Adjustments and Academics

I'm only adding this picture so people will be intrigued

to read my blog. It's basically click bait.

Uhhh. 

My "how's Ireland?" face.

That's the first sound that usually comes out of my mouth when someone asks how it has been in Ireland so far. It doesn't necessarily mean something negative it's more of a "holy crap, this is the most challenging, difficult, soul-searching thing I have ever done." You can't expect me to be able to sum all of that up in a casual, small-talk conversation which is mostly done out of politeness.  But for the purpose of this blog I will attempt to put my scattered thoughts into a coherent post.

The Irish Academic system is as comparable to America's system as an apple is to an orange. They  have one common factor: it's a place to learn, that's about it. Now, it's not a bad thing, I think both have negatives and positives in my opinion. Over here school is treated as a full-time job. I have six classes which was pretty manageable in the States but over here I'm slightly overwhelmed. I'm a self-proclaimed nerd. I'm a person that spends hours researching specific subjects ranging from: murderers to city populations. Heck, yesterday I spent 40 minutes reading a Wikipedia article regarding toilet paper orientation. In summary the article talked about the long running debate of 'should you hang the toilet paper over or under?' Personally, I hang over unlike the rest of my family which just grinds my gears. It also gave the positives/negatives of each side. So, now that I have just released my inner and have successfully made a forever lasting record of it on the internet I will get back to my original point. 

America vs. Ireland Academics. 

For us in America the higher education scheduling system is usually an easier, more flexible version of high school. College is when we get to go to classes 3 days a week for 4 hours then either go to work or take part in Project X inspired activities. But here... nope. With my six-class schedule I have 5 classes everyday  going from 9:00-3:00 roughly. I'm simplifying my schedule here for the sake of promptness.... it is not a straight down the week 9:00-6:00 but you get the picture. Although, it seems you get more bang for your buck over here I am totally on board with the American way in this aspect. I love the flexibility of creating your own schedule. Heck, my last semester at EMCC I had classes on Tues/Thurs, I was living the life. However, every single class here is only 45 minutes long. I think the Irish are onto to something here....COLLEGE KIDS HAVE A SHORT ATTENTION SPAN. Who hasn't gone to a 90 minute class and at the 30 minute mark start dozing off, doodling, or obsessively glancing at the clock every 5 minutes? Guilty as charged here. 

Even better than 45 minutes classes is little to zero classes require a book you have to buy. I am in an Anatomy class over here and surprisingly that 190$ book that was REQUIRED for my class in Maine is not here, yet we still learn just as much....interesting.

Other than the time-scheduling, school is pretty similar as far as I can tell. You still have the overachievers, the half hungover, glazed eyed students, the interesting classes, the 'I would rather be anywhere else but here' classes, the same thing American Colleges have. It must be an age demographics thing. 

It's pretty official now. Featuring an emoji
covering a picture that will never see the light of day.

Obstacles. 

With the scholarship I am on while here,  I am required to document my stay with this blog. And honestly, not everything is going to be frolicking through the Irish fields, drinking beer and great memories. No, this is a huge adventure and times will be tough. I'm not going to sugar-coat this experience.... what's the point of a blog if you do that? 

I've been in Ireland for two weeks and I can honestly say these have been the most mentally tolling weeks of my life. I'm a military kid, I've moved more than the average Mainer has. I went to four different high schools.... two in Germany. But these two weeks have been more challenging than any other move. Even living in Germany I have never felt more foreign than I have here. I guess while living in Germany I was spoiled by having that small slice of the United States on post. I went to an American school and had my family there to talk and decompress with.  

Here though, I come home from school and I'm still the one with the accent the one from abroad. It has definitely been an eye-opener in respect to that I am not as worldly as I initially thought nor as independent. But this is what the opportunity is about, I'm here to test my limits. I'm here to grow on a personal, social, and academic level. I'm here to experience new things. I'm here to push my shy self out of my comfort shell, which shouldn't be hard because it is quite small. 

Even though these past two weeks have been extremely difficult, here's a cheers to the next 112 days of self-discovery and a once in a lifetime experience. 

Still trying to find my beer of choice.
5/10 though. Not bad.

Beer, Tesco, and Kissing

The title pretty much sums up how my first few days in Cork has gone.

After the plane landed and I made it through customs which was a breeze and  easier than I had ever experienced while traveling to the USA, reality sunk in. It didn't sink in in a bad way just more of a "holy crap it's not a dream anymore," type of way. It has been a very hectic experience thus far from getting everything that I need to survive, trying to get school set up, and letting the culture shock set in, I haven't had much time to sit back and take a breather. My mind has been running at full speed the last few days, so I'm glad that today I get a chance to update the blog and let everyone know (I'm guessing mostly my family) what has been going on.

Beer. 

