Reasons for Happiness

This morning, I saw a dog with a cone around his neck and a broken leg lolloping happily down the street. I was walking behind two (good-looking) Irish men, and as this dog joyfully limped past, all three of us looked at it and smiled.

All of my "preparing for your time abroad" information warned me that the three week mark is when home-sickness begins to creep in, and things aren't quite as fun and charming as they used to be. I admit, the past few days have not been my best. I blame this mostly on my lack of bank account, which I opened three weeks ago but still can't access. As of now, I have a gorgeous, fat stipend check full of lovely money sitting in my sock drawer which I am unable to cash because Ulster Bank has not yet set up my account.

Aside from that though, I don't really have anything to complain about. In fact, here are some things that have made me happy of late (besides the three-legged, cone-head dog):

-School uniforms. All school kids who aren't at university walk around in them. Adorable little pleated skirts (or pants, if they're male) and knee socks and blazers. It's fantastic. I can't get enough of it.

-My hairdryer. I finally gave in and bought one today-the one that I brought from home threatens to burst in to flame every time I turn it on-at Argos (this store completely baffles me. You look through this huge catalog of products and type little numbers into a calculator-esque thing to see if the product is in stock. After this, there are several other steps before purchasing which I have yet to master. Fortunately, they employee nice (and cute) workers, who always take pity on me. That is why I continue to shop there.)

-Pick and Mix candy at the movie theater. I confess that this is the reason that I want to go to movies. There's about fifty bins of every type of candy that you could possibly want to eat (some of my favorites: foam mushrooms, white-chocolate pig heads, jelly babies, and strawberry toffee), and you get to put whatever you want in a little paper bag, and then the candy-counter guy weighs it for you to see how much it costs. It feels like a Roald Dahl book.