Criminal Justice Clinic Christmas Dinner/Party - UCC Cork, Ireland Dec. 11, 2008

The semester ended last week and our Criminal Justice Clinic celebrated with a Christmas Dinner and Party. It was also a sort-of "goodbye" party for me and Tom...since Tom was leaving the next day and I'm not far behind. We had a great time with our class all semester, both in class and going to many placements around Cork, observing the Irish criminal justice system first-hand. Here are some of the pics from the festivities... you can see the rest by clicking this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2119330&l=d74f5&id=33301824

Tom, Dorothy (the program coordinator), and I enjoy the Christmas festivities at The Bailee.

The organizers, Louise and Grace

Ciara and Avril.

Tom and Miriam

Tom, Alan and Louise

Tom, me and Brian

Brian, David, Tom's hand

Tom and Ciara prepare to do battle in the greatest of Christmas traditions...sumo wrestling.

me (wearing "big velvet" -- the jacket I only bring out for very special occasions), David and Tom

The lads enjoying a Japanese dinner at Wagamama

I (not too surprisingly) got separated from the group and didn't get to say "goodbye" to anyone :( So I'd like to take this opportunity to say that it was great getting to know all of you and I had a great time in Cork this semester. It went by way too fast! Have a great spring, good luck finishing the LLM...and if I ever get arrested in Ireland I'll be sure to call one of you guys first. If you're ever in St. Louis or, after next fall, in LA, look me up. Feel free to Facebook me, and I'll accept unless you're Grace.

Give him an A+

My presentation in my Information Law class yesterday was so inspiring, my classmate and colleague Christian, from Germany, decided to blog about it. It was his first post in English, and as you can see, his grammar and punctuation is way better than mine. I must admit that my poster was a hit... Check it out: http://llm-in-cork.blogspot.com/2008/12/prsentationen-und-so.html

Tequila Mockingbird

One of the biggest drawbacks to spending the semester abroad has been missing the law school's annual beer-league softball season. I've especially missed playing with my team, "Tequila Mockingbird." (If you don't get the significance of our name, say "te-qui-la" out loud, very slowly. It took me like 2 weeks before I figured it out.)

Anyway, Tequila Mockingbird is the third (and last) incarnation of our group's softball team. We started our 1L year very modestly as a ragtag bunch, brought together by ACO and a love of the game/beer. We improved during our 2L year as "SLUbacca," going several games into the playoffs. Now, in our final year, the team has almost reached the top. TM has greatly benefited from some key off-season additions. (I can't help but think that my absence from the team this season may actually be contributing to the team's success...) Now, Tequila Mockingbird is in line to win the championship on Saturday...we need just 2 more victories and we will be the champions!

Good luck guys! I'm proud of you!