The days are getting short...

As the winter solstice approaches (see the post about my run-in with the mystical druid-finger ghost that appears on the winter solstice) the days are getting shorter and there is not much sunlight to be found here in Cork. I guess because we're so far north the days seem incredibly short. I get up at 8am, it's still dark outside. When I go to my class at 5pm, it's pitch black out already. I remember the opposite happened when I went on my first study abroad program in St. Petersburg, Russia 9+ years ago. It was summertime during their "White Nights" in the time around the summer solstice. It was really cool because the sun never set. Now, 9 years later, it never rises. I went outside around 11:30am at it felt like the sun was setting already. It's sort of a moot point anyway, because 85% of the time its cloudy anyway.

Here's my interpretation of the sun's current path here in Cork. And then I'll put my interpretation of what they do here to cope with the darkness and gloom.