Back in California

I came back to California on Thursday after a long day of traveling (7 hours from Dublin to Newark, a 3 hour layover, and 6 hours from Newark to Los Angeles). I'm so happy to be back home and sleep in my own bed.

Anyways, I still have a lot to talk about so I will still be creating new posts about places I've been to and stuff even though I am back home. Be on the lookout for new posts soon. 

Kilkenny: a medieval town

UCD's International Office planned a trip to Kilkenny a few Sundays ago. Kilkenny is about an hour or south south east of Dublin. 12 euros paid for lunch (tea sandwiches & soup), transportation, and a castle tour. We also had about 2-3 hours to explore the little town after lunch.

It was a gorgeous day to go out. The castle has a big park open to the public and it was full of families and friends spending a day out in the sun.

Kilkenny is advertised to tourists as a medieval town. There is one main road into the city with only one lane for each direction of traffic. The streets around the town are narrow and has small alleyways around.

Pictures under the cut

Cork: The Rebel County

Several weeks ago, my friend and I took a day trip to Cork City.  I had a 2 euro voucher for a bus ride to Cork and didn't want to waste it since a normal ticket costs 22 euros. So even though Cork is 4 hours away from Dublin, my friend and I decided to go down anyways. We woke up at 6:30 am to catch the bus into the city for the 7 am bus to Cork. After 4 hours we arrived in Cork City. We walked around the city for about 6 hours looking at the different buildings and what not before hopping on the 5 pm bus back to Dublin. We got back around 9 pm and waited for the bus to go back to Belfield.

Despite the 8 hours spent on a bus I did enjoy Cork. We went to the UCC campus and I absolutely loved that place. University College Cork was my second choice in my study abroad application. Both Laura and I agreed that while we love how the UCC campus looks we would rather live in Dublin.  We also walked to the city gaol (jail) and other tourist spots.

It was supposed to rain the entire day but luckily the heaviest rain did not occur until we were on the bus back to Dublin.

Field trip to Ferrycarrig: a blast into Ireland's archaeological past

For my archeology class we went on a field trip to Ferrycarrig Irish Heritage Park. The park has different sites that highlights the archaeological history of Ireland from the pre-historic period to historic period (medieval and viking). History, according to my professor, in Ireland begins with the introduction of written work around the time of St. Patrick and the arrival of Christianity.

They have recreations of things associated with life in Ireland during the Mesolithic period (pre 4000 BC), Neolithic period (4000-2500 BC), Bronze Age (2500 BC - 700 BC), Iron Age (700 BC-400 AD, Medieval period (400 AD - 900 AD, 1100 AD - 1600AD) and Viking period (900 AD-1100AD).

The park is in Wexford which is about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive south of Dublin.

Generalizations in the blog.

I realize that I've been generalizing a lot in my blog updates. I try not to but it happens. So please remember that my blog represents my perspective of the country, mainly Dublin, and shouldn't be taken as hard fact.

Chips & Drinks abroad

I try to shy away from potato chips (known as crisps in Ireland) & soda because they're not healthy for you.  However, I've tried some because of the different flavors they offer here. For instance, prawn cocktail, bacon, beef & onion and sweet chilli chicken to name a few.

Walkers, known as Lays back in the US, has a Sweet Chilli Chicken flavor.

There is also Monster Munch targeted to kids. I had the "flamin' hot' flavor in Glasgow, Scotland. It is not like the 'Flamin' Hots' back in the state. It taste like tabasco on corn chips.

Scotland has its own soda, Irn Bru. It literally tastes like you are drinking melted gummy worms. It's sugary to the extreme and just not for me. I took one zip and had to throw it away. Although it's not for me, it's a popular drink in Scotland. My tour guide in Edinburgh said that when the first McDonald's opened, the soda was not offered and people refused to go to the restaurant. Whether or not that's true, I'm not sure but I'll take his word for it. haha.

The Gatorade type drink here is Lucozade. My flatmate  (apartment mate) in Belgrove drank it religiously. I always saw bottles of it and didn't know what it was. I asked a friend and he said it's basically their form of Gatorade (they aren't the same company though). I think Orange is their most popular flavor but I tried Raspberry. I think it tastes just like Gatorade fruit punch.

There are plenty of other food items that are region specific. I'll try to go to a grocery store before I leave and try and get some photos (if possible) of the different products.

Exams have come a knockin'

Today I took my first exam at UCD. Finals here are different than exams back at UCLA. They are more strict here and are structured differently.

First of all, exams are done off campus (well almost all, I know someone who had an in-class exam, which is what I'm used to). Anyways, the exams take place at RDS which is this big showground area. Ever been to the LA fair? Think of taking a final in one of the exhibition buildings. About 3000 students take their exams at the same time in the same room.