Hey,  I'm a college student in a country known for beer and potatoes. I'm pleased to say I have already tried both. All my friends back home know that I annoyingly say "I'm not a beer drinker." It's probably a disservice and unfair to all those beer fanatics that I get to come to the land of beer, so out of respect I'm giving beer a chance....or at least trying to. I went with a light beer called Carlsberg. It wasn't a total turn off but lets just say my options are still open on finding my type of beer.

Tesco.

Oh will I never say I hate Wal-Mart ever again. Oh and how spoiled we actually are in America. When I arrived at Edenhall I had asked where  the big shopping store that will satisfy all apartment needs... Tesco was their answer. Tesco is a wonderful store with selections of food, cleaning supplies, some clothes, but aren't they limited. My biggest surprise was when I asked for ponytail holders and they had only one type to choose from. Unfortunately, they were not the kind that would withstand my thick hair so I'm praying the three I have hold out until January! Things on average in my opinion are my expensive over here. Other than that shopping has been a breeze and the locals are wicked friendly and helpful. The Irish also have a cooler word for Pharmacist, they call it the Chemist which I think we as Americans should start calling our. It's sounds more hardcore to say "oh yeah I have to pick my prescription up from the Chemist."

Kissing. 

Not the typical type of kissing but even more magical or I'm hoping so! For those who have not guessed what I am referring to I am speaking of the BLARNEY STONE. I feel this attraction is not given enough attention. No, I am not talking about the stone but the grounds it lays on in general. Most people, including myself, only know of the stone but yet there are so many other hidden gems surrounding it!I was shocked to discover there was a mansion, three waterfalls, lookout tower, fern garden, and the coolest tree ever 600 feet away. Don't misunderstand me the stone was awesome and you got to travel up the castle with stops along the way explaining what each room was used for back in the day. Just imagining how it was to live in this castle was breathtaking. Who hasn't dreamed of living in a castle? I know I have. Kissing the stone is not as simple as one might think. You have to lay down and practical put your life in the hands of the worker that drops you backwards over the edge where you then reach out for the stone. I had height on my side, thankfully, which I think helped out quite a bit.

After kissing the stone and receiving the gift of gab, which I am impatiently waiting to be bestowed with, it was off to discover what the rest of the grounds offered. The grounds were beautifully kept with posted signs to direct clueless tourists, like my father and I, in the right direction. There were so many things to see but the place closed at 6:15pm and unfortunately we had arrived late so did not have time to see everything. 

With the time we did have we were able to see the most awe shocking mansion I have seen in person. Sadly, the mansion is only open for viewing to the public from June-end of August. We missed it by 3 days! The rest of the year though caretakers live inside of it. Not a bad accommodation setup if you ask me. 

In addition to the mansion we were able to see three waterfalls and a fern garden that could easly be mistaken for the Rainforest. Each sight was breathtaking to say the least. One of my favorite spots was the Wishing Steps. In order for your wish to come true you had to make it down and up the steps with your eyes closed and think of nothing but your wish. I was determined to do this and we spent a good 20 minutes practicing on the steps, then we discovered we were on the wrong steps....After finding the correct steps, which were right next to us and had A HANDRAIL it was much easier to accomplish the task. This waterfall also had a rock formation called the Dolman next to it, which is one large rock wedged on two smaller rocks with a crawl space underneath, I obviously had to crawl through it. 

PICTURES ABOVE: (L) The waterfall hiding the wishing steps. (M) Climbing through the Dolman Rock. (R) Small tunnel underneath the castle.. I felt like I was in the movie 'As Above So Below"

The lookout tower and the strangest but coolest tree ever. 

On top on the castle that houses the Blarney Stone!

And to finish this blog post off is me accidentally and awarding capturing a canoodling couple. All I wanted was a cute picture on top of the castle, but let's be honest #goals to them. Haha. 

T-Minus 3 Days.

Three Days. 

This is the amount of time I have left until I embark on the greatest adventure in my lifetime so far. At this time next week  I will be in Ireland anxiously waiting to meet my roommates, start classes, and begin my four month long solo living adventure in Cork, Ireland.

Last year at this time I was moving into my shared dorm at Eastern Maine Community College with no idea what the George J. Mitchell Scholarship was let alone that I would be a recipient of the award. My plans for that coming school year was to 1) Stay out of trouble. 2) Keep my grades up. 3) Graduate. All of my goals were accomplished but somewhere along the way a fourth goal sprung up which was 4) Apply for the George J. Mitchell Scholarship. I found out about the Mitchell scholarship one day as I walked through the lobby of Kineo Hall and saw a new dark green poster posted on the doors. Being a curious person I read all new bulletins and did no different with this. Immediately following reading the small excerpt on the paper I knew I wanted to apply.

Ireland. Study. Free.

Who could not take advantage of that? Being someone whose favorite things are school and adventure it seemed to be the perfect combination of both worlds.

I will say the application was more of a daunting, time-consuming process than I initially thought, but I'll go into more detail of that in a later blog post. Every rough draft, prep interview, and stressful minute was worth it.

Three days is all I have until a new chapter in my life starts!