Greece, the land of Greeks: 5/11 to 10/11

My dearest mother hopped the pond and met yours truely in Athens where we spent a week with some family friends. We had amazing food and saw spectacular sites like the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora, Olympic Stadium, and the island of Aegina. The Acropolis is basically the big hill on which the city started since it was easy to defend. On it are the remains of the Erechtheion, the Theater of Dionysis, and, most famously, the Parthenon. The Ancient Agora is an area that holds the Agora (a shopping mall from a few centuries ago), the Temple of the Giants, and Hephaistos Temple amoung other things. It was an incredibly interesting clash, going from thousand year old ruins to a dance club a block away. The past and the present were so integrated together that it was mind-blowing. Most everyone we ran into spoke English, which left out a bit of adventure (but that's probably for the best!). We met some really interesting people from all walks of life and here's a little teaser of what fun we had:

The beach on the outskirts of Athens

A statue of Athena in the Ancient Agora

Me and Madre on top of the Acropolis

The Erechtheion

All photos can be viewed at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2591076&l=180eb&id=13962678

All Hallow's Eve: 31/10/08

Halloween was awesome- Derry is definitely the place to be! They had a parade and fireworks and everyone from 2 days old to 82 years old was in costume and outside, enjoying festivities. Most of the pubs doubled their cover charges so we went to two that were free in and then to our student union. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves...

The street was packed!


Me with one of my favorites, ever.


Robbie, me, and loads of Oompa Loompas


Robbie (gangster), Liz (Cruella), and Christine (Robin)

The Killary Adventure: 24/10/08 to 27/10/08

Last weekend, my study abroad program sponsored a trip to County Gallway where everyone who is studying through my program in Ireland went to Killary, an adventure camp. We went from Friday to Monday and stayed at Killary. They had unbelievable food and really outstanding facilities. On Saturday and Sunday, everyone was able to choose two activities to partake in out of a vast list: gorge walking, bungee jumping, lasar tag, kayaking, high/low ropes course, rock climbing, and hillwalking. The weather was not ideal, it was raining and cold all weekend except, naturally, the day we got there and the day we left. No one had really great clothing for that kind of weather, but we made the best of it.

The view from the cafeteria

I did the low ropes course and rock climbing, lasar tag, and gorge walking. On the low ropes course, we got to swing on a 60 foot high swing, climb up a 60 foot climbing wall, and do obstacle courses like wire walking and rope swinging. Lasar tag was phenomenal! Because of the rain, the mud on the course was waist deep. Really, you'd step and sink to your thighs! The courses had mounds and rivers and barriers and trees and fences all over the place. Then, there was a bachlor party that joined us in lasar tag, about 25 thirty year old men competing with us, a group of 6 twenty year old girls. We ran around, diving into the mud in army gear, shooting each other. Needless to say, it was awesome. Then, on Sunday morning I went gorge walking, which is basically walking up a river. We got wetsuits and life jackets and set off. Some parts of the river were up to my chest, but most of it was calf deep. A few times we had to climb up a waterfall. They had a rope there to hold onto and then you just leaned back and climbed. The river was absolutely beautiful and exhausting, same as the entire weekend. I made friends from the States that are currently all over Ireland so it'll be fun to visit them.

Some of the Arcadia groupies (there were about 40 of us total)

