Emotional cliffs and the actual Cliffs (of Moher)

They tell you in orientation that there are highs and lows psychologically and emotionally when you're studying abroad. And you think "yeah, of course. That makes perfect sense. Obviously there are going to be low points." But then you assume the "lows" are mostly going to be in the very beginning, when you're frustrated because everything is unfamiliar and every little thing frustrates you and your emotions are firing on all cylinders because you're EXCITED but you're also completely on edge due to the unfamiliarity. I have gone into these deep slumps where I miss home so badly I can feel it in my bones. And that's largely what the last month and a half have been for me, if I'm being honest. But then I go on a tour, like the Cliffs of Moher one I did yesterday, and I remember why I came here. Because there is NOTHING like Ireland back home. I mean, even just seeing the scenery on the drive TO the Cliffs was worth it. It's so distinct and quintessentially Irish. And for as much as I have felt very down the past few weeks, I also know that this is one of the few times where I'm going to be able to see things and explore like this. And it's worth it, though the last month in particular has been hard. I don't why, but I expected the "low periods" to mostly be in the beginning, and let me tell you the first week (maybe two weeks) were up there with the absolute hardest things I have had to go through and I've been through some difficult stuff over the last 21 years. It wasn't so much the unfamiliarity as it was THAT and the combination of a loneliness that I hadn't felt for years. It pulled me back to the first two months of freshman year at W&J. Those first two months were a nightmare because I am painfully shy and don't like talking much (until you get to know me, then I don't shut up). I didn't really have friends for the first few months of freshman year, at least not friends that were like ME in any sort of way. I actually contemplated transferring to Waynesburg. But eventually, I got very lucky and made the friend (now roommate and one of my best friends) that I needed in order to meet the people I now consider to some of my other best friends. This took awhile and it hurt and I hated it and I hated how quiet I was, how hard it was (and still is) for me to actually speak to people I don't know. The point is, the first few weeks in Cork were like the first few months at W&J. And I don't know why, once I got past that (for the most part), I didn't think there would be anymore real low points. But the month of October, right after I got back from London, that was a low. And I'm just now starting to get past it, the Cliffs of Moher tour helped and so does the fact that I'll be home in Pittsburgh in less than a month.

Anyway, so I took a tour to the Cliffs of Moher yesterday. The Cliffs of Moher is one of the top tourist attractions in all of Ireland. It was one of the last major attractions that I hadn't seen yet. So, I decided to do that tour yesterday. Our first stop was Limerick, which apparently has a reputation that has led to it being referred to as "stab city" so, yeah. But as our tour bus driver pointed out, the city only has about 90,000 residents and supposedly most of the violence is because two families have gotten into a nasty feud that's resulted in around 60 deaths or something.

Then we drove to the Burren. Which is rock, all rock. Supposedly, the British commander Oliver Cromwell hated this area of Ireland in particular, saying something along the lines of there were "not enough trees to hang an Irishman, not enough water to drown an Irishman and not enough soil to bury an Irishman." In case you couldn't tell, Cromwell didn't like Ireland or the Irish AT ALL. But really, the place is literally almost ALL rock. We stopped at Poulnabrone, which is a rock formation (kind of looks like Stonehenge, I guess).

Again, all the pictures are my doing:

 

It takes awhile to get to the Cliffs, probably about 3 or 4 hours. Eventually, we got there. Unfortunately, it was raining and the fog was extremely thick. So my photographs weren't that great because it was hard to see. But, I COULD tell that the Cliffs were incredible.

 

 Also, we stopped at Bunratty Castle on the way back:

 

Overall, it was a pretty cool trip, even though the bus actually had to stop for awhile because we needed a new one (the door wouldn't shut), so we got back late. And then there was the rain and fog... But that's okay, you could still kind of see the Cliffs, which was cool.  

 





In defense of the American college/university system...

One of the more intriguing conversations that I had last week was with another American student. She mentioned that in one of her classes, the American students were saying how much more laid-back UCC seemed to be when compared to the American colleges. The (Irish) professor in the class then mentioned that they thought it was more because they do a lot less "hand-holding" in European/overseas colleges than the U.S and that the students are more grown-up when they first come to university. Anyway, I was talking to the other American girl about this and honestly, I'm not sure I agree with the assessment of that professor. Initially, I DID agree, but the more I thought about it (and continue to think about it), I'm not sure I totally agree with that assessment.

First, I think it REALLY depends on your definition of "hand-holding." Are students perhaps more "guided" back in the U.S? To a certain extent, yes. But I would almost argue that's due to the nature of our education system before we even enter college, and also, it has to do with our society. Also, I'm just not sure the European students are any more "grown up" when the enter college than American students are.

