Day By Day

After reading an article on Centre's homepage about our SGA President from last year, Brian Klosterboer, and all the absolutely amazing things he's done, it really got me thinking. He received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Uganda last summer and was now just named one of 18 most impressive students at Harvard Law School (the only freshman to make the cut). I read about his fantastic experiences and achievements but what really struck me was that he attributed his successes to three main things at Centre College. One of which were his two experiences studying abroad. So here I am studying abroad, now thinking this experience is suppose to help me receive a Fulbright or get into Harvard Law School. Obviously realizing it takes much more to attain either of these achievements, it still got me thinking how unbelievably lucky I am to have this experience. It was a wonderful reminder of how transformative this is experience can be and already is. While my day to day experiences don't seem extraordinary at the moment, I know it's the culmination of conversations I have, people I meet, places I go, and special moments I have, that make this experience incredible. And I can't believe a month of it has already passed. 

So here's what I've been doing the past weeks:

Thursday before last Rahel, Michelle (from Switzerland), Alex, and I went to a pub named Kelly Sellars. We had been wanting to go for awhile because it's one of the oldest pubs in Belfast, so we wanted to check it out. It was a small but cool place. What was really great about the night though was getting to know Rahel and Michelle even more. They told us about the education system in Switzerland and how teachers are considered on the status level of doctors. Also that teachers can make... wait for it... almost $95,000 a year. TEACHERS. I was shocked, jealous, but also proud of Switzerland. The US should be investing in education and the future generations so much that they are willing to pay our teachers even half as much as in Switzerland. We just had so many interesting conversations and they really taught me a lot about their country and culture. So of course, Alex and I told them about Walmart. It was a great night with great beer, great company, and great conversations.

Friday we went to a house party of a friend of Jennys'. She had met him last year when she was in Northern Ireland visiting a friend and he invited her to a housewarming party. So the housemates (minus Alicia because her parents were visiting) and Michelle and Rahel all went to this house party and it was the best night I've had so far. I think I loved it so much because not only were my friends there but we got to meet a ton of new people (even better, Irish!) Not that I don't love my international friends but I think it's important to really get to know the Irish people as well. We had so much fun we didn't end up leaving until after 5am. I met some really awesome Irish people, some of which were in a band. They invited us to come here them on Monday, so of course we did. It was wonderful to make connections with the locals, so they can show us foreigners a real Irish experience. The house party was just amazing and I'm beyond glad we ended up going. 

After our crazy Friday night, we decided to take it easy Saturday and Sunday. We relaxed at home mostly, did some cleaning, and had a movie night. Even though our living room is small, we are the only house with a TV, so it's pretty great for movie nights and watching the music video channel. Monday, as I said, we were invited to Maddens bar to listen to our new Irish friends play music. We weren't really sure what to expect but of course it turned out amazing. It ended up being like a jam session and everyone could join in playing and singing. So one of our friends, Marina from Switzerland, played guitar and sang with them. I felt so proud watching all this cultural bonding. What was even better was that they played bluegrass/folk/rock/classic music and I kept telling all my friends that it was Kentucky music! It was so much fun singing along to Wagon Wheel (which they love just as much as we do), Mumford and Sons, Jimi Hendrix, and so much more. We decided to go back every Monday. 

Tuesday is cinema day, just like in the US, so we decided it would be good to see a movie from outside out house. We walked to the city centre and watched We're The Millers. It was an alright movie and decently funny. I had heard so much hype, so maybe that's why it didn't quite meet the expectations I had. Regardless, it was nice to see a movie with friends and see what the Irish cinema was about (fyi pretty much the same as everywhere else- even the popcorn). 

Wednesday was another birthday night for Ola from Poland. We wanted to do something different than Ollo's birthday, so we planned a surprise party at the Swiss girl's house. Ola's housemates told her they were just going to a pub and we're going to pick up the Swiss girls on their way but she got there- almost the whole international group was there. We had cake, candles, balloons, decorations, confetti, streamers, noise makers, even a pinata! Surprisingly, almost no one knew what a pinata was, but we showed them how much fun they can be. She was so surprised and we could all tell how much she enjoyed it. I was happy we did something special for her birthday, I think anyone would want the same.

