122 Days Later...

So I know I epically failed at blogging throughout the semester. But it's more fun hearing the stories in person anyway right? haha What really matters is the lessons I have learned over the course of the semester. I figured I'll cap it off with a list of the funny, random, and life changing things I have learned. It doesn’t capture everything but it covers pretty much the top 20 :)

1. I fall asleep in any moving vehicle, usually within the first five minutes.

2. I am not attracted to boys in track suits no matter how cute your Irish accent is.

3. Irish dancing is impossible.

4. I can't imitate an Irish accent to save my life.

5. I don't like feeling rushed or feeling like a tourist.

6. I'm a lot stronger than I ever thought I could be.

7. I love deodorant and b.o. is one of the worst smells in the entire world. Not kidding, there were occasions where I actually had to leave the gym early because people smelled so bad.

8. My personal bubble is gigantic. I can’t stand being in huge crowds of people.

9. I’ve got the travel bug in me! Exploring the world has become my passion.

10. I love my family and friends more than anything in the entire world. I truly am blessed to have such amazing people in my life.

11. It is unbelievable how close you can get to someone over the course of a couple of months.

12. There some absolutely incredible, genuine, caring, generous, fun-loving, beautiful people in this world.

13. Just when you think you know someone, they can completely surprise you with another wonderful aspect to their personality.

14. After spending almost every waking moment of four months with someone it's still possible to find plenty of things to talk about. But what I love the most is when you are so comfortable with someone that you are perfectly content sitting in silence.

15. Two people may be from completely different cultures and still feel like they’ve known each other all their lives. I love the differences in cultures you can learn so much from one another.

16. Sometimes I worry too much. You don't always need a plan. Some of the best moments this semester occurred when we didn't know where we were going or what we were going to do we just let things fall into place.

17. The American way of living is way too fast paced. There is no need for so much stress and rushing around in our lives. The week I spent in Italy was one of the most peaceful and eye opening experiences of my life. Megan and I could spend days doing absolutely nothing but that was all we needed. We need to take more time to enjoy each other's company, to sit for 4 hours at dinner, to truly get to know someone without having to rush off to another place. The perfect summary of this is the Italian phrase “Il bel far niente” which means “ The sweetness of doing nothing”.

18. There is so much to be appreciative and thankful for and too many things in life are taken for granted.

19. You can be anywhere in the world, but what really matters is who is standing there by your side.

20. Everything happens for a reason. God won't throw anything our way that we can't handle. In the end, we always end up just where we're supposed to be.

April 18-20 Outdoor Pursuits Club Trip

At the beginning of the semester, I joined both the International Society and Outdoor Pursuits Club. Well, one of the biggest events for the OPC is a weekend hiking trip to Glendalough in County Wicklow (more toward the eastern coast of Ireland, just south of Dublin).

About 120 of us (both Irish and International students) loaded buses for a 3 hour ride that turned into a 5 hour ride because our drivers couldn't figure things out. Meanwhile, I got carsick on the bus (this becomes a reoccurring theme throughout the semester). It felt like we were driving HOURS through the wilderness but finally arrived late that night. It was pitch black and pouring down rain outside. We trekked to our hostel that ended up being overtaken by our group.

The next day we hiked through the Wicklow Mountains National Park. It was quite a hike, but it was a gorgeous day and we saw the sun for the first time in months. When we stopped for lunch we were actually able to take off our jackets and sweatshirts! The view was breathtaking from the top.

We got back to our hostel after being gone for a full 6-7 hours. That night our entire crew made a big spaghetti dinner that fed all 120 of us. Then we had a big dance/karaoke party and ended the night at one of the local pubs.

The next morning we went on another smaller hike around the area and then headed back home. It was a great weekend and we met a lot of really fun people. We got a taste for how truly crazy the Irish are during karaoke (a notion that has only been confirmed throughout the rest of my time here).

Oops

I realized how lame I am and haven't posted in my blog in months. SO I'm about to give a bunch of updates on all my adventures one post at a time!

Giving Thanks in February :)

I know its not November and Thanksgiving is now months away, but I keep thanking God everyday for how fortunate I am.

