Watson's advent calendar - added to Jan 23, 2014

Last year, someone told me about creating a homemade advent calendar and making the daily prize a book. Anyway, I've been thinking about this idea all year, and actually implemented it! I spent the month of November frequenting charity shops around town to collect used books and last week Jubin and I went to Craftworld in City Centre (fun!) to get the supplies for the calendar.

Below is a picture of the calendar I made from poster board, paper, and glitter. I then cut slits in the tree and put a little message in each (the square white pieces you see - each has a number (1-24) on it). The messages are clues that tell Watson where to go look for his prize. For example: I am in the cupboard in the smallest room in your house, I am under the smallest bed in your house, I am in something that carries your brother around.

My homemade calendar on the left and the calendar he got at the Market with Grace on the right.

It has been So fun! Watson was super-surprised Sunday morning and loves opening the clue each morning. He is able to read the clues all by himself, and then searches for his book. Every 6 days, I'll give him a different, small non-book prize (e.g., we have some fun gloves for him for the 6th). And, each evening we then have a new book to read! Some of them are chapter books that take a few nights to read and others we read in one sitting. This idea was so perfect for this year since we don't have many books here and the library isn't as convenient as the one in MI. Thanks to whoever gave me this idea (Brie?)!

Also, since we will have a pretty small Christmas gift-wise while in Florida (NOT going to transport gifts across the Atlantic in Jan and then again in July!), I made every 6 days a non-book, small gift day. Watson's 4 special gifts were: a jump rope (see below), Yahtzee, and 2 small giftcards (Jumping Clay and Build A Bear). Fun, fun!

Not so ordinary, ordinary days (Aug - Dec 2013) - updated Jan 2014

Since moving to Belfast, we've not really been "tourists". Instead, we have been living here. But, that doesn't mean that we haven't had some pretty amazing days! Below are just a few of our not so ordinary, ordinary days:

Very soon after arriving in Belfast, we noticed this place called Jumping Clay (http://www.jumpingclay.co.uk/) in Stranmillis, in between our house and QUB. In we went, and lo and behold, it is this really great place! Jumping Clay is sort of like PlayDoh, but better - the idea is that you create things with it and then let them dry. Watson did two "summer schemes" in August - these are week long 2-hr/day camps centered on a theme. He did the space and under the sea themed schemes, and below are pix of his creations. Since then, he has gone there many times for 1 or 2-hr classes or workshops to make all sorts of creations. And, he made a Christmas scene in Dec. Watson is so keen about JC that we have an assortment of clay at home that he uses as well. Very fun!

This pic is actually on the Stranmillis JC Facebook page. ;)

Shortly after moving here, there was a festival in the Botanic Gardens called "Mela". It is a festival of arts, culture, and heritage and featured lots of music. Here's a link to more info: http://2013.belfastmela.org.uk/Files/mela_2013_programme.pdf. We attended this festival with Bob and Kath, walking up to the Gardens from our house. We ate Indian food, watched Japanese drummers, watched the Kawa Circus, listened to  Ajo Arkestra (Afrobeat Ensamble), and made lots of children's crafts. The boys most enjoyed the Circus, which you can see clips of here: http://www.accessallareas.info/artist_article/37/kawa-circus.htm. At the end, Watson got a DVD to watch it all again (and again) and the next day it was reported back to us that Jubin could be seen in the audience on the TV News coverage of the event - he was even asked to stand up and prove to the audience that a prop being used was VERY heavy. Funny! Unfortunately, we did experience a little angst while at the festival...Watson very much wanted a tattoo, so he and I waited in a long line for henna tattoos. However, after getting it, Watson decided that he didn't want it anymore and wiped it all off before it dried (I think he was perturbed by it being cold and wet). He then spent the next few days admiring mine... Poor guy!

Also in August was Watson's 6th birthday. We had two parties in July before we left MI, one with all of Watson's friends mini-golfing and one with more friends and family at my parent's house. However, we still had a little something on the 21st with his and our new Belfast friends. Here are some pix!

One of Watson's gifts...that Jamieson obviously likes too!

Bob and Kath at Watson's party

Birthday cupcakes

Then, in September, we went to Belfast City Centre to the "Belfast Day" celebration (http://visit-belfast.com/whats-on/event/belfast-day). We listened to music, did lots of children's crafts, and ate some ice cream. One question we all had: Why do these festivals always (regardless of location) set things up so that the kids crafts a squeezed into a teeny tiny area, resulting in such crowding that it is practically impossible for kids to do the crafts? Here are a couple of pix from this event:

Then, in November, it hit home that there is no Thanksgiving here - what really made me realize this fact was how early the Christmas season started! On November 16, the Belfast Christmas Market opened, and Grace's family (Watson's friend across the street) had tickets to the opening celebration. Watson attended with Grace and her Mum, and had a great time. They saw the lighting of the big tree in front of City Hall, got some food, saw Santa (Watson didn't want to sit with him), and brought home a chocolate advent calendar. We haven't yet been back to the Market, but plan to go this weekend - there is a carousel! Here is a link to more info: http://visit-belfast.com/whats-on/event/belfast-christmas-market-2013.

