Well, I've been here for two days now, and all I can say is WOW! What a flurry of activity and meetings and things to do and places to be! It can be kind of overwhelming, but for the moment I'm grateful that I don't have a ton of downtime to get homesick or worried. The first plane ride was quite nice, and uneventful, though I forgot to fully charge my computer before I left home, so I relied mostly on my books and iPod to entertain me! Then I had a massive layover in JFK. Now, I don't know if you've spent a lot of time there, but that place is noisy, and busy and pretty awful, so I was glad that I forked over the relatively low cost to go into the Delta Crown Club Room there.
I am in love with the crown room, I've decided. In fact, I made a list of all the wonderful things about the crown room:
1. Its quiet: because people who don't have a one time pass like I did, fork out a lot of money to go in there and have it be quiet, so it is! Very few children (only kids of members can come in, and you have to be 21+ to be a member)
2. There are nice media ports and comfortable chairs: So comfortable, that if you hadn't slept in 28 hours like me, you have a risk of falling asleep
3. There is a free buffet, and free drinks. So, if you happen to eat a lot and drink alot, you would spend the same amount getting the one day pass and you would on food in the noisy JFK food court.
I could go on and on, but then I would run the risk of sounding like an advertisement, so I'll stop there. After my 7 hour layover stay in the airport, my plane to Shannon Ireland was delayed for a half hour because it was overbooked. So I was just minding my own business reading as they kept coming over the loudspeakers for volunteers to give up their seats, when suddenly I heard an announcement asking several passengers, including myself, to come up to the service desk. My first thought was: Oh no, they are bumping me from the plane and I HAVE to be in Ireland at 10AM tomorrow! Yet, in fact, they were not bumping me from the plane, but instead bumping me up to FIRST CLASS! I was so excited!! The plane ride to Shannon was simply amazing, I had a four course meal, a personal TV monitor, A pillow and blanket, and a seat that reclined to nearly fully flat!
When I arrived in Shannon, I went through passport and customs very quickly and easily, and was met by Maeve from the university and Ken, our bus driver, as well as the rest of the group who had gotten there the night before. It was an amazingly clear and sunny day for Ireland, though dreadfully cold, and the bus ride through the countryside to Galway was like a picture postcard. The thing that was the most exciting for me was to see all the agriculture and fields with stone walls instead of fences surrounding herds of sheep grazing. All the houses were a bit larger than I expected, but of that pleasant English Countryside architecture that you think you only see in the movies. We immediately got to Gort na Coiribe (our resident village, I'll post more pictures of my townhouse soon), and were given the keys to our places, which are more like cards that you wave in front of this sensor on the door that magically opens it! We had a couple of hours to settle in, and to go shopping before we had to meet with Ailbhe (pronounced Al-vuh) in front of the reception area.
Thank goodness we had time for shopping too! I had to buy sheets, electronics, food and other necessities before dinner, and the prices are just huge over here! The prices on the tags are about the same as at home, but you have to remember that everything is in Euros now! So that drives up the price astronomically when doing the conversions! Thankfully, the store across the street, Dunnes, is relatively reasonably priced for housewares, but a store down the street, Tesco, is cheaper for groceries, or so I've found so far.
Ailbhe is extremely nice, and she walked us over to the university, showing us the sights and some important buildings along the way. I really like her, and am excited that she will be teaching part of our Irish studies course, as well as going with us on the excursions. We had a really nice dinner with Ailbhe, Maeve, the dean, and our professor from willamette, Ortwin Knorr, and his lovely family at the Quadrangle building. The Quadrangle building is the most beautiful building on campus (The picture above is of its chapel from the courtyard), with the most charming lamppost in the center which reminded me of the lamppost where Tumnus meets Lucy in the chronicles of Narnia. If only it had been snowing!
I had a hard time falling asleep last night, jetlagged as I was, but I slept for 12.5 blissful hours once I did, and missed my friends for the early campus tour this morning. Thankfully I caught the second tour, and have found the campus to be much more navigate-able than I had thought last night. Today has just been more shopping and unpacking, but tomorrow is going to be very busy, with a full orientation schedule!
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