Readjustment

It's already been over a week since I returned from Ireland. Readjustment hasn't been too bad. My sleeping patterns are still pretty wacky, I think it's been harder readjusting my sleep pattern this time than when I came back from China. Otherwise readjusting has been fine, I've had some moments when I slip and say "sorry" instead of "excuse me" or I start to walk fast and leave others in the dust. I feel my biggest readjustment is more socially oriented. I have gotten used to eating with my friends every night or going out now and then which was a huge change for me in the first place. Now I feel reclusive again, this wouldn't have bothered me before the trip, but now I feel kind of antsy. By the time break is over I'm sure I'll be used to my old schedule. For now, I'm just going to stay busy visitng Eddie, working on projects around the house, working out (finally), and spending some much needed time with my horse.

Slainte,
Roni

Reflections

Although I am still here in Ireland I think it's probably important that I start writing down some of the thoughts I've got going on. I've definitely been reflecting over this semester a lot. The semester went by faster than I had imagined it could; it's probably been the fastest semester for me in my college career. It's crazy to think that I have a less than three weeks left. So have I integrated? What do I feel about the Irish culture? Will I come back? To the first question, I feel that I have integrated to a small extent, the to the extent I had wished at the beginning of the semester. I feel that I have picked up certain phrases well and that I can blend well into the crowd when it comes to how I move through it and what I say to get through it (i.e. push and shove while saying 'sorry!'). But I know I wouldn't be able to fully integrate unless I had stayed for a full year, which I know I am not ready for. The Irish culture was truly interesting because it was so much like american culture with a few twists here and there. I am giong to miss the night life here. It will be an adjustment not being to up and walk to a pub for a drink. I feel I might catch myself saying "hey let's go to a bar" and realizing that I can't just up and go. It has been the easiest semester of my career and next semester will be an adjustment back to better work and study habits. So, will I come back to the Green Isle? I would love to come back in the future to travel around and maybe do more of a backpacking experience, but I feel that Ireland will be on hold for a while. There are warmer and cheaper places that I would like to see next. I really want to start exploring South America! Hearing so many of the Irish tell me that I look Spanish made me appreciate my hispanic heritage more than ever and I want to start exploring that now that I know I probably will never be able to fully integrate into Irish culture.

So what kind of adjustments will I have to make back in the US? Well, drinking is one, duh. My alcohol tolerance has definitely gone up, more than I've truly realized. I can't wait to have more of a selection when it comes to drinks though and they will be so much cheaper! One thing I have learned well here is to budget. I thought I knew well back in the states, but I have learned much more here. I will also have to adjust back to American prices. I feel that I will probably spend my first few weeks exchanging back to euro just to feel how cheap the price really is. I will probably say 'sorry' a lot so please be patient and remind me that I don't need to say it for everything! One great thing is that I'll be used to walking a lot, I'm used to walking at least 2 miles every day, they dont' even phase me, but now I'm used to walking fast. Now I can walk to campus in about 10 minutes whereas it used to take around 16-17 before.

At the farewell dinner we were told to say something about Ireland, but I hadn't even started to reflect upon the trip. It has been a great cultural experience that many students don't take and I don't regret coming here even though there were many ups and downs, it was expensive, and the academic experience was far from impressive. It was a great experience that I know I will always look back to.

Slainte!

Cork City and a bunch of Blarney

As soon as Celeste got here last Saturday we up and left for Cork City. The bus ride took about 5 hours down to the southern part of Ireland. Cork city is also known as the rebellion city since it was one of the largest supporting cities of the IRA. On some shirts its still referred to as the Republic of Cork. In fact, on St. Anne's Church, which was right next to our hostel, someone had spray painted IRA on the wall. Cork city reminded me of Dublin although it is much smaller and less touristy. There are a lot of shops and pubs, but not tourist shops. We spent some time wandering the streets and then the next day we spent at Blarney Castle. The castle was simple but imposing. It was fun reading the history of the castle and where it's name came from, thanks to Queen Elizabeth I.
We climbed up to the very top and kissed the Blarney stone (I'll upload the picture later). But while we kissed the stone it began to rain a little so it was a little scary leaning backwards to kiss the stone. Of course, the rain stopped after we kissed it, perfect timing. Afterwards we walked around the gardens and walked up and down a staircase called the wishing steps with our eyes closed making one wish we hoped to come true. By time we got back to our hostel it was pouring so we didn't really have anymore amibition to walk around the city in the rain.
The next day we spent traveling back to Galway where I showed her all the places I knew in Galway. We even ended up going to the Aran Islands yesterday (the 2nd time for me), but we got to see mroe this time since we equally up for a long bike ride. :)
It was a great week that went by fast. I would highly recommend seeing Cork City, just to see it. And if anyone says their accent is impossible, I disagree. I understood the Cork locals a lot better than people from Limerick that's for sure! But the accents are still fun no matter where you go.

