Dublin

For the first time in my life I live in a city. Not just any city, but the capital city (and largest city) of Ireland.

On Saturday I moved into my new flat (apartment) which I share with three other girls, all from America who are also studying at Trinity. It's a two bedroom apartment and I am rooming with Marilyn, from Boston who attends George Washington. Justine, who goes to Ithaca College in New York, and Jessica who attends Rhodes College in Tennessee. The apartment is located in Iveagh Court which a somewhat upscale private business section located on the south side of Dublin. It is about a ten minute walk from St. Stephen's Green and about fifteen minutes from Trinity. The apartment itself is nice. It's cute and chic, but not too spacious. Maybe cozy is a more positive outlook. In addition to the bedrooms has a kitchen though (where the washing machine is located...no dryer, just a drying rack), two small bathrooms, and a living area. It's on the first floor of the building which is nice. It also have a balcony with nice glass sliding doors. Three other girls also doing the Trinity program live across the hall, and so we've gotten to know them pretty well which has been good. There are a few other American guys nearby who study at Georgetown but they are attending Dublin City University. For the most part though, the apartment building is not students, we were told it's mostly business professionals or young families. The most challenging aspect of the apartment so far has been dealing with electricity/hot water. Circuits, plugs, and breakers are just really different here and we've had a lot of appliances that haven't worked as well as some freezing cold showers. Most things are sorted out now (other than the toaster) and we've been adjusting. We have to buy all of our own supplies (grocery and other household items). After several trips to small, more expensive grocery stories I think I found one that I like and will be pretty cost-efficient and where I'll be able to find most things I want. It is called Dunnes Store (it also has some clothes and other supplies). I guess I would compare it most to a Super Wal*Mart, but not as big.

The second day in Dublin was IES orientation. IES (International Education for Students) is the "program" that I'm with. It's a little complicated because technically I'm directly enrolled in Trinity College and will be registering for classes like normal students when the term starts, but IES is a middleman of sorts, who helps do some of the leg work, provides insurance, etc. They have a center with resources for students, staff, and a computer lab with free printing. The orientation was pretty good, lots of little details and things to do (regarding insurance, travel, etc.). Afterwards they took us (about twelve students I think) out to this cute restaurant called SeaGrass. They bought us lunch and it was really delicious. A much more upscale lunch then I'll usually be eating! That evening there was a party on at Trinity for all of the students doing the Semester Start-up Programme. We got a chance to mingle and to be introduced to the staff of the program (history, arts, culture and literature professors). They all were very friendly. The students are from a variety of places, but the most popular location seems to be the East Coast (Boston, New York, etc.). Later that evening a bunch of students went to a nearby pub and continued chatting. It almost feels like freshman year of college again in that there are so many surface questions and chatty conversation about where home is, what subjects we study, and basic things like that. It'll be nice to hopefully form deeper relationships soon.

The next day was technically the start of "class" but it was more of an orientation to Trinity. We took tours, got a student card, computer passwords, library pin, and recieved some information about assignments for the coming weeks, as well as what registration will be like when the actual term starts. Trinity's campus is absolutely beautiful, but for a Hope student a bit intimidating. Campus seems SO big. It is all arranged around a square courtyard, which is possibly an influence from the medievil monestary that it replaced in 1592. That is the year that Trinity was founded, making it Ireland's oldest university. It seems to be a very prestigious school, over here mentioned along with schools such as Oxford and Cambridge. Most of the buildings were replaced in the 175o's still making them very old.

Today we listened to three lectures in the morning. One on the geography of Ireland, another on the history and architecture of Trinity, and the third on the literary figures Jonathan Swift and Maria Edgeworth both of whom are noteable figures in the literary history of Ireland. My favorite of the three was the geography lecture, maybe in part because it was first and I wasn't as tired. The lecturer, a Geography and Irish Studies professor, focused on the broad issue of Irish identity, and the relationships between the milieu (environment) and genre de vie (culture, social and political structures). He also talked a lot about possibilism explaining that for Ireland the relationship between the milieu and genre de vie is not inevitable, yet certain limits and possibilities arise.

After the lectures (during which there was a lunch break at one point) we had a brief meeting in our tutorial groups. Once per week we will have three respective seminars to cover each componant of the course we are doing. In these seminars we will be expected to have done reading and participate in conversation and discussion. Basically it is a time for students to debate and carry conversation on the topics while the professors guide. Participation, it seems, is key to doing well in tutorial. Our tutorial group is about twelve people (they are intended to be much less intimidating sizes than lecture groups).

Something else that I did today was go look at The Book of Kells located in the original Trinity library. The Book of Kells is a Latin manuscript of the first four Gospels of the New Testament, transcribed by monks in 800 AD. I plan to go back sometime when I have more energy because there were other manuscipts, descriptions, and things to look at. Trinity students have free access to looking at them while the public pays a fee. Students can also get visitors in with them for free, so if you make it to Dublin I'll take you there! :) There are always a lot of visitors around Trinity, many of them international! I am guessing that since it is still holidays for many Europeans there is a larger number this time of year then during term, but I've heard there are a lot all the time .

This afternoon I walked around a bit. I also went running with my roommate Jessica, it felt good to exercise again! It is hard not knowing any good routes yet or anything like that, and being awful at directions I'm a little intimidated of venturing out to far, so it's good to go with a buddy. We ran along a canal and it was a good run, only about three miles but good scenary. There are definitely a lot more people and cars to dodge than in Holland though!

I've noticed quite a few cultural differences, some big and some small. Here are a few:
*People are more reserved. It's not that they aren't friendly once you meet them, they just don't smile or say hello initially. The atmosphere in restaurants, shopping, and other public places is also quieter.
*Quantities that you can purchase items in are smaller. Especially staples like flour, sugar and peanut butter (which apparantly is not used often at all!).
*Service people (waiters, salespeople, etc.) in resturants and shops don't come up and ask how you are at all (except at the start and for ordering) and don't ask if you need help (you have to approach them).
*Washing machines are often in kitchens under counter space (like dishwashers) and dryers aren't popular at all. People use dryers or hot presses.
*I had a typical Emily moment last week when I was reading the cost of something (in Northern Ireland where they use British currency) to Phil and read outloud "Oh, it's five pounds and twenty ounces." :)

There are more but I'd better wrap this up and go study! I hope that all is well where you are, and thanks so much for your prayers. There are definitely still challenges and a few things in particular that I'm stressed about (getting my registration-visa thing at Immigration, registering for classes, figuring out the layout of Trinity, the cost of everything, etc. etc.) but God has been good, and I've already seen so many blessings in the past week and a half. Feel free to comment, ask questions or email me with suggestions, fill me in on the craic, or tell me prayer requests/praises of your own! It's great to hear from friends/family.

Cheers,
Emily