The Ex-patriot Days Begin

I'm in Ireland, safe and sound!!!

So far, so good - it's really great. The flight was long and I didn't sleep, but it wasn't too bad. At Shannon I found my roomie KitKat (we'll refer to her as that) and another friend and we met a bunch of other NUI kids and all took the bus to Galway together. K and I got to our apartment around 9-amish and explored a little bit. We found behind a wall on our complex a Gaelic football field - where very cute men play.

All day I had been joking that I wanted a roomate from Wisconsin because I love their accents, and I just really didn't want a girl from Jersey, and I kept referring to her as (codename) Swissmiss. When our roomie finally showed up she's like "Hi, I'm Swissmiss." and I asked her where she's from, and she said "Wisconsin." How weird is that?? It poourred all day so we just unpacked, napped, and hung out - we watched American TV and ate American pizza. Ridiculous. However we did find some great Irish, Australian, and UK soap operas/teen dramas.

Today was orienation for international students, there were 400 of us, mostly American with some EU kids. I met a girl from the Netherlands with a fabulous accent and talked to a boy from France named Maxime for awhile. He spoke very little English and I offered to speak in French - but he only wanted to speak English to improve it. Thank Jasus - my French would've made him cry. After hours of orientation and a scary lecture from the intimidating immigration officer, K, S and I explored downtown Galway. We found a 2Euro store - the equivalent to our dollar store and went to town. We walked all over Eyre Square - very cute but also touristy. We made quite a spectacle when we walked into a bar that advertised food. You know how when you walk in a door everyone looks at you - well everyone looked at us, but they didn't stop. We must've looked like quintessential American girls. Kitkat was in a BRIGHT pink coat and the three of us were carrying the bath caddies we'd just bought. It was extremely awkward because we just stood there until we finally just seated ourselves. Turns out they stopped selling food, so we had to leave - and walk past all those people. So awkward.

So overall it's great, and I've met a ton of friendly American kids - the Irish still aren't back from break yet. I have a month until classes start - the next few weeks will be advisory meetings and figuring out schedules - it is very very confusing how their clases and exam schedules work. My room is like a mini condo, very nice furniture and it came with a comforter (trust me - a huge concern while packing). Only a few complaints - the Irish avoid using heaters like the plague, too many Irish people engage in public displays of affection, and they don't quite understand water pressure or the concept of combining hot and cold water into one faucet. Seriously I can deal with the rain and the cold coastal wind - but honestly - don't makeout next to me on a plane or in the middle of a public square.