My First Frustrations: 12/10/08

I have to say it's been increasingly difficult to sit here during this historic time in American politics and not be able to do much. I'm a very avid Obama supporter and it pretty much sucks to be here while my friends back home are out campaigning and protesting and signing up new voters. Before I left, the advisors back home warned us to make sure we knew what was going on around the world or at least in the US because, "be assured, they'll ask you about it". I've been pretty informed with current events for quite awhile, so I just tried extra hard. But so far I'm completely disappointed. From my encounters, many Irish students are pretty unaware of any events other than catastrophic ones. They do, however, have a major interest in the American culture, from our celebrities to our healthcare system (or lack thereof). It seems that way for a few reasons: 1. Most of the students want to study or work in the US at some point in their lives and 2. They believe that the United States holds more answers than it really does. In general, they are just really interested in the US. Without a doubt, they do know their history though! That's actually a big problem here because it makes moving on from their past conflicts and just starting over very difficult when people still feel so personally involved with happenings of hundreds of years ago. Anyways, these are all generalizations so don't be offended! I just wish I could continue to be involved firsthand in the election which is hard to do here when people are either ill-informed, impartial, or feel completely unaffected by change...

Another aspect I've been incredibly frustrated with is the "island" mindset. None of the students I live near recycle. Few attempt to conserve energy. Half of the garbage is recyclables (even though I leave bags next to the garbage for them, don't worry, I dig them out); lights are constantly left on overnight. Most discussions I've had with people about climate change leads to their sarcasm ("Oh yea, we're supposed to be 'green' now, right?") or their jokes ("Wow, you're one of those hippy tree-hugger people!"). They ask why I care so much when it "really won't make a difference" and it's nearly impossible to change their minds. The city/university doesn't make it any easier. Garbage cans are plentifully found but I've yet to see a place for recyclables on a street. I also haven't found a single place that accepts paper to be recycled. I'm still searching though. The silver lining of this sort of lack of sustainable ways is that it inspires me to continually do something about it. Wish me luck.

Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge: 4/10 to 9/10

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to visit some really breathtaking sites as part of my study abroad program. We took a bus tour up from Belfast and drove the coast north. It was beautiful, but super curvy and jolty (one of my friend's wasn't feeling so well). But on the way up to the Causeway, we stopped at Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrick-a-Rede_Rope_Bridge) for a tour. It was fabulous! So beautiful and it felt like completely unchartered territory, though obviously it was since the bridge has been there for centuries. It was apparently built because the fishing 30 meters below was just awesome. Now it's mostly a tourist site.

Me on the bridge

After that, we headed up to Giant's Causeway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant%27s_causeway). This was so stunning! All the rocks were interlocking hexagons, a result of a volcanic eruption. But the myth is that the Irish giant Fionn was building this bridge to make his way to Scotland to fight the Scottish giant Benandonner. Fionn was teasing Ben, telling him that if he's so big, he should just come over and prove it. Only Ben was that big, much bigger than Fionn. Once Fionn realized this, he had to came up with a plan. He had his wife make scones with rocks in them and dress him up like a baby. Once Ben got to Fionn's place, his wife said he wasn't there but he's welcome to stay and wait. So Ben did. He had a scone and couldn't believe how tough Fionn was in order to eat food like that! Then the "baby" started crying and Ben saw how big that baby was and realized that if Fionn ate food like that for breakfast and had a baby that big, there's no way he would be able to fight him so he fled home, never to return.

Me on Fionn's foot

Trying to stay dry!

Homestays and Activities 28/9 to 3/10

The first weekend after classes started, I had a homestay in Navan. It wasn't the ideal homestay, but it was still interesting to see some sites. We went to Trim Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trim_Castle) and the Hill of Slane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_of_Slane#The_Hill_of_Slane). Both have intensely long histories and unbelievable stories related to them. I learned lots of random things, like you have this hole in your room if you're really rich and/or really important which turns out to be a toilet. So you'd go to the bathroom there and then at night, you'd hang your clothes over it. The methane from the waste would waft up and kill the bacteria in the clothing. This is why they still call a bathroom a "wardrobe closet." Interesting, right? Also, all the stereotypical castles weren't brick on the outside, but had a flat white plaster covering the bricks.