I mean, here at UCC, the Irish students do go home on the weekends. Granted, I think that's partially because they might have jobs back home, but they are still home. I'm not saying that in itself makes American students "mature" (because they stay on campus), but it ISN'T like the European (Irish, in this case), are going MONTHS without any direct family interaction. They tend to stay in apartments, rather than dorms. Granted, there isn't TOO much difference, but there isn't a meal plan, for example. You have to cook and clean for yourself. At W&J, you have to have a meal plan (you could theoretically cook for yourself in the kitchen of the dorm, but nobody ever really does that because we have meal plans). Dorms in the United States are suited more for interaction among students as well, at least I think so. Anyway, all this begs the question: are the European students perhaps slightly more independent? Yes. But I wouldn't go as far to say that they are more "mature." I think maturity is a difficult concept to measure, particularly during the college years.

I think one of the reasons why American students studying abroad get the impression that UCC is more laid back is that there is less day to day work. The concept of continuous assessment isn't a thing in European universities, at least not at UCC. It SEEMS like a good idea to not have to deal with exams every few weeks, until you realize that you're being graded basically on ONE exam or essay. That's IT. And there are no points for participation or attendance. Honestly, I'm not sure that I could handle going through college like that. I like knowing how I'm doing in classes at any given point during the semester. Also, for as annoying as it is to have to read for classes and study constantly, there's something to be said for it. I would argue there's more motivation when you have to study or read for a class every day. There's more investment on the part of the student. I think here at UCC, students take year-long classes, then take a massive exam in the spring. And I THINK it's possible to re-take the exam. I think back home, there's more incentive to continuously try. In terms of work, American students definitely have more daily work to do for their classes.

There is a different view of this concept of continuous assessment. In my 3 years at W&J, I've known quite a few international students. The one thing that they have to say about college in the United States is that they are surprised by the amount of work that is assigned. So it really isn't just the American students studying abroad who perceive the workload as different.

American students take a greater variety of classes. The European students seem to take classes that are specific to their major, that's it. In contrast, I've never had a semester at W&J where I didn't take at least 2 classes that were unrelated to my major. I mean, freshman year, I took a political science class, a history class, economics and Spanish all in one semester. Four completely unrelated classes. I'm not saying that this translates to more work necessarily, but it does mean studying broader.

So, how does this relate to being more or less "grown up" than European students? It doesn't necessarily DIRECTLY relate, but it does make the case that, for as "guided" as the United States college students may be, we still put in a lot of work. So, what did the Irish professor mean by "hand-holding"? I'm thinking that he/she meant that back in the United States, colleges and universities definitely take steps to ensure that students know what's expected of them, where to go, what to do etc. They do that here at UCC as well, but it seems to be on a much more general scale. Back home, we get syllabi that outline exactly what goes on week to week, class to class. And American students DO need to know exactly what the professor wants in an essay, test etc. That's true. However, I would argue that this need for reassurance or definitive answers is partially due to the way that the American education system works. Granted, I have no idea how or if the European education system is really any different than the United States system. But the point is that in high school in the United States, we are told EXACTLY what is expected of us. So, naturally, this is what happens when the students get to college. It isn't "here is the incredibly general topic that you are going to write an essay about, now go write it and it's due in two months." Honestly, that's essentially the situation here at UCC with writing essays and I've never been so uneasy about writing essays in my life. I don't like not having specifics or a rubric to refer to. There is something to be said for specificity and detail.

So really, I think the point I'm trying to make (and have kind of ended up off topic and ranting just a bit) is that I think the two systems of university structure (the United States and European systems) are different and it is not really fair to compare the two and then state that the Americans are less "grown up" or that American universities "hand-hold" more than European ones. It think there is more to it than that and a lot of it is societal differences, especially with regard to education systems. Each system has benefits and negatives, but I do like the way the W&J (and the United States) system works. I look forward to returning to the organization and specificity of it all. One more month left, then it's back to the land of the U.S dollar, snow (if weather.com is correct), Walmart, baseball, American football, driving on the right side of the road (literally, the actual right side, as opposed to the left side) and the familiar sight of the Red, White and Blue.

