend Loves to Shop for Clothes... Help me.

Growling laptops are quite off-putting, I must say. My chance to use the lovely Mac keyboard was destroyed due to unpredictable circumstances, and instead I must try not to provoke this growling, grumbling Acer, which I do fear may blow me to pieces if I anger it in any way.

Aaaaanyway... Today, has been... interesting. I went to Swords in Dublin with le boif, and his mummy and sissy, for some holiday shopping. Now, the usual circumstance for couples clothes shopping is quite simple, and the stereotype is rarely false: the girl drags the boy around Next, TK Maxx and Penneys, and his duty is to answer the "does my bum look big in this?" question correctly, and carry the bags. I say this stereotype is rarely wrong, but in our case (le boif and silly little me), this is severely reversed. I have long accepted the terms and conditions of le boif's admittedly camp obsession with clothes, and knew I'd have a thrilling shopping experience. 

Le boif is also aware of his oddness, and in preparation, or foresighted compensation, I was first brought to Tiger (a shop of knick-knacks), and received treats of sunglasses and a sketchbook  to keep me quiet for the next few hours. We also went to one of those fun photo booths, to be all retro and hipster, with our couple silliness. Thus ended the compensation. And so it began. After many complaints of "it's the wrong material", "they're too low cut", etc, and the trying on and modelling of the various items to be bought, I will admit, I was quite exhausted, and slightly losing the will to live. Coffee and chats did the trick though and I recovered gradually, but it was touch and go for a while, and I very nearly perished due to the overload of shopping coupled with uncomfortably warm sleepy weather.

The rest of the day was one of sunshine, sand and sea. Not bad for an Irish summer. With ice cream cones in hand, we all headed onto a Skerries beach, to soak up and relish the vitamin D we can usually only find in Super Milk in this country. Now, I'm not one for sandy beaches; yucky, dusty, microscopic annoyances getting all over your clothes and hair isn't my cup of tea. I'd much prefer a nice stony beach, on a not too hot day (so I can exist peacefully). But saying all that, I did enjoy my beach time today. 

I will admit it was quite cute couple-ish, the whole scene. Le boif lifting me, giving me piggy-back rides, falling on the sand together which sparked fits of giggles, and sharing sandy kisses, all of which are quite rom-com movie-ish. You won't find me complaining about having a movie style relationship, or anyone else out there for that matter. It's hardly a bad thing. It is incredibly cheesy and ridiculous, but so is love when you think about it, and that doesn't stop everyone from participating and enjoying the madness of it all. 

Sadly, we had to leave the beach at some stage, and no matter how long you stay, leaving isn't something you want to do. But we managed, and had a sleepy, bumpy road journey home to le boif's. Since then, we've been even more hipster cute couple-ish, playing guitar and bass together, while singing. The fun accelerated though when we relived our childhoods by playing Rayman Raving Rabbits on the Wii with le boif's lil' sis'. 

While I'm running short of new news, I gotta say, even with the growly laptop (who is behaving relatively well at present), and the lack of Mac keyboard, sitting up here in le boif's room, writing while he reads The Catcher In The Rye (thanks to my influence of course) unintentionally looking so damn cute and handsome, life is pretty damn sweet.  

A Lot Of Puppy, Butterflies, Poor Donkeys and Irish Mosquitos

Before we get started, hello, and welcome. But mainly, I'm trying this thing I hear tell people do, which involves having music on whilst writing... Weird. Normally I want quiet, because I'm speaking (virtually), and I don't want anyone else interfering with my right to speak, or distracting silly little me, or changing the tone or mood when I don't intend it to be altered. I don't know how long this horrific experiment will last, I can't hear myself think here.

Yeah. experiment over. I'm more of a speech giver than a conversationalist.
Ahhh... Peace...

So ladies and gentlemen, let's fill you in and get you up to date on everything you've missed these past couple days. I'm just warning all you cat-folk out there, my Puppy will be centre stage during this blog post, so relax and enjoy the canine.

Puppy is, in a sentence, a bundle of galloping energy, with the kind of fur you just want to ruffle and give scrunchie-cuddles to. He also happens to run so fast, and have such big paws (and a big self in general), that admittedly, he does sound like a horse when he legs it around the field. And in regards to his puppy-dog strength (he's nearly fully grown, but he'll always be my puppy), he could drag you down the road as if you weren't there at all, if you let him, on a walk. Ask le boif, who despite his cat-lover self, enjoys being hauled down the road by Puppy. Oh yes, and Puppy has a "real" name, but I don't like real names, and I like Puppy better.

