I live half an hour from Dublin!
This is a strange concept for me. Living so close to a major city is wonderful. Everything is very accessible and you can easily go there for a day and see so many things and still make it back for the last train. I have definitely taken advantage of living so close to the capital. Back at home, I have never actually been to Canada’s capital and now living only a train/bus ride away from Ireland’s capital I know I will travel there often.
There are so many things to do in Dublin I didn’t know where to start. Of course, I explore and try to find the best restaurants. One of my favourite findings so far is Bobo’s.
It is the BEST burger place I have ever been to and know that I will be going there multiple times. It has such a neat atmosphere, the theme is cows and they have cows everywhere!
Another interesting place in Dublin is Grafton Street. It normally will have people performing up and down the street. It’s interesting to see the array of performers.
Classes (the reason I’m here!)
Adjusting to a new school system is a challenge. School here in Maynooth is different and I know it will take some getting used to it.
Before signing up for classes you can see how the class is assessed and that is very different from home. For instance, I have never had a class where the final exam is worth 100% of my mark, which is very daunting and also having very few assignments for each class. I am used to having a continuous assessment for each class. It adds more pressure to each assignment for sure.
Classes here are not set in Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday. They are only on one day or on two different days and almost no classes have the exact same schedule.
This is very different from home and something else that I had to get used to, but it was helpful that I got to choose what days that I have classes and therefore I was able to have Fridays off! This will be beneficial for me to get all my homework done (or travel more!)
Learning Irish
I also get to take a course that I would otherwise never get the chance to take. I am learning the Irish language. At first, it seemed impossible but it started to get easier especially once I started to look at all the Irish signs and writing all around me.
Something I do love here in Ireland is having smaller class sizes, a completely different atmosphere from having three hundred person classes. I do really love all the classes I am taking and cannot wait to see how much I learn about Ireland while I am here!
