Cities, Classes, and Cooking

The regular semester here at University College Cork has finally begun. I have been here in Cork, Ireland for about a month and a half now, and I have to say that I have grown to quite like Cork. At first, I was hesitant about the fact that it was a city, but I have come to realize that the cab driver I had my first day in Cork was correct when he said that Cork is really more of a big town, as opposed to an actual city. The city center is actually surrounded by the River Lee on all sides, so it's more centralized in a way, confined to a bunch of streets rather than being very spread out. The River Lee, at least near campus, isn't really all that wide. It's definitely not like the three rivers (Monongahela River, the Ohio River and the Allegheny River) back home in Pittsburgh, but I think it becomes bigger the further away from Cork City you get. Nevertheless there are little "bridges" that allow you to get across River. I have to be honest here, I don't really see them as bridges like we have back in Pittsburgh, they are much smaller and extremely short, one of them is actually right outside my dorm and it's basically just a regular road) that happen to be over the water, absolutely nothing like the bridges of Pittsburgh).

 This is Gaol Cross, it's one of the bridges that connects to campus (my picture)

 

 

The second thing I wanted to discuss was “So far, the biggest adjustment has been _____________ because……”, which is the suggested topic for this week. I think the biggest adjustment so far has been two things. First is the way that the classes are set up here. The international students actually had an entire week where we just went to whichever classes we wanted to, so that we knew definitively what classes we wanted to take. We registered about a week after the semester started. It was really strange just going to any class I wanted to, testing them all out. I was really unsure about that because I like knowing when all my classes are and being able to plan out the rest of my day around them. I think the other aspect of classes here that has also been a major adjustment is the lack of actual day-to-day work to do. Back at W&J, we usually have to read a chapter from our textbook  and then be ready to discuss it in class. At W&J, there are usually little assignments to complete and turn in. However, this is absolutely not the case here at UCC. First, the booklist here typically has about 10 books on it and they are all suggestions. There aren't really required textbooks for each class. I'm under the impression that we should be gradually working our way through several of these books, but we don't have assigned chapters that need to be read for each class. There aren't really even tests, we will have to turn in essays at the end of the semester and that will determine our grade. This system has been a bit of an adjustment for me personally because, as I mentioned before, I like having structure and knowing exactly when something is due. The idea of turning in an essay at the end of the semester and then that ONE essay determining my grade (or marks, as the Irish phrase it) for an entire class is terrifying. In addition, I'm never really sure what to do with myself because I don't have a chapter from a textbook that needs read or an assignment to complete.

 

The second adjustment has been cooking for myself. I have to come to realize that I am incredibly used to having a meal plan back at W&J. There is no meal plan here, so I have to cook every meal. Now, I really love cooking, so this hasn't been a major issue but I have been eating a lot of pasta because it's easy and quick to make. Also, pasta is cheap. I have become very conscious of how much food costs (not that I wasn't aware that food was expensive before coming to Ireland, but actually having to buy my own food has been a bit of an eye opener). Also, cooking takes effort. Occasionally cooking for my family on Sundays is a very different experience than cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for myself every day. I have found that it's easier to buy staples (which, for me, means Ritz crackers, pasta, pasta sauce, Nutella, peanut butter and granulated sugar for tea) and then go to the store about twice a week for bread, tomatoes, apples etc. Bread gets moldy quicker here (probably because there are less additives in it), so I have to buy that at least twice a week. Luckily, there's a convenience store right on the corner of Gaol Cross, so I don't have to go far to buy bread. Physically cooking isn't much of a problem, I think coming up with some variety to what I make has been the hard part. I'm much more inclined to make pasta all the time because it's easy, but I do want to try and make different dishes more often.

 

Overall, I think that I have been adjusting to life in Cork fairly well. I'm going to try and write another post about some of the activities that I've been doing here in Cork soon, because I have had a lot of fun cultural experiences so far, such as watching two hurling matches, listening to traditional Irish music and Cork Cultural Night



“If I could have one thing from home it would be ___________ because…”

So (as the title of the post indicates)  the suggested topic for this week is "If I could have one thing from home it would be_______because..." Honestly, I could really do two things with this post. I could discuss the one (or two) things that I wish I had brought with me to Ireland OR I could just talk about what I wish I had here that is from home. I think I'm going to go with the second option, because I might make the first option its own post later on.

Truthfully, anything that I REALLY want or need, they have here in Cork. As a result, what I wish I could have from home isn't necessarily a physical item like a coat or anything. I think emotionally, I really wish that my family and best friends could be here. However, I do realize that I should probably pick something tangible (although I'm not sure exactly how tangible what I'm about to pick really is). I think the one thing I really wish they had here (and this is going to sound ridiculous and make me seem like an entitled American to some extent) is hulu.com. Hulu is basically a website that lets viewers watch TV shows from the most popular networks (ABC, NBC, the CW, etc.) pretty much right after they air in the United States. Unfortunately for me, hulu.com does not work in Europe and Europe gets the American TV show episodes a few months later than we do in the United States. This means that whenever the fall TV season arrives, I am probably not going to be able to watch some of my favorite TV shows. Now, let me clarify one thing. I know how completely ridiculous it is that I am upset that I cannot watch my American TV shows while I am STUDYING ABROAD in IRELAND. I mean, I didn't come to Ireland to watch TV shows, right? But here is the thing about not being able to have that, especially right now during the Early Start Semester program. I only have one class that takes place Monday-Thursday for about three hours (if that). So the result is that I have a lot of free time and that means I'm often alone in my room with very little work to do. If I had hulu, I probably would have had something to fill in that gap of time. I get lonely sometimes and, as everyone knows, TV is designed to be an escape and succeeds tremendously in its goal of distracting viewers from real life. I have friends here and I could go out and do things, but going out and doing things often involves spending money. That isn't really a problem, but I would like to save some money for bigger trips that I would like to go on while I'm here in Ireland. I have also explored Cork City quite a few times, so spending time in my room isn't keeping me from really seeing the city.