 

Thursday Anja, Michelle, Rahel and I decided to take a hike up to Cavehill. Maybe it was the beers the night before but I was dying trying to climb at that mountain. After a lot of panting and a few breaks, we finally made it to the very top after about an hour or so. The whole way up was beautiful but on the very top of the cliff overlooking Belfast was absolutely phenomenal. We could even see Scotland in the distance! We had a little picnic looking out on our city and just appreciated the beauty of it all. The way down, even though I thought we were lost at some points, was much easier on my muscles and we eventually made our way down. We ran into some nice Irish guys who help show us the path to Belfast Castle and told us about some other great trails for hiking/walking. From there we looked around Belfast Castle, which has an odd appreciation for cats. There were cat mosaics on the ground, cat statues, even a cat made of bushes. The whole time at the Castle I kept trying to find information about the cats but I never did. I still don't know the relationship to Belfast Castle and the cats. Then after all these adventures we decided it was time to head home.  (pictures to come)

Thursday evening we went to an Irish culture night at St. Mary's, I guess we didn't think about it but the whole event was said in Irish. We couldn't understand the announcers, songs, or anything really. It was kinda funny but we got some free wine and snacks out of it, so it wasn't so bad. 

Friday night the Spanish girls and their housemates threw a Halloween party for us all. They had wonderful decorations, candy, and everyone brought some traditional food. It was great trying food from so many different countries and I hope we have another food night like it! My favorite was probably the Spanish quiche or Swiss chocolate chip cookies, or carrot cake, or all of it really.

 

That's pretty much what I've been up to the last week or so. Stay tuned for next week's antics. 

Recent Thoughts: Appreciation

I know it's been a little while since I've last written and I will talk about why later in this post. Since it's been a couple weeks, there's quite a bit to tell, so I'll just get started.

I left off Sunday night before a new school week was about to begin. During the week we've started to get into a bit of a routine. We go to classes, make dinner, often some sort of shopping, usually food shopping. It's actually crazy how much food five girls can go through. I don't think I'm eating any more than normal but for these tiny girls some of them can really eat. So we have to go to the store every three days or so to buy another loaf of bread, milk, cheese, and other staples. Who goes through a block of cheese in 3 days? This coming from a girl who absolutely loves cheese too. It's insane. We often make meals together, especially dinner, so cooking for five people we do use a lot of food but it just surprises me every time. Usually towards the end of the week, Wednesday night or Thursday night, we try to all casually hang out and drink. We go over to someone's house (since our living room is too small for more than five people) and play cards, games, or whatever we end up doing. Then the weekends we will go to pubs/clubs or travel.

The weekend before last, Saturday specifically, I had one of the best nights so far. We went to Oktoberfest (for those who don't know- originally a German festival basically to drink mass amounts of beer and celebrate German culture) and it was fantastic! It was particularly fun because we have many German students in our Erasmus program, including two of my housemates, so it was a blast having them teach us the songs and chants. Although the beer was extremely expensive, they gave us mugs the size of my head, so it was worth it in the end. I put my favorite picture of the night to the right. By the end of the night we were all dancing to the traditional German music and having almost too much fun doing it.

Although everyone is from different countries and cultures, it's amazing how well we all get along. Maybe I shouldn't be so surprised but I never thought I would be so close to a group of individuals from all over the country in such a short period of time. I can't imagine leaving them when the time comes. It will be so weird not to have breakfast with my housemates every morning, dancing with my Polish friends, or talking music with my Swish girls. We're all so different, yet so much the same. I will admit, we have a few odd balls in the group but even they are very kind just a little socially inept. One night in particular which I think shows the kind heart of the group was Ollo's birthday night. Ollo is from Austria and his birthday was Tuesday. So Monday Anja came up with the plan for all of us Erasmus students to surprise Ollo at midnight and come to his house with balloons, pink happy birthday banner, and sing him happy birthday. So we did it! Almost 30 of us gathered at midnight in front of his house to sing him happy birthday. Not only was it hilarious because he came out in his boxers while we're all standing there with balloons and cameras but in my opinion extremely thoughtful. Of Anja for coming up with the plan and everyone who showed up at midnight on a Tuesday school night just to sing him happy birthday. I could feel the love from everyone that night.

