I have returned to AMERICA! True, I did that about five days ago, and I’ve just been too lazy to do my final blog entry until now, but cut me some slack! It’s not easy gallivanting around Ireland and Britain with no job and very little schoolwork for three and a half months! I should get a medal or something.
My last two weeks in Ireland were pretty mundane. I took five exams over the course of two weeks, where I had two hours to answer two vague and annoying questions on all of them. When I wasn’t studying (which was quite often), I passed the time by Skyping with friends and family, watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 on YouTube, or throwing a squishy ball against my bedside wall and catching it (much to the chagrin of the guy next door). I also went around and said goodbye to a lot of landmarks that I had become accustomed to seeing during this semester. I went into Limerick City and walked by the Shannon one last time, gazing towards King John’s Castle, and remembering when it was new and exciting just three months prior to visit a medieval structure (I must have been in at least eight or nine castles and fortifications since). I did some last minute souvenir shopping, went to a Church of Ireland service, and had my last meal at Supermac’s (that last one was especially important for me).
I said goodbye to many places on campus as well: the main building where most of my classes were held, the library where I spent a lot of quiet time away from my noisy suitemates, the rugby pitch where I often played Gaelic football with Irish, French, and German guys, the on-campus restaurant where I paid €9.50 for a piece of chicken and some chips my first week on campus and then never went back. I especially wanted to visit that mysterious ruin one more time, and I even was ballsy enough to climb its rather unpredictable staircase all the way to the top:
Saturday at 4am, I said goodbye to the University of Limerick as a whole and took a three-hour bus ride into Dublin Airport (and thank goodness that’s the last bus ride I’ll be having in a while!). The Irish were all worried about the massive snow that was supposed to come this weekend (massive as in about four inches), but it seems as though England and Scotland got the worst of that, so my flight took off around 11am with no problems. After doing the time warp, I finally touched down at JFK around 1:30pm where I was greeted by US Customs (who didn’t like the fact I was wearing my Phillies hat…I think they’re jealous of the best pitching rotation in baseball), and then my mom, my girlfriend Megan, and my good friend Christina (the latter two were a very nice surprise). We drove back to the Poconos, and I became well acquainted with two material objects I sorely missed: my mother’s homemade cookies, and my nice warm bed. And there was much rejoicing (yay).
So there officially concludes my study abroad trip to Ireland. I could go on and on about how this was a life-changing experience that was oh so great and one of the best times I’ve had in my life and blah blah blah, but who really wants to hear that? All I’ll say is that I’m certainly glad I was able to take this trip, and I hope to return to Ireland someday soon. For your enjoyment (and for my own analysis of my trip), I’ll list some positives and negatives that I experienced during my time abroad. Now, it may seem like there are more negatives than positives (and there are), but don’t think that means I didn’t enjoy myself. The fact is that the quality of the positives far outweighs the negatives; the positives are those life-changing things that will come to shape my overall experience, while the negatives are really just small annoyances that I’ll eventually forget about soon enough. Here you go:
Positives:
- Seeing new places: I’ve probably said this a hundred times to the people I’ve talked to recently (so forgive me), but as an avid book reader (especially of history books), it was simply eye-opening to actually see and be around the places that I’ve read about for so long. I can’t describe that feeling in my chest whenever I first spotted a landmark that I’ve seen in countless pictures; it’s something that stayed with me from the beginning of this trip (the Dublin Post Office where the 1916 Rebellion occurred) to the end (the Peace Wall separating Catholics and Protestants in Belfast). Having the images of these places in my mind and in my camera is the best thing I could ever take away from this trip.
- Talking to people with different backgrounds and cultures: It was just interesting listening to all the little quirks people have that are so blatantly different to what I’m used to in the States. Even people within Ireland itself are different; despite only 120 miles distance between them, people from Cork and people from Galway sound complete different from each other (and I had one of each living in my suite!). Learning the lingo was another fun little challenge I experienced everywhere I went. If an Irish person drives you somewhere, do not say, “Thanks for the ride,” because “the ride” means something totally different (and inappropriate) to them.
- Spending a little time on my own: Most of my trips were taken by myself, but I really don’t think that was a bad thing. Quite frankly, I wanted to do what I wanted to do, and I didn’t want to be hindered by somebody with different interests. Not everyone nerds out about history like I do, and at the same time, I’m not as interested in “experiencing the nightlife” as other people my age. Going out on my own was the best way to go for me, and in doing so, I think I gained a bit of independence and self-confidence along the way. I don’t think I entered into the bullcrap “finding myself” territory, but in the end, it was good for me to live on my own and figure things out by myself during this trip.
- Watching Irish/British television: I got to watch “The Weakest Link” and “Father Ted” and “Faulty Towers” even “Trigger Happy TV” during this time, which you really can’t do while in the States. Also, censorship on Irish/British television is low, so they can play movies like “Die Hard” and “Hot Fuzz” uncut and uncensored on regular cable. It was good craic!
- My single room with my own bathroom: Enough said.
Negatives:
- Alcohol: I used to think it was a stereotype that Irish people are nothing but drunks, but I’m starting to buy into it a little bit after living there for nearly four months. They really love to drink! Irish college kids can outdrink American college kids any day! While this was a plus for many of my fellow study abroaders (especially the ones under 21), I do not like to drink very much, and the quantity and frequency with which they drank often left me uncomfortable and alone. I’ll have a Bulmers once every two weeks, and that’s it. Others did not understand or respect that about me, leaving me with less friends than I would have liked.
- Value of the euro and pound against the dollar: I spent about $1700 on this trip, and at least a quarter of that went towards the exchange rate. Visually, things still cost the same (bread is about €1.29 and a burger and fries at a sit-down restaurant is still about €8.99), but because it’s a € or £ in front of the number instead of the $ means that I’m paying thirty to forty cents extra on every dollar. That thought gave me a sharp stab every single time I spent money (even at Poundland where everything’s a pound…or $1.40!).
- The five-hour time difference: I didn’t really like staying up until 3am to watch an entire Phillies, Eagles, or Flyers game. Oh yeah, talking to people back home only at certain hours was annoying too.
- Classes: Irish classes are boring, pointless, and a joke. I didn’t really learn anything, played Pokémon during lectures, pooped out my essays in a few hours, and will still ace all these classes.
- Being on my own for food: For the first time, I was without my mom’s cooking or a meal plan for sustenance. Most of my money probably went towards buying food…and then I had to make the food (woe is me)! Thank goodness for Aldi, a discount grocery store that probably shaved my food bill by about a third (buying €1.39 frozen pizzas for almost every dinner helped too).
- Missing my friends, family, and dog: Especially the do-do-dog.
I feel bad that more than half of my top five are in the United Kingdom and not the Republic of Ireland, but that’s probably because I needed to stay multiple days in those cities, allowing me to appreciate them more. Places like Cashel, the Cliffs of Moher, Wexford, and Belfast (though that last one is UK again) could have just as easily made the list. Rarely was there a place that I didn’t enjoy visiting, and even then it was probably because I was either sick, a little down in the dumps, or with the wrong people. So, overall, I LOVED IRELAND! But I’m glad to be home for some homemade cooking and relaxation and the dollar (oh, how I appreciate you much more, dollar). Thanks for reading all this time! Maybe I’ll keep a blog next time I’m 3000 miles away from home, just for your entertainment. Until then, ní bheidh mé ag labhairt Gaeilge arís!
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