The excitement continued the second day even though we* were still exhausted.
It took us* till Wednesday to finally get rid of the jet leg. At first it was really difficult to get up in the morning because when it's 8am here it's about 3am at home. Then at night we couldn't sleep as our internal clocks were still set to the afternoon.
*When I say "us" and "we" I am referring to myself, Callan, and Katie.
Anyway, on Tuesday we opened bank accounts at the Allied Irish Bank on campus. The teller commented on my apparently very irish surname. There is also a building on campus known as the Conway Institute.
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| The Conway Institue |
We also took a tour of the campus which is very large with lots a beautiful buildings and a lake with swans in it. It reminds me a lot of Ithaca College the way it is laid out. They don't have a quad like most US campuses do but there is a sort of center walk way where the library and student union are. There are also soccer fields everywhere and at any given time you can find people playing rugby, hurling, soccer, and various other sports.
(No field hockey yet)
Walking around you can definitely tell we are Americans as when we pass people on the side walk they go to the left where we go to the right. If only I had a euro for every time I've accidentally collided with someone this week or gone up the wrong staircase while others are coming down.
After becoming familiar with the campus and understanding the map I noticed that my some of my classes for Environmental Policy are in a building on the outskirts of campus about a mile from my dorm. Not to mention I have classes directly after those in other buildings that are more centrally located. My solution was to get a bike.
I figured it wouldn't be a terrible idea to have a little more freedom plus not have to worry about being late for classes. Plus my dorm has a bike garage. I was a little nervous about finding something reasonable and not getting ripped off but it turns out the bike shop on campus is owned by a friend of a friend of a friend of mine and it all worked out. (Shout out to Julie Clark for sending me links to the shop) I was able to get a used bike and a lock that I can sell back at the end of the semester.
If you are at UCD and need a bike go to the Belfield Bike Shop down from the bus stop at the entrance of campus they are super friendly, helpful, and informative.
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| With my new bike in front of the bike garage! |
Throughout the week we have also had many orientation/information sessions where we have begun to meet the other international study abroad and exchange students...don't mix up study abroad and exchange apparently they are totally different. So far we had met students from Italy, France, Norway, Switzerland, and our favorite Australia. One of our "suit mates" who lives in our hall is beyond nice and absolutely hysterical. She invited us down to the apartment downstairs on our second night where we met many new people. We just need to remember to keep our toenails trimmed when she's around. ;) (Shout out to Adele Swann)
On Wednesday we joined our new friends at an Irish Caile "Kay-lee" put on by the school. It was basically a small irish culture dinner with traditional dancing and music. I tried lamb for the first time (which if you know what a picky eater I am, this was huge) and it was pretty good. Our irish friends, Demi and Keith, also got Callan and I to compete in this dancing/ice breaker game that we ended up winning. We had to do some waltzing and then stand nose to nose or butt to butt. We lost most of our competition when one of us had to stick a tongue in the others ear.....just leave it to the Americans to actually follow through with that.
Wine and beer were also served at the event...yes, a school event.
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| Callan and I doing some serious winning. |
As most of you know from my Facebook I went clubbing Wednesday night. It's not unusual here to drink at any given night of the week. We started off at the school pub on campus (where I had my first Guinness) then took a bus downtown to "D2". My friend from Ithaca (Shout out to Corinne Swanson) is also studying abroad here and she was able to meet up with us, which was lots of fun. It was also nice to see a familiar face. We raged until 2am and then took a cab back to campus.
It was really easy to pick out the irish girls at the club, they were plastered with make up and had some really short/tight dresses on. Obviously, taking their cues from Jersey Shore. I'm not saying this of all irish girls but just most of them. The rest of us were just wearing jeans and a nice top.
Finally, Thursday was more orientation followed by another welcome event (also serving alcohol). When you are socializing you really don't watch how much you drink. By the end of the hour long event I had 3 glasses of wine and was not quite myself. Not to mention most of the beverages here have a greater percent of alcohol than at home. After a few glasses of water and a meal of beef and potatoes we headed downtown for a real irish pub called "Hughes" that was on the other side of the river across from O'Connell street. One of my new favorite things is Bulmer's Cider, which comes in different berry flavors or more traditionally apple. It is so cool to just walk up to a bar and order a drink without being carded.
The pub closed at midnight so we walked up the street to find a McDonalds. It really wasn't as different as I expected it to be though.
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| Bulmer's Cider and Guinness |
Today is all relaxation. My stomach keeps making these insane sounds and I'm pretty sure my liver might shut down pretty soon. I haven't been plastered (and I don't plan on it anytime soon) but I am definitely not used to drinking so many different things. We were also able to buy stuff in this grocery store Tesco. Callan and I were determined to find boxed wine such as Franzia but every time we asked someone they gave us strange looks. However, we did manage to find wine juice boxes. Literally, wine in a juice box.
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| "Its like juicy juice for adult" - Callan |
I'm going to post more pictures of my Facebook so look there for the bulk of them. If you notice my lovely duvet cover in my room I just want to give one more shout out to Debbie Fischer who made it for me so I didn't have to buy one. Thank you Deb!! I feel right at home!
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| My grand duvet cover |
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