Now that I have been home for almost a week, the entire semester seems so surreal.  Did I really just spend five months living in another country?  Did I really board a plane in January all alone?  Even though I have only been home for a week, the semester seems so long ago.  I am having a hard time finding adequate answers to “How was your semester?  How was studying abroad?”  Where do I even start?  Which memories will stay with me and which ones will slowly erode over time?  What are the most important aspects to share with others?  What are the best pieces of knowledge to provide you?  As I write this, I still do not know what exactly would help people decide which program or location to pick.

Has it been strange being home?  I haven’t experienced reverse culture shock yet; I am still in the “honeymoon” phase of being home.  I can say, though, that being home is slowly becoming boring.  I felt like I was always doing something when I was in Dublin, especially the last week of the program (Rome to Galway to lots of last minute sightseeing in Dublin).  Having nothing to do is slowly getting to me.  At least next week I start my internship at the International Center for the Study of Terrorism.

Some words of advice about your host city.  Don’t wait until the last minute to see everything your host city has to offer.  Don’t take your host city for granted.  Don’t always follow the same path home and visit the same places; don’t develop tunnel vision!  Even though I thought I did a good job of seeing different parts of Dublin, I found the last few days packed full of last minute things to see and do.  Also, if academically and financially possible, don’t study abroad for a summer session.  Six weeks is an extended vacation; it is not enough time to immerse yourself in your surroundings.  While five months may seem like a very long time, it was well worth it.

This past weekend I visited Rome all by my lonesome.  I finished a grueling month of exams on Friday (as if I need to remind you, but I had FIVE) so the trip was a much needed vacation.  I was a tad worried about getting from the airport to the Termini and then on a bus to find the stop I needed to walk to my hostel.  Thanks to Google Maps I knew the landmarks I needed before I left so I was very familiar with the path and did not need a map, pointing me out as the tourist.  On Saturday, I visited the Vatican.  To be perfectly honest, the only reason I had any wish to go to Rome was to see Vatican City.  If I saw nothing else the entire weekend, it would not have bothered me.  I like to fashion myself as a committed Catholic but maybe it was just an unsustainable curiosity about where the Pope lives.  Either way, I visited the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica.  The best part, however, came on Sunday.  I returned to the Vatican because every Sunday, so long as he is in Rome, the Pope blesses the faithful.  I SAW THE POPE.  Okay, granted he was up in that window that we always see him from on television, but that is beside the point.  I saw the Pope, heard him speak (despite not understanding a word), and was blessed by him.  It seriously made my day, week, month, and year.  Does seeing the Pope top every moment I have had in the last five months?  Now that is hard to answer, but I am definitely so happy.  If I redid my top ten photo post, the Pope would easily be in the top three.  Did I mention I saw the Pope?

Besides seeing the Pope, I also visited the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine.  I enjoyed some delicious gelato!  I managed to navigate the bus system and to use the metro.  For the most part, though, I walked to my destinations.  I greatly enjoyed my trip.  It was nice to explore Rome on my own; the freedom of not needing to please everyone was very welcome.  Do I intend on traveling alone a lot in the future?  I doubt it; it is nice to have someone to share the memories with, to have someone to relate to.  But, I know now I am capable of hopping on a plane or getting on a bus and exploring all on my own.  I don’t think I “grew up” this weekend.  Instead, I proved to myself that I am grown up in every sense of the word.

Seeing the Pope was easily the best part of visiting Rome!

Instead, I have decided to provide you with my top ten moments/travels via pictures!

This coming week is going to be a very busy time for Dublin.  The Queen is visiting Ireland, and let’s just say the security measures are very extensive.  To compound the problem, President Obama is visiting Ireland immediately after the Queen’s state visit.  And, most importantly, I have three exams this week and then I am DONE!

A Balancing Act: Studying abroad is not like attending classes at home.  You have to attend to your studies while at the same time balance the “experience.”  I personally did not go on very many weekend trips (Cork, London, Northern Ireland), but I did take a few day trips (such as Howth and Dun Laoghaire).  Some of my other comrades went on trips every other weekend.  It is all up to your budget, your course load, and how much you desire to see in both Ireland and Europe.  The key is to PLAN AHEAD.  Also, if your family is going to visit, you really need to plan for your school work ahead of time.  When my family came, I was able to spend the entire week with them without the burden of homework.  I still attended classes, but I could relax and explore Dublin in between them with my family.  I am also finding balance crucial as the date to depart draws near.  I am basically traveling the entire last week I am here.  Three days in Rome, three days in Galway, and my last day packing/cleaning and exploring Dublin.  There is no clear cut solution to balancing school with leisure.  You just have to know what works for you and plan accordingly (ahead of time!).

