Bonjour á tout,
It’s into our last month now and kinda scary that the time has passed by so quickly. There is a sense about the place over reflecting on our time here. People are starting to talk about going home and that brings with it a whole range of paradoxical emotions - happy to go home, sad to leave.
It has been an amazing time here over the past few months but it hasn’t been without its problems. The most recent ones have involved our accommodation and our landlord. I won’t bore you with the problems but admit that even all the problems have been worth it. The problems that have arisen are new adventures too, sometimes not in the good sense but we can all learn from our problems and failings and that has been ever-present recently.
When planning the trip and starting to look at accommodation, my mum asked if I’d like to go over and have a look in the flesh. I laughed at the idea, in a way sort of saying, “don’t be stupid mum.” Now, I am forced to admit defeat, my mum was right.. again, but keep it quiet.
It is the first time I have ever lived away from home and that is a challenge in itself but one which I have learned enormously from. Never will I make mistakes that I have made here again. I don’t want to sound too moany, as a whole, the apartment is grand, but it is not without it’s little kinks that had I been a bit more prepared could have been dealt with early.
So, for anyone thinking of going on Erasmus, make sure you talk to a number of people about how they found the experience. I was given this opportunity but didn’t take it. Had I heard advice from the mouth of a fellow-student as opposed to my mum, I may have listened a bit more.
Erasmus is a challenge, there are many little problems along the way but each of them brings with it its own unique opportunity to learn from your mistakes and experiences and provide the life-learning we hear so much about. I have learned so much over here that is un-examinable in academic terms.
As I’m sure you’re all well aware, it’s not all about exams!
Talk soon
Eoghan
April 8th, 2009
Returning from the relaxation of Paris, we were rudely awakened by the disrupting reality of what was awaiting us back in Dublin: St. Patrick’s Day Madness!!! Don’t get us wrong, we were STOKED to spend such an historical day in the country of its origin, however our house was transformed into a youth hostel—nothing like the one we’d just stayed in. These guests were nothing like the 12 and under we were exposed to before but rather 20 college kids in one house eager to explore the Irish culture and its nightlife!
It’s all basically a haze, especially since Emma’s family was visiting at the same time AND our roommate welcomed the celebration of his 21st birthday the night before St. Patty’s but Dublin doesn’t fool around with tradition! The streets were a sea of green and it was basically impossible not to bump in to some stumbling pedestrian who’d been drinking the good stuff since the early am. Temple Bar. Insane. Lots of People. Lots of green. Lots of Guinness. The pubs were overflowing with animated leprechaun lovers excited to perpetually celebrate the holiday Irish-style! Almost better than the parade itself was the carnival festivities located in Merrion Square—mere blocks away from our comfy abode (nobody stalk us, please). It was catered towards a more familial, younger crowd, but even so we enjoyed a nice dollop of ice cream and a lovely stroll in the brilliant weather!!! Dublin sure delivered on the weather and it was a delight to show our guests how accommodating the weather is to visiting foreigners. Springtime in Dublin is a beaut!
As much as we enjoyed the holiday it was a relief to have the calm return after the storm. We prefer the city sans-tourists and delight in having oxygen once more after the six dwellers that occupied our floor vacated.
Honestly, it was quite difficult to return today back to collegiate lifestyle. Darn you, responsibility! Even so, we both have grown quite fond of the campus, our radio show (odd we never mentioned this before, but we have a radio show on Belfield FM titled Queens of the Airwaves –aka… US! Do tune in every Tuesday 6-7 pm. We are now officially on the FM frequency. Thanks for the plug, UCD Bloggers!), and the bi-weekly meetings provided by the study abroad Quinn school (free info and free FOOD and COFFEE!).
Slan!
Tune in next time for more lasting impressions of our impressions of Dublin!
E and C
March 24th, 2009
There’s actually a lot that has happened these past few weeks so we’ll highlight a few and bring everyone up to speed!
Being at an actual university has been a breath of fresh air after being coddled like youngsters back at our schools in Madrid and Rome. The UCD campus is legit. We don’t even mind the twenty minute ride into Bellfield from our abode. We feel inclined to mention the top-notch facilities (not to mention staff) of Quinn Business School. The student-friendly work-rooms, schnazzy Insomnia café, and the perk of actually having internet brings us almost to the point of tears when it’s time to say our adieus each afternoon. So maybe that’s a bit of stretch, but it’s a good place to be and do work.
Powerscourt
Now on to the good stuff! Instead of advocating Quinn we’ll move on to Temple Bar and some of its hot spots—Purrty Kitchen in particular. Our first and only experience there thus far, was a good one! Free cover for the ladies and two-for-one cocktails on top of live entertainment and a rockin’ dance floor sweetened the pot. After we had our fill of the live band playing covers of The Killers and Kings of Leon we decided to mosey on to the dance floor; a decision we don’t regret! We dance without inhibition and we expect the same of the opposite sex… so when we saw two freestylin’ hotties bustin some moves, we’re not going to say we weren’t immensely intrigued! After being a titch aggressive in terms of making ourselves obvious they took note! From there commenced 2 hours of an intense America-Norwegian dance off… that’s correct, dance off! We were whipping out moves left and right: the Shopping Cart, Lawn Mower, Sprinkler, even a rendition of Soccer Mom Baking Cookies While On The Phone. It wasn’t nerdy. We were the coolest ones out there. The dance off fizzled after awhile, and Henrik and Nicolai moved in on us. We’re gonna be honest here… they represented their country well… and left favorable impressions. Unfortunately, they were here with their football team and were leaving the Isle the following Monday. All good things come to an end.
Howth
While we’ve been enjoying a semi-typical study abroad experience, our roommate has been hitting it off with the Irish mamas, grandmamas, and homeless men? While at another bar he struck up a conversation with an older lady who ended planting a kiss on his cheek and confessed that she “likes her young-uns young”. Weird? Later he hung out with a clan of 40 year olds at their birthday celebration, and even later had a heart-to-heart with the dancing bum at Temple Bar’s Trad Fest. An atypical experience for an atypical roommate.
Log on again soon for more lasting impressions of our impressions of Dublin!
Slan!
E and C
February 4th, 2009
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