University College Dublin

     As you probably know, I am going to be taking classes while I am here in Dublin. These classes will be held at University College Dublin. It is out of the city a good ways. From where I am it is a fifteen minute walk to the bus stop and then about a fifteen minute bus ride, then another short walk....this is all assuming good traffic conditions. In the morning it is about an hour commute, while in the afternoon it only takes about a half hour.
     The first time the three of us took our test run over to UCD (on Sunday) we got really lost and it took about two hours. But, once we knew where we were going, we got it down pretty quick. Every day this week we have class. On Monday it was orientation day and we had to be there by nine for the welcome breakfast, so we left a bit before eight, and the trip was rather smooth. The orientation breakfast was just tea, coffee, bagels, pastries, and fruit, nothing much. From there we had an orientation, then our elective class (mine is Irish History which should be amazing), then a short lunch. We did not have time to go anywhere, as UCD is pretty remote, so we just went to the Starbucks that is in the Quinn Business Building where we were and I got a wrap. Shockingly, there is a ton of gluten free stuff here in Ireland, and they are very accommodating of other allergies as well. The small grocery that we go to has a gluten and wheat free food section. Talking to people-there are about eighty of us interns in all--I realized that 99% of them are housed on the UCD campus. This is really unfortunate for them because they have a long commute to the city.
       After lunch, we went to the EUSA orientation, EUSA being the company that found us all our internships. Then we went to our internship class which is supposed to prepare us for the Irish workplace. They have been teaching us things that are applicable to any job or job interview and then other things that are Irish exclusively. For example: In Ireland it is common for colleagues to all go our for a pint after work, the boss included. Here they do something called rounds, where they go around and someone buys a round of drinks for everyone. This seems harmless enough but if everyone is buying drinks for you, you are expected to buy them a round as well, which can get very expensive. And, you are expected to stay for the entire rotation, which might be five, six, or more drinks, and you cannot, once you start, back out half way through, or it is a black mark against you. So, if you do not want to risk being wasted in front of your boss or paying for all that, you have to state in the beginning that you will 'be on your own'. Also, in Ireland the workplace is less hierarchical then in America, and your boss might invite you over for a barbeque or you might call him by his first name.

The entrance to the campus, which is massive. The largest campus I think I have ever been too.

      All these classes went from 9 to 4:30, and once that was done they took us down to the barbeque dinner that they had prepared for us. As a vegetarian I had been a bit worried about what this "Barbeque with music" would entail as the schedule had not said. As I went through the line of hotdogs and hamburgers, one of the workers realized that I had skipped the meat section, and after explaining to him that I did not eat meat, he got me and another girl one of the veggie burgers that they kept in reserve. Beyond that there was corn on the cobb and small baked potatoes. It was all quite good and while we ate we were serenaded to traditional Irish music. Once done, the band stopped and we were slowly dragged onto the dance floor where one of the band tried to teach us Irish dancing. After a long day I headed home on the bus, and crashed after a long day.
     On Tuesday we once again went back to campus where we had three hours of Irish History and then three hours of our internship class. In our Irish History class we are going to be focusing on twentieth century Ireland, so we began to with the Act of Union in 1800 which brought Ireland into the United Kingdom and then working up to Home Rule and other important events of the ninetieth century. After lunch, we had our internship class, which is taught by an American woman who has been living in Ireland for about eight years now, and actually is trying to get Irish citizenship. She has given us some interesting advice on where to travel to, go to, and about work.
      Today, Wednesday, we had our internship class in the morning, and then in the afternoon we were all supposed to have our interviews for our internship. My internship is with a small company that digitizing old photographs, restores them, does research, and helps people create family trees (I believe; I only know a bit from a brief summary I was sent and from the company website.) When I went to my internship today, which is luckily only about a twenty minute walk from where I live, I rang to be let in. The secretary let me in and then apologized, as the man that I was supposed to be meeting had forgotten that I was coming and was not there. She called him and we had a brief discussion, which did not really give me any knew information, but he told me to come back at 10:30 am on Monday. Technically we are supposed to start interning on Monday and I am not sure if I am having my interview on Monday or talking with him and then working the rest of the day. Oh well, nothing I can do.

One of the beautiful areas on campus.

     Tomorrow, my history class is going on a field trip to Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum, which is the Arlington of Ireland, and all the famous people are buried there. On Friday we have class, but afterward I am planning to watch a World Cup football match at a pub with some of my new friends afterward. On Saturday they are bringing all of us to Belfast, Northern Ireland, which I am very excited about. We are supposed to be going to the Titanic Museum, seeing the famous murals, and going to city hall. The summer is always a tense time in the North, but they said we should be fine. Then, on Monday the internship starts. My classes will keep me busy though, as I have three presentations/group projects and four essays to write in the next few weeks.


Here is a little bit about UCD from their website:
    
     Today UCD is Ireland's largest and most diverse university with over 30,000 students, drawn from approximately 124 countries. It actively promotes university life as a journey of intellectual and personal discovery through its highly innovative and flexible UCD Horizons undergraduate curriculum and is the most popular destination for Irish school-leavers. 

     UCD is Ireland’s leader in graduate education with approximately 7,000 graduate students, and almost 2,000 PhD students. Over 50% of UCD undergraduates progress to graduate studies.

     UCD is home to over 6,000 international students and delivers degrees to over 5,000 students on overseas campuses. In addition, the University places great emphasis on the internationalisation of the Irish student experience – preparing all UCD students for future employment and life that crosses borders, boundaries and cultures.