Until next time
Cheers!

Belgium

This past weekend I went to the cities, Brugge (pronounced like rouge, the color) and Brussels. Brugge is apparently the oldest most well preserved medieval city. It was a beautiful and small city with cobble stone streets, bell towers, churches, and canals. It was exactly what I have been wanting to see in Europe. The city was quaint and the atmosphere was calm and cheerful. We never met anyone who didn't smile when we asked them for help or even when buying gifts. One thing we noticed about Belgium is its casualty considering sex. Shops displayed lingerie and lingerie posters openly in the display windows. We even saw some dominatrix gear in a display in Brussels. In Brugge we stumbled upon an awesome chocolate shop that had large chocolate penises and rather pornographic chocolate on display! You couldn't walk down the streets without seeing one chocolate store with a huge pair of breasts on display! lol. It was comical, but for the every day citizen it was perfectly normal. Of course on every street there were at least 4 chocolate shops and several shops selling hand made lace. There were some beautiful parasols and wall displays that had been advertised as handmade. On every corner there was usually a waffle shop (there were far more than that in Brussels). I can easily say I haven't eaten so much sugar in all my time in college. On Sunday, our one day in Brussels, we ate 3 waffles (two with dark chocolate poured all over them) and then fries (which they call 'frites' and smother in mayo), and maybe a hamburger. lol. I plan on only eating yogurt this week. I like Brugge more than Brussels only because it was quaint and felt authentic, but Brussels was fun. While we were shopping around for some chocolate we heard a band playing 'Yellow Submarine' and came out to see a group of officially clad men walking down the street. Belgium is well-known for its fountain with the baby pee-ing as the foutain piece. Well, it was situated just around the door of the chocolate shop we were in. We ended up watching some sort of a ceremony that a police officer told us was a "butcher parade" or so we crudely translated from french (yes, they speak french and dutch in Brussels, but Flemish in Brugge). They proceeded to make speeches and then at one point they sang a song to the statue. Someone was controlling the water flow from the fountain and turned it on high so it would actually spray some of the audience members. Then to finish the ceremony they hooked the fountain up to a keg (or somethign I couldn't see) and proceeded to serve themselves beer from the pee-ing fountain! It was so hilarious all of the people crowded around were so astounded by it and the butchers loved the attention. All in all, I highly recommend traveling to Belgium it's a great place to see.

Cheers!
Roni

p.s. I had the first beer I ever liked. It was a belgium beer, Bellevue I think, but it was raspberry flavored and it was delicious! I highly recommend it if you can find it.

The Election

Believe it or not the election wasn't only important in America, but in the whole world. As Americans we are in our own little world during our elections, but this year the entire world was watching with bated breath. So many Irish asked me "You're voting Obama right?" On the night of the election I went to an election party that ended up being really lame because everyone there was too busy playing beer pong to even really care about why we were there. My friend and I ended up going back to my flat and watching the results coming on TV. My irish roomie was also watching it with us and she was just as tense and nervous as we were. Later on we met with some other Americans and stayed up until after Obama's speech (i.e. 5:30 am). It was overwhelming to see history made and we all began to regret that we weren't home to experience this with the rest of America. It was great to see how much this election meant to other people outside of the US. The next morning my roomies greated me with big smiles and said "You must be thrilled!". I almost feel that this election is going improve our relationship with world and I couldn't be happier.

Cheers!
Roni

All Hallows Eve

Two posts in one day, weird. Anways, I just wanted to briefly write about Halloween. We ended up celebrating Halloween twice this week. All the students celebrated at Halloween parties on Thursday and then whoever stayed at school went out again on Friday. I am hoping to get my pictures up later today thanks to one of my friends, the school computers won't let you download pictures. Halloween was really fun. You had quite the array of costumes, from really well done, to cheap ones bought in the store. I saw a few that I thought were not cool, for example, I saw a guy dressed up as a suicide bomber...yeah...not cool, but all the others were fun stereotypical costumes. Mine was a stupid cheap costume, but I had fun with the make up which made up for it. The Thursday party night was much more exciting and involved, Friday was more relaxed. The only problem is it's starting to get really cold at night, there was frost all over the cars the past two nights and there has been talk of snow!

That's about it for now. I will be travelling to Brussels next Friday! It's hard to believe that on Monday I will be down to 6-7 weeks left, depending on when my finals are. It's also starting to get tense with the election coming up! We are thinking of going to a school election party or one somewhere in the apartment complex.

