As someone with the habit of testing the water with both feet, I’ve gained a certain level of comfort when outside of my element. Of course, I applied to the Mitchell Scholarship—I knew why I wanted to go to Ireland; I knew what I wanted to study, I even had an excel spreadsheet of different places within Ireland that I wanted to visit (with their respective pros and cons). What I did not know, however, is what living in Ireland is like. I had very little knowledge of customs, culture, or ideals. I had some vague notion that I should be drinking Guinness, and that it probably rained a lot. Although, in my defense, at least one of those things turned out to be true. Point being, when my phone rang and I was given the opportunity to spend a year living in Ireland—thousands of miles away from everyone and everything I have ever known, in a place so strange and foreign that even coins still have meaningful monetary value—I didn’t give it a second thought before agreeing.
So far, my experience in Ireland has been a whirlwind, and has certainly not been something that I can put on a spreadsheet. Growing up in the Midwest, I always had this sense that I was very far away from everything. Now, in Ireland, I feel like I’m only a stone’s throw away from anything. In the Cork city center, there is always something happening—live music, bustling people, great food. Campus is vibrant with student activity. At one point, I found myself wandering through the city and managed to play Amazing Grace on church bells—a bucket list item I didn’t even know I had. Even the rest of Europe feels as though it is only a couple hours away by plane—no tedious trans-Atlantic flight to bear. On a random Wednesday, I planned an entire weekend trip to London on a whim. I saw Big Ben, Les Misérables on West End, and the Rosetta Stone with a round-trip plane ticket that only cost as much as six pints of Beamish.
Within Ireland too, I have come to appreciate the beauty of the Island. I truly believe that there is no place on this Earth that is a better place to live than Ireland when the sun shines. Of course, it rains nearly every day, but the point stands. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Dublin several times, down to the coast to see Cobh and Kinsale, up to Northern Ireland to see Derry. Whether it is the Cliffs of Moher, Giant’s Causeway, or even just the end of the street I live on, there are breathtaking views. Yet, what makes Ireland so great is the people. I have never met a more friendly group. Especially with a couple pints of Beamish. At the very least, I am enormously grateful for my dear Irish roommates and their endless willingness to harass me for my American-isms. Although conversations with them about decoding Irish slang has been particularly helpful, especially when the Irish-isms are so thick they make me question my own ability to speak English. From a random tea break in the middle of my lecture, to the complete strangers at the pub that asked me to be in their group photo, Ireland is certainly not what I expected in the best possible way.
Picture: The view from the end of the street that I live on (taken with an android)