My exam was at 9 am so I woke up at 7:15 in order to make breakfast (oatmeal) and have plenty of time to get to the exam location. I hoped onto a bus, went 3 stops down (less than 5 minute bus ride) then walked for another 5 to the exam hall. (Side note: Yesterday my Irish flatmate told me that it would be easy to find the place and to "just follow the crowd of people." He wasn't wrong.) There were so many students walking to RDS. A man on a bike heading out the city even asked if it was the first day of exams (I guess they're used to it).

Anyways, when I got to the exam hall, there were so many students there. Many were cramming in last minute studying. I used to do that but I've since stopped. It only makes me nervous. I've adopted the ideal that if I know it then I know it, if I don't I won't learn it in the next 30 minutes or so. So in order to ignore the other students and get into my zone, I tried to think happy thoughts. Of course my happy thoughts only reminded me of the final I was about to take, Geography of Latin America. I started to hum "Cool" from West Side Story but then it made me think of Puerto Ricans and from Puerto Ricans I thought of the development of Salsa and cultural geography. With that thought in my head I figured I was ready as ever.

After I arrived, I checked the board for my name and seat number. I was 1879. >.< Next they announced that the exam room was open. As I entered the room I couldn't get over the fact at how the room was set up. Individual desks lined up in neat rows and columns. I think each row had about 100 seats in it. It was a bit ridiculous and quite petrifying.

I've never felt comfortable in big exams rooms. I was even more scared when I entered the room and saw how many chairs and tables were in there. After finding my seat, I tried to relax and calm my nerves. The exam is supposed to start quickly at 9 am but most students didn't even get into the room until 8:55. It was distracting to see students gathering in groups trying to quick study and quick fire terms and what not. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore my surroundings.

Although I was nervous about having so many people around, once I got my test, I zoned in on it and was completely able to ignore the people around me. I stayed the entire exam period and afterwards decided to walk back to campus in order to relax some more. I'm not sure how well I did but I'm 80% confident that I answered things correctly. I learned after I had turned in my test that I could actually keep the booklet with the questions but I'm sort of happy I didn't. If I did I would be tempted to look and see if I answered things correctly.I figure this would only distract me. If I did poorly, it would damper my spirit. I can't let that happen now especially since I have 3 more finals to do: 2 on Thursday and one next Thursday.

Here's a quick breakdown about the differences in taking exams:
 UCD:          

• off campus, one big room, 
  3000 students taking different subject exams at the same time
• PA announcements distracting
• mix of 1 hour & 2 hour exams taken during the same period. 
• There are exam regulations, part of policy
• no cellphones in exam hall
• no bags/backpacks in exam halls
• no pencil cases
• must have Student ID on table
• must sit in assigned seat

 UCLA:

• exams are usually in the classroom where lectures are held. The most people I've ever taken an exam with was about 350 (I think) in Ackerman Grand Ballroom. By the way, RDS is about 4, maybe 5 times bigger than AGB.  
• only taking exam with students in the same class
• Informal exam regulations, decided by professor
• bags allowed but must be under seat, one professor made us put them at the front of the class
• can sit wherever, sometimes professors make students sit one seat apart

Overall there are some part of the exam process I like and some that I don't like. But I do understand why UCD sets their exams up this way. It standardizes the procedure, makes it easier for them to regulate the exam process, and prevents cheating.

Well I would type more but this post is getting long and I really must study for my exams on Thursday. 

Dim Sum in Dublin: Cultural diversity in Ireland

har-gow (shrimp dumpling)

Two weeks ago I went with a couple friends to have dim sum. For those who don't know what dim sum is, dim sum is a Cantonese term used to refer to small dishes of Chinese food. It allows a person to have a small portion of different types/tastes of food in a sitting. The wikipedia article has great information about dim sum if you want to google it.

Anyways, one of my biggest fears of living abroad in Ireland was that I would not have the comfort of Chinese food. I naively thought that Ireland was a country with little cultural and ethnic diversity (I didn't research that much about Ireland even though you should before deciding to live in another country).

So with the belief that Ireland had little ethnic diversity, I was really surprised to find that there were Asian supermarkets and Chinese food restaurants here.

I learned from school that a lot of in-migration occurred during the Celtic Tiger period (1990s-early 2000s). It was a time of economic boom and people from different countries began migrating to Ireland for work. (there are also other reasons but mostly work related). The Chinese continue to be one group that is continually growing in Ireland.

Being able to eat dim sum in Dublin highlights Ireland's growing diversity.