Cheers!
Roni

Traveling Tips

While I've been Ireland I have learned many differnet tidbits about traveling. Although buses are really useful they can quickly become your number 1 expense. Generally, it is cheaper to use Bus Eireann (pronounced like aaron), but they don't always take the most efficient route. I have found that although it may be a couple euro more to take citylink it is worth it. Citylink is also great for getting to Shannon airport because it takes less than an hour and a half, whereas if you take bus eireann you could be on the bus for over 2 hours.

I also tried out Ryanair on my trip to Spain. I will also be flying Ryanair to Belgium. I don't believe it is really worth it. Although they sell cheap tickets they will try to snag every euro out of you. If you check any luggage it is extra, just like checking in at the airport is extra and only EU citizens can check in online. So, for example, if you find a deal for €20 it will actually end up costing you about €50 after all the fees and taxes, which yeah may not be bad, but the airline just isn't that great. Both times I was rather uncomfortable for the ride because you can't adjust your seats (or at least I couldn't). But I have ridden worse planes in China. Although they are a rather sketchy airline they are prompt. Both of my planes arrived on time if not a bit early. But I think if I travel europe again I will use easyjet, as some people have recommended, or aer lingus despite the price.

Also, a bit on hostels. When I went to barcelona my friend booked the hostel using hostellingworld.com, but I have always found it cheaper to call the hostel directly. When I booked directly at the hostel for an extra night in barcelona I ended up paying €5 less. So I highly recommend finding the number/ website for the hosel you want before trying to use a hostel booking service.

Well that's all the traveling tips I have so far. Oh, and just like in Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it's always a good idea to have a towel. I've learned that the hard way.

Cheers!
Roni

Barcelona

So I am currently spending my last night in Barcelona, I will be back in Ireland around noon tomorrow. I am completely beat. I have walked around this city so much that I dont even know how many miles I could have possibly wandered around. My friend Brian, from RWU, and I got here at noon on Friday. It took us close to 30 minutes to find our hostel, the Centric Point Hostel, which is the nicest hostel Ive stayed in, plus we get free internet, but they do charge you for other stuff that you need, i.e. a top sheet/blanket and towels. Friday we just spent the time walking around La Rambla and the harbor. La Rambla is one of the main streets that every tourist goes to. It is filled with little stands selling souveniers and also pet stands believe it or not. The pet stands sell everything such as, parakeets, parrots, baby water turtles, tortoises, pigeons, rabbits, chincillas, hamsters, all sorts of other birds, ferrets, and guinea pigs. I also found that if you go to a souvenier shop and ask a price of something and then decide not to get it they will go down as far as possible in price to make you buy it (I did not find any previous information if bartering was appropriate so I didnt try). We also tried two different types of spanish foods: tapas and paella. Tapas are small portions of food that you share (although we didnt know this till after we ate it) so generally you are supposed to buy a whole bunch, but we only bought ourselves two each. Paella is a rice dish, generally consisting of rice, veggies, and fish/meat. It can get rather pricey and in some restaurants the dishes are large enough for several people. I have to say the small take out portion I got was great.

On the second day we spent finding all of the Guadi architecture. It was absolutely amazing. I would highly recommend the Sagrada Familia. It has to be the most unique church I have ever seen. There was also park designed by Guadi which was really beautiful and overlooked the city giving you the best view. We also checked out a few markets, especially this one famous one because the building has an interestingly colorful roof that has a rippled shape to it. Since Brian is an architecture student you can believe we check out a lot of buildings. We also checked out the Olympic stadium to find some sort of huge festival for children being held. I have to say compared to the Birds Nest, this stadium looks extremely simple and kind of boring.

Today, we went to the Museu de Picasso. It was a quaint art museum but it showed all of Picasso's work that not many people are familiar with. Picasso was truly an amazing artist throughout his life. His portraits and drawings pre-cubism are phenomenal. After Brian left today, I spent some more time wandering around, but couldn't do much more than I had already.

Also, although Barcelona is in Spain the locals speak Catallan which has many differences from Spanish. Most of the menus were written in Spanish and Catallan. It even turns out though that some of the locals can barely understand spanish it is that different. The language barrier was a little difficult but using some vocab helped a bit.

Thanks to hostel prices and bus tickets I quickly found myself running short on the 200 euro I brought with me. Although Spain might be slightly cheaper than Ireland it can still get expensive.

