2/19/08

After a breakfast of hot cross buns, bananas, and coffee, we decided to have a fairly "normal" day. The movie theater in Belfast has cheap movie Tuesdays so we saw the Bucket List, which we liked.

had fish & chips for lunch, took a nap, and began to put the international into our Belfast International Youth Hostel experience. 

While Randy was still napping, I watched the Simpsons with a guy from Somalia. It was the magical chili peppers episode (with Johnny Cash as the desert fox), so we talked about Somalian food and I learned that yes, it is spicy and that Muslims in Somalia eat no pork and take no alcohol, while Christians "do not use the goat." That is about as far as his English got me, but it's way further than  my Somalian(?) would have gotten us.

At dinnertime, we met Jason from Seoul, Korea and he told us about mandatory military service, the popularity of soccer, the average age of marriage in Korea being much older than in the USA, and the horrible maternity leave laws, often making the fat belly gesture with his hands to indicate pregnancy. He says the people of North & South Korea have no discord--only that one is a democracy and the other communist, using his handheld translator to find the two big words there. I thought to myself, yeah, no problem! ;)

Anyway, today is Jason's (whose Korean name is something unpronounceable) birthday and he is off to the Giant's Causeway. I can't think of a better way to celebrate and it seems way better than the beef and brown seaweed soup tradition he was telling us about. Happy Birthday Jason!

STOCKMANS

Steve Stockman & his wife Janice and her brother Tim live down the road about a  20-minute walk past Queen's University, so at 9pm, we went to visit them. It was cold and we could see our breath, but the walk was beautiful and the neighborhood was jumping.

We gushed over the new Matthew Perryman Jones cd, Randy & I were forced to be nice about Canada in light of our weak dollar, and Steve says he has been off teacakes for 50 days in preparation for his trip to South Africa. Randy & Tim still enjoyed several while he painfully abstained.

I translated some aged Alabaman handwriting for him. Apparently, the Rev. Stockman is cordially invited to dinner at this couple's house after church in Birmingham when he goes down there to speak. Between the language of Southern hospitality and the proper cursive, the message was nearly lost.

We took the semi-annual picture on the green couch at Derryvolgie, said our goodbyes, and with a brisk walk home at midnight, put the lid on Day 6.