I think a second point about not having hulu work here is that when the fall TV season does roll around (in a couple of weeks--I know, it's a bit sad that I am fairly certain about that) I am not going to be able to sit down for an hour or so each week (like I would back at W&J) and catch up on my favorite shows. Back home, that has always been my way of stepping back from all of the studying for a few hours. I don't have that here, so I have been a bit bored and lonely at times.

To sum up, (as ridiculous as it may sound) I guess the thing that I wish that I could have from home is hulu, or at least access to American TV. It would have been a way to pass the time and it would have been nice to have a way to feel like I was back home in the U.S, at least for a few hours. I think American TV, especially when you're abroad, is kind of a familiar, relaxing, comfort thing. And really, I think the familiar feeling of being back home, or at least with my family and friends, is something I really wish I could have at times, although exploring Cork City and Ireland has been great so far.

First Impressions

My first impression of Europe as whole came when the plane was touching down in Glasgow, Scotland. The first thing that I noticed were fields and lots of them. When you are on a plane in the U.S, you don't really notice fields unless you are high up enough in the clouds. But in Scotland, even in the descent to touch down, you can definitively see fields and land, as opposed to buildings. I'm probably going to mention my trip to Scotland in a different post, so I'll skip over some of that to get to my first impressions of Ireland. Many of the impressions that I got early on in Ireland also apply to Scotland as well, so I'm not totally leaving out Scotland. Anyway, I'm going to list a few of the general first impressions that I got of Ireland:

1) The side that the Europeans, including the Irish, drive on is the left side. I have always been fully aware that the Europeans drive on a different side of the road than we do in the U.S. However, that awareness did not prevent me from freaking out every time we turned on a road in a taxi or on a bus. To an American, it really feels like the cars are going to collide.
2) Tipping-In both Scotland and Ireland tipping seems to be a less common occurrence. I am guessing that the hourly wage or something similar may be the reason why, but it seemed very strange to me because in the U.S tipping is expected when you encounter someone working in the service industry. This isn't necessarily the case in Ireland. Tipping seems to be more of a choice here for the customers, not really a necessity.
3) Even the big cities, such as Glasgow/Edinburgh in Scotland or Dublin/Belfast in the country of Ireland feel a lot smaller than the ones in the United States.
4) Ireland, particularly in the rural areas, is more of a cash-based society than credit/debit card, unlike the United States. One of the things that I thought was a bit strange when I first got here were the 1 and 2 euro coins. I hadn't expected there to be coins with such a high currency value, but I have actually grown to appreciate the fact that there are more than one ways to pay (paper money or coins).
5) The Irish people are very blunt, and not in a bad way. I appreciate the bluntness, the strong opinions on politics and the honesty.
6) Public transportation is widely used and is a major way that people get around. They have a great train and bus system. In the U.S, everyone generally just drives to wherever they need to go, but in Ireland, the public transportation system seems to be used much more than I anticipated. Walking is also an option, especially walking into the city center of Cork City.
7) There aren't really skyscrapers that make up the cityscape, which is completely different than in the United States. There are taller buildings in Ireland, but the don't make for a distinctive cityscape like they would in  New York, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles etc.
8) Stores close by 6 p.m. Initially, I did NOT understand this AT ALL. I thought it was one of the strangest things about Europe. I could not fathom why a restaurant, grocery store etc. would close by 6 p.m. because I am so used to going to Walmart or Giant Eagle at 7 p.m. to buy things. However, I think it is just one of those aspects of European life that just happen and you have to get used to.
9) In a similar vein as the stores closing at 6 p.m. thing, nothing really opens on Sunday until noon.
10) There are not a lot of highways. There are major roads, but I would not really call them highways like we have in the United States.

So that concludes my list of first impressions that I had of Ireland. None of them are negative impressions, I will admit that some of the things were a bit of a shock (such as the driving thing or the stores closing at 6) but overall, my first impressions of Ireland have been extremely positive.

What I'm doing in Ireland

I have always loved the idea of Europe, especially Ireland and the United Kingdom. My fascination with the latter is probably the product of my love affair with the Harry Potter books that began so long ago that I can barely remember how old I was the first time I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I was really young, I know that. But Ireland has always held a sort of mystique for me because I have Irish heritage. So, for the fall semester of my senior year, I chose to study abroad in Ireland at University College Cork. I enrolled as part of the Early Start Semester program for international students. Within the Early Start program, I decided to do the history program.  Essentially, the Early Start program is like intersession at Washington and Jefferson. It's one class for 3 hours Monday-Thursday for about 3 and a half weeks. Each program (I chose history but there were other options like literature of Ireland, folklore of Ireland, music of Ireland etc.) has a few field trips, which are a way for the international students to see a bit more of Ireland in an organized, somewhat educational, setting. My program actually already had one trip (I'll probably talk about it more in a different post) and we are going to Dublin this week. So to sum up this first post, I'm mostly going to be studying Irish history here at UCC. I'm a political science and history double major back home at W&J, so it should be very interesting to learn more about Irish history and Ireland politically is also very intriguing. I'm going to try to post again soon to explain more about how I got here (flying, obviously, but the details of that) and maybe give my first impressions of Ireland.

                          The Main Quadrangle of the University College Campus (my picture)