While you may imagine this big doggy to be wild and relentless (which is mostly true), you have yet to hear about his adorable puppy-self. Puppy may sound like a horse, but when we went for a walk down to some local real horsies, poor Puppy was frightened out of his fur, but sat there like a good boy, albeit, quite far away from them. But perhaps the cutest thing of all, even beating his sitting beside me when he's finished galloping, while I read my book, is his adoration of flying creatures. If that dog had wings, he'd be dangerous.

Puppy's all time favourite hobbies are chasing and snapping at butterflies, battling and vanquishing bees and wasps, and watching the birdies fly around the sky, and galloping underneath them. I swear, you give him a butterfly in flight, and he'll give you a spectacle. He can never catch them though, he's too big to jump high enough, but that doesn't stop him of course. However, as cute as this pastime of his is, if you have him on the lead, taking him for a walk, and a butterfly crosses his path, Puppy's gonna chase that butterfly, with or without you attached to him. His battles with bumbly bees are very "kawaii" also. At first, he attacks, and snaps at them, jumping back after he delivers each snap, for fear of receiving a sting, and this dance continues until the bee's wings cannot support it anymore, and it falls to the grass, in despair. This is not the end however. Puppy will lie down, watching that bumbly bee, making sure it stays inanimate, and doesn't try to be a hero. If that bumble so much as twitches a microscopic leg, Puppy will pat him with his paw, to make sure it won't happen again, feeling like he is in control of nature itself. When Puppy is certain of his victory, he celebrates. He does this by flopping onto where the bee is lying, and rolling around, on top of him, with the happiest face you've ever seen. I am also certain that Puppy wishes he were a bird, because he stares up into the sky for minutes on end, and runs with all his might underneath the swallow he spies, swerving here and there, replicating the bird's exact flight pattern. All in all, what is he trying to do to me, this Puppy, kill me with cuteness?

One more thing, I'd like to share with you, if Puppy's actions aren't cute enough for you, allow me to introduce to you, Puppy, as an actual puppy. If that's not totes adorbs I don't want to live in this world. It's so strange to think, all those years ago, when we first got Puppy, he was so small, he would curl up on my chest and tummy and fall asleep, with his big baby paws. Nowadays, I could use him as my pillow.

Enough about my puppy (I'm done now cat-folk), on our walk today (I swear, not about Puppy), we came across a sad little donkey a few fields down from our home, all overgrown hoofed and little and neglected. It's enough to break a heart. We've called the ISPCA, and they put a notice on the gate, telling the owner to sort it all out, and the owner obviously just took the notice off his gate so nobody else would see it. We're going to call the ISPCA again soon. The poor little guy. Flat out braying he is.

I was being so attacked by flies and all those other flying insects that buzz directly around your head, that I couldn't stay with the donkey for long, sadly. These flies though. Holy Mary. Phew. Much buzz. Very bite. What is it with me and mosquitoes? Why do you fellows love my blood so? This is Ireland, not Spain. I did not sign up for this mosquito deal. So much itch.

I have to say though, the weather really has begun to behave itself. It's sticking exactly around my 17-19 degrees Celsius requirement.  

Oh and here's a picture of my cat as a kitten, for all you cat lovers out there. 

Irish Heatwave, Bass Guitars, AUB-1, and a Little Mandolin

I may have mentioned before that it's summer, but allow me to repeat myself: it really is summer.

Not only have all us lucky students gotten our holidays (yay!), which marks the usual Irish summer, (as we don't normally have the weather to match) but we're also being scorched off the face of the earth. I don't mind a nice warm day, with a light breeze, around 17 degrees Celsius, in fact I'd welcome it. But there is warm, and then there is 'ouch my lungs can't breath from the excessive sun'.  Why? Why is there such a need for 27 degrees? In Ireland of all places! The entire nation will be sunburnt and riddled with freckles before the week is out! I know we Irish love to chat about the weather, and moan about the lack of sun, but honestly, we never expected the sun to come down from the heavens and nest in our backyards. What are we, dating?

