The Coolest Four Months Ever

I guess it just hit me over the last couple of days.
I'm in Europe.
I'm going to school in Ireland.
I live in Ireland's second city (ask the locals? It's the real capitol, "despite the claims of Dublin" -George from the Chaplaincy).



Cork is amazing.


I am happy because I've met some pretty awesome people, an we all recognize how incredible this opportunity is.

I am even happier about the actual opportunity, that is: to be here a month before actual classes begin, to be able to socialize with a group of people in the same situation I'm in, and to be able to travel around the city and parts of the country to learn so much about such a unique region.

We had orientation today. Might I say that the University College Cork is like an Irish DU...except ten times cooler. It's slightly older, maybe slightly bigger (campus-wise), and some of its buildings I associate with those at DU. What's cooler about UCC is that it's slightly older, slightly bigger, and a lot of its buildings combine these qualities to form a character I can only describe as historic, European, and breathtaking.

We'll see how I feel when it rains, but I wouldn't mind plopping down on a blanket near the River Lee and read for my Irish Literature course. I also wouldn't mind--let's be honest--just rolling in the lawn in the Main Quadrangle. I guess when the weather sets in, I'll take shelter in the Stone Cooridor, one of the campus pubs, or the library. I may swing by the Student Union (separate from the Student Centre), or Iona (a religious/spiritual place for, well, everybody).

I can see how hard it's going to be to leave in four months.

But, I'm not thinking about that too heavily. I'm really trying, as an officer from the International Office said, to not "worry about tomorrow [and] make the most of today." I thought I took that to heart at 9News, and at C-SPAN, but honestly, I've never felt so compelled to cling to every moment as I do here.

It's what's lead me to make the friends I have at the moment, to go to three (or four?) different pubs in the last three nights. I watched an Irish rugby game this evening while having a freshly brewed Fosters (Ireland beat Italy 23-20).

Last night, I went to a popular student pub named "The Thirsty Scholar" (apparently, it's taken wind in the States...there's a replica in New York, Boston, and...get this...Ohio). My suitemate and I had good chit-chat with some locals, and we really got to talking with the two bartenders. One was explaining that this was a popular hangout for UCC students, but also the Americans who roll around for a semester. He says he's taken to "adopting you Americans" to help us with some Irish customs and with, well, drinking. We talked about some differences in how Americans and Irish use the English language, and how some words that are no less than offensive in the states are used as simple, friendly banter in Cork. I asked for some examples, and our new friend's cohort, another bartender, laughed as he gulped down a Murphy's, "We speak English...ba duh ching" (he seriously did the ba duh ching, hands and everything).

I immediately knew I would be spending more time at this pub (especially later, when the first bartender said of Irish politics: "Everyone likes who they vote for, it's just that the government gets in"). They also said they would guide me in talking with the locals about politics, just to protect me from any fits of fire from "the wrong person." This will surely help me in my stories for The Scoop08 (p.s., I am on board this new nation-wide student paper as the Ireland Correspondent).

Besides absorbing some Cork culture, I'm looking forward to my first academic experience at UCC. My Early Start program in Irish Literatures will take me (and a few dozen other international students) on a Literary Tour of Cork, to famous sites of Irish literature and culture, to some movies and great restaurants, and even to the Aran Islands.

From what I heard today, Inis Meain (an island we'll be visiting) has 92 inhabitants total, and Gaelic is their first and only spoken language. They have been pretty successful at not changing much in 100 years, and don't like tourists. They apparently like students enough to host us for two nights (I hear word of host families). I'll be leaving the morning of September 5th and returning Friday the 7th.

Beyond that club (sports) and society (Irish versions of clubs) are HUGE on campus. I really want to join a rugby team, or hurling...and, just to feel at home, maybe Ultimate Frisbee. Well, at least one of them will hopefully be on my "timetable" this semester. My favorite part, according to another International Office host, "We don't play at the same professional level as American universities." She then deadpanned, "We have a big emphasis on having fun."

Sounds like my kind of sporting.

I will be doing more research on the kinds of societ(ies) I want to join--if only to do some cool stuff while meeting some great people who attend UCC. Apparently, the debate society is ranked 4th in the World...sounds intriguing.

My new friends and I are already talking about travels...to Dublin, to Belfast, to Rome...

On Sunday, we may just go to the ocean (yep, we're pretty darn close to it).

I also want to explore more my Irish side, that is, the Irish side of my family. As much as I want to travel around Europe, I can't wait to go deeper into this wonderful, amazing country around me.

So, here I am. Here I go. I'm going to live it up. No doubt.

I'll keep you posted on the adventure. It's going to be the rocking-est four months of my life (so far).

~MJ


Pictures...

From around the Cork City Centre and the University College Cork Campus. One from my webcam (I think you'll recognize it).