By Laura Andrews
Cardinal Staff
Hundreds of miles away across the Atlantic Ocean, in Galway, Ireland, I am still the same person that I was on the Saint Mary’s University campus. Although, I can now say that I have experienced three wonderful weeks of the Irish culture and am thirsty to learn more each day.
Read more... It is difficult to describe how being abroad has enriched my life, both socially and academically.
I am the only student from Saint Mary’s to study in Galway and didn’t know a soul when I arrived.
Fortunately, I met several other international students, three of whom are my roommates, and have very quickly become comfortable in my new surroundings. It has been very comforting to have others who share the same challenges of navigating both life in Galway and the very different aspects of college life in Ireland.
Luckily, the Irish are almost always glad to help and are eager to learn about visitors and their experiences in Galway. For the Irish, the pubs are the most social places where there is usually traditional Irish music and dancing and plenty of “interesting” characters. I am sure that I will long remember their unique culture as experienced through pub life.
Academically, I am taking an Irish studies class and am thrilled to be in the country that I am studying. I feel that being in Ireland while studying its literature and history makes me genuinely more interested in the subjects. It also inspires me to want to know more.
I am living five minutes from the ocean with a view of mountains right outside my window. I have fallen in love with Ireland and am soaking in everything that I can before it’s all a memory or simply reduced to digital photos.
Of course there are a few things that Galway is missing: my closest friends, my family and my Saint Mary’s community. And for this reason, I will say goodbye to Ireland at the end of the semester with excitement to see those that I miss. But I will most certainly return to Ireland again and again.
No comments:
Post a Comment