Overall, Barcelona was a great place to visit. There is so much to visit, there is no way you can see the whole city in 3 days. I think a week would be good, but it would be expensive. I was hoping to see some of the areas that were in Woody Allens newest movie, Vicky Christina Barcelona, but I had no such luck. I think the area he filmed in is on the outskirts of Barcelona city or are in an area called Poble Espanol but I wasnt able to make it out there.

The Irish Love Their TV

So, since I don't have a computer to constantly distract me I've been finding myself with a lot of time on my hands, too much I think. I'm not really used to it, but maybe it's for the better. While watching TV (lots of it) I've realized a few things. 1) They really really like Friends and Scrubs, by time I leave I think I will have seen every episode I've ever missed. Sometimes you can see the same episode 2-3 times a day. 2) Commercials are extremely sexual. 3) Sex is not edited from the shows. 4) Some of the commercials are extremely graphic, in a violent way. There is a speeding and a drunk driving commercial that could make your stomach turn; namely this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5-25qO2avQ :be advised it's really shocking. I can't imbed it into my blog because it isn't a file, so just copy and paste and it should work.

Other than that, nothing else is new. I will let you all know how Barcelona and flying Ryanair goes.

Cheers!

Faery Forts

So, I would consider it ironic that the day after I wrote my last blog my computer semi-crashed. I am not sure if it really has or if my harddrive just got a little jostled but...it doesn't look good. So now I am without a computer except the ones at school. You don't realize how reliant you are on them until they go down.

For my b-day I went for a bus tour ride to the Cliffs of Moher (I will try to find a way to post pictures soon). They were breath taking and it was great day because the sun was out and it was warm! The girls who came with me were willing to be quite adventurous which made it even better. We tried to hike to a tower in the distance but we ran out of time, we were probably 3/4 of the way there. We also took some pretty ballsy pictures, which may have been stupidly dangerous but you gotta live right? They weren't that bad, let's just say I was laying down when I looked over the edge ;). The bus tour also included driving through the Burren which is a very barren landscape composed of layers of shale and limestone it looks like a lunar surface (not as much as Moon Hill in Yangshou). We also saw some very old tombs and even walked around a faery fort. Faery forts are earthen memorials in a circle that are said to be where the spirits of the ancient celts reside. We walked all around the perimeter hoping that it would bring some luck to us. It was amazing to see how the trees grew perfectly around the perimeter of the raise circle and all that was in the middle was a clump of bush and bright green grass. I saw a few castles and the High Cross Church (where some of the original celctic crosses are still preserved).

Other than that life is the same. I've gotten one mid term paper down and have another to go. Then I only have two final papers. That's it. I'm hoping my chemistry exams are at the beginning of the exam period. It turns out our reading period for the exams is a week long so I might see where my funds are and travel to Cork and check it out. Other than that I just have Barcelona and Belgium coming up! :D

Hope all is well with the rest of you.
Cheers!

Garda

In Ireland the police force is known as the Garda or Gardia (plural). To study in Ireland you must register with the Garda within a month or so, but there are many inconsistencies with the process. For example, some students were missing documentation but were still registered, while others were not made to pay the 150 euro fee. This morning I made my 3rd attempt to register after two unsuccessful trips to the immigration office. I have finally been officially registered which really takes a huge stress off my shoulders. I am just paranoid that I will lose my registration card, if you lose it you have to pay the fee all over again, which is ridiculous for a replacement card. There are still other students trying to register. One girl is going tomorrow morning for her 4th try. Depending on which officer you get varies the difficulty of registration. Today, I got a very pleasant officer. 

Today my friend, Paddy, was thrown a surprised birthday party by his roomies, so it seems that the gap between Irish and American is starting to close a little bit. One part of the issue is it's getting financially difficult for most, if not all, the American students and so partying and going out is just starting to become a once a week or every other week occasion, whereas for the Irish students it's every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and that is the prime time to meet the Irish. I have met more students in my lab and in the dance club I joined yesterday. I hope to get to know them much better. 

Maybe it's because I'm all registered now, but I feel like things are starting to look up. :)

Cheers!

Reflections so far

So, I've been here for over a month already. And what have I got to say so far? I've been trying to think of a way to write things that have been running through my brain this past week. Although I am in denial, I think I may be experiencing some negative culture shock, the anger and dissatisfaction with another society. The Irish culture isn't very different from our own, but it's like seeing the other side of America's own prejudices and stereotypes. 

I get a lot of mixed signals from students and I find myself closing up and having trouble being outgoing. I am closer to Americans than the Irish which, although I love my friends, I wish I knew more Irish students that's why I'm here.  I feel like a lot of the women are nice here, but there is still a barrier, but that could just be because of the nature of women to be exclusive (admit it, we can be). I feel like the men here definitely like to feel in control and the more powerful figure of the sexes. I've experienced this a lot in the bars when men are flirting with you they automatically have to touch your back or your waist to show their masculinity which I find to be annoying. I just wish I could have guy friends to just hang out with.

