So this week is Orientation week, and there's a lot of activities going on, so I'll probably be posting everyday. Also, this may be a long post, so prepare yourself.
So what has transpired since last night? Well, I met two of my roommates yesterday. One is from Rochester, NY and goes to Elon University in North Carolina. He's a self-proclaimed anarchist, but he's a cool guy. The other roommate is of Italian and German descent, and lives in Germany. He's a nice guy, and has a cool accent. For you Always Sunny fans, he kind of looks like Mac, but has the accent of Jan from the episode "Mac and Charlie Die". Haven't met the third roommate yet. From what I know, she's Irish from Limerick.
Last night my German roommate had some friends from his university over to our place. Then we went to the student bar for a first pint of Guinness. Now, I'm not really into drinking, so maybe I was a little inclined to not like it, but it was a bit too bitter for my taste. It wasn't bad, but I think I'd only be able to put down one pint in a night. However, I will say that it was rather smooth, and the general atmosphere in the bar was great. Lots of international students mingling. Met some more Germans and Americans. After such a long flight, and a long day settling in, I was feeling sufficiently drained, so I came back to the apartment and slept.
Today has been pretty exciting so far as well. I reserved some tickets/spots for the events going for international students this week. Signed up for an excursion into County Wicklow (I think these are the mountains), a walking tour of Dublin, and an open bus tour. Had a very tasty, albeit expensive, lunch at the main restaurant on campus. Had a personal pizza and pesto pasta with chick peas, some other kind of beans, tomatoes, and corn for just under 10 euro. After that I went on an open top bus tour of the Dublin city center. We went all around the city with a great driver/tour guide Craig, who was hilarious. I sat next to a Chilean student, so that was pretty cool. Now for my Rush Hour fanatics, this was just like the scene in the first one where Carter follows Lee onto the bus of Chinese tourists and poses for pictures. Check out from 0:40 to 1:25 in this video (This is for you Jason!)
Took some pictures, but it they didn't turn out entirely how I wanted. It was difficult to take quality pictures while moving and the rail of the bus was at my eye level, so getting a good view was hard. Overall a great experience.
I think pretty soon I'll make a Picasa album for my pictures, and I'll post links to it so all my pictures will be visible. Overall, the bus tour was really good. Now I'm back in my room. I'm probably going to practice some trumpet since I have an audition for the orchestra next week, then maybe a nap. After that, some live music and tapas!
Tomorrow will be more of settling in. Hopefully I'll go on a shopping tour so I can find the best local grocery stores, and also finally get myself a cell phone. Then the student societies/clubs will be doing some advertising on campus, so I'll check that out too. Honestly, at this point, I want my classes to start. I need some sort of regiment.
I also have had some pretty important realizations since I've been here. First, I found that before studying abroad, talking about it is easy. Actually doing it is difficult. It's easy to say, "I'm going to do ____ and ____. " The thing is, no one wants to do anything alone, so first you need to make friends, then plans. Since I came here knowing no one, making friends has been difficult, but I think later this week, with all the events going on, and once classes start, I'll make more friends. I also realized how comfortable I got with life in the States, and Chicago specifically. Life here is very different than back home, and the sudden change made me wish I didn't go, but I know that once I get settled, things will change. I also noticed that how the streets are organized here is completely different than home. In Chicago and most American cities, everything is laid out in blocks, and roads go north-south or east-west. Here, everything is everywhere. Roads twist and turn through the city, and some roads are pedestrian only. Alleys that appear shady to me, coming from Chicago, are lined with street vendors and shops. I just can't believe how people don't get lost around here. It seems so disorganized to me. The last thing I realized was how much I now appreciate UIC. I even realized this when I went to Syracuse. Both Syracuse and UCD have huge campuses compared to UIC. At UIC, I can get from one end of campus to the other in about 10 minutes. Here at UCD, with the construction they are doing, it takes me 15 minutes. In general, things are more spread out, and it makes me appreciate how easy life is in Chicago. Everything is so conveniently close together.