I'm aware that at least 70% of the country are cursing people like me (non-sunworshippers) for our putting a downer on our Spain style weather, and are enjoying the scald for the time they get to keep it, but what about all of us delicate flowers? The difference of a couple of degrees for us is traumatic and downright scandalous. I don't even own a fan, I was under the impression that this was a non-scald country. I need to breath, over here. I wouldn't mind if I had a swimming pool (well, I would a little), or at least lived near the sea where a breeze could exist, but an inland area, I don't know how long I'll last. Even my Puppy/giant dog mutt, has no desire to go get the ball, that's a basic doggy right. Not that I could go out and throw it, I fear I'll get frazzled like a little egg on a pan. Suggesting sun cream isn't an option, I would go mad if I had to wear that slime, I'm only human.

Due to my sudden aversion to going outside/inability to leave my cool home, I have taken to playing le boif's bass, and reading le boif's The Bass Book. It does what it says on the tin, and concerns itself with shiny and crumbly old basses that belonged to music-y people, whilst providing pictures and educating helpless and clueless little ladies like myself, in the world of boom. I'm not implying that when I'm finished I'll retain much information, but I enjoy brushing up on my awareness of my ignorance.

From the little amount I've read, I appear to be more of a Jazz Bass lady than a Precision, and I've also fallen in love with the most handsome bass in town/around. I will show you him now, but bear in mind that he's mine, and you can't have him. (As if I could get my hands on one *cries*) Looooooook at him! In'he a beaut? The one on the left is the AEB-1 (Ampeg Electric Bass), and the one on the left is MY AUB-1 (Ampeg Unfretted Bass). I love him. He's so pretty.






 Look at him sitting there, with his lovely scroll cranium (headstock), his f-holes right through, his quirky bridge, lack of frets and his mystery pickup, why is he not mine? We all know he's supposed to be mine, it's a given, so how's about we speed up the painful process? Or else I'll storm up to Mr. Ampeg and tell him to quit all this amp manufacturing malarkey and make me my bassy. He can't say no. What could go wrong? I know I ought to get a bass of my own, of some description first, in the meantime, but NIH.

I also happened upon a sheer piece of joy yesterday in my Google Images searching. To all you people out there he may just look like a normal mandolin but I beg to differ. I've never seen anything so pretty. I was so delighted with the world for making this 'un, that all faith in the human race has been returned, and I forgive you all for all your nonsense. So here's a picture to brighten your day.

It's Summer! Books! Wild Swans Review! China! But oh... storms...

Yes, it's here at last folks! And no more whining about school bothers shall I partake in, at least for 2 months. Although the weather in Ireland hasn't fully copped on to the fact that it's actually summer for the next couple months, I am enjoying the surprising (but not surprising for Ireland) contrast between blue skies, warm sunny days, and crazy rain-thunderstorm days in between. And now that it's summer, I have time to do everything! So you'd think anyway...

In reality, all I want to do is have mo shrón sáite sa leabhair i gcónaí (or have my nose stuck in books permanently, for the 99% who don't speak Irish). Yep, books, cuddles, and food take up most of my time, but I'm not complaining. Going abroad would also be lovely, but in time, in time. Last night I finished Wild Swans by Jung Chang (FINALLY-it's a big book) and I felt utterly lost and helpless without it. I'll miss the tales of woe, love and determination that permeate the three generations of little Chinese ladies. Despite the long amount of time it took me to read the middle section of that book (when the politics really kicked in), I adored every second of it, even though it deeply saddened and shocked me to hear about the horrific conditions of olden day China. I'll even miss the ridiculous political slogans, all the 'capitalist roaders', 'class enemies', and 'bourgeois' this, that and the other, that were so off the wall and just insane that in the end I couldn't help but laugh at the hypocrisy and mangled logic and sense that a whole country could 'function' under for so many years. That book has brought me many smiles, a handful of tears, and given me a huge insight into China's past, in particular, the first few decades of Communism.

Even after reading it all though, I'm still extremely shocked, and quite outraged that the book is banned in mainland China, even to the present day. I mean, even for a country that has been riddled and ravished with messed up politics, I assumed that in the 21st centrury (nearly 38 years after the death of Mao), complete freedom of speech would be allowed. Especially one so important when it comes to world trade and business. But perhaps my shock is due to lackadaisy Ireland, where practically no books have been banned since 1998. That's one of the reasons I'm glad I live in Ireland, as much as I'd love to see the rest of the world, and one of the reasons I'm so proud to be Irish. I mean Salinger's Catcher In The Rye was banned in 1951, and has since appeared on the Leaving Certificate curriculum, we've developed that much. Now I know it's different with China, because political parties everywhere hate to accept their past mistakes, and Communism is still a thing there, but I am still quite disappointed with the world. So if the banning of one book in China irks me, you can imagine how I feel about North Korea. It vexes me. I'm terribly vexed. [If you didn't get that quote, I shake my head, sigh and strongly advise you to rewatch Gladiator]