I have also been told by a few Irish men that I need to "loosen up" because I look "sour" sometimes when we are in pubs. Even though I know I should come out of my shell I'm not going to throw all caution to the wind in a pub just so people won't think I'm sour. I have also been confused by this because one of my friends was told to "calm down" once when she was drunk. So I am not sure if we should loosen up or calm down. The Irish have a stereotype of Americans as being "loud and dumb" according to a party I was invited to for international students. I agree with the loud part though, you can generally pick out the American students in a bar. To some extent there are some Americans I am embarrassed to be associated with here and it's disappointing. 

So I feel like I'm on the defense. Sometimes I actually feel nervous to admit that I come from America. One of my friends told a guy she was from Canada, just to see, and he replied "well, that's hell of a lot better than being from the US". I'm just starting to feel confused as to whether we are truly welcome here or if even Ireland is losing respect for us because of our political issues. I feel that they automatically blame any American for what is going on instead of seeing us as individuals. I've almost wanted to retort about their own civil conflicts that just finally came to an end.  I don't want to insult people, but they don't realize they are insulting me. 

But maybe I'm just feeling this negative because I've been having so many issues getting everything settled here. I feel like I can't quite enjoy myself because I always have something hovering over me. I don't know if I'll really get close to any Irish students here. It's difficult to get to know anyone in class, because you come in, sit down, take notes, and leave. And although I have joined clubs nothing has really started and so I'm still not meeting anyone for more than a "where are you from? oh really? that's cool" conversations. 

On a brighter note, I have bought plane tickets to Barcelona and Belgium (Brussels). I'll be going to Spain for a long weekend with a friend of mine from RWU who is studying in Florence. Then I will be going with one of the girls here to Belgium in November. And then Celeste told me that she is coming here for a week just in time for the end of my classes!

Clifden

This past weekend 3 of my friends and I decided to up and go to Clifden, Connemara. Clifden is a quaint city in the countryside near the coast. It was really picturesque and fun to walk around. There were fields everywhere, horses, sheep, and cattle as far as the eye could see.  On our first day we took a self guided tour of Clifden and walked to the monument hill to get an amazing panoramic view of the city. That night we got a "magic map to the eighth wonder of the world" by the owner of the Brookside Hostel, Richard. He was a very cheerful and helpful man, couldn't ask for a better innkeeper; he even helped organize a pony trek with the Cleggan Riding Center. We road for about 2 hours. One thing we hadn't thought about is that there are no such things as western saddles in Ireland. So the girls got a crash course in English style riding, including posting and trotting. The horses were all cute and, of course, since they were trail ponies, they were stubborn. My pony, Archie, was a beautiful little guy, but he reminded me of Angel's horse...Angel, stubborn as a mule. We were brought to a beach where the inexperienced riders got to trot and myself, another girl, and one of the leaders got to canter. We went back and forth many times and then finished with a slow walk in the water. :). The ride was worth the euro and the girls loved it! 

Afterwards we had our own adventure trying to find the Clifden Castle. We trekked through horse paddocks and even stopped to say hi to a few mares and their babies. We also got a very loud greeting from a lonely donkey. It was a wet and muddy walk but I loved it. 

The weekend was great, exhausting, but great. We were there just in time for an arts festival and got to see a lot of great art galleries, I wanted to buy all the horse paintings :). There were street performers who you could here playing all the way on top of monument hill. 

I'm still having trouble registering with immigration. I'm actually getting very stressed and vexed by the lack of efficiency in this process. I have never experienced such a run around over a stupid process. The officers here are extremely stubborn and I am getting to the point where I think I will have to get the Embassy involved. This has to be the most disappointing part of Irish society is their administration's lack of communication and efficiency. 

The Aran Islands

This weekend a group of students with the Arcadia program went on a trip to the Aran islands. There is a lot of history tied to them. According to something I've read one of the islands didn't have electricity until the mid-1900s. I didn't get to see much of the island, but that was fine. The group of girls and I took our time bicycling around and climbing old ruins. It's really what I've been wanting to do.

I had my first lab class today. I have to say I feel far more experienced than any other student. RWU has definitely prepared me to work in a lab. Most of the students (technically sophomores) have never had a lab before, in fact they don't take science in school before college so I've been told.  

