After 20 days

Hello everyone. I've been in Ireland for 20 days and it was 20 days full of walking, shopping for apartment supplies, looking for cheap food, exploring the city and its suburbs and meeting people from all over the world.

My first few days were spent meeting other UC students at the UC EAP orientation. During the orientation we learned about how to deal with culture shock and other important things, such as transferring credit and all the school stuff (especially since STUDY is the main part of why I'm here.) We also went to Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced Kilmainham Jail). The jail was used to house many political prisoners. It's been used a few times for filming. 

Here are all the UC kids (and our orientation leader) inside the new wing of the jail.

We only had events scheduled for the day so at night we went exploring the city. It was a great way to get to know the other students who were also studying abroad. Not all the students are studying in Dublin. There are 2 who are studying in Galway (which is in Western Ireland) and some in Cork (in the South Eastern part of Ireland).

On January 10th (or 10 January as they write the dates here), I moved into my on campus apartment at University College Dublin. The main campus is no longer in the city of Dublin since it's expanded so much. It's located in Belfield which is about 4 km (2.5 miles) away from the city centre. Here's a picture of the sign at the main entrance. 

The first week was full of activities. We had a orientation at the school where we learned how to deal with culture shock some more and how UCD functions. I also took a campus tour but I didn't take that many pictures since the campus looks pretty dull in the winter. The architecture is post-modern with lots of rectangular shapes. It's also very grey. I'll post some up once spring comes since the trees will have leaves and what not. 

I also met other students studying abroad during this week. I've met people from Finland, France, Germany, Australia, Poland, Romania, Hong Kong, China, and American students. 

Classes started on January 17th. All my classes are in the same building since the university is broken up into different schools based on subject. The way the school operates is different then what I'm used to but I'll highlight that in another post.

Along with school, I still had some spare time to travel to other cities near Dublin. I've been to Blackrock and Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leary). Both are coastal towns. There is an extension of UCD in Blackrock. 

Here is a picture of its library. 

This past weekend I went to the zoo and did a UCD organized walking tour of Dublin. Each will get it's own post.

I have a lot more to talk about but this post is getting long. 

Remember to leave comments and questions if you have them. 

Photos of first day in Dublin

First Day in Dublin

Today is my first full day in Dublin. My journey started yesterday. I woke up early (4:45 a.m) to catch my 8:35 am flight. I flew to Newark, New Jersey for my connecting flight to Dublin. I enjoyed the flight to New Jersey because I had a window seat and was able to take pictures of a snowy Colorado and Utah from the air. I also took one of UCLA. 

The flight to New Jersey was about 5 - 6 hours. I waited in the airport for 2 hours before my flight to Dublin. It took 6 hours to get to Dublin.

During my travel day, I've learned some important lessons.

Lesson #1, Once you land know the route to your destination if you are taking a taxi. If you don't know it (like me) you will spend 20 minutes circling the area and the ride will end up costing you more than you expected. I was hoping to spend about 30 euros for the ride, I ended up paying 50 euros since I did not know the exact location. Utilize Google Maps! I only found the location after remembering how the building looked like after searching for it on Google Maps. The internet is a helpful resource so use it. 

Lesson#2, Try to get as much sleep as possible on the plane ride. It's currently 10 am in Dublin and I'm super tired. I tried to sleep on the plane but I wanted to watch the in flight entertainment. haha. But seriously, try and sleep on the plane if you could that way you won't be as tired when you land. 

I'll post up pictures when I have the chance. My computer cables are in my luggage which is in the luggage room at my hostel. I got here too early and can't check in yet but I'm too tired to go out and explore the city.