Schedules are Hell

I love learning more then I love breathing. There’s just something about gaining new knowledge that’s so enticing and addictive. And yet there’s always a black cloud on the horizon of a perfect opportunity to learn. Today that cloud is my schedule.

Honestly what is it with this university! There’s only one class of any given subject. And it seems that all the classes I want to take are at the same time on the same days. It’s hard as hell to choose between Irish Folklore and Criminal Law (I ended up picking Folklore). So making my timetable is the hardest thing I’ve done in my life so far. I swear the SATs were easier than this!!

It’s not just the lectures I have to make fit either. I’ll let you in on my pain and give you a crash course on classes at UL. You have to attend all the lectures for a given class. Now lectures are anywhere between one hour and four hours. Also they all have over 50 people (sometimes closer to 100) in them. Then after lectures and usually on a different day of the week you have to attend a tutorial. Tutorials are like re-runs of the lecture except with maybe 20 people in it and you can ask questions. On top of lectures and tutorials for my bio class I also have lab. Thank god I’m an exchange student because we can pick our tutorial group! It makes it a wee bit easier but it’s still a chore.

For instance right now I have four classes picked and every part of them works out, granted I’m walking out of one class at 11 and walking straight to another class that starts at 11, but they still work! The down side? I need one more class and I cannot find a single one that fits! It’s like the god of the timetable is hell bent on making me crazy before giving me a good class.

So I’m going to take a deep breath… and another one… and go to bed. Perhaps tomorrow when I wake up I’ll be able to look through 75 pages of classes offered this spring and find an interesting one I have yet to spot that fits my schedule. So cross your fingers that my 10th read through of the brochure will shed some light into the pits of schedule making hell.

Cheers,

Of Homesickness and Skype

The first day I arrived in Ireland I found myself to be terribly homesick. I unpacked and set everything up in my tiny room. Then I plugged in my computer to my converter and was planning on doing some writing. That plan was put to an end why my converter started smoking and my computer was barely charged. It was super depressing to see my converter I’d bought ruined in the first half hour of use. It was so depressing in fact that I started crying. As I started crying I realized I was really, really far away from home and couldn't even call my family because it was 3 in the morning in Jersey. I felt horribly alone and started to cry even more.

Right about then I realized that my bout of tears and intense homesickness had been brought on by a converter… an inanimate object. I also realized that I hadn’t slept since the previous night. So a nap was called for. After a nice 2 hour nap I woke up quite refreshed. Angry at my converter. But no longer homesick.

Since then (no offence to my family and friends) I haven’t been sad about leaving home. I attribute this to lots of sleep and the fact that I get to Skype people at night. For those of you who don’t know Skype is a video chat application you can download for free from the internet. So every day or so I’ll call home, it’s usually super late here when I call because I like to call after my dad’s gotten home so I can chat with everyone. And I usually end up staying online till midnight or later here. I don’t mind though. It’s really nice to be able to talk to and see my family and friends while I’m so far away.

When I called home Sunday my mum sort of set her computer in the dining room as they were decorating their dollhouses and we chatted and my brother came talked for a bit and it was sort of like sitting at home just chilling with them. It was a nice 2 hour call that day.

For me being with my family is normal. I grew up in one of those families where I get along with my brothers and parents and enjoy being around them. Which means I was rather nervous when I was preparing for Ireland because this is the farthest I’ve ever been from home, I can’t go home on the weekend if I’m bored. I can’t hug everybody when I see them. It’s hard but being able to video chat helps a lot.

When Skyping my mum I insist on being able to see my puppies when I call. It’s weird how much I miss my dogs… Sometimes I think I miss my dogs more than my family. Scary right? But they’re super cute so it’s okay... I think....

In the past week I’ve come up with the perfect cure to homesickness: sleep and Skype.


Cheers,

Pub Tales

Last night I went to the pub on campus called The Stables. It’s the hang out place for all the students. I really like the atmosphere of the pub. It’s like nothing I’ve ever had before. In the states we don’t have anything that I can compare it too. Many of the students (from Ireland or other parts of Europe) find it hard to believe when I tell them that. They assume that are bars are like pubs, but I’ve never seen a bar in the states that compares to a pub here. Most of the time bars are for people who want to drink in the middle of the day, or for people to drink by themselves or in a tiny group after work. Or if you’re a college kid you go to bars to get drunk and dance or see friends. Then they ask me about clubs. Again that doesn’t fit the whole pub scenes. American clubs are again for drinking and loud music and dancing. The pubs here are very much a social thing. There’s no dancing, no getting drunk, no loud music. Sure there’s music but it’s not the loud stuff of American clubs. People just meet there to have a drink or two and see their friends. And it’s not just a few friends you see and talk to. You’ll talk to a huge group and even chat with strangers.