This past Wednesday we took a trip to Giants Causeway (for those who don't know- one of the biggest attractions of Northern Ireland- gorgeous giant stones beside the coast). This trip was put together by the Erasmus administrators so everyone, besides one person I believe, went on it. We started off at Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge near Ballintoy. I guess my expectations for the rope bridge were higher because of the canopy walk I did in Ghana, which was over 100 feet in the air in the tops of trees in the forest. So I was expecting something similarly terrifying but this was much lower and not nearly as long of a walk. In Ghana at the time, I actually hated doing the canopy walk because I'm quite afraid of heights and I actually thought I was going to die. Not because I was going to fall off but of a heart attack from fear. But of course, I didn't die of either and now I'm actually happy I had the experience because it made me MUCH less afraid to do other heights activities such as this rope bridge. The only thing I was worried about was getting blown off the bridge by the wind because it was insanely windy that day. In fact, we had nice weather the past two weeks and the day of our trip of course it's windy and ended up pouring raining. Typical Ireland I suppose. Next stop was Bushmills Whiskey Distillery. Being from Kentucky, taking a tour of a distillery didn't sound as exciting to me because we have our fair share of bourbon distilleries but it was actually very interesting. Although I've been around the outside of distilleries at home and even inside old abandoned ones, I had never seen the inside of a working one. We took our tour and even got a free sample at the end. (Tip: if you ever go to Bushmills and try the whiskey, get the hot tamale one) By this time it was pouring raining and we were finally off to Giants Causeway. Although the rain took away some of the fun and made it more difficult to take pictures, it was still very beautiful and I hope to go back again on a less rainy day.

While Ireland has obviously been incredible, fantastic and all those other words that still can't describe how wonderful it is, now it's time for a few less positive thoughts. First less serious one, I quickly figured out that my outlet converter was not made to charge laptops or other big electronics by having it blow out on me. So then, I was unable to charge anything (like my phone causing great panic in me) but luckily Alex, the my housemate from NY, let me borrow hers until my wonderful mother sent me a new one (this time able to charge my laptop). Hence while I was unable to write in my blog for so long and as you can now figure out- the converter arrived today and that's why I am writing finally!

I may have mentioned this before but probably the biggest disappointment has been coming to the realization that I will not be able to travel as much as I wanted. Yes, I had unreasonably high expectations for seeing every amazing country and city in Europe in three months but I still thought I'd be able to see more than I probably will. For one, I can't exactly travel alone. Since almost everyone here is from Europe, including some the places I wanted to go, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, etc it would make no sense for them to travel home while abroad. Second, if they are not from the country, they've already been to it, again making them not want to spend the money when they could spend it on other things. Reasonable but still making it difficult for me. Third, even if they have been somewhere and wouldn't mind going again- most of the places they would have to pass their home country to get there, so it would be much cheaper for them to go from their home country, not Ireland. All of these things make sense for them but all end up meaning I either have to travel by myself or not at all. I understand, we're in Ireland and they want to see Ireland but it just sucks that I can't have both. Yes, I'll just get the surface view of a country if we visit for just one weekend but it's just so hard not to want to go because I feel so close. For them, they feel far away- but for me I literally feel like I can touch Italy, France, Netherlands, and all the other amazing countries. I'm trying to look at the positive and know that I will have other chances to see more of Europe but I've been saving money for so long for my Europe excursion (hence the ambitious title of this blog) and coming home without seeing the Eiffel Tower, walking the streets of Amsterdam, or having pasta in Italy just feels wrong. I'm young and most likely will go to Europe again but I can't help feel disappointment not experiencing the hot baths in Budapest. On a positive note, when I do come back I will have amazing friends I can visit who will show me the true experiences of their countries. And I am traveling to London, Scotland, and Dublin while here. Hopefully another country as well but for now those are the ones officially booked! Don't get me wrong, I've been having an unbelievable time here, appreciate every moment and experience and love Ireland to death. If anything it just gives me an excuse to come back. Who knows maybe I'll move to Europe one day.

