Culture Shock: Adjusting to Life After Europe
It’s been 6 months since I’ve ben in Ireland and I am really beginning to deal with homesickness for Dublin. I miss walking around busy Henry Street and hanging out at the Porterhouse and getting a pint of Porter Red. I miss having the ability to just take a plane and land in a different country every weekend, and I miss window shopping in one of my favorite stores, AWear.
My friends are now planning on going next semester and I am speaking at the pre-departure meeting and talking to parents at admission events. This is making it even harder for me. I need to go back!
Don’t get me wrong, I love being back home and seeing my friends and family, and I’m glad to be back in Burlington, I just miss Europe and my time there. Going to class everyday amused me so much. on my journey to class I would pass the old city wall, Christ Church, St. Patrick’s Cathedral all on my way to class! I also loved that energetic buzz in the morning that everyone has when they are walking to work. The women either ditch their heels for sneakers or speed walk in heels and the men are wearing perfect matching suits and still looking perfect. I also miss having the people of Metro News hand out the morning paper with abbreviated news.
”Maybe you’re just meant for the city?” is what my friends say Yes I love big cities, they excite me and are full of hidden gems, but Dublin is something different. the fashion is another thing. I would walk around and get so much inspiration on new outfits that I can add to my wardrobe. In Vermont the styles are more on the laidback side with a lot of skinny jeans and flannels, and baggy swearters. Dublin had this magic that I am really missing right now.
Here are some ways I’m “trying” to get over this situation:
- Watching moives that take place in Ireland. It’s nice seeing where I was for the past year, I try to watch historical movies but a chick flick every once in a whle isn’t too bad. I currently have that earning to travel.
- I’ve currently had the desire to travel much more. So for that I am reading the book This Car is For Sale by Jeroen Van Bergeijk. This way I can at least read other people’s experiences.
- I look at AWear’s website and read their blog. Here I can read up on current fashions, and tell myself that even though they now ship to the US I shouldn’t buy everything I see on there.
- I still listen to BBC Radio 1 but I also listen to Dublin FM 98FM on my iPhone, thanks to the free live streaming app!
- I talk up to anyone and everyone I meet to study abroad, if not to Ireland, then to anywhere in the world. It’s the best experience and a great opportunity for you!
- Every once in a while I go to RiRa’s an Irish pub located in Burlington, and order a Smithwicks and argue with my friend that the “w” is silent.
With these steps, I can at least miss Dublin but not sulk over it. Today I took my yearning to go somewhere by heading downtown and going to a coffee place to do my homework. If anything I need a change of scene.
A Mini Blog Vacation
Sorry for not writing for awhile… I’ve been so busy with classes and the play that I manage. Thankfully, long video project and play pracices and performances have commenced, and I can now come back to focusing on “What Would Magellan Do?”!
To begin, my other job on campus apart from managing the shows,is to work on in the study abroad office. While working there I have come up with a few video ideas for making the program grow, and to make both students and parents either current of prospective, to look into going abroad! This leads me to some VERY exciting news…
I will be going to Morocco this Spring Break!!!!!!!!!
Yes, that did need it’s own paragraph and many explanation points! I am so excited about it! I’ve wanted to go to Morocco forever, I honestly want to say since I was 10, because I remember having a picture up on my wall of it. I’m getting to go here because there is a class offered at Champlain which allows students to go to Morroco during spring break and learn about the culture and apply it to their major! What could be better for a girl wanting to go into travel journalism? I am beyond excited, and can not wait till the spring! Now I just need to get through these classes!
When it’s fall, you suddenly want to pick pumpkins, wear your warm colored clothes, and go apple picking! This past weekend, my friends and I went to Shelbourne Farms, which is located right down the road from our school . For one dollar a pound, you can pick as many apples that you want and as many types as you want.
Shelbourne farms offers different actitives year round from a tour of their vineyards, to picking pumpkins and strawberries. there is always something going on. One of the most popular events is apple picking. there are usually tons of people scavenging for apples. however the orchard is so large that it’s easy to find a place hidden from the other apple pickers. We found this one tree that was covered in apples. I’ve never seen so many apple son tree before in my life.
Not only can you pick your own apples, but you can also go to the Apple Cafe located near the entrance and the store. You can get freshly made apple cider doughnuts, Brown Apple Betty’s, apple pie, and nice cold glasses of apple cider. They even have one that has mint in it! It is very refreshing and really good, the only down side is that it’s very sweet.
The next time you go to Vermont, make a stop at Shelbourne Farms. There are many great things to do there for all ages. You can also take in the beauty of the landscape. You can see Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains. I’ve added a video I made from my trip to orchards.
This is a video of the World In Motion Drummers performing in Trafalgar’s Square for the 2011 St George’s Day festival in London. I was there last April and began to hear one drum player hit a snare drum, soon a few more drums came in, all walking to the center of the square, the next thing I knew, there were about 30 drummers all from the age of 8 up to their late teens.
I later learned that “ World in Motion drumming project offers opportunities for young people, Guildhall School students and professional artists to work together and create energetic performances that take place in schools, community groups, local festivals and events” (http://www.barbican.org.uk/education/projects/world-in-motion).
This video is only a segment but shows you the general understanding of the program.
Hostels:
I used to think that hostels were to be unclean, with rooms filled with people with barely any floor room. In 2006 when I went to Australia, the group I traveled with stayed at a hostel in Darwin and it certainly made me realize that hostels weren’t these massive rooms filled to the brim with people. It was very clean and had four persons rooms. They were however extremely strict banning men from the women’s floor and vice versa. The mattresses had rubber lining and the shower was a shower head on the wall of the bathroom. My view on hostels were better, but not as great as a hotel.
Now let’s fast forward five years, and I am in Strandhill Ireland. My friends and I went up here in January and surprisingly.. . learned how to surf! when we arrived at the Surf N Stay Hostel, we found ourselves looking at an old house. We walked in and met the owner, and he was very friendly and shows us to our room. We were traveling with 6 people so we stayed in the 10 person room. We found out that we were the only people in there, which was a nice feeling, and we placed our stuff down. That night we hung out in the living room where they offered tons of DVDs and VHS’s. MOre people came into the room and hung out and it was a very homely experience. We met more people as the days went on and to this day I still remain in contact with them. This weekend really opened up my mind to hostels.
Over spring break when I went to Portugal, I stayed at two really great hostels one rated the top hostel in the world on Hostel World. The first hostel we stayed at was the Rivoli Cinema Hostel. this hostel was located right downtown in Porto and was in this old building across from the Rivoli Cinema. The hostel was created by two women who love movies. each room has a different theme, there is the Amelie room, the Taranitno room, Tim Burton room and the Sofia Coppola room. I stayed in the the Tarantino room where there was this really cool cartoon illustration of the famous picture of John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson which hung over the bed. The whole hostel had a great modern feel with a great patio on the roof. Throughout the hostel there are movie posters hung up. For the sign that identified the bathrooms, they had mini Psycho posters with the letters “W.C” and the laundry room, had a Fight Club poster on the door. This place had a very relaxed feel to it, and Bon Iver and Jackson was constantly playing on the sound system. In the morning, everyone would sit down in the reception area and help themselves to Nutella, cereal, toast coffee and tea. If you are ever in Porto, I highly recommend staying here.
If you go to Strandhill (found right outside of Sligo) or Portugal I suggest that you go to these three hostels, you will gain so much from staying there and they are all very affordable. The best place to book these hostels is on hostelworld.com, where you can read other people’s reviews.
Photo Credits: Surf n Stay, Rivoli Cinema Hostel and The Travellers House
