Day Nine - 19/9/2012 - Cork

     Orientation was at 9:15am, which seemed awfully early.  I had Nestle Cheerios for breakfast, and realized that I shouldn't eat them in front of the box because I keep expecting chocolate in place of honey-nut deliciousness.  Then, I learned the walk to campus that I will be making frequently at unfortunately earlier hours.  Orientation was split into three days, and the first day covered social aspects.  We were told about the different clubs and societies available to students.  We met the Student Union Board, which is a group of graduates who are paid for full time work as advocates for the student body at UCC.  It seems that, unlike in the United States, clubs and societies are avidly participated in, and have frequent meetings.  The morning lectures concluded and we had a walking tour of the campus.

     There are two bits of lore about the UCC campus.  The first has to do with the seal, which is made in mosaic tile under one of the archways of the original building in the main quadrangle.  They say if you step on the crest at any point before final exams, you will either fail your exams or get pregnant.  If you're a male, then the outcome is clear.

     The second bit of lore has to do with the gravel pathways through the main quadrangle itself.  When UCC was first established as Queen's College, it was one building, with the President living in the East Wing, classes and church in the North Wing, and student dormitories in the West Wing.  There is a gravel pathway that cuts through the lawn, connecting the West to the East wing, which connected the student dormitories to the President's office.  Students who were to be expelled from the University would be walked down this pathway by one of the President's staff, and so students today avoid the path completely, as walking on the path would mean you were likely to be expelled.

     After the walking tour, the group of UC students went to the student center to get coffee at the cafe on campus.  After that, I bought myself a sweatshirt with the UCC crest on it.  Walking around the city, I became aware of a rather curious fact.  The pedestrian crossing signs are very detailed here compared to the US.  Any sign that would be a stick figure in the US has feet, or a handbag, or hair in Ireland.  Back at home, I had ramen with pork sausage, tomato, and egg, then took a nap.  Tuna salad sandwiches for dinner.

     On one of my many trips to Tesco, I had picked up a package of Keeling's strawberries.  I noticed that, on the current package, there was a promotional deal for some cash prize or trip.  To be entered, you had to predict how many Keeling's strawberries, lined end to end, would it take to span the distance from the strawberry fields in Dublin where the strawberries came from to the Strawberry Fields in Central Park, New York, a tribute to the Beatles.  Meng and I measured each strawberry and used Google maps with longitude and latitude coordinates to calculate a grand total of some 221 million strawberries.  They announce the winners on Halloween.