My final thoughts lately have been about the differences in education. It really hit me when I was sitting in my Divided Societies class (please note all classes are international and Irish students) and the professor said he didn't expect us to know what monotheism means. Now, what's even more striking is that this is a Catholic school. He went on to say how what made the Jews different in the Palestine conflict is that they believed in one God and that's why they won. Call me crazy but if that's why the Jews one the Palestine conflict- why didn't they do something about WWII? The logic was just so illogical and to be teaching this is a college class just flabbergasted me. I don't know if it's my Centre education or pride but I couldn't help but think I knew more than some of these professors. Seriously talking about civil disobedience and all you say is Gandhi was an example. That's all these students will know about Gandhi was that he was just an example of civil disobedience? The surface level of the education here is just astounding. It just made me appreciate the depth of study at Centre. Yes, it's difficult but at least I'm learning things that are worthwhile. Pushing myself to think critically about difficult questions and issues, not simply flying over the terms without giving them deep analysis of their meanings. Either I'm some pretentious academic or the system has got it wrong. We should be teaching our students on deeper levels of study, not only for academic but personal purposes. Education brings knowledge about yourself and about the world. Education helps to figure out who you are and what you value. I've just never appreciated my Centre education like I do now. I have even more respect for my professors expecting so much from us. And I'm glad they do. I'm glad someone believes in me enough to challenge my way of thinking. Maybe this all sounds like mumbo jumbo but basically all I'm trying to say is education is important. Real, deep, thoughtful, challenging, provocative  education, which I am luckily to receive at Centre College.

UV, Titanic, And The Coast

As more time passes it gets harder and harder to remember everything but I think I left off with Wednesday night. We went to a UV party sponsored by the Student's Union (like Centre's Student Government Association) at a club called The Fly. We were told it would be similar to a glow in the dark/paint party, so some were worried that their clothes would be ruined but there were no problems whatsoever. We were given free glow sticks and highlighters to decorate ourselves with, so we may have went a bit overboard. It was an absolute blast though. And the pictures turned out fantastic! I didn't take many but some of the others did and they are priceless. One of my favorite nights out, by far.


Thursday quite a few of us had to sluggishly make it to class at 10am in the morning after a long night of dancing. I wasn't planning on taking this class, Anglo Irish Literature, since I'm not an English major nor particularly interested in literature but it counts as eight credits and I need them, so I'm taking it. It was a fairly interesting class though and it could be good for me to take something different than I'm use to. That afternoon Alex and I had a lunch at the British Council downtown for the Irish American Scholars. So, basically all the other international students are in the Erasmus program and technically Alex and I are in the Irish American Scholars program but it's easier for everybody if we're lumped in with the Erasmus kids. But occasionally Alex and I get opportunities to do something different because of our program such as the lunch on Thursday. We got to meet the other Irish American Scholars in and around Belfast (about 12 of us) and a few of the administrators of the program, including Mr. Reigelman again. They then took us for a free tour of the Titanic Museum, which was incredible. I had heard a lot of Irish people talk up the museum but I thought it was just because they were proud of that it had come from Belfast but the museum was absolutely incredible. I was amazed at the quality of detail and technology throughout the museum. They had holographic floors and interactive parts. It's hard to explain but it was truly a sight worth seeing. Something I would recommend anyone visiting in Belfast to see.

Friday was a casual day and night because we made plans to go to around the coast of Northern Ireland early Saturday morning. That afternoon we walked to a nearby shopping centre to get some groceries for the house. Something that I love about Ireland (UK) is that you have to pay an extra fee at most stores if you need bags to put your groceries in. I love this because it almost forces people to bring their own bags and use recyclable bags so that you don't have to pay the extra fee. It's such an easy and simple thing that saves so much plastic and paper at the end of the day. It's something that I wish the US would incorporate into their stores because it would save an unimaginable amount of resources that go basically wasted everyday. Anyways, that evening we went to one of the others' flats and played a few card games and just relaxed.

Saturday the real adventure began. We got up around 7am to be at the train station at 9am. We thought the ticket would be 7 pounds but turns out that's just for Sunday, so it ended up being about 16 pounds. A little disappointing but we were able to get on and off any bus or train for the whole day, so it was worth it in the end. Honestly to see the sights I saw I would of paid much much more. Planning our route and bus/train connections was a lot harder than I was expecting. I feel like we spent almost an hour trying to figure out how we would get from one place to the next and see everything we wanted to see.