Me, Lyndsay, and our two host-brothers in front of Trim

The Hill of Slane and the vast landscape

First Week of Classes: 22/9 to 26/9

I survived the first week! So, most of what I was told was true! I am taking three classes: 3D Imaging, Advertising Theory and Practice, and the Politics of Northern Ireland. The Imaging and the Advertising classes are going to be more studio based, with a check-in once every two weeks or so, which is pretty typical. The Politics class is exactly what they described: lecture once a week with one paper and one exam and that's my grade! It was pretty fun to meet more Irish students and really get on my own after a week of international students. It's also really almost surprising to walk around campus and town and see people I know. As most of you know, I go to school at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities, student population 51,000 in a metropolitan area of 3 million. The University of Ulster- Magee has a student population of about 3,000 in a city of about 100,000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Londonderry). It's really refreshing to have this small of a community where you really can get to know most everyone. And, taking classes across three disciplines opens up the community even more. Alright, homework beckons!

First Week in Derry: 15/9 to 21/9

This week, I’ve been just figuring stuff out. Making friends, walking around town, buying necessary items, registering for classes, learning about campus at our international student orientation, and just observing. We've went out quite a bit and have made more friends. This coming week is "Freshers' Week" and has tons of activities going on. Should be fun!

Map of Ireland; I'm way up north in the county of Londonderry in that little bay

Attitudes

Everyone is so laid back! Sooooo laid back! It’s amazing, and almost annoying compared to the high-speed world I’m used to. (Seriously, even the internet is slower.) They don’t need to get answers immediately or to be constantly connected (except they text like mad). They just chill and tell themselves that everything will be worked out when it gets worked out, which is true. They seem awfully happy and cheerful most of the time. They don’t work when they shouldn’t- lunch breaks, late at night, weekends, etc. It’s like they focus on one task at a time, like right now, I’m eating and that’s all I’m going to do or I’m here to work so let’s work. It’s very different and I’m excited to soak a bit of that up.

Academics

College here is so much different! Everyone takes three classes, no more, no less and it’s typically held once a week. With some lectures, you also have a seminar once a week. Now, I haven’t had class yet, so this is just from what I’ve been told: Grades are based on two or three evaluations- papers or exams usually. The system is based heavily on independent learning. They don’t tell you what chapter to have read or how far along you should be, that’s your own responsibility. You’re really only evaluated towards the end of the semester, which is apparently when everyone starts to go nuts.

Vocabulary

Their accents have been much more difficult to understand than I was anticipating. In the Republic, I had little trouble. But up North is a completely different story. It’s much thicker with lots more new words (and I've adopted them!):

-Craic (pronounced crack) is versatile:

“What's the craic?” = what's up?

“That's good craic” = that's funny/good time

-Chat up = hit on "I was over there chatting him up"

-To ring = to call “Ring me later”

-Tenor = a 10 pound bill

-Petrol = gasoline

-Wee = little "a wee church"

-Bathroom = toilet "where's the toilet"

-Slag = tease/make fun of (but in a friendly way) "I was giving him a good slag" or "she wouldn't stop slagging me"

-Fit = hot bod “she’s really fit”

-Chips = steak fries

-Fries = fast food fries

-Crisps = chips

The Irish Conflict

One thing I’m very excited to learn more about is the Irish conflict. It’s still surprisingly prevalent- my Irish friend was worried about going to a club on the other side of the river because she’s Catholic. There are bad areas too, and things that you could never say to certain groups of people, and specific colors mean different things. I’m taking a class on the history of Irish politics, so more to come on that.

Pub Culture

Pubs are where people of all ages go to socialize. Families go, middle-aged businessmen go, and of course college students go. There aren’t one or two big nights like the States’ Fridays and Saturdays, but it’s really every night. There’s really nothing to compare it to… But they aren’t drunks! They go to socialize, not necessarily to drink. Unlike the US, it’s perfectly acceptable to go and hang out and not drink, even when out with loads of friends. But there are still many who do drink, naturally. It’s really interesting and I haven’t got any of it figured out yet; these are just my observations and what I’ve been told. Then there’s rounds. They keep telling us not to get involved in rounds because it works as such: ‘A’ goes up and buys a round for all ten of his friends and now, all of them owe him a drink. When the pint is about half drank (so as to not go dry), ‘B’ goes up and buys a round and everyone but ‘A’ owes him a drink. And they keep track, not of who owes them, but of whom they owe. So, rounds basically don’t stop until everyone has bought everyone else a drink. It’s easy to get in but harder to get out because they are so punctual about buying the next one and then you start owing more and more people drinks. Basically, you come home drunk and broke.

