The Adjustment Period (Dublin)

I set out on my journey to Dublin, Ireland on January 11th. As I am writing this post it is exactly four weeks since I flew to Europe and I can say I have already faced a wide variety of obstacles to this point. What I have learned in the first four weeks of being abroad is a lot more than you can learn in textbooks, or in preparation for leaving your home country for an extended period of time. I learned no matter how much research you do, you will never be truly prepared to tackle every obstacle with ease, however, you will be better suited to face the challenges you encounter and grow from each one.

I’m only four weeks into this journey, and I wouldn’t say I am fully adjusted just quite yet. Being in a new country where you have to navigate the cultural differences, academic differences, and meet new people is quite daunting, and adjusting to this fully to a point where you are comfortable will take many months if not years. But, what I will say is I feel much more adjusted than where I was a few weeks ago. 

Throughout my time so far at Trinity, I have had a difficult time enrolling in courses as the process is much different than what we Buckeyes are used to at Ohio State. Instead of the instant gratification, we have at Ohio State when we schedule our courses, at Trinity, we have to submit our course selections and wait and see if we get into them. I didn’t know how to find the times of the courses I selected, and you don’t get to pick which tutorial (recitation) timeslot you want, so it is nearly impossible to configure a schedule up to your liking. However, as everyone else had to do, I had to adjust to my new normal, and use trial and error to finally come up with a schedule that was suitable for me and my personal needs.

What I just previously mentioned was the adjustment to just getting classes… This doesn’t even begin to address the drastic differences among teaching styles and the way the modules (courses) are taught. When we walk into our classes for the first week at OSU, we aren’t typically too stressed as it’s syllabus week and we have time to adjust the start of the semester. At Trinity, once you sit down for a lecture on the first day of the semester, the teaching starts immediately. On top of this, instead of having many assignments throughout the semester, there are typically 2 assessments per semester for each course. These assessments can be in the form of an essay, exam, project, presentation, etc., but with there being fewer assignments to keep on top of, it places a precedent on the student keeping up with their own work.

Two of the other biggest things you have to adjust to when you get to another country are the slang/jargon and pronunciation of names. Ireland is notorious for having names that are difficult to pronounce such as Aoife(pronounced ‘eee-FAH’), Siobhan(pronounced ‘SHIV-on’ and Eoghan(pronounced ‘Owen’). I’m sure unless I told you how to pronounce these words, you would have been very wrong in the pronunciation. It has definitely been an adjustment getting used to these names, however, after four weeks I’ve come a long way. On top of this, Ireland has got loads of jargon/slang that are fun to get to understand. Whether it be “Craic” which means general banter or fun or “Wee” which is used to describe something very small. There is even a term called “Slag” which is essentially a verb that people use to poke fun at someone without them getting their feelings hurt. In Irish culture, people make fun of each other to demonstrate their liking for one another because they feel comfortable enough to make fun of you.

On top of all the cultural adjustments, I’ve also had to adapt to a lifestyle of traveling as myself and some other Ohio State have loved getting to explore Dublin, other parts of Ireland, and even some of Europe. While traveling many weekends in a row is an exhausting lifestyle, so far it has been worth every single hour lost of sleep. So far we have had the opportunity to travel to the iconic Cliffs of Moher on the West Coast of Ireland and drive through the beautiful County Clare on the way to visit Galway. We were able to spend a few days traveling around London, England prior to classes starting. And just this past weekend we went to Belgium where we visited Brussels, Brugge, and Antwerp. 

So far, adjusting to life abroad has definitely not been the easiest thing to do in my life, I have never had the opportunity to learn more about myself and another culture in such a short amount of time. Thankfully having a great group of friends in Dublin, having a positive mindset, using resources from Trinity college helped me adjust smoother than I anticipated. I was able to learn that I am adaptable, have a great sense of direction when it comes to navigating places and am very good at maneuvering public transportation systems. And while I wouldn’t necessarily say that I am fully adjusted to Ireland just yet, I am finally settled in after four weeks, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the semester has in store for me.