We started the day in Portballintrae, which is where Dunluce Castle was located. We got off at the bus stop and immediately came to the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Surrounded by white houses fixed on top of rolling hills of green sitting right in front of the beach. We of course stopped to take many pictures then made our way to Dunluce Castle a few miles up the road. We took a tour of the castle and it was beautiful as well. Everything along the coast was just pure natural beauty. We then walked to Portrush quite a few miles from Portballintrae. We walked along the beach of this beautiful coastal city just enjoying the wonderful scenery and weather. We stopped for lunch at a cafe overlooking the beach and then made our way to the bus stop for Castlerock. This was another beautiful city with wonderful beaches. We took many more pictures and climbed on the rocks. By this time some people were getting tired but we all ended up deciding to stay and watch the sun go down from the Temple. So we did some more climbing up some hills and made it to the most gorgeous view of the day in my opinion. I stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea and watched the sun set over this ancient temple of the winds. Words nor pictures can accurately capture the absolute beauty I experienced from this view. Phenomenal.

Finally we got on the train for Belfast and rode the 2 hours back home. Exhausted, sore, and filled with images that will stay with me forever.

Tomorrow will be Monday and I will start another week at school. Hoping it will be filled with great experiencing and learning until the next magical adventure.

Classes And A Fancy Dinner

Tuesday began my first day of classes. We had a meeting with St. Mary's University's President and International Coordinators. It was surprisingly informal and relaxed. We were taken through an induction and given the basic information. We then scrambled to find our first class of the day. Even though the school is small, it is way too easy to get turned around and lost. I had Identity and Contemporary Society, Divided Societies, and Global Justice on Tuesday. They were all fairly interesting and didn't seem too challenging at all. I think the professors let us off a little easier because they know we're international students and want to spend more time traveling and getting to know the country rather than stuck in a classroom. Even if I don't learn so much from the classes, I know the real learning will be taking place outside of the school.

The main thing that has frustrated me though is how disorganized everything is. I am a person that likes structure and plans but they seem to be more 'we'll figure it out as we go.' It just stresses me out at least when it comes to classes. At this point, I'm still not sure how many classes I need to be taking to have enough credits transfer back home, as well as if any of them will count for my majors. The scheduling here is madness but luckily I don't think I'll have classes on Friday, so that'll make for great traveling weekends. Hopefully it'll all get worked out and I'll take classes I want that will also count for something back home.

Besides some school stress, I've still been having an amazing time here. Tuesday evening I had dinner with Milton Reigelman and his wife at a pub/restaurant downtown. I was nervous at first because he is such an important member of the Centre community as well as I had to take a taxi by myself for the first time downtown. Luckily I caught a cab and my cab driver couldn't of been any nicer. We talked the whole way their about Belfast, my family, his family, my school, and more. He gave me some advice on getting around in Belfast and I gave him a mini geography lesson of the US. Before I knew it, I had arrived at the Hilton hotel where I was meeting Mr. Reigelman and his wife. We walked a few blocks to one of the oldest pubs in Belfast for dinner. I ate fancy potato leek soup, salad, wine, and cheesecake for dessert. It was so generous and kind of him to take me out to dinner. We had great conversations about Ireland, Centre, family, and more. It was a great opportunity to get to know such an important faculty member at Centre in such a casual manner. He even paid the taxi to take me back home. Also having another great conversation with the taxi driver about the US government shutdown and both of our lack of understanding why the US is the only civilized country NOT to have healthcare for everyone. We went on about the pros and cons until we finally reached my home. I sincerely appreciated Mr. Reigelman's thoughtfulness and generosity though. I can't believe how lucky I am to go to such an incredible school with such outstanding faculty. How many other people can say that the head of the Study Abroad program and Special Assistant to the President casually offered to take them to dinner while studying abroad in Belfast, Northern Ireland? The opportunities are truly limitless.

Wednesday we had class again and I struggled to figure out my credits and scheduling some more. Tonight we are going to a UV "glow in the dark" party put on by the Student's Union at one of the clubs, The Fly. We are meeting for drinks at one of the other Erasmus student's flats and then leaving from there. It should be a good time and I'm excited to spend more time with the wonderful international students. I'm amazed and thrilled at how well so many of us get along. We are constantly saying that we've only been here a week but it feels like we've known each other for months already. I can't wait for everything else in store and I'll keep updating as I go!