Overall, I'm starting to enjoy my time here, even though it has only been 2 days. I think as the weeks go on, I'll enjoy it even more, especially once classes start.
So what has transpired since last night? Well, I met two of my roommates yesterday. One is from Rochester, NY and goes to Elon University in North Carolina. He's a self-proclaimed anarchist, but he's a cool guy. The other roommate is of Italian and German descent, and lives in Germany. He's a nice guy, and has a cool accent. For you Always Sunny fans, he kind of looks like Mac, but has the accent of Jan from the episode "Mac and Charlie Die". Haven't met the third roommate yet. From what I know, she's Irish from Limerick.
Last night my German roommate had some friends from his university over to our place. Then we went to the student bar for a first pint of Guinness. Now, I'm not really into drinking, so maybe I was a little inclined to not like it, but it was a bit too bitter for my taste. It wasn't bad, but I think I'd only be able to put down one pint in a night. However, I will say that it was rather smooth, and the general atmosphere in the bar was great. Lots of international students mingling. Met some more Germans and Americans. After such a long flight, and a long day settling in, I was feeling sufficiently drained, so I came back to the apartment and slept.
Today has been pretty exciting so far as well. I reserved some tickets/spots for the events going for international students this week. Signed up for an excursion into County Wicklow (I think these are the mountains), a walking tour of Dublin, and an open bus tour. Had a very tasty, albeit expensive, lunch at the main restaurant on campus. Had a personal pizza and pesto pasta with chick peas, some other kind of beans, tomatoes, and corn for just under 10 euro. After that I went on an open top bus tour of the Dublin city center. We went all around the city with a great driver/tour guide Craig, who was hilarious. I sat next to a Chilean student, so that was pretty cool. Now for my Rush Hour fanatics, this was just like the scene in the first one where Carter follows Lee onto the bus of Chinese tourists and poses for pictures. Check out from 0:40 to 1:25 in this video (This is for you Jason!)
Took some pictures, but it they didn't turn out entirely how I wanted. It was difficult to take quality pictures while moving and the rail of the bus was at my eye level, so getting a good view was hard. Overall a great experience.
Tomorrow will be more of settling in. Hopefully I'll go on a shopping tour so I can find the best local grocery stores, and also finally get myself a cell phone. Then the student societies/clubs will be doing some advertising on campus, so I'll check that out too. Honestly, at this point, I want my classes to start. I need some sort of regiment.
I also have had some pretty important realizations since I've been here. First, I found that before studying abroad, talking about it is easy. Actually doing it is difficult. It's easy to say, "I'm going to do ____ and ____. " The thing is, no one wants to do anything alone, so first you need to make friends, then plans. Since I came here knowing no one, making friends has been difficult, but I think later this week, with all the events going on, and once classes start, I'll make more friends. I also realized how comfortable I got with life in the States, and Chicago specifically. Life here is very different than back home, and the sudden change made me wish I didn't go, but I know that once I get settled, things will change. I also noticed that how the streets are organized here is completely different than home. In Chicago and most American cities, everything is laid out in blocks, and roads go north-south or east-west. Here, everything is everywhere. Roads twist and turn through the city, and some roads are pedestrian only. Alleys that appear shady to me, coming from Chicago, are lined with street vendors and shops. I just can't believe how people don't get lost around here. It seems so disorganized to me. The last thing I realized was how much I now appreciate UIC. I even realized this when I went to Syracuse. Both Syracuse and UCD have huge campuses compared to UIC. At UIC, I can get from one end of campus to the other in about 10 minutes. Here at UCD, with the construction they are doing, it takes me 15 minutes. In general, things are more spread out, and it makes me appreciate how easy life is in Chicago. Everything is so conveniently close together.
Overall, I'm starting to enjoy my time here, even though it has only been 2 days. I think as the weeks go on, I'll enjoy it even more, especially once classes start.
Pints of Guiness? We are hitting da clubz when you get back, no questions asked.
ReplyDeletehaha yeah, ok, we'll see. btw, guinness tastes really bad the first time. how are things back home?
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