Thanks to a red-eye flight out of Newark, my first day in Dublin started out quite early. I went directly from the airport to University College Dublin, my school and home for the next few months. This is where I encountered my first surprise. Despite being in Dublin, UCD’s campus feels suburban, huge, and sprawling, similar to a large public university like Penn State. For me this is a huge change from the urban and comparatively compact Northeastern campus. I see this as an opportunity to experience a very different style of campus life than I am used to. As for the city of Dublin, city centre is only a bus ride away from campus. At first look, Dublin is a lot like Boston. It is an old city with narrow, winding roads with many of the older streets being cobbled. The closest comparison in Boston would be the North End. Since I arrived a few days early, I had time to explore a few different areas of the city. I even took a tour of Dublin castle, located right in city centre. The oldest structures originate from the 1200s and the more recent parts of the castle housed the British viceroy and hosted the royal family.
After a few days of my own, it was time for the official orientation. For the most part, it was a brief and standard orientation. It covered topics like housing, student ids, class registration and campus life. However, a few topics were unique. First, an advisor explained how residency would work since the majority of students at orientation were US citizens. Interestingly, US citizens do not need visas and can stay in Ireland up to three months will only a passport. Since our stay is going to be longer, we all have to make appointments with immigration to verify out student status, financial support, and health insurance. I was ahead of the game and already had my appointment scheduled. Additionally, there was an emphasis on the Irish language. In addition to offering courses in Irish language, culture and dance there are free seminars for international students interested in learning Irish. While just about everyone in Ireland speaks English most of the time, Ireland makes an effort to preserve its language and culture. All signs and public announcements are in both English and Irish. In grade school, most Irish students learn the language. The importance of the language can also be seen on campus with the Irish House, a dorm that requires all students to speak Irish when inside. While I won’t be taking a language class it would be helpful learning a little of the language in order to pronounce some of the tricky town names. Apparently Youghal is pronounced yawl? Who knew?