I’m thankful for my family and that they are safe and healthy.

I’m thankful that my family is full of such unconditional love, happiness, and support.

I’m thankful to have been raised the way I was.

I’m thankful for my health.

I’m thankful for having this wonderful once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and for all of the people in my life who have helped me and sacrificed for me to be here.

I’m thankful that there are good people in this crazy world and that for the most part I manage to surround myself with them.

I’m thankful to be in this beautiful country and to be exploring the world.

I’m thankful to live in California.

I’m thankful for being able to go to Chapman, for all the doors it has opened for me, and for all of the positive people who have come into my life.

I’m thankful to have a roof over my head and food on my plate (even if its poorly made, thanks to my lack of cooking skills)

I’m thankful for my friends, because, for the true and genuine ones, we’re always there for each other.

I’m thankful for my Gamma Phi sisters who have given me 3 of the best years of my life. They haven’t allowed me to be homesick because of how much they’ve reached out to me even though I’m thousands of miles away.

I’m thankful for all the little things in life.

I’m thankful for each and every day.

Have I mentioned how thankful I am for my family? :)

In conclusion, life is wonderful and I could not be happier. I'm having the time of my life and learning something new about myself and about the world every day. Thank you all for your love and support, I miss you terribly and wish you could be here to share this experience with me.

Week 2!

Last weekend we ventured to Galway for our first weekend trip! A group of 12 of us spent two nights in a hostel. Since there were 8 girls we were lucky enough to have a whole room to ourselves, but the boys had to share theirs with a bunch of randoms. The people were definitely interesting and pretty typical of what you would expect to find in a cheap hostel.

We explored the city and got to experience the Saturday market and the many sights in the Connemara area. Our tour guide was kind enough to grace us with his singing in Gaelic, so I attached a video of it for all of you :) In all, it was a great weekend and most importantly we made it back safe and sound!

This past week classes started picking up in intensity. I'm currently taking 5 courses, 2 for my business major, 1 for my communications minor, and 2 just for fun! I'm enrolled in a Marketing module called "Interactions, Relationships, and Networks", an Entrepreneurship module, Principles of Organizational Behaviour, and Irish Folklore and Intro to Irish Music and Dance. I have only one class on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but my Tuesdays and Thursdays are brutal. I'm in class from 9am-6pm with only about an hour break throughout the whole day.

This weekend we went on a day trip that was set up through the study abroad office. They took a group of 155 international students to The Cliffs of Moher, The Burren, The Alliwee Caves, and Bunratty Castle. The Cliffs of Moher were absolutely stunning, I felt like I was on top of the world. It's definitely a place I would love to visit again when I'm not with a ton of other students. For lunch we stopped in a town called Lisdoonvarna where there is a huge matchmaking festival held every year for the entire month of September. People come from all over to see if they can find a little romance. When we stopped there, however, it looked like a complete ghost town and only two restaurants were open in the entire town. You can imagine what that was like with 155 hungry students trying to order lunch. Toward the end of the trip we unfortunately weren't able to go inside Bunratty Castle, but by the end of the day we were all too exhausted anyway.

Overall it was a great week and weekend! We went into town last night and experienced the Superbowl Ireland style. It was quite the experience to say the least. We had to make our way home at the end of the halftime show though. By then it was already 1:30am here and all of us were pooped.

Also, as of this week I am now a proud member of the Outdoor Pursuits Club and the International Society. With the Outdoor Pursuits club we get to go on caving, hiking, and rock climbing trips throughout the semester. Our first trip is coming up in February!

The weather has been pretty much what you'd expect in Ireland. Cold. Rainy. Windy. Did I mention cold? Megan and I are definitely having California sunshine withdraws. The other night I was woken up from a dead sleep by the wind. I got a video of it so hopefully you can hear the howling noises that woke me up!

Besides that things are pretty low key! We're taking full advantage of the Tuesday on campus farmers markets and the huge gym at the university. I continue to meet people from all over the world and every day is a new exciting adventure. The group of 12 people that I've been sticking with has formed a sort of family. We all look out for each other, can start a dance party wherever we go, and manage to have fun no matter what. Take a look at the picture album on facebook if you're interested! Pictures are up from our Galway weekend and our day trip this past Saturday. Love and miss you all!