As I type, thunder is rumbling so loudly, that some theoretical god must be rearranging whole houses up there, not just the furniture. I've always enjoyed the gentle, boomy lullaby of thunder rolling across the sky, but that loud bout was more like a growl or a full blown roar rather than a lullaby. No doubt my poor grandmother is hiding underneath the sofa or something at this stage, or managed to squeeze herself between the cracks in the floorboards, or has built some sort of makeshift cellar in the past few hours, for urgent shelter safety needs of course. And my mother decided that today of all days she would go for a drive in the countryside, it's not like we live in the countryside already or anything... Anyway, the rain is so bad my internet is flickering, and even the static in the air that calms me during a thunderstorm isn't fully cancelling out my slight nervousness from the violent bursts of sound of electrostatic discharge.

Scrap all that, it's all escalated so quickly that if I didn't know better, I would be completely convinced that multiple explosions had gone off in my back garden. I'm serious! I've never heard or seen anything like this before! I generally love thunderstorms! They actually relax me! And I've only ever seen lightning a handful of times before, all off in the distance, that I had to strain to see, followed minutes later by soft thunder; I mean Ireland is a very safe, uneventful place. But a few minutes ago, my small window was lit up with bright light, which I saw accidentally even while looking at my computer screen, and then the explosion occurred outdoors, making me feel like I'm in a badly written book by the name of How Many Miles To Babylon, or in an even worse film adaptation with a mentally and accent-ly challenged Alec who apparently watches too much Napoleon Dynamite  and was severely influenced by Napoleon's brother Kip.
Link to a clip of Kip (in Napoleon Dynamite)
Link of a clip of Daniel Day-Lewis (in How Many Miles To Babylon) [Even from the first few lines...]

Anyway, I got a bit shaky, and nervy, and went downstairs. I looked out my back window just to check that it was thunder and lightning and not some bloody atomic bomb going off outside. I didn't anticipate to be blinded by a bright light, that must be nearly directly over my house, and at the most 2 seconds later another deafening roll to assault my eardrums. I'm very surprised my electricity is still working, and has only gone off once or twice for a few seconds.

I haven't heard anything in the past few minutes, perhaps it's clearing, or it's the calm before a bigger storm. I hope it's the former, but I'm really enjoying the storm on another level, don't ask me why.

I was planning on learning some French in a little while but after all this commotion perhaps I'll just curl up with another book...

Schlemiels and Schlimazels

A schlemiel spills soup on a schlimazel.

    What a fantastic sentence! A schlemiel is a Yiddish word meaning a clumsy or awkward person, who is prone to spilling soup. A schlimazel is also a Yiddish word derived from the German word 'slim' meaning crooked, and the Hebrew word 'mazzal' meaning luck, and translates to an unlucky, accident-prone person who is prone to getting soup spilled on him. Hence the sentence 'a schlemiel spills soup on a schlimazel.'
 
   Interesting eh? Yiddish is quite an entertaining language, it has some brilliant words, that sound exactly like what they mean. The onomatopoeia is amazing. To me, some of the words completely sum up what they stand for. Now, I don't speak Yiddish, nor do I know anyone who does, but I would love to learn it one day. I'm a bit of a language nerd. I'm studying French and Irish in school, but the Irish education system still hasn't figured out how to teach languages yet, sadly.
 
   I'm very fond of the Irish language, although not many people can say that. In my estimation about 80% of people learning Irish in school hate it, and nobody can speak it properly these days, apart from the very few Gaelgoirí left in the country. It saddens me really. As an Irish lassie, I'm quite patriotic and proud of my little island, and whatever we have left of our culture, since being invaded by Britain all those years ago, is diminishing to the point where I have to wonder, will there be any left? I believe the Irish language to be very poetic and beautiful, and while most see it as an unnecessary chore to learn it in school, I love it, and hope to learn it fully in college, and to become fluent one day. It's a tricky little language, because it's difficult to put into practice due to the lack of fluent speakers, but I think it's worth it. As the Irish saying goes "tír gan teanga, tír gan anam", meaning a country without a language is a country without a soul.
 
   I'm also learning Japanese at present, on my own, (it's not like I have the option of lessons where I live anyway) and I would love to study that in college too. Finding a career out of language is tricky business though, but I'm sure I'll get by.

I'll be a polyglot yet!