For instance when I was out last night I went with my roommates from Spain and Czech Republic. We sat outside with our drinks and all their friends came to say hi and hang out for a bit before they meandered off. It was the most fun I’ve had since I got here. Why? Because for the most part I was the only American out of 15 or more people. Sometimes one of my American roommates would come over for a bit but they pretty much stuck with the other Americans. Or a girl I just met from Connecticut would chill with us.


Being around so many different people was something I’ve never experienced before but I was comfortable. Even if I wasn’t in conversation all the time it was cool to listen to listen to the way they spoke and used the English language. Every now and then if I someone would ask me for a word or if I had been talking and used a slang word or a word they hadn’t heard I’d have to explain it. Explaining “American” words has defiantly gotten my brain working.


The highlight of my night was when my new French buddy turns to me and told me that he was impressed that I was still hanging out with them. I didn’t understand what he was hinting at so he explained how the American students tended to cling to each other and rarely made friends outside of their “American Group”. To me that’s crazy. I didn’t come abroad to meet Americans. Sure they’re from different states but they’re still American! I came to meet people from different countries and learn about their culture. If I had wanted to meet American I would have stayed in the states.


Laters,

First Days of Ireland

Here’s the deal…. I’m in Ireland!!


I left Newark last Monday. I found a lot of kids from my program in the airport, it was nice to have met a few kids before I landed here. The flight over was amazing, since it was night I could only see the lights from the cities as we flew. It was beautiful.

It was a 6 hour flight and I tried my hardest to sleep but it was like trying to sleep on Christmas eve. We landed at the Shannon airport around 7 and it was still dark out! Which meant the bus ride to campus was so pretty cause the sun was just rising as we drove.

People told me the Ireland’s green but it’s REALLY green. It’s the middle of winter and the grass is still green! Like spring time green! I love it! On the walk to the grocery store I go across a bridge and you can see a huge green field then the hills in the back its breath taking.

I love the house I live in, there’s two floors with four rooms on each. My housemates on the first floor are all American and ¾ are from my program. My roomies on my floor are from Spain, Czech Republic, and France.

I was nervous the first day when my roomies moved in but they are cool. We’ve been making lunch for each other. The second day I made grilled cheese for lunch and my two roommates from Spain and Czech Republic hadn’t had it before so I felt so cool making it for them and introducing them to something “American”.

Here are a few photos of campus. I’ll have more pictures once I get the charger for my camera… I made the mistake of leaving it at home.

My very tiny but very awesome room

This is the path to campus

main campus!

walking into the village i live in

Laters,

Time To Fly

Right now I'm sitting in the airport waiting for my flight. I honestly don't see why I had to get here so early. The flight info online said to get here 3 hours before the flight and I was. And now I'm waiting. I'm waiting for my flight at 7 tonight. The longest part of check in was waiting in the line. Then I had to go through the security. Again it took longer to wait in line. And here I was stressing these last few weeks about making sure I followed regulations on everything and I passed right through. So now I've just got to wait. I anticipated this and brought books to read. Right now I'm reading The Crimson Petal and The White. It's pretty good so far... It's about a prostitute Sugar who lives in Victorian London and rises through society. So until my flight I intend to put a good dent in this book.
Laters,
TV

Phantom of the Opera

For those of you who don’t know… I have a HUGE obsession with Phantom of the Opera. I went for the first time with my family when I was in third grade. It for the kids on Broadway night it was the first time I stayed up really late and the next day my mum let us sleep in late and took us to school late. It was so cool! Then of course the movie came out in 2004 and it’s one of my favorite movies. Then I went three years ago for my mum’s birthday. My little brother and I skipped school for the day and went in for the manatee. Check me out.

And now I got the super smart idea to go see Phantom next semester in London!! How freaking awesome right! Not only is it going to be Phantom of the Opera but they’ll all have British accents! Super hot!!!! While I was looking for tickets I saw that there’s a sequel musical Love Never Dies. And I really want to go see that too. But it all depends on how much money I have. But those two are on the top of my to do list next semester.
I just love the music so much from Phantom! Here are my two favorite (yes I do have an addiction to posting music. Hehe)

^Phantom of the Opera^

^Past the Point of No Return^




Also on another London related note, I can’t remember if I poster or not. But two weeks ago I submitted my application for London Met and today I was on Craigs List looking for apartments for next fall. some of them are super cool, right now I’m just looking at prices, where they are, where the closest tube station is, and what it comes with. So basically I’m super excited for the fall.


Laters,

Song Time

First off-- Happy New Year everyone! I hope you make all your dreams come true!


Second off-- I thought I’d share a few songs that I’ve been writing to lately.

Third off -- I leave for Ireland in 15 day! Whoot! So be prepared for an excessive amount of pictures and good tales. I pretty much finished my packing and I’ve moved out of my room. The only stuff left in it is going abroad with me! Yay!

So now onto the songs, enjoy!











 



Laters,