Upon arriving in Dublin i was filled with excitement, just looking around at all the beautiful buildings and all the people in the city. When I arrived at the Institute of Public Administration i was very impressed. All the staff were very warm and welcoming. I was offered a cup of tea right away! This is where we got the information of where we will be heading next, the host family! I was nervous about meeting my host family. I knew i would find it strange to be living with a family that is not my own. But once again i felt very welcome in their home. I am living with Frances and Jim Murphy and their 21 year old son, Ross, and 16 year old daughter, Jillian. And so far everything is going great! Frances is a great cook!! lovely dinners! The area, Killiney, that im living in is a very nice neighborhood.
One thing that has been hard for me is getting used to public transportation. I have about a 45-60 minute commute everyday to school and to my internship. It is really hard trying to figure out the bus system and learning all the dart (the train) stations and where they are. But i am sure will time ill get the hang of it!
The other American students I am here with are awesome. We really do have a great group together. We have been doing a lot of exploring around Dublin city, finding out what it has to offer us. We have also been exploring the pubs in Dublin! Every night last week we went to a new pub to get to know each other. Friday night we went into the city to Doyles and 21. It was a great night! Saturday night then we went to a town called Dalkey which was a really nice place. Pretty much we have been acting like complete American tourists!
We started classes last week and so far i have found them to be quite interesting. I cant wait to get into more detail learning about the Irish political system and how it all works! The only thing im not in favor of right now is homework! I definitely need to get back into school mode!
The other part of the study abroad program is an internship at the irish parliament. Today i had my interview that will determine which TD i will be working with for the next few months. For me this will be the most interesting part of the trip. I am so excited to be working in the parliament with all the politicians. It will be an amazing experience.
1 comment:
Wow, you are so lucky! I'm sure you worked really hard to get into the program in which you were accepted. I recently experienced the same feeling of getting accepted. Except from moving far away from home, my school is just over the bridge, baby steps. My friend had a Japanese exchange student live with him last year. It must be easier to communicate with your Irish family for the post part. My friend's Japanese friend barely spoke English. I love how all the bars are called pubs. It must be really interesting to experience a new culture.
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