Final!

Dear friends in Holland!

Time is flying! I can hardly imagine that I am back in the Netherlands in about a week! I am really looking forward to go back and see my boyfriend, family and friends again, but on the other hand I would be very strange to leave Dublin. Dublin feels like home for me!

My essays are almost finished, my last presentation is done and I got my first grade already, an A (=10!). Yeay! The grading system is totally different than in Holland, and it also differs per University. In Ireland, it is not hard to pass a course, but to pass it with a good grade seems to be quite difficult. Interesting! This last week I planned many goodbye parties, pub visits, dinners and I also spent a lot of time walking around in the city centre, to ‘capture the feeling of Dublin’ and taking pictures! This weekend I am going to a rugby match in the AVIVA stadium, which is the biggest and newest stadium in Ireland. After the match my boyfriend is coming! J He is going to help me moving all my stuff and takes an extra bag with him, haha! On Tuesday morning very early, we are taking the boat from Dublin to Liverpool and on Wednesday evening we have the night boot from Hull back to Rotterdam. So Thursday morning at 8.15 I am back home! Strange, strange, strange! But I can’t wait to see everybody and give them a big hug again!

Since my last blog, many things happened here! As I wrote in my last blog, it started snowing in Dublin about two weeks again, which is quite exceptional for Ireland. The most exceptional thing was that it didn’t stop snowing for 10 days, which resulted in a snow-white Dublin. The Irish were not at all prepared to this (and they didn’t had salt and/or sand to put on the roads to make them less icy), which meant that the busses were not driving anymore, shops were closed, lectures were cancelled and everybody stayed inside for a couple of days! A message we got from Trinity stated that “Due to the deteriorating weather conditions and the weather forecast for further adverse weather tomorrow and the resulting health and safety concerns [...] all scheduled teaching for undergraduate and postgraduate courses and evening lectures/seminars has been cancelled.” Could happen, of course, but the funniest part of the story is that there was not even 10 cm of snow! I liked it very much, but the most people here were totally shocked and had no idea how to deal with it. By this time, the weather has become much better and warmer, so most of the snow is gone. But the weather forecasts are predicting more snow for the weekend..!

My sister was here for the weekend as well a couple of weeks ago. I was a bit afraid that her plane couldn’t arrive due to the snow, but fortunately she managed to get here! We had a great weekend together and spent a lot of time chatting and drinking hot chocolate inside! It was so cold! Last weekend I visited a real German Christmas market and enjoyed the combination of mulled wine and Irish live music and I went to a debate, organized by the Hist, the oldest and most prestigious society at Trinity. It was great to have been present there and I was impressed by the quality of their speeches. They were so good! Furthermore I finally celebrated my birthday last weekend! My birthday was the 11^th of November, but on that day my parents were here and my boyfriend was about to arrive in the evening and I have been busy with visitors and trips since that day. ;) But last weekend I finally had time to celebrate it! Amrei and I wanted to celebrate both our birthday and combine it with our farewell. It was a great evening and night and everybody enjoyed it! Great!

All in all, I had the time of my life here in Ireland! I made a lot of international friends (and I am definitely going to visit some of them over the next year) and I really enjoyed the friendly Irish people, the beautiful country, the great and lively city of Dublin full of music on every hour of the day (best city in Europe, and I didn’t travel outside Europe so far ;)) all trips I made! And of course I enjoyed all messages and post cards from Holland and to show the city to my visitors! Besides all these great experiences, I also learned who my true friends are (both in positive and negative ways, in Holland and in Dublin), improved my fluency in English, and of course that I can handle an adventure like this on my own!

I uploaded all my pictures to my Picasa album, (http://picasaweb.google.nl/110111446223550966554/) I hope you enjoy them, because I have many of them! ;)

With love and see you all in January!

