Lauren In London: Fáilte roimh (That means Welcome in Irish)

Part One: Traveling (One Long Journey)

View out the plane window

     Three flights, starting at 10am in the morning on Wednesday June 4th, and ending at 10am on Thursday June 5th. To be honest, the journey was not that bad; I have flown enough that the whole process does not really bother me. The only bad part was the last flight--the one to Dublin. We were supposed to start boarding at 8:30 for the 9:15PM flight. We did not start boarding till 9, despite the plane being there and ready for hours. The person I sat next to was nice, some middle age man, Tom, and his friend, Joe. They were really, really friendly, and I probably know more about them then I would like, but they were fine. Joe is convinced that I look exactly like Leann Rimes. Once we were on the plane, we were waiting and taxiing for about an hour and a half, so we did not take off time about 10:30-11. They told us from the beginning that we were going to arrive late because of that, which worried me as I was supposed to meet people at the airport at a certain time so that they could take me to our flat. Strangely--and this is really strange if you know anything about me--I did not freak out; if I missed the group, I had a number that I could call, the flat's address, and I could just take a taxi if I had to.
      Skipping the 'dinner' that the plane served (is it really dinner at 11:30PM? Not that it was really anything I could eat: chicken, chicken salad, or vegetable pasta), I put on my eye mask and put in my earplugs and tried to sleep. I would eventually wake up to 'breakfast', which I did eat; not my normal breakfast, but it wasn't bad. How can I rage against Greek yogurt and a semi-decent croissant? When I finished my tea I opened the plane window shades and I saw a beautiful sight: Ireland. It was spreading out beneath me like a quilt of mismatched green cloth, dotted with little houses, and divided by stone walls. There were lakes, mountains, and we even flew over what I believe was the Irish Sea as we turned to fly into Dublin Airport. I swear I could see the coast of my beloved England in the distance, though there is a good chance that it was a mirage. As we disembarked, the couple in front of me turned around and asked me stuff about me stay in Ireland. "I came here when I was about your age to study too, and I ended up marrying an Irishman," the American wife told me. She studied at the same college that I will be taking my class at. They were both very kind, but everyone I have met so far here has been.
     As we had arrived an hour late, and I practically ran towards immigration, where the line was not long, despite only one worker stamping non-EU passports.
     "How long are you staying?"the official asked.
     "Nine weeks," I replied.
      "Why?" He questioned.
       "I am going to be studying here?" I told him, ready with my University College Dublin (UCD) admission letter and other documents of proof.
     "What will you be studying?" he wanted to know, and I replied with "History." "Is that going to make you rich someday?"
     "No," I responded; it is not. "I just really like it." With a smile he stamped my passport and sent me on my way. My bags were some of the last out, but they arrived, and I made my way past customs, not sure if anyone would be on the other side to greet me. To my relief a nice young woman names Sarah was there, and she took my by taxi to our flat, where I met my roommates, Alana and Kevin. Alana is from Pennsylvania and studying nursing, loves healthy food, and is extremely kind and outgoing. Kevin is from Minnesota, studying finance, and swears he is a lot more talkative when he is not so tired. The place is small, but it will be fine, it has all the basics. The shower is the most problematic part. A half hour before you use the shower, you have to turn on the hot water heater and set the timer for up to two hours, so we are going to have to create a schedule. There is also no clothes dryer, so we have a drying rack, which probably means we will not be doing lots of laundry often.
      After I had freshened up, to staff members for Arcadia, Kate and Steven, took us out to lunch and showed us the area. It is called Rathmines (pronounced rat mines as the 'h' is silent). It is a lot nicer than it sounds, and conveniently close to the city centre and anything we might need. After a wonderful lunch at a cute cafe where I had a delicious sweet potato and artichoke salad, we were taken to a few stores for the necessities and then left on our own. Alana and I unpacked as Kevin took a nap, and after an quick adventure to get some more stuff, and we found the most amazing health food store, called Whole Foods(but it is not the American one, it just has the same name). Alana talks to everyone so we made friends with a store workers who was making her smoothie; she is from Australia. Once back we decided that we were in Ireland and needed to get out and explore