Student Bloggers

No! I refuse to believe that three months have passed because that means it’s not much longer until I return home. This summary will be quite brief because so much of my third month I felt was worth mentioning in my other blogs. So hint for you, read my other blog entries. I am just as delightful there as I am on this series of writing.

I travelled quite a bit in November. After the storm of midterms came to a nice end and I did not horribly fail (in fact I did quite well), there was plenty of time to explore again. I went to Dublin to watch some live sports and do a bit of Christmas shopping. I love how big a deal Christmas is in Europe. Seeing all the cities decorated and getting trees for lighting ceremonies really gets you into the Christmas spirit, even if Halloween just ended like a week ago. This part doesn’t really count as travelling but while I’m on the subject of holidays, I also had a big gathering of people in my apartment to celebrate Thanksgiving which felt like home and was a nice change in routine. I explored castles in Tipperary and Kilkenny castles. I also ripped my pants in public in Kilkenny for the first time in my entire life. I was quite embarrassed but thank goodness for thrift stores. I was not walking around for very long until I found another pair of pants that will do just the job until I go home! I also went to one of the big European cities I have dreamed of going to for at least 7 years: Paris! Everything about it was gorgeous and I even got to ride a bike (possibly the first time in three years) through the city at night. That’s not a typical moment a tourist might experience and I loved seeing everything lit up!

Education in November was kind of slow. I had been adjusted to my schedule and was regularly attending my classes. But without tests or really any homework at all, I find I was kind of just going through the motions and trying to come up with a plan for my three day weekends. I was finally given my finals schedule which I had been waiting for just about the same time I was waiting to even know my class schedule. Ireland is so relaxed about this kind of thing that it’s quite frustrating for this American who loves to have everything in order and on her calendar! Only knowing when finals were a month before them was not ideal for me. However, good fortune smiled on me and gave me all of my finals during the first week of exams. The second was week was left free for travelling which meant my dream of being in London on my birthday was coming true! I booked my final trip with my friend Maddie and now I am only a couple short days from being London bound!

The third month in, was also the first time I really communicated with home. I first Skyped my dad which did not come easily. We ended up having to Skype via my step mom’s cell phone because his laptop was not working. We lost connection a couple times, my fault and his. We made fun of each other a couple times about not being savvy with technology. But overall, it was nice to see my dad’s face and see the family again. We talked for about two hours about what was going on at home and what I had been doing on my trip. Apparently I have not been to enough pubs, according to my brother. Then I Skyped my mom where we talked about literally everything in the span of three hours. I got to see my pooches which made me excited to see them in person when I get home. I ended up Skyping both during Thanksgiving as well and will probably Skype them once more to talk about my plan for coming home. I am kind of dreading that call.

Within the third month I really felt like I belonged in Ireland. I have been well adjusted to the culture, made great friends and readjusted to a different style of education. And now in a few short weeks (actually one week as I look now to my calendar) I have to do this all over again and readjust to living back in the United States. I might shed some tears.