Charlotte

Travelling & Visitors

Dear all,

Finally I have some time to write an update about my life in Dublin! Last weekend Dublin turned into a Winterwonderland. There is a lot of snow and it’s freezing cold outside. Nothing strange during the winter season, as you might think, but for Ireland it is. Ireland is an island, which means that the summers are relatively cold and the winters relatively warm, so all Irish people are excited and Dublin is totally in an uproar. Busses are not driving anymore, lectures are cancelled, people stay inside. Actually, I like it, because Dublin is beautiful in the snow especially since everything is decorated with Christmas lights and other Christmas decoration! I love this atmosphere! The only negative thing due to the snow was that the flight of the MAKwomen was cancelled, which meant that they couldn’t come to Dublin anymore. Very very sad, but fortunately my other friend arrived already on Thursday and we still had a great weekend together!

Study is currently an important part of my life in Dublin. The first two months, I didn’t have to do anything related to my courses, but a couple of weeks ago we got all the assignments and most of them were due on a very short-notice. Which resulted in: studying in the library for days! But I am almost finished with most of the presentations and group essays (they LOVE group work.. I don’t anymore..! ;)) and I only have to finish some individual essays.

Besides all the university work, I also had enough time to travel around Ireland! (Exchange life is not that hard! ;)) I went to the Mourne Mountains and visited and volunteered Mourne Grange; a camphill community where a friend of mine had worked with mentally disabled adults for 8 months. I find it hard to explain what is exactly happening at Mourne Grange, but you can visit their website for more information (http://www.mournegrange.org/). It was very special to be there for about 30 hours and see how they live their life there- so peaceful! And besides that, the landscape is amazing! After my visit to the camphill community, I took the bus to Belfast, because I wanted to meet my friends from Tilburg there for a weekend in Belfast. Together, we did a lot of sightseeing and had some nice drinks and dinners during the weekend and on Saturday evening we went back to Dublin.

Last few weeks, many visitors came as well! On my birthday, my parents were in Dublin and together we enjoyed the beautiful weather and the city. On my birthday itself my boyfriend came for the second time! :) Together we made a lovely trip to the west coast of Ireland and visited Galway (including the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren!) and Sligo. Last weekend Leonie was here and next weekend my sister will come to Dublin to spend a weekend here! So great to show all my dears around!

And of course, I am still enjoying the dinners, movie nights, pub nights et cetera with my international friends! But I think I don’t have to explain that! ;)

As you might read in my blogs, exchange life in Dublin is great, but I have to mention that you really have to organize everything yourself to enjoy your stay here. There is an international society, but they only organize two trips and almost nothing during the weeks and there are no big ERASMUS parties like the parties in the LG in Tilburg for instance. I like it, because you can really do the things you like, but you have to get in touch with your friends and organize parties, trips, dinner and so one yourself. But until now, I managed to organize many things, so it is possible! If I had to choose an exchange destination again, I would definitely choose Dublin again! :)

See you in less than three weeks!

Love, Charlotte

PS: For pictures: visit http://picasaweb.google.nl/110111446223550966554/

Busy!

Dear friends in Tilburg,

To start off with, I am still having a great time here! :) I have done a lot of things last few weeks, went to Belfast for a weekend, have volunteered on a camphill community in Northern Ireland with disabled adults for two days (and I was impressed), celebrated my 21st birthday with my parents in Dublin and went on a trip to Galway (and the Cliffs of Moher- amazing!) and Sligo with my boyfriend for a weekend.

Now I am back in Dublin and my friends from Tilburg are coming this weekend! A close friend (Leonie) and almost all MAKwomen, so that promiss to become a weekend to remember! Besides that I am really really really busy with my study now, even more busy than I have ever been in Tilburg. Within the next 2,5 week I have to hand in 8 assignments and do 4 presentations (including a poster project). So that means: hard work!

As you can read, I am too busy now to write an extended blog, but if you are interested, you can ofcourse take a look at my pictures already. Just visit: http://picasaweb.google.nl/110111446223550966554/ . I will promiss that I will go more into detail the next blog - hopefully soon!

