oh the stove...

So for those of you that know me, or maybe you do not, you probably know my potato story from last year in the new apartments at Guilford. Since that day I am afraid I will be "that girl" that sets off the fire alarms and makes the whole apartment complex (or in my case, living village) evacuate. Yesterday I was really looking forward to making the chicken that I bought (during that awesome grocery store experience). I went into the kitchen to see what I had to work with. Beside some (clean) dishes left out by my Irish roommates before they left for break, and a few mystery layers of food stuck to the counters and floors, it does not look too bad for a college apt with Irish inhabitants (apparently they're dirty people-great!) I was looking through the cupboards to look for pans and such utensils that I would be needing. I made sure to wash them before I cooked with them. I really wanted chicken but figured it would be safer to make a grilled cheese-given my cooking background and the fact that I was unfamiliar with the kitchen and its capabilities. I turned the stove on (or thought I did actually) and found out that after 5 minutes it wasn't even warm. So I turned another knob. Soon enough I had turned all the burner dials one way or another. What-do-ya-know, ALL of the writing on the knobs has been wiped off, therefore I do not know which way is on or off, medium or high. Great. Good thing none of them turned on though-for my sake. I tried turning them back to how I found them, but they turn the opposite way here so I was all confused already.... I had already buttered my bread and placed the cheese on the bread though, so I had to figure this out. 

I started looking around some more and found a switch behind the microwave. It was bright red switch but I figured I would try it anyways. I did, it worked, go me! But I quickly found out that I had two burners in the off position and two on high, so now there was smoke everywhereeeeee from the remnants of whatever my irish housemates left in there to burn. I tried opening the windows, naturally they are the kind that you might find in a minivan, you know, the ones that open about an inch or two at best. Beautifulll!

At this point I'm panicking--images of the potato and smoking out the entire apartment at Guilford are running through my head..."don't be that girl, don't be that girl, don't be that girl!" I flipped that big red switch off hoping that would cut all the power to the stove, even if the burners were turned to on...luckily it worked and I noticed a great decrease in the amount of smoke filling the stove area. I turned the above fan on, it blew dust out, onto the burning hot burner- so that was a failed attempt as well. I do not understand Ireland to say the least- this is an adventure for sure!

I turned the dials in a half circle in hopes that it went from HOT to off. After I waited about 25 minutes for the burners to cool down enough to tell, I tried again. This time with one. I kind of figured it out, except when I thought I was turning the heat higher, I was actually turning it down so it took about 40 minutes to make a grilled cheese. Either way, I think I have this sucker mastered now :] I am going to get a sharpie and put a dot on each knob just so I know when it is on and off, high or low. A few hours later I was hungry for like real food. So I got those chicken breasts out.

Apparently the freezer is on extra frozen because anything inside is hard as stone. Awesome. So I left the chicken out another hour on the kitchen table. Still not thawed. I really was trying to avoid the microwave defroster...for personal reasons-similar to the potato experience. But I gave in. The microwave, you see, is not a normal microwave- imagine thattt. It has like 4 buttons and a turn dial, there is no simple 'popcorn' button or 'defrost' option or anything that Americans rely on (or maybe just me). There is a little cheat code (not rubbed off, luckily) and it says AC107- defrost poultry- bingo! Go to press a button, and nothing is on. the cord had fallen behind the stove, so I am like on the counter trying to find this stupid thing -this is when I am glad I don't have roommates. I am sure you guys are getting a visual though of how ridiculous I look climbing on kitchen counters, reaching behind the oven, it was a disaster, I was cracking up though. I found the plug-plugged it in obviously. So after going through the options I found the defrost poultry one. Instead of pounds its in kg or something i put it on the lowessssttt option because it was only one itty bitty titty- haha jk- it was a small chicken breast, not even a lb back home. well my options were 1.2-1.6 I chose 1.2 and it put it in the microwave for 35 minutes! 

Normally I would call mom at this point and say hey, how long should one piece of chicken defrost in microwave for (I cant just set like a minute, or 30seconds on this microwave btw) But since I am in the 'land of ye Irish' I cannot simply call anyone. She was not on skype, or facebook either, no one was yesterday. So I let it go a few minutes then opened the door, my chicken was like starting to cook! (I hate cooking!- I take that back, I hate microwaves and having to use them) So now I have this chicken that is turning white from the microwave, a crazy stove with a mind of its own, and all I want to do is eat. I found some oil (that in itself was interesting to find), poured some in the pan, turned the funky knob and waited, and waited, and waited. Nothing was happening.  DUH, in order to use an oven or stove in this country you have a light switch to turn first, how could I forget such an obvious thing? So I moved the microwave from the wall again and flipped the switch on. I was timid about the level of heat I turned on, because first I had to remember which way was high, which was low, and how to turn it back off in case I went the wrong way and started burning the chicken/oil. After a lot of stress, and a lottt of time, I finally had my chicken, found some of that sweet chili sauce we have on the Rubicon, and had a great little dinner around 10:30 pm. I can say I feel extremely accomplished with how I am learning and getting through this all on my own :]

American Idol was on TV, yes! Too bad it was the episode I already found on YouTube, so I already knew how it was going to go. I did find a website that I can watch TV shows and movies on, finally! It is a great website and has new releases and such on it as well.  

I am going to go find out where my classes are tomorrow, since when we had our campus tour it was covered in dense fog, and I literally had no sense of direction and could not tell you where I went, or even where I was standing and if I had been there before or not. The class schedules are crazy to try to figure out. I could blog about that experience as well, but long story short, the classes I chose a few months ago aren't offered in the spring- even though I found them in the spring module (classes) handbook they sent me. Only four of the 10 are offered and of course those four all overlap so I might be taking Irish folklore and Irish dancing/music class. Joy. 

I also am joining the photography society and volleyball club, maybe even water polo, not too sure. But I am going to check out the list of clubs and societies today and try to decide :]

 That's what I have to work with...

 Notice, NO markings (besides old food) to indicate anything on these 'HOBS'

This is in the 'off' position- in America, that would mean on...I'm telling you it's the little things I miss