The love of a Nation

So for those of you out of the loop about sports this side of the pond, let me enlighten you. For the past month, Europe has been having what is called "6 Nations" which is basically the big rugby championship between England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, and France. It dominates every TV you see, in every pub, hall, or just general restaraunt. Basically it is everywhere. Last night, it being Friday and all of us having been severely deprived of hang out time with each other, decided to meet up for drinks at a lovely pub called The Rule. Good food, good prices, good atmosphere. Meg, Natalie and I got there just at 7.30. I was actually a bit afraid that it would already be super crowded since it was a Friday night. But we walked in, and there were several booths empty so we grabbed one and settled in. The rest of the group showed up (which by the way was three more people than we thought were coming! Gonna need a few more glasses over here!) and no sooner did they walk in and go to the counter to order (that is how most pubs do it) then literally I looked up and there had to be at least thirty people at the bar waiting to order. Then it hit me "Oh, it's Friday night.....6 Nations.....France vs Wales....I should have known!" It was so fun though. Even though Scotland wasn't playing, the fact that the other team was France, EVERYONE was rooting for Wales, which was super fun to join into, even though my rugby knowledge is next to none. It's actually a bit easier to follow if you know about American football. The game was one of the most exciting I'd seen, and even though France won (blah!), Wales scored a wonderful goal within the last 20 seconds of the game. They really came back in the second half, having not scored at all in the first half. But it was such a fun atmosphere, chowing down on beer-battered onion rings (the greatest thing since sliced bread by far!) and Tennents in hand. Over all, it was a fun, relaxing evening with friends. I'm telling you though, the mindset of the uni students over here is something else. Even this JSA who came along from Sally's kept on saying how this was the most sober rugby match he'd ever watched. I thought that was a bit silly, not to mention stupid to keep repeating. We went to the student union after that where we played everything from Fuse ball, to darts, to pool. I finally was dying, not to mention I couldn't hear myself think with all the noise! Come 11 pm, that place is packed full of students! It was nice to finally get out in the quiet night air, even if it was drizzling! Meg and I are running again this morning, and then we are going to have a go at starting our essays! AHHHHHH! We'll see how that goes. First ones for each class are due in two weeks! This could be interesting folks......

Cheers