July 2012
6 posts
2 tags
5 tags
3 tags
5 tags
Editorial Comment
Adults should hold themselves accountable for failure. I’d like to begin again by joining Will McAvoy in apologizing to my followers for my failure.
The failure of this blog during the time I’ve been in charge of it to successfully educate and inform you on the pros and cons of travelling.
I will do my best in the future to make amends for the mistakes I’ve made over the past...
May 2012
2 posts
6 tags
April 2012
2 posts
March 2012
9 posts
8 tags
Double Decker
I’ve lived a privileged life. Anyone can tell you that. I’ve never had to rely on public transportation. Whether it was when I was in school or when I was planning on going into D.C. If I needed a ride somewhere I had somewhere to turn.
However, here in the land of driving on the left I rely heavily on those double-decker, yellow buses. Every time I want to go into Dublin I have to check the...
The Beard
When I was preparing for Ireland I began to let my beard grow longer than I usually let it, in the hopes that it would help me fit in. While the beard has been a big part of my appearance for a while (as you can tell by the blog’s name), most people when I told them I was going to Ireland responded with “explains the beard!”
Surprisingly few people here have beards. While I have not spent a lot...
Home Grown
In my freshman year of college I took Environmental Biology and was told about how, to encourage and maintain sustainability, we as Americans must make the change to home grown food rather than foreign food. The way we went about talking about this was saying how we wouldn’t eat bananas out of season and how we no longer need mangos and other fruits from New Zealand.
Here in Ireland though they...
5 tags
My New Morning Routine
Back at John Carroll I lived down the hall from the bathroom. When I had to use the restroom I had to get up from what I was doing, put on some shoes, make sure I had the key to my room, and hope to God that the bathrooms were somewhat clean.
Here though my bathroom is attached. To my room. My own bathroom where I can bring things in with me and I won’t be judged. The only downside that I used to...
5 tags
The "Morning-After" Effect
For anyone who lives on or has lived on a college campus, it is always apparent in the morning whether there was a big party the night before.
You have the walks of shame, the large trash bags full of beer cans, and the clutter around the common rooms. However, in Europe it is much more wide spread. Because the legal drinking age is 18, everyone is college is able to drink. Not everyone chooses...
4 tags
One Word: Ireland
When people think of Ireland they are often taken to rolling plains and sheep roaming across the hillside. This is very true. If you know where to go you can find these images. If this is what you want then The Coast is the place for you, where the people choose to live a few years in the past and the sheep are just as free as the humans.
However, I’ve since learned that even though it may not...
7 tags
American Pride. Or Blindness.
Since I’ve never been abroad I find it strange to have to deal with Immigration. It was always something that I had heard about in the news and I know that it is an issue in politics. It was something that I never thought I would have to deal with though.
I had to sign up for a meeting, wait for a call, go to the police station in town, and get my Immigration Card so that I was officially a...
6 tags
The Comfort of Words
I’ve been in Ireland for a little over a month and while I don’t think I’m picking up any kind of accent, I am picking up the lingo.
It’s small things honestly, such as calling fries ‘chips,’ and chips ‘crisps.’ Such as saying ‘cheers’ instead of thank you or saying that things are ‘class’ instead of good.
However, even though I know what all these things mean I still find myself slipping into...
February 2012
10 posts
7 tags
The Two Worlds of Study Abroad
When I left for my first year of college I was worried that being so far away from home would hinder my ability to take part in my family’s life. However, I discovered that with planning and more than a week of notice I was able to find a way to be there for all the important moments in my family’s life.
While I’m still only a flight away from home, I’m finding that the difference is not...
4 tags
My Future Career
As a lover of film I always like to see how movies do abroad as well as back home. It’s strange to me to see movies that I ignored back home only just coming out here, such as ‘Jack and Jill,’
a movie where Adam Sandler plays multiple characters. Such is the path that his career has taken. Back in the States it got horrendous reviews and was a joke among friends. For some reason, it has taken...
5 tags
The Ups and Downs of Travel
Ever since I was young I told myself that one day I would be a world traveler. I loved to plan things out and I loved the idea of going out of my comfort zone for a while. Well it’s harder than it sounds. You have to take into account so many things when you think about travelling:
Where you’ll fly in, how to get around when you’re there, what to see, where you’ll stay, how long you’ll stay,...
5 tags
The Inconvenient Truth...about Teaching
When I decided to visit Ireland to Study Abroad I honestly didn’t think about what classes I would take. The determining factor for me was the idea of rolling plains, sheep roaming around the streets, and the kind people. Not once did classes play into my decision.
This was a mistake. When it comes down to it there aren’t a lot of classes for people in the Study Abroad program to take. European...
4 tags
4 tags
5 tags
Some things I've noticed...
When it comes to classes there isn’t a large change between the way teachers teach, the way students act, or the way you take notes. However, as a student coming from America to a country in the European Union, one thing stands out dramatically: They don’t care about America.
What I mean by that is that in America when we look at literature, philosophy, design, etc, we put things in...
January 2012
5 posts
5 tags
Orientation
Orientation for a student studying abroad is about as important as a student studying at home.
If you don’t know how to use the internet, you should go. If you don’t know how to read a map, you should go. If you don’t have roommates who are from the area, you should go.
The Orientation, while a quick test in my ability to comprehend the Irish accent was an experience that I...
5 tags
Touch Down
So I’ve touched down in Ireland and have been here for about two days. The jet lag hasn’t affected me, but that is because I listened to the advice that I got from everyone who had ever traveled:
“Don’t sleep until it’s okay to sleep where you land.”
That meant that I arrived in Ireland at 4:45 in the morning and didn’t get to sleep until 9:00 pm....
December 2011
1 post
1 tag
This is just the Beginning
So, you’ve been thinking about travelling since you were a kid, you went to a school with a strong Study Abroad program, you did the necessary paperwork, and you’ve got all your flight information set in stone. The question is: What do you do after all of that?
Everything I’ve read has led me to this point. My advisors have helped me get here and this is where their expertise...