I've made some other observations about Irish students over the past few days. They hate to sit in the front of the classroom it's like pulling teeth. They actually fill a room from the back to the front. They also seem to try to avoid sitting next to anyone unless they know them already (which Americans are just as guilty of). Also, PDA is huge here, people will make out in the middle of the hallway (or the bar) and not give a damn in the world and no one else seems to care either; it can get a bit graphic. One of my friends told me that her roomie said that when it comes to dating they believe in making out (scoring/snogging as they term it) with many different people and then eventually settling down after they've had their fun.

Today was "clubs day", what they call clubs, we call sports/sport clubs. Tomorrow is "societies day (or socs day)", which we call clubs. Today I signed up for the equestrian team...and yes...the rugby team. The rugby team seems really laid back, with only two practices a week and only up to an hour...so I can't imagine they are extremely serious. But the equestrian team sounds awesome. They try to do weekend excursions often and do treks around Ireland! I can't wait to find out more. I plan on joining a soc or two, but we'll see. 

Overall, things are finally starting to pick up in speed. Oh!, I finally tried an Irish breakfast when I was at the Aran Islands. Don't try it unless you really like meat, or are hungover (neither is/was the case for me). It consists of sausage, ham, fried egg, toast, white pudding, and black pudding (the puddings are like sausage and the black is made of congealed pigs blood). The black pudding was gross to say the least. A "full" Irish breakfast is all that plus a slice of tomato, beans, and scrambled eggs. I've also tried soda bread which is fun to munch on, but very heavy. 

But that's about as much of an update that I've got for you. 

Cheers!

Slainte! (this is a long one)

Slainte, pronounced slawn-cha, means cheers, or to your health. Over the past two weeks I have been able to see what Irish college life is like. The night life is very active on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The students also go home on Fridays so generally there are few classes held on Friday, that or the students just don't go. The Irish love their families very much, the idea of being a close family is extremely important to them. There are very few Irish students who stay on campus over the weekend. Also, most of the students don't come back until some time on Monday. So on Monday they celebrate being back in the city and since Wednesday and Thursday are the last days of the week they'll be in the area they party hard. 

We were warned that if we are ever invited to an Irish party we need to bring our own drinks and if we ever hold a party we just have to pray our apartment doesn't get too trashed, and from what I've heard they do a lot of damage. 

I have been getting a good feel for which bars and pubs I like here and which I don't. So far I like the Crane Bar which is very traditional and farther away from the other bars so there aren't very many college students there, the drinks are cheaper, and there is live traditional Irish music. The other one is The Hole in the Wall (it was hard to find). This bar is nice because, although it is crowded, they are very accepting of Americans whereas other bars have given me the vibe that they just find us loud and annoying (which isn't too far from the truth for some). I've also tried out different clubs and decided which ones are way too sketchy and the ones that are just too crowded. Generally, the Irish go to the same place on certain nights. For example, every Monday they go to the GPO club because there is no cover charge. On Wednesdays they go to the Central Park club because it's free for women. 

I finally had a pint of guinness. The guinness is far less bitter here than in the states. So in my in-expertise I'd say it is better, but I still don't like it. By the end of the pint I was having trouble getting past the after taste. I think I'll just stick to hard cider. 

Also, many people have told me that when you are in another country the best way to explain where you from is "I'm from New York", but here you want to say "I'm from Boston". They love it. One historian told us that the majority of Irish families here have relatives in Boston or have lived there at some point in their lives.  

As for classes and academics (that is what I'm here for right?), they are easy so far. I don't see this being a challenging semester at all, in fact I feel a little removed from my classes right now, I'm not really enthralled. I had my first history class today, Ireland in the 19th century, which is actually seems really interesting, the Irish really have always drawn the short straw. For my chemistry course we were told how the final exam is going to work. They post the old exams on the internet so you can get an idea of what the questions will be like (not a new concept to me). As of right now it seems very cut and paste, all I have to do is memorize my class slides and I have an answer. The history and environmental politics class only have papers. The history class has a mid-term and final paper; at most I'll be writing 10 pages for that, the final paper is due by Dec. 4 leaving the rest of my time free (classes end on November 28). The environmental politics is similar,  I was initially told the paper would only be about 5 pages, but I'm not completely sure. My biochem class will be run more like an American class with multiple tests throughout the semester and lab assignments and tests. My exam will also be another 2 hour exam. 

That's the big update for now. Next week, the American girls and I are going to try doing a potluck dinner :). And next week the clubs will finally be recruiting members and starting! For now I'm just taking it really easy, but I can't wait to be a little busier.

Till Next Time,

Cheers!