Studying for Exams: If you plan to study at Trinity (and really most European universities), you have to be prepared for one exam, one paper, one assessment of some kind.  Continuous assessment is practically unheard of; with that said, it is essential to stay on top of your schoolwork throughout the semester even though there are no deadlines pressuring you to keep up.  I am currently in the process of preparing for exams and let’s just say it is a lot of information.  Like I said in a previous post, I have 5 cumulative finals, but one of the full-year IES TCD students has 8 exams and one of the semester students has one.  It is luck of the draw depending on the subject(s) you are pursuing.  The exam load should factor into your balancing act above.  Back at PSU, I know exactly how to prepare for exams and how to succeed; at Trinity, it requires a lot of more time and energy—and we won’t even know until August how that work has paid off!

We have three weeks left in our program.  I cannot believe it!  My last two posts will about some of my travels around Dublin and to the continent.  I hope you have found some of my experiences/advice helpful!

And lastly, the final countdown: 4!

It really was a quiet weekend…almost too quiet.  When I walked to the grocery store on Saturday, cars were not parked alongside the road and no one was driving by either.  I usually pass at least one person on my way to the store, and I didn’t see a soul.  At least the weather was immaculate.  On Saturday, I think there was one cloud in the sky; it was very, very warm.

Even though I didn’t get to spend Easter with my family, I still got to spend it with a group of friends.  We went to Easter Mass (which oddly was not packed; I insisted on going crazy early, and there ended up being fewer people at Easter Mass than on Holy Thursday). We had a gigantic Easter feast at my apartment, and the food was delicious.  Plus, I had given up sweets and soda for Lent so I probably ate a week’s worth of sweets.  I ate an entire 500ml carton of ice cream.  Let’s just say I needed to do some serious exercising today.

Happy Easter Monday to everyone!

(Oh, and P.S. the final countdown: 5)

IES policy requires us to take the equivalent of at least 15 American credits; when you enroll in courses at TCD, this equates to approximately 30 ECTS.  For example, a course worth 10 ECTS is 5 American credits, and a course worth 5 ECTS is rounded up to 3 American credits (rather than 2.5).  I have five classes.  In order to meet the 15 credit requirement, you do not necessarily need this many courses.  I have four sociology classes, each worth 5 ECTS (=12 credits) and one history course worth 10 ECTS (=5 credits).  As you can see, I could not make my schedule equal exactly 15 credits and needed the fifth course to prevent having only 14 credits.

Unfortunately, I have an exam in each one of these classes.  In comparison to my fellow IES students, I have the most exams.  Some of the other TCD students have no exams or only one exam.  The fewest any of my roommates has is two.  Luckily for them, their other courses had large essays due at the end of the teaching period.  In comparison to typical TCD students, though, I have few tests; some of these other students have eight to twelve exams, covering material dating back to last August!  As much as I like to complain about my exam schedule, I really do not have much room for whining.

The sociology courses I am taking are interesting, but I do prefer criminology.  I have a sociology minor at Penn State and figured taking sociology abroad wouldn’t be too different.  There is a large difference, though, compared to American universities; at home, much more emphasis is placed on deviance (even in the classes that are not cross listed as criminology).  A lot, and I mean a lot, of emphasis is placed on economics.  So, be warned if you are aiming to pursue sociology at Trinity.  The titles of my courses are European Societies; Gender, Culture, and Society; Social Theory; and Globalization and Development.  The first and last of these are the ones with heavy economic components.  All four of these courses are tested by three hour examination in May; I have to answer three questions, and it is 100% of my grade.

I am also taking a history course: Ireland and the Wider World.  The course was split in half and taught by two different professors.  Honestly, the first professor was much more interesting than the second!  I did have an essay due in this course that counted as 20% of my final grade.  The exam still carries a lot of weight.  Unlike the sociology courses, this is tested by a two-hour exam during which I must answer two questions.

TCD’s term is split into a twelve week teaching period, followed by a three-week study break.  Exams begin the first week of May.



Can you guess why this street has been vacated and blocked off?

While I was in Derry, I was supposed to take a walking tour around the historic part of the city. Unfortunately, we were unable to see most of the town because a car bomb had been planted in the center of town. A few days earlier, a similar bomb had to be deactivated by a robot. Seeing the armoured vehicles and cops carrying very large guns made me realize how sheltered I am in Dublin. It was a shock to see the police officers always wearing bullet-proof vests and always carrying an automatic weapon. The Garda in Dublin don’t even carry guns! On Saturday, in Omagh, a Catholic police officer was killed just outside his home by a car bomb. It is a sad situation, particularly since he was killed by fellow Catholics. In the States, we are given the impression the fighting in Northern Ireland is over. I think Americans need to be reminded everything is not roses and sunshine in Northern Ireland. The Black Taxi Tour driver told us not a day goes by in Belfast that either shots are fired or a bomb goes off/is deactivated by the police. Northern Ireland is certainly a very different place than Dublin!

