Jessi - September

This was written on September 4:
Hey guys!! I'm having a lot of fun over here. Thursday and Friday night I went to the pubs. The pubs here are pretty cool, but there are so many people in them. I also went to a club, which was fun. It reminded me of the clubs back in Cincinnati. I went with a huge group of friends I made during orientation. They were all a lot of fun. I think it's so great that the drinking age here is 18 and over. I don't understand why the U.S. is so difficult concerning that.
Friday and Saturday I figured out what classes I'm gonna take. It's probably going to be 4 history classes and 2 psychology ones, but I'm not sure yet. Official registration is on September 15th. The classes between now and then are optional, but I'm going to go to them anyway. Attendance usually isn't taken here, and I heard that a lot of Irish people skip their classes. One Irish person told me "You're not going to learn anything academic here, but by the end of the semester, when you step off the plane, you'll think, Wow that was so much fun!" I wonder if he's right. The classes seem really easy, there's no homework. I love doing essays, which is the format of most of the classes. I am completely in my element with the classes. Plus classes end in November, and we have over a week to work on our essays after that. The essays are usually around 2,000 words, which isn't bad at all. I've had to write 15 page papers for some of my classes from Elmhurst, not to mention all the homework on top of that.
I got my NUIG (National University of Ireland, Galway) college ID today. Which was cool, because only 2 out of 2,000 people got their ID today. Me and one of my roomate. Which is why I can FINALLY use the internet here, because without your ID, you can't get in the library. The computers crashed after our IDs printed out, so we were so glad we got there early.
I'm going to get a bank account today. Probably at the Bank of Ireland. That's pretty exciting. I already got a cell phone too, which is nice. It's terrible because I've spent 400 euros here, which is 550 dollars. I HATE the conversion.

This was written on September 5th:

I bought a labtop today! Technically, my mom bought it with my money, but it's for me. It's cheaper to buy a laptop in the U.S., because of the conversion rate from euros to dollars. I'm probably not gonna see the laptop for a week or two, but at least now I have one. My mom's going to ship it to Alex (my boyfriend), and he's going to put programs on it, like Photoshop and Word. After he's done with that, he's going to send it to me. It should cost about $130 to ship to me, which is unfortunate, but can't be helped. It's still cheaped to buy the laptop in the U.S., even with the shipping added on top of it.
I had 3 new classes today. The first one was a History class about Medieval Europe. That was interesting, but the teacher is from Hungary so it was hard to understand him. I have to do a big essay for that class for midterm, and then a 3-hour test at the end, where I have to answer 2 out of 4 questions in essay form. The second class is about Nazi Germany. The teacher is English, I think. I have to do two small papers, and either a written test at the end, or just a essay. I can't remember. The third class is Human Sexuality, and it is so great!!! I love it!!! It's not about the genetics of the body or anything, it's about the psychology of sexuality. The teacher is so hilarious; he's also from America. I have to do about 15 pages worth of papers total for the whole semester, which isn't that bad at all. I think it's going to be a very fun school year for me. I'm excited to start learning!

Jessi - August

My name is Jessi and I am a psychology major (though I want to be a photographer... but that's a different story). I left for Ireland on August 20th, which was a week earlier than orientation. My mom and I decided to explore Ireland for that week. I left for orientation on August 27th and I started school on September 4th.

I have actually been keeping friends & family updated on my trip, so I thought I would just show you what I've been writing:

This e-mail was written on August 22nd:
Well, I'm in Ireland now. I like it a lot so far (even though it's only the second day lol). My flight left at around 3:00 p.m. from Cincinnati. We got to Atlanta at around 5:20. My mom and I hung out with my aunt Beth for less than an hour, and then hurried to our flight to Ireland that was scheduled at 6:50. It turns out that our flight was delayed because of the crazy rain in Atlanta... we didn't leave until around 8:00 p.m. We arrived at Ireland at 8:00 a.m. Ireland time, which is 3:00 a.m. Cincinnati time. I had to get my passport stamped, so I had permission to stay in Ireland for an extended period. The guy who stamped it was really nice and helpful. We got on the 9:55 bus to Galway (from Shannon Airport). It took two hours to get there... it was cool because I got to look at all the scenery, even though I was exhausted. It's funny because the roads are really cramped over here. And the sidewalks are tiny too. It keeps raining on and off here, but it's not too bad yet. Just sprinkles. I was told that now is the "dry season", even though it's pretty rainy here compared to Cincinnati. I have two umbrellas, so it's not bad. The people here are really nice so far.Today I bought a Claddagh ring. It was 10 euro, which was awesome. Especially since they're so expensive in the U.S.I hate the food here so far. The candy is WEIRD, which sucks because I love chocolate. I guess I'm just gonna lose a lot of weight, because now food is no longer fun to eat. I don't even like their coffee! Yesterday all I had to eat was a muffin. But then again, I was kinda sick on Sunday and Monday. Today my mom and I looked at my college campus... IT'S GORGEOUS!!! I thought Elmhurst was amazing! That's nothing compared to this! I took some pictures, but I'm trying to conserve my pictures so I have enough for all semester.We also walked around the city of Galway today... it's pretty cool. The city center is really packed. The people here walk really fast too. There's lots of awesome shops everywhere.Tomorrow morning my mom and I are gonna go to Connemara and Clifden and other places... I can't remember what, and I no longer care. I'm so tired.

This was written on August 27th:
Connemara was absolutely gorgeous... we had about 15 stops on the bus tour, which was nice because I got to take so many pictures. We stopped at Kylemore Abbey for two hours, and it was beautiful. The gardens were amazing. I took a lot of pictures. Of course, during the bus tour, it rained. But then again, when doesn't it rain here? I've gotten used to carrying an umbrella around with me. Turns out the rumors about the rain in Ireland were true. Unforunately.
Today is my last day with my mom, which is crappy. I'm gonna miss her, and when she leaves, I'm gonna be all my myself for four months. How sad.

This was written on August 31:
Okay guys so I'm not going to be able to use the internet for a while, so I finally just went to an internet cafe. They're charging me 5 cents a minute here, and i have 42 unread messages (since i haven't been able to check my e-mail since Monday). So, i just wanted to let everyone know that I am still alive and doing great. I love it here and I'm having fun. I am ALMOST done with orientation... I've been in orientations since sunday, which is so boring. I moved into my apartment yesterday... I love my roomates, they are awesome. They are all from America. We get rooms to ourselves, and we get wireless internet. So far, my shade on my window is broken and the dishwasher won't open. I'm trying to get the room to look nice, but I don't have much free time because of the constant orientations.