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 !

First lectures and my brothers in Dublin!

Hi everyone!

It’s already Tuesday now and last week was my very first week of lectures. In fact, last week was not really serious yet, because we only had lectures (and no tutorials yet) and were allowed to enter each lecture hall to see whether we like the course or not. By the end of this week we have to hand in our final choice, so we have plenty of time to get an impression of all courses, which was very informative and nice. It may sound a bit strange, but after my very long holiday break, I was really looking forward to do something and have a kind of a schedule again. This week, my tutorials are started as well, which is nice, because there’s a lot of interaction in there. The courses I am going to take at Trinity are Human Resource Management, Organisation Theory and Change, Economics of Less Developed Countries, Managing Nonprofit Organisations, and International Business. Besides all the economical and business courses, I will also take a course in Irish. I am looking forward to it, but it should be very difficult (and not so useful, since the language is only spoken in a couple of small Irish cities in the west of Ireland), but I was just curious about the Irish and their language. Cultural aspects are also involved in that course, so I think it will be nice! I don’t have exams at all here, but instead I have to write many many essays.. Most deadlines will be in the beginning of December, so that is about to be a busy period!

Last week I met many other students during the lectures, both International students and Irish students. Very nice! Together we do many nice things and participate in activities organized by the International Society (DUISS), play sports, go shopping, partying, et cetera. Sports are very an very important part of student life and the sport centre is very big and there are many sport courses offered. Last week I attended a lesson in Irish Dancercise. It was a kind of aerobic lesson, but with influences from the Irish dances. After an hour, I was exhausted, but it was fun and really good for my condition! ;)

On Thursday I met my buddy. Trinity runs a buddy system, in which all international students (who signed up themselves) are matched to an Irish student. The buddies are supposed to organize activities for ‘their’ students and in case something is wrong, you as an international student, can ask them for help. My buddy is very nice! He has studied in Tilburg University last semester, so he knows all the ins and outs of being an international student and so we had many things to talk about.

Last weekend my brothers were here for the weekend. They were only here for 1,5 day, but it was great to show them around Dublin and give them an impression of my life here! Together we went to some touristic attractions. We went to the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin Castle, where I also had not been yet, because I didn’t feel like going there every time again. Besides that, I also showed them around in the Temple Bar district, Grafton Street, O’Connellstreet, and Trinity College of course! We also met some fellow students at the Pav (= bar on the campus) and we had a nice evening together!

I am here now for exactly four weeks and Dublin feels more and more like home! De people, Dublin City, the university and even the weather (yeah, the weather is still good most of the time!) makes Dublin really ‘my city’!

Next Thursday my boyfriend is coming and I am really looking forward to it! He will stay here for 6 days! J Also some friends from Tilburg and the MAKwomen booked their tickets to visit me in November, so many great things coming up!

Love, Charlotte

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