First Post!

Sorry for the delay in posting! This is my fifth full day, and so far, it's amazing! The trip over was fine, despite a three hour delay in Burlington for my connecting flight to Newark. I got to Shannon, Ireland, at about 6:45AM local time after a 6 1/2 hour ride over the Atlantic. I took a bus from Shannon to Cork, and made friends with a few other study abroad students that I have since bumped into several times around the city. My apartment is on Beasley St., right off Oliver Plunkett, which is directly in the city centre and part of the main shopping/entertainment/pub area of the city.

I am really loving the city. There's something to do on every street, with countless little pubs and shops. Ireland is living up to it's promise of being incredibly friendly. I've only run into a few people that aren't quite nice to me, even though I'm the dumb American in most circumstances. Socializing is very different here than what I've experienced in the US. I've gone out to pubs every night that I've been here, and each time, it's so easy to make a new (Irish) friend. On my first night, I met a guy named Donncha O'Leary- I still can't pronounce his name properly! We talked for four hours, and made plans last night for him to take me sightseeing on Sunday, winding up in a pub of course. In pubs, you can approach anyone and start talking, especially the guys. I'm not a big fan of most of the Irish girls that I've met so far. They are very materialistic, always dressing to the nines to go out (aka very tight, short, and low cut), with poofed hair and loads of makeup and high, high, heels. The guys are a much more mellow breed, and it's easy to carry a conversation with any of them- as long as their accent isn't too thick!

I've made a lot of friends in the time that I've been here, mostly people that I'm living with. I have two roommates, and they are both from Finland. They're rather sweet and we're getting along well so far. They call me their dictionary, because I'm always giving them English words that they don't know or can't think of. Our apartment is quite nice. I have my own bedroom and bathroom, and we share a fully equipped kitchen and living room. My neighbors across the hall are nice- 4 girls from NYC, Montana, and I forget where else... I've met so many people in the past few days, it's a wonder I remember my own name! The floor above me has an apartment with three guys who are all very nice as well. I've also become friend with two guys from Portugal that are so sweet and nice. On the first floor (which would be the second floor in America- one of the many things that are different here) is Paige, who's from Montana. She and I have been spending the most time together, and we get along really well. There are a lot of girls from Montana here because of an exchange program they have with Cork, and I like them all- very down-to-earth, relaxed and fun girls. I have more friends that live across the river, including a couple of people from UMass Amherst, which will be handy for keeping in touch back in the states.

The UCC campus is absolutely gorgeous. I put a few pictures up on my flickr (www.flickr.com/lswalch) of the campus and the city. I haven't actually registered for classes yet, but I think I'm going to take Irish Folklore, Spoken Irish, Traditional Music, the History of Ireland, and Archaeology in Ireland.
My friends are I are going out tonight (for the 6th night in a row!) on a pub crawl on Washington St. It's been raining today, but I hope it lets up before we go out. I'm having dinner with Paige in her apartment downstairs at 7- pasta leftover from last night, and I'm going to try to take a nap as well in that time. So for now, sláinte!