Irish Education

Today, I had my second day of classes. My chemistry courses feel like they will be just as challenging as they are at home, no more, no less. I am actually looking forward to my biochemistry course. While waiting for biochem. course this morning I ended up chatting with an older Irish woman. We got onto the subject of education in Ireland. She herself was a non-traditional student being 30 years old. But she said that was because of how high school worked out for her. In America we think we have it tough with our SATs but the Irish have it much worse. Once you hit high school you have to know what you want to do because in the last year of high school you take a test based on 600 points. In order to work in higher paid jobs you have to get at least 550 points. If you want to do medicine you have to get 600 exactly. She was explaining to me that because of this system students are either very involved in extracurricular activities and dont' care about school or only care about school and don't have time for anything else. Also once you go to college (which Irish students don't have to pay tuition for, they just pay a registration fee of $1,000 every year) you have to follow the course schedule for whatever discipline your score corresponds to. So if you get around 400points you automatically go into the arts. If you place higher into the 500s you study subjects that will lead to a better paying career. It's really different and it sounds very stressful. She said that many times students will graduate with one degree and then a few years go back for another because they are not happy with what they ended up with. 

Gaill-City of Strangers

This past weekend I had an opportunity to see an hour presentation on the history of Galway and to go on a walking tour of the city center (or medieval city as the historian called it).  The historian, Peadard O'Dowd is a local historian who has written many books about Galway and his presentation was interesting. While he gave us the tour of the city centre he also explained many facets of its history. Gaillimh is derived from the irish word gaill which means strangers. This city has always been known as the city of strangers because of the many tribes that have come and gone and all of the invasions that have occurred here. I feel that even all of the students moving into the university attributes to the name. We are from all over, the university generally has an average of 1500 international students attend every year. 

Also, as you walk around Galway you'll notice there are a lot of swans and I mean a lot. Biologically I don't know why (maybe my bio friends would know ;) ), but according to Irish lore, swans are a reincarnation of the ancient celts. There is also a legend about an Irish family that had been turned into swans, I need to research that. The Irish cherish their swans dearly, whenever I walk to the promenade by the bay you can see so many people bringing bread to feed to the swans (I don't think they realize that bread is bad for ducks), but it's the thought that matters. The swans will let you get very close before they start to ruffle their feathers. It was really cute to see one standing next to a little boy whom it towered over. If you were to ever hurt a swan they'd through you in the bay (so an Irish woman told me). 

My Irish roommates have moved in, they are all girls, and they seem really friendly. One girl made me a little nervous when her initial reaction to my introduction was "oh, you're american". But as that days have gone by she and I have been chatting in the living room and I have been making an effort to really show who I am and be myself. Many of the other American students have told me that when meeting the Irish, the Irish have said "why can't you guys be yourselves?". It's difficult to get an understanding of what they think of us. Last night a guy stopped my friend and I to ask us to come to a house party. Then he followed the invitation with "are all americans cheesy?" It was difficult getting him to explain his meaning, but then he simply stated "are you all like the people on the Hills?" I have never watched this reality show before, and it's sad to say, that's how they measure americans. I have found that many of the Irish base who we are upon the reality shows on TV. The Irish are known for watching a lot of TV and they show a lot of American reality shows. It bothers me that our shows are such a poor reflection of so many Americans and because they are so popular they will continue to be a poor reflection, thus we're only shooting ourselves in the foot. The Irish guy also asked if all American girls were extremely horny, which was a rather awkward question (he was rather drunk while talking to us anyway). American women have gotten quite a reputation here in Ireland. The only thing I can surmise is that because so many girls are attracted to accents maybe they do hook up with a lot of Irish guys. I only hope it doesn't become an issue I have to wrestle with often. 

It has been cloudy and showering from time to time. My roommates say it will be like this until April now. We'll see if that ends up being true. 

Galway Center

So, I wanted to correct myself from my first post. When talking about the Irish language, if you are speaking in English, you refer to it as "Irish" not "Gaelic" you only call it Gaelic when you are speaking in Irish. Confusing? From what I understand the locals do not like it being called Gaelic except when being used in the language itself. 

Today we went through sooo many orientation sessions. I think our orientation at RWU was a little easier to deal with. It's strange to feel like a freshman again. I'm learning around the campus little by little. I'll miss the free printing @ RWU (it's .08 euro per page here, that's about 16 cent or a little less). 

Classes start Monday. The enrolling process (what we call registering) is very different here. Students don't pick their classes until the first day of classes. We decide what classes we want after attending it and deciding if we liked it. 

Other than that things are going well. I started to walk around Galway city center and it is very beautiful. And then a group of us hung out at the college bar and sang karaoke (I know shocking, I was actually coerced into karaoke, and yes...it was after having a pint of hard cider lol).  