Perfect Day

Not that there was anything spectacular or out of the ordinary, but it seemed like today was a day where everything seemed to work out perfectly.

1. We had a crazy adventure to an irish club last night where we had fun dancing but were practically trampled to death. I have bruises all over my feet but we met so many great people and had a lot of fun!

2. Classes today were wonderful. I'm taking an Irish folklore class that seems like its going to be brilliant!

3. The sun was out and shining for a good part of the day and even though it was FREEZING by nightfall we still managed.

4. I was extremely productive opened myself a bank account, got my computer login and email set up, and met some great people in the process.

5. Megan and I ventured into the city around 3pm in time to run some errands and make it to our immigration appointment at 6pm. We stopped by a travel office to figure out how to get around Ireland. Megan needed to get her phone fixed so we went by the store and the guy who originally sold them to us was working again. We talked to him and even though he'd been a little standoffish we'd won him over by the end of the conversation. We asked him where he would recommend for us to go for fish and chips in the city (since its so popular here we figured its a must). He responded immediately and even smiled at us and told us to have a nice day as we were leaving! Then we managed to both trip off the same curb at the exact time and couldn't stop laughing about it.

6. We had dinner at the fish and chips restaurant which was a little hole in the wall place and I was even able to get my ranch dressing (aka garlic sauce) with dinner!

7. We made it to the immigration office (by now we're starting to get the hang of crossing the street in the city). Our spirits were high and everyone in the office was as friendly as could be.

8. We left the office and decided to do a little exploring. Both of our sweet tooths kicked in and we decided to find a place for dessert. We ended up asking a kind irish lady where we could go and found ourselves in a quaint little italian restaurant. It was the perfect setting and a warm calming atmosphere that helped us escape the cold.

With our stomachs full, so much accomplished, perfectly content and as happy as could be we headed home. We caught the bus right away, talked each others ears off and made it home safe and sound. With a full day ahead tomorrow, including three classes, a nice gym workout and some fun in store tomorrow night I'm exhausted and ready for bed. A group of us are taking off Friday afternoon for a trip to Galway and we could not be more excited! Be expecting updates from it! Love you all!

Week 1

This is the beautiful view I wake up to every morning!

I am completely obsessed with this wonderful country. I have met some fantastic people, from Ireland, Canada, the east coast of the US, and even good old Chapman. We've already had way too much fun and theres only more to come.

The weather is absolutely freezing, but I must say I think I'm slowly getting used to it. I have my own room in a 6 bedroom dorm apartment. I have my own bathroom, a huge bed and most importantly A HEATER! I just met my roommates Sunday when they moved in (so yes I was all alone in a huge apartment in a foreign country for almost a week) They all seem very nice and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better!

I've successfully experienced some pubs, the downtown city center, and have slowly been picking up on the irish lingo. We're still trying to figure out the cultural norms and anything from what side of the sidewalk to walk on to whether or not you should tip taxi cab drivers.

I had a bit of a scare the other day when I was told there is no ranch dressing in ireland BUT I did find out last night that it does exist but they call it garlic sauce instead. We've already made multiple trips to the city to get groceries and then had to trek not only through the city but 15 min across campus in the freezing cold with extremely heavy bags of groceries.

I've met some FANTASTIC people like I said and Irish people are so nice. For those of you who know my recent incident with a not so respectable boy...well let's just say I've moved on ;)

We get some pretty strange looks from people when they hear us talking. It sucks because we get pegged as Americans right away. We asked one guy if it was our accents that gave us away and he said that and our straight white teeth. Basically, we walk around and something about us just screams American...trying to fix that.

It finally rained for the first time today and you know how much I love the rain! We also have a Farmer's Market on campus every Tuesday and finding out they had sushi just made my day. Classes have been alright but they're just introductions so far and we have two weeks to shop around and decide what we'll be taking.

More updates to come! Love and miss you all!