Friday on the way to Northern Ireland: The bus did not drive straight from Dublin to Northern Ireland. Instead, it made a number of stops along the way. It was nice because the stops were to places I probably never would have known to visit. First, we stopped outside Slane Castle; apparently acts such as the Rolling Stones and Madonna have given concerts on the lawn of the castle. Next, we went to Slane Abbey, the location where Saint Patrick lit the Easter fire to prove Christianity was alive and well in Ireland. After these two quick stops, we drove into Drogheda to see Sir Oliver Plunkett’s head. He was the last Roman Catholic martyr to die in England. The cathedral also housed a piece of the True Cross—the cross Jesus died on. The last stop we made before Northern Ireland was Monasterboice where the most decorative Celtic Cross can be found.

Derry (or Londonderry depending on who you ask): We spent the rest of Friday in Derry. Derry is a walled city; the wall was built by the Protestants in order to keep the Catholics in the bogside. The Catholic side of town is where Bloody Sunday occurred. Murals surround the location of Free Derry, as well as the exact location of Bloody Sunday. It was only last summer that the British government acknowledged its responsibility for the deaths on that day. We were supposed to do a walking tour of the town, but a large portion of the historic part of Derry was closed off. A car bomb was in the center of town.

Giant’s Causeway & Carrick-a-rede Bridge: On Saturday, I went to Giant’s Causeway. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. Many people talked up the site; they made it sound like I could not leave Ireland without seeing this marvel. I very much preferred the Cliffs of Moher; I thought they were more breath-taking. I am glad I went to the Giant’s Causeway, but it would not be on the top of my list of things to recommend to would-be tourists. The rope bridge, however, was neat. The only drawback was that it cost 5.09 pounds to walk across it. If cost is not an issue, you should walk across it.

Belfast: The remainder of my time was spent in Belfast. On Saturday afternoon, I was able to just walk around the city. City Hall is a remarkable building. Queen’s University is breath-taking (sorry Trinity, but its buildings may be more beautiful than your own). A new shopping mall in Victoria’s Square has a dome at its top that allows you to see most of Belfast. On Sunday, I went on a Black Cab Taxi Tour. I was able to see the murals on the Protestant side of town and to sign the Peace Wall. I learned quite a bit about the history of West Belfast, including that store owners still need to pay protection to their respective side.

One of the most breath-taking scenes in the entire world is the Cliffs of Moher. Granted, I have never seen Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon (much to the chagrin of my father), or any other natural wonder, but, even with my little experience, I think I can say there is hardly a more beautiful sight in the world than these cliffs. As I mentioned, I visited the Cliffs of Moher when my family came to the Emerald Isle; we spent five hours there. Yes, five hours just walking around the edge of Ireland!! We would have spent even longer walking around if we weren’t about to run out of daylight. If you go to the Cliffs, please go off the beaten track. Sure, the staff at the Cliffs may frown upon patrons who crawl through the hole in the fence marking where tourists are allowed, but the best sights are reserved for those who go well beyond the tourist section. The O’Brien Tower side of the cliffs provided my family and I with unbelievable views of the cliffs with little foot traffic around us. Believe me, if you want great pictures, don’t obey the marked signs.

I feel compelled to write to you to express my dissatisfaction. A number of your operating procedures are so ineffective that I often find myself puzzled and frustrated when I walk through your doors. Since professors do not assign textbooks, we are required to use the library’s resources. Here we find two problems: (1) the small number of books and (2) the inability to check the books out. For being the most prestigious library in Ireland, why do you have such a small number of books? I understand you have a copy of every single book published in Ireland and the UK, but this does not make you resourceful if you have one copy of a book that is necessary for every student in a 200 person class to read. Even two copies of one book are hardly sufficient to accommodate a class of that size. Also, why can we not check out the books? It seems only a handful of books for my history course can actually be checked out of the library. If I do not have time to sit and read everything I need in between classes, why can I not borrow the book and return it in a few days’ time? Maybe you will make the argument that not being able to check out the books makes it easier for over 200 students to access the books. I challenge you on this account, though. If a book is checked out of the library, the library catalogue tracks that information. The catalogue may claim a book is in, but, if it is not a lending book, there is no guarantee it will be on the shelf when the student arrives in the library. It is also frustrating, Trinity library, for the library catalogue to claim there are eight copies of a book, but, on arrival, to find that none of the copies are actually on the shelf.

Setting aside the book availability problem, you also need to examine your staff’s protocol for checking books into and out of the library. Personally, I have had an issue this semester, and a few friends have also had the same problem. For instance, I needed to borrow a film to watch for one of my sociology courses; I returned it on-time. The day after it was due I received an email informing me it was overdue and that I must pay a fine. When I arrived at the library to straighten it out, it was discovered an employee had taken the movie for herself without scanning it back into the library or checking it back out of the library. Nice operating policy. A friend borrowed four books, returned them early, and then was informed they were overdue and that she had to pay a 12 euro fine. When she went to the library, lo and behold all the books were on the shelf.

Oh, TCD library, I think we are going to have to agree to disagree.