Oh Back to School

School has officially started for me in Dublin. It has been hectic trying to get situated with everything and learn their system. During one of my many orientations last week the dean said that the Irish are very laid back and can sometimes seem to Americans that the Irish are very inefficient. I have noticed already how laid back the atmosphere here is. It is great to experience it, but just very different. I was only officially registered in one out of my six courses on the start of classes on Monday. I was worried, they however said, "Ah don't stress mate it will all be grand." This is just a different approach from what I have seen at Purdue where we live by the always planning and "you're late if you're on time and on time five minutes early" mentality. Many may not think that it would be hard to communicate with the Irish since they speak English, but it has been an adjustment. In class it can be a challenge to understand some of their jargon and accents. For example, in my econ class they have made several references to the European government and it is confusing since I know nothing about it. The way classes are set up is very different from what is traditional in the states. We have just maybe one midterm worth 20% an essay worth 10% and a 70% final exam which is just essays. There is no homework or quizzes to help your grade. I am taking Micro-economics, Micro-biology, Organic chemistry, Spanish, and Scientific writing. We have not traveled outside of Dublin yet, but we hope to start making weekend trips soon. The video below is what we found to be typical Irish-pub banter.

Parliament 

Trinity College