January 4th, 2013
Back at Niland after finishing the second part of
orientation, the academic advising sessions. Internet is currently out, which
is a shame because that’s been the one thing holding strong for us that some
other people in the building are having issues with. So whenever it’s back on
I’m going to update this for my wonderful 5 subscribers and anyone else who
lurks in off of facebook, then figure out a to-do list and carry on with the
day.
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Nevermind, hours later, took a nap, back to write with still
no internet. Add that to the list of hot water, microwave, oven, floorboards,
and tv, and we’ve got a nice long directory of demands. So today and yesterday were international
student orientation at NUI Galway, where today they discussed classes, and the
day before everything but that. Some starring moments in yesterday’s
presentations:
- The landscapes in this area purportedly inspired Tolkein’s landscapes in Lord of the Rings, and people are writing papers on why this is totally true.
- The dude who came up with the word ‘electron’, and all other forms of that word was a professor at NUI but it’s not the easiest to advertise on the website.
- The streets are all Mediterranean style-winding because back before cars, it was easier to sail to Lisbon than ride to Dublin, which influenced a lot of architecture and other aspects of life.
On the topic of weather, it’s been cold and rainy since I’ve
been here, which isn’t much of a surprise, but the international coordinator
had a good term for the experience, about how with spring 2013 students, we
“come in the darkness and leave in the light”- the sun goes down really early
and comes up late now, but it should be quite different in a few months.
Hopefully that sentiment will expand to lots of other ‘darkness and light’
areas of life as the semester goes on as well. J
I learned that our necessary ‘immigration’ fee has been
mysteriously doubled to 300 euro, but also about a seemingly too good to be
true plane-ticket giveaway for opening an Irish bank account, learned a few
words in Irish (Galway’s basically bilingual- maybe it’s time to break out byki
again), heard more about a service-learning class that sounds like perfection,
and am being lured into joining loads of clubs, or ‘socs’, short for
‘societies’. (International, Potter(!), debating (around since 1800s?), ALIVE
(their FOCUS), maybe mountaineering or something? Good thing I brought those
heavy boots!)
I’m starting to populate my old La Salle agenda with
important upcoming dates, I mostly right now can’t wait until
clubs/volunteering day and for classes to start. That’s a sort of weird
schedule as well, the lectures begin this Monday, but we don’t need to
officially declare what we’re taking for the university until the 21st
which seems to be the date everything begins in earnest, although some
departments need to approve you for classes earlier- English is the 11th,
I think.
The English department is located in the third floor of
tower one, which is hidden behind some doors in a corner of the academic
building. When they talked about it during the orientation, it was made to seem
notoriously difficult to find on this “higgledy-piggeldy campus” (quoting here-
yes I took notes, yes I was probably the only one). However! Either my
navigation skills are already getting a boost, or they were exaggerating, but
after taking a tour and visiting with a newfound friend from St. Joe’s, I was
able to find my way back all alone with my service-learning class application.
So we will see how that goes, but I very much enjoyed wandering the ‘tower’, though
I can’t fathom how it’s built, because the way up is this narrow little sketchy
staircase, but it’s plenty roomy with lots of offices on top.
So I took a tour yesterday, after nearly missing it because
I misread the map, eventually asking one of the surprisingly few redhead Irish
students I saw how to get to the ‘quadrangle building’- only to have it pointed
out that it was the huge castle-courtyard I’d so admired earlier; “See because
it has four sides, quad”. Thanks. But after that, which I kinda felt turned me
around even more, I did some exploring on my own. I took some pictures, but
between my wanderings yesterday and today, mostly tried to absorb as much of
the scenery and culture as I could. NUI features beautiful old stone buildings,
grassy green fields, as well as modern halls and some messy gray construction,
and my route home could either be along little shops and pubs or between a
really fast and really slow river. As I walked back today after the academic
info sessions, I stopped into the huge and beautiful Galway cathedral. I was
only planning to stay for a minute or two, but ended up sitting and looking for
maybe a half hour. There were the usual individual shrines, candles, and
adoration, but maybe it was the sheer size of the place- or something else, I
don’t know, but I was certainly stuck with a sense of awe and peace,
simultaneously, and felt at home. I’ll be back there again.
There’s loads more I could talk about, including my first
pub experience, a trip to the supermarket/mall with the landlord’s tiny
granddaughter, my need for an Irish phone, and scheduling woes- but they will
likely wait for another post, as this is getting longer and longer, and it’s
8pm and I’m going to make some pasta.
Thank you again for reading, whoever you are, and if you
like this, stay tuned for more. J
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