Craic

Colorado: What do you suppose ‘Moher’ means?

Finland: Well, I’m completely guessing, but it might mean ‘mother’, because it’s kind of the beginning of Ireland.

Next day

Nevada: “Shit happens when you party naked.”

Illinois: “It’s traditional ensemble for the queen in Naboo culture.”

I also learned a lot about how to deal with other cultures. A lot of my friends weren't native English speakers, which can lead to some miscommunication. A lot of the time you hear what you hear and you immediately want to react to it, sometimes in a defensive or angry way but it's really important to really try to understand what a person is trying to say before you get angry, especially if they're from a different culture or English isn't their first language.

A great example would be the time my friend was talking about a situation in the news where a man abused his wife. One of my friends who wasn't a native English speaker said something to the effect of, "maybe she asked for it."

Well that was about to become a huge scene before the friend explained that they forgot that this phrase implies that the person had it coming, not just that they asked the person to do it.

Even more important than that, though: I now know how to say cheers in seven languages!

Cheers, Sláinte, Prost, Kippis, Noroc, Skol and Salud

Despite the small amount of studying I did in Ireland, I did learn a lot.

For instance, I learn a ton about European cultures and politics. I even learned a lot about American politics by hearing from a European perspective.

I learned how to be really uncomfortable all the time. I mean, our house was usually really cold, if I wanted groceries I had to walk ten minutes both ways in the usually rainy weather. I mostly ate potatoes, beef and sandwiches every day. I didn't really sleep that well, went to bed late, woke up early. If I wanted to go anywhere I had to take a bus or walk. I didn't have a really good coat so getting anywhere involved walking around in the cold and rain.

Hot water is a problem, you can only get it certain times of the day otherwise you have to wait 20 minutes for it. Plus our house was shared with 8 people, two bathrooms and one kitchen. It was a big help that everyone in my house was really cool, but it was still really crowded.

I said goodbye for the last time to all of my friends on Friday night. It was a kind of sombre visit, we tried our best not to be sad but it was pretty much impossible not to leave misty-eyed. I made promises to be back in Europe as soon as possible and I made them promise not to visit the States without letting me know, promising that I would drive all night if I had to in order to see them.

The next morning I woke up bright and early to say goodbye to all of my house mates. It was one of the most depressing mornings of my life. Everyone was crying. So many people were saying goodbye to ones they loved.

I caught a bus to Red Cow Luas, where I caught a bus to the airport, where I got a plane to Chicago, where I got a plane to Denver, where my parents picked me up and brought me back home. Total time traveling: 24 hours.

It's kind of unreal being back home, it doesn't really feel like anything has changed. I was expecting it to hit me a lot harder than it has, but it kind of feels normal.

Yesterday I had a bit of a farewell dinner with my house mates at a really good Chinese restaurant by our village, I bought a crap load of beer and I shared it with good friends. We hung out 'till the wee hours of the morning because no one really wanted to say goodbye.

Well I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. I organized my stuff into crap I'm throwing out and crap I'm bringing back. I know a few people who had to buy another suitcase because they couldn't pack all the crap they brought into the suitcases they brought. At this point I don't think that'll be a problem for me. But I didn't pack that much getting here, all of my clothes minus a couple jackets fit in my carry on.

Now I'm wrapping all my delicate things in bubble wrap hoping they'll survive the trip.

So yesterday I finished my last final and I celebrated with my last bagel from bagel Tuesday and a can of Guinness at 13.30. Pretty great way to end the semester, I think I did really well on my final final too.

Then I continued to celebrate by having pints with Finland and Germany at Scholars, probably for the last time. It has become a habit of mine to try to have a conversation with this specific bartender who really seems to hate my guts. However, last night we had several conversations and they all went very well, so I was pretty excited about that.

Then I got into an argument with Finland about American society and who's to blame for its issues. Germany had to officiate because it got really heated and me and Finland were shouting at each other all the way back home.