Love, Charlotte

Killarney and more

Dear friends in Holland,

Friday two weeks ago the first trip organized by the International Society finally took place! The International Society (DUISS) at Trinity organizes activities for all international students here. It’s something separate from ESN, and they try to organize 2-3 activities each week, varying from movie nights to trips and parties. Last week the organized this trip! Around 6pm we left Dublin with two busses and almost 100 enthusiastic international students and headed to Killarney. Killarney is located in the County Kerry, in the southwest of Ireland and one of the most beautiful areas of Ireland. Unfortunately the roads in Ireland are not really good, so many students felt a bit ill, but the rest of the tour was great! I had totally the feeling of being an 8 year old school-girl on her first school trip, haha! Around 12 we arrived at our hostel and we could choose a room. I was sharing a room with seven other nice girls, of which I knew already five, which was very nice!

Saturday morning we had to wake up quite early, because we were going to visit the Dingle peninsula, which is the most western point of Ireland. We made a beautiful trip by bus and after a bit more than one hour, we arrived at the most western point of the island. There we went to some museum/ heritage centre (The Blasket Islands heritage centre) and listened to a presentation about all famous writers from that came from that area. We didn’t know any of them, but it was interesting. Even more interesting was the beautiful view we had from that place! Pictures are on http://picasaweb.google.nl/110111446223550966554/! After our visit to the peninsula, we enjoyed our lunch in Dingle and went to Tralee afterwards. In Tralee, we went to the County Kerry museum. It was not the most exciting museum I ever visited, but it was worth visiting. Especially the part in which they recreated a city in the county from the Middle ages and the pub in the museum! ;) After that visit, we went back to Killarney to have dinner. We were not so hungry yet, so we decided to organize our own excursion to the Killarney National Park. It was almost sunset and we wanted to see some deer and other animals. When we arrived in the park, we saw a big group of around 30 deer and many other animals. We stayed there and listened to all the sounds (haha sounds really like I am a nature freak, but it was amazing!) and it was a really special moment! We tried to make some pictures as well, but without success unfortunately. Back at the hotel, unfortunately I felt sick (maybe still because of the bus), so I skipped the evening program, which was really a pity. The next day, I felt better and we went to another part of the Killarney National Park to visit some caves (more than a million years old) and a waterfall. The afternoon program consisted of a visit to some old manor house, but we preferred to enjoy our lunch and the sun! :) At 5pm we went back to Dublin. The trip was really great – beautiful landscapes and I met many new persons and also got to know many of my friends better!

I am also busy with many other things in and around Dublin. Study has become more important in my daily life now, since I have to write a lot of essays and do many presentations as well. All essays are due to the beginning of December, but the average word count consists of ±3000 words, so I thought it would be a good idea to start already. Besides my study, I am still having a great time here! J We are organizing dinners, going to parties, shopping, to sports classes and so on. Great! Last week was Halloween, which is originally from Ireland (and not from the US!) and we celebrated it as well! All streets were already decorated for weeks and you could buy outfits everywhere. It was good fun and everyone (little children, students, parents, grandparents) was celebrating it!

November is going to be a busy month for me! :) This Thurssday I am going to Mourne Grange, a camp hill community where a friend of me had worked for a year. I am just going to take a look and see everything see told me about. After that, I am going to Belfast, which I am really looking forward to! We are staying till Saturday evening and on Monday my parents will arrive in Dublin! We will spend the week together (I don’t have classes next week, they call it study week, but it is just a holiday in fact, although I have to work on my essays a bit..) and celebrate my birthday on Thursday together! On Thursday my boyfriend is coming too and during the weekend we’ll go to Galway and Sligo together to explore that part of Dublin! Later that month my friends from Tilburg are coming and my sister as well and in December I have to finish my assignments and essays.

As you can read, time is flying!

I hope I am enthusiastic enough to convince you to choose Dublin as well for your exchange destination! The university is great and the city and Dubliners as well! And a perfect mixture of culture and nature! J But if you still have any doubts or questions, feel free to ask!

