Long Time Coming

In the words of Jonny Lang, "Yeah, it's been a long time coming..."
How was my holiday break? One word: Interesting. You know, as in when someone asks you what you thought of the horrible new music they just made you listen to and you answer, "Um...it was interesting..." Yeah, interesting.

At this time I don't really feel like talking about Christmas, the better parts came in Ireland. Laura and I arrived in Dublin and the very next day we set off for Cork City, Cork, Cork, City (sung to the tune of "Bear City" from SNL). In Cork we both got nauseatingly sick and it wasn't just from watching the "No, I love YOU more Schmoopy!" couples walking around. We managed to spend a few hours in Blarney, walking around the Jim Henson-esque woods waiting for muppets to pop out from behind the trees, and of course kissing the Blarney stone. Then we spent the rest of the day feverish and delirious. Well, I did anyway, I don't know about Laura.

The next few days in Galway were pretty much the same although we tried to muddle through it and just pretend we weren't sick. The highlights of Galway were getting my hair cut by an Irishman named Patrick (I mean, really...do you HAVE to so adequately fill the stereotype?), finding ourselves somehow behind the police lines at a crime scene, and drinking some Guinness at the King's Head (because Guiness in Ireland tastes so much better than anywhere else). The lowlights were trying to fall asleep at night pondering the pros and cons of going to a hospital for treatment. Pathetic, eh?

Lastly, we went back to Dublin for New Year's Eve and a rockin' New Year's Eve it was! We went from a compromise of just going down to Temple Bar for an hour to ring in the New Year, to admitting to ourselves that we probably could only count on making it as far as the hotel's bar....and finally we ended up in our beds watching the fireworks in London on TV whilst giving each other a pathetic New Year's High Five. But hey, at least we were in Ireland?

After 2 agonizing flights getting me back to Hungary, spent in massive amounts of pain due to the lack of ear poppage, I called in sick and went to a doctor. The doctor promptly told me I shouldn't have waited so long to see a doctor (no kidding) and put me on a cocktail of drugs to take care of my "Middle Ear Infection" with a side of "Conjunctivitis." Welcome 2006.

I emailed the folks telling them this is the sickest I've ever been in a long time and that I was telling them not out of a need for sympathy (although that helps), but more because it seems a milestone I need to share with someone.

Thus endeth my winter break extravaganza. Boy was it fun.