A couple of weekends ago, right before Jubin had to submit a huge NSF grant, I took the boys to the Odyssey in the Titanic Quarter to go bowling (here's a map: http://goo.gl/maps/QkksE). We met my runner friend, ex-pat Lauren, and her 2 little girls there (5 and 3 yrs old). The kids had a GREAT time... there was a free train they could ride, they got along very nicely (the kids hadn't met before), the bowling was a bit hit, and we had pizza afterwards. Two cute and funny things about the bowling: First, Watson really likes bowling and was happy to win. Second, Jamieson bowled - Watson would line up the stand (aiming the ball) and put the ball on the stand for him and then Jamie would push the ball off the stand...he LOVED it! So funny... Here are some pix:

The kiddo bowlers - Watson, Jamieson, Ciara, and Lucy

Who knew that a 1-year old could bowl? :)

Finally, last weekend, we rented a car in Belfast for the 1st time. Jubin did a GREAT job driving on the left-side of the street. Funny thing - Enterprise gave us the car that I wrote about a couple blog posts back (Vauxhall Astra). Anyway, we didn't do anything very touristy with the car this time around, but instead did some rather ordinary, but special things around town. Saturday afternoon, Watson had his first Belfast birthday party to attend. It was for Antonia, a girl in his reading group at school. Her party was at the International Ice Bowl in Dundonald, in Indiana Land. Here is a map (http://goo.gl/maps/g7Xzk) and the link to this crazy entertainment place (http://www.theicebowl.com/home.asp) - I imagine that we will be going back (ice skating, mini-golf, climbing, etc...). Anyway, Indiana Land is an indoor jungle-themed play land for kids. Watson had a GREAT time, as did Jamie (they have a toddler area). Check out these pix!

Then, on Sunday, we went out to breakfast at the Lock Keeper's Inn near our house (haven't been out for a family breakfast since August!). This is a really cool little Inn that is on the Tow Path (i.e. River Trail) and is frequented by people walking, running, and biking (map here: http://goo.gl/maps/auHfd). So fun! If the City of Lansing built a place like this somewhere on the Potter Park property near the Red Cedar, they would rake in the dough! After breakfast, Watson played in the River Lagan a bit and then we went back home to do some cooking for dinner that afternoon. Later, we drove out to Bob and Kath's for a traditional, albeit late, Thanksgiving dinner. Paula and Ron Reimer were there too, and we had a very nice time (SO full!). The drive home, in the dark, was a bit more challenging than the way there, but we made it safe and sound and without any "detours".

Speaking at Trinity College Dublin (ROI)

I was invited to give a talk as part of the Department of Zoology Seminar Series at Trinity College Dubin (TCD; http://www.tcd.ie/Zoology/) at the end of November. I took an ~2 hour commuter train ride from Belfast to Dublin, then went just 2 stops on the DART train (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) and found myself at the edge of the Trinity campus. The navigating was made super-easy by my travel companion, Kath, who normally spends Tues-Thurs at Trinity, but changed her schedule this week to host me there (so nice!). While at TCD, I met with lots of brilliant students (undergraduate and graduate) and faculty (postdocs and professors) in the Department, and found them to be a very friendly group.   

I had a really nice lunch with some of the graduate students in the Department - they were really friendly and seemed like a very cohesive and productive group.

My talk was in a lecture hall in the Botany Building. In fact, it was in the lecture hall that was featured in the 1980's film "Educating Rita" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educating_Rita_%28film%29). Here I am impersonating Michael Caine in that film!

My talk, titled "Understanding multi-scaled relationships between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems," was well-attended and well-received by a mixture of students and staff (~50 or so people I would guess). Unfortunately, my talk directly conflicted with another seminar that was being given by a big-wig who holds some funding purse strings...so, a few of the people who would have normally attended my talk had to go to that one instead (stupid politics!). But, I had a lot of interesting questions after the talk and discussions during the informal social afterwards. Note that this informal social included beer, was attended by undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, and profs, and it was held in the Zoology Dept. I really wish that MSU would relax its policies regarding such activities on campus. The atmosphere is so much more comfortable when somewhat socially awkward scientists can drink a beer while networking! One thing that I noticed was that the undergrads who attended were really quite amazing. My impression is that TCD is a very good school and that the Zoology majors all are required to conduct thesis research. Scientists in training!

Two scholars who I had conversations with and who could be future collaborators are Drs. Ian Donohue and Andrew Jackson (http://www.tcd.ie/Zoology/staff/). They are both super-nice and super-brilliant. However, it was pretty funny - the day was sort of a comedy of errors. Many of the Profs I was supposed to have formal meetings with had to cancel or rearrange their schedules at the last minute, and I ended up speaking to most of them more informally than was planned. Anyway, I will likely return to Trinity this winter to work with some of them.

A special thanks to Drs. Katherine Webster and Natalie Cooper for hosting me and helping with my 

travel arrangements. 

UPDATE: Here's the Trinity EcoEvo blog post about my talk. http://www.ecoevoblog.com/2014/01/29/seminar-series-kendra-cheruvelil-michigan-state-universityqueens-university-belfast/