With love,

Charlotte

The Dubliners

Dia dhuit!

Three weeks of lectures are past now and still everything goes in a calm, nice and relaxed way everything here, so I feel more or less that I’m still having a holiday break (which is not the case of course, because I really have to do some work and readings for my study, but just the feeling). Besides that, in my spare time I do a lot of great things, which intensify my holiday-feeling. In short, I love it to be here! :)

My study is also nice! I am still taking the same courses as I mentioned in my last blog. This is quite uncommon, because many other student are changing their courses all time. On average, I have 16 hours of lectures each week, both lectures and tutorials. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I spend a lot of time at university, because my first lecture on that days starts at 9 or 10 o’clock and my last lecture ends at 7 pm. I have also some long breaks between the lectures, sometimes even a break of 3 or 4 hours, but that time is still a bit too short to go home, so I spend my time in the swimming pool (really really nice, besides the fact that everybody has to wear a swimsuit and a bathing cap –but you get used to it ;)), shopping, drinking tea/hot chocolate and I also try to read something for my courses. Most reading, except the case studies, is not compulsory, but it is good to have some background information, especially because most courses take the Irish economy and Irish companies as an example and I didn’t know much about that before I arrived here. I don’t have any exam here, but for every course I have to write 1 or more essays, do a group presentation and/or make a poster. Everything is about work in groups and teams, which is not an ideal situation, because the groups I have to work with consist of 3-6 students, so quite big groups, but on the other hand it’s a perfect way to get to know many others. All deadlines for the assignment are at the end of November/ beginning of December, so that will be a very busy period for me. Besides all business and economics courses I decided to take a course in Elementary Irish (last time I was still doubting about it), which is a big challenge for me! We have 2 hours of lectures each week and during the lectures we get to know the basics of Irish. It’s really basic, for instance we learn how to introduce ourselves, order a drink and count from 1-10. But it’s nice and it is something totally different than my others courses. Probably we will go to a Gaelic speaking area with our class as well, but that is not sure yet.

Besides my study, I also spend a lot of time with international friends! Often we go to the gym or swimming pool together, cook and eat together at someone’s place (last week we had a French crêpe party and a dinner with German food), shopping or to a party! Very nice! :) Last Thursday for instance, we had a meeting with our buddies. My buddy couldn’t come, but there were many others and I had a great evening! Last Friday I want to a party of a friend of a housemate of a friend of mine (very close connection, haha), but I knew some others on beforehand, but only a small part of them. In the end, it turned out to be one of my best night so far! On Saturday I went to some museums (the Leprechaun Museum and the Wax Museum) together with three other Dutch students from Tilburg University. I didn’t know them before, but it was also a nice day! There are not many Dutch students here in Dublin. So far, I met 8 other Dutchies, and 4 of them are from Tilburg as well.

The weekend before last weekend my boyfriend was in Dublin! We haven’t seen each other for more than 4 weeks and the days we spend together in Dublin were lovely! He arrived on Thursday afternoon and stayed till Tuesday afternoon. We went to some touristic places and highlights and one of them was the Jameson Destillery, were we have a glass of delicious Whiskey. We also made a cliff walk at Howth (island at the north side of Dublin). It was really nice to be together again for some days and I was not very happy when he left, but fortunately I have many great things to do here and I can look forward to November 11, because he will be he again on that date.

This weekend, I am going on the trip organized by the International Society of Trinity. We are going to Killarney. Some friends of me are going as well, so I am really looking forward to it! :) One of the other upcoming weekends I will go to Mourne Grange, a village community of more than 130 people, where mainly mentally disadvantaged adults live and work together with coworkers and families. A friend of mine has worked there as a coworker some years ago and I wanted to see everything there!

As you can read, I am really enjoying my time here! Going on an exchange is one of the best decisions I have made so far!

Slán go feill! (Goodbye for now!)

Charlotte

PS: For pictures, visit http://picasaweb.google.nl/110111446223550966554 !