Till I write again,

Cheers

Gaillimh

I have finally arrived in Galway (or Gaillimh in Irish, pronounced gallia), one of the prettiest parts of Ireland and also the wettest. Since Galway is on the Atlantic it gets a lot of rain, very sporadically I might add. Today we took a tour of the campus and at least three times we were caught in a downpour when only minutes before the sun was shining. Also, Ireland is as green as the pictures show, I'm thinking b/c of said rain. It's really beautiful. The drive from Dublin to Galway was nice because we got to see the middle of Ireland too. Lots of cows, sheep, and horses. :) I am glad to be out of Dublin. It is definitely a 2-3 day trip, not much more. On our last night in Dublin we saw a play titled "An Ideal Husband" by Oscar Wilde, it was great; rather witty. Then a group of girls, three guys, the Aussie, Dan, and two canadians went out to a bar called Turkshead. After having some pints of cider(for me that is) we went to a club and got in for free because it was our last night in Dublin! We ended up closing the club and got back to the hostel around 3:30am! It was a great time. By the way, I have had a pint of beer, but I just can't drink it. The alcohol content in all the drinks is stronger here not to mention the volume is larger. I do like cider though, I tried an Irish cider (no idea how to spell or pronounce it) but it was great. I have made friends with a group of 4 girls who seem really down to earth and love life. I've befriended a few guys, but one is a bit of a cynic. The other guys are just there for the booze. 

As for the culture, I still find the culture to be very friendly and welcoming, except some angry woman at the grocery store. The accent hasn't been too bad, sometimes I have to ask for them to repeat themselves, sometimes I just smile and nod, lol. I watched a game of gaelic football a couple of days ago; it's like soccer, basketball, and rugby combined. It's the national sport, but I don't find it very exciting. 

Side notes: handle broke on luggage, we'll see how long it lasts lol. 

That's about it for now I guess. Until next time, take care! Sorry for such a long entry, I'll try t make the rest shorter. 

Arrival in Dublin

So I've arrived safely in Ireland. It was a little crazy at the airport, but I guess what is traveling without a little adventure? I got to my hostel by 10am this morning (I'm 5 hours ahead of the US by the way). Unfortunately, my hostel doesn't have WiFi or working internet cards so instead I had to go to...McDonald's bleh, but what can you do? Anyways, I've been doing a lot of walking today which is making me really feel the jet lag.  I'll be fine, but I'm feeling sluggish. The people here are great. I can see why it is always cloudy here though. When we flew in there were two very distinct layers of clouds that we flew through such that there is one very high in the atmosphere and then several hundred feet below is another thick blanket, but the sun did show up today, eventually. I expected some attitude from people because I'm a foreigner but they have been so helpful it's really great. The city is really clean too. Instead of using street sweepers on the sidewalks they use zamboni's, but I noticed that it makes my shoes slip really badly. In fact I saw a man slip and fall while he was trying to look at something which sent him into some sort of a seizure. Luckily, other people were around and ran to his aid and called the ambulance (I have no idea how to treat a seizure). I've already seen my first "castle" Dublin Castle. It's not much, but I have a few pics which I'll upload later. The only part that matters is the tower because it's the only original piece left. I didn't go in, I've only been partaking in free stuff right now other than food. It's gonna be soooo expensive being here. I thought the exchange rate was ok but then I realized that I was completely wrong. I pay the same amount for stuff that I would pay in the states (i.e. 4 bucks for a good cup of coffee etc). I haven't really met anyone else in the hostel. I plan on going to a little restaurant/pub down a few buildings from my hostel tonight. I'm not feeling so adventurous to go to the bars farther away on my own. Tomorrow I'm probably going to check out Trinity college and some other historic sites. And lastly, one thing a lot of people say instead of your welcome is "cheers" :).  *mental note: forgot a watch, it kinda sux*

Gaelic Translation

There are few places left in Ireland that actually speak "Irish", otherwise known as Gaelic. Obviously it is a very old language; just from trying to pick up a few phrases before I leave it is very difficult to learn how to pronounce the words. The title of my blog is Irish for "I'm never ever drinking again!". The phonetics of this phrase are "knee ohl-hee mey gu brawkh u-reeshch", which is not what it looks like at all. 

I figured this would be appropriate for a blog about Ireland seeing that I'm sure that I will probably say this (hopefully at most) once while I am there.  As we all have heard the Irish are known for drinking a lot, but according to what I've read this can be attributed to the Irish's cultural belief in self-deprecation (Lonely Planet), they find it better character to be extremely humble than to be openly confident about what you do. I'm excited to experience the dynamics of the culture, especially regarding women.