One pretty remarkable statistic I heard was that, per capita, Irish people drink more alcohol than any other Western European country, but they also have the highest amount of people sworn to sobriety. So that means that not so many people are drinking one heck of a lot, which is being a bit of a problem.

Another incredibly interesting social dynamic is who the groups of people are at the pubs. Especially at a college age level, people go out with their group of same-gendered friends and stick with them. For the most part, they go out to socialize, not to hit on everyone- or at least until they’ve paid their dues to their friends. So they don’t go and immediately split up, buying girls drinks, as I’ve seen in the States. It’s incredibly intricate, but really fascinating.

Dublin Adventures: 11/9 to 15/9

Alright! So, I’ve been here 10 full days now. Here’s a bit of a recap: I flew out of Chicago and into London on the 11 and then on to Dublin the same day. I decided to take the bus from the airport to the hostel since it was much cheaper. So, I grabbed my bags and started asking around as to where to go. This would be the first of many times I was asked if I was an American (but all in good fun). After finding the bus, I tried very hard to make sure I didn’t miss the stop, which was quite simply the first one. I got off successfully and started in search of the hostel. The brochure my program, Arcadia, gave me made it sound pretty easy to get to and it probably was, but when factoring about 3 hours of sleep in 36 hours and two big suitcases, it makes it a bit more stressful. So, one wrong turn and three direction stops later (no one knew where the place was), I found it! I got checked in and carried my bags up two flights of stairs and was home! Well, for a few days at least. See, I had my orientation to Ireland in Dublin but I’m going to school in Londonderry in Northern Ireland, so this was only temporary. In a dazed state, I went out and got some food from a little pub and then came back and crashed for a few hours. I heard someone else, Lyndsay, arrive and we went out and explored. The first stop? A pint of Guinness, naturally! Then we just walked and walked and explored. It’s a beautiful, friendly city and I can’t wait to visit again. We asked around for good places to visit and which pubs to go to at night and got some great suggestions. (They drink a lot here. More on that later.) The next day, two other American students in our program- Chris and Jeremy- arrived. Thus started 5 days of fun adventures and site seeing. Usually, we had orientation in the morning for only two or three hours and then we had the day to ourselves. I had my first very Irish meal that second day: a salmon boxty. Boxties are basically big pancakes that are rolled and stuffed with some sort of meat, veggies, and sauce. It was delicious! Then we followed that up with Bailey’s flavored cheesecake. I was surprised to find it had such a different texture and taste compared to cheesecake back home, yet still amazing. The rest of the week, we tired lots of different food- fish and chips, pizza, and a vast variety of potatoes- and saw sites- Trinity College, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, art museums, the River- and drank alcohol- Guinness, Magnus, cider. It was a fun week!

Lyndsay and I with our first pint

All the Americans studying in Ireland through Arcadia

Dublin

Welcome! I'm studying abroad in Northern Ireland for a year and I did a five day orientation in Dublin from September 11 to September 15. The people there were fantastic! Very friendly. A few interesting notes:

-At crosswalks, they had "<-- look left" or "look right -->" painted on the street since traffic is on the opposite side of the street as pretty much everywhere else.

-Food was expensive, but delicious!

-Most tourists were easy to spot and visited the same parts of town.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The main entrance to Trinity College, a private school in Dublin.

A vine covered building.

The Arcadia Americans with the "Tart with a Cart."