London-the final part

I probably could have done a bit more on my last day in London, but I'm one of those people who gets extremely nervous about something potentially going wrong and missing a flight. So, what did I actually do then on my last day? I did the thing that I had been meaning to do since I got to Parliament Square the Thursday before: I went to Westminster Abbey. In case you didn't know, that's where Prince William and Kate got married in 2011. There is a TON of history there. Kings, Queens, poets, writers etc. are buried there. Kings and Queens have been crowned there. It apparently has a fairly extensive crypt of some sort. It was supposed to be beautiful inside, but I hadn't gotten the chance to go in until the last day. I was going to go the first day I got to London, but the Abbey closed at 6 PM. So, I ended up going on the last day. Now, before actually going to Westminster Abbey, I stopped at Westminster Cathedral. Despite the pouring rain, the line for entry into Westminster Abbey was really long.

The line for entry into Westminster Abbey

 

 

Unfortunately, you can't actually take pictures inside the Westminster Abbey. But here are some outside, close up shots of Westminster Abbey.

 

The courtyard inside the Abbey

Courtyard of the Abbey

 

 

After going to Westminster Abbey I walked along the River Thames for a few minutes, then decided that I should try to get to London Heathrow Airport. My flight wasn't until around 6 p.m., at this point it was about noon, I think. Like I said before, I'm really paranoid about getting to places on time. It probably took about 50 minutes to get from the Westminster Underground station to London Heathrow Airport. The Tube actually stops IN London Heathrow at the different terminals. London Heathrow is so big that it can do that. Now the question was what to do for five hours until my flight. I ended up getting my boarding pass, then eating lunch/dinner at one of the restaurants in the airport. I then went through security, which I have to tell you, I don't see what the big deal is. It's not that bad. It probably took me five minutes. Then again, I did get there pretty early. I spent the next few hours walking around London Heathrow, mostly just going in and out of the different shops. Eventually, I sat down and started to do what I do best when I'm bored: read. I finished "Catching Fire" in the Hunger Games book series (which I had been meaning to do for months) and after that, I started to write down everything and anything I had observed during my time in London. Here is some of the observations I made:

 

1) I became acutely aware of how "flat" my American/East Coast/Pittsburgh accent sounds when compared to the English/British accent (I know, there are different dialects and there isn't just ONE accent, it's like anywhere else in the world, but you know what I mean). To be honest, I hadn't really even noticed this while I was in Cork, but it hit me like a ton of bricks while I was in London. I don't know WHY it occurred to me, perhaps I have become so used to listening to the Irish accent that the English/British (I'm still not positive which is the correct usage here) accent sounded different enough. Either way, I've become very aware of how my American accent sounds. It's not really even in a negative way, it's just the way I hear myself speak now after talking to a person with a British or Irish accent. It sounds very flat and even, and I hadn't ever noticed that before.

 

2). How different London is from Cork. I almost hate to even compare the two cities because it's like comparing New York City to Pittsburgh. Actually, it's almost EXACTLY like comparing those two, so I'm going to roll with it. Here's the thing about London: it's very clearly a major international city. And it KNOWS it. Which isn't a bad thing at all, but it has a certain aura or aristocratic (I don't think that's the exact word I'm searching for, but go with it) "air" about it. Maybe, a high profile, sense of its own importance? I don't know how to describe it, but it's just like the city knows it's a very important place. I have a feeling that you would get this in any major international city. I vaguely recall feeling the same thing in Washington D.C. There is just so much there culturally, politically, socially and historically. So it just has this "feeling" about it. That's NOT  negative thing, but compared to Cork, it's noticeable. See, one of the things that I've noticed about Ireland is that it's not really a country that feels the need to put on airs or promote its own importance. Particularly not in Cork (or maybe the South), but maybe a little bit in Dublin. Back to the NYC and Pittsburgh analogy. Cork is like Pittsburgh in that it's kind of a secondary city (well, it's the second biggest city in the Republic of Ireland). New York is like London for fairly obvious (I think) reasons. Now, I come from Pittsburgh. It's fairly no nonsense (unless it's Sunday and it's football season, then the whole place goes mental) and working class. I appreciate Cork so much because it reminds me of Pittsburgh with it's no nonsense atmosphere. The thing with New York (and London) is that they are extremely important and everything in these two cities SCREAMS "hey, we're important." Again, that's not a BAD THING. I just notice it more because I'm from Pittsburgh and I've been in Cork/Ireland for so long. I've also come to realize that I almost prefer the cities like Pittsburgh or Cork. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED London, but I almost prefer the "down to earth" feeling of my hometown and Cork. I kind of felt the same way about Dublin as I do London. I like being a tourist in them, but I don't know if I'd love actually living there.

 

3) British pound sterling beats the Euro, the Euro beats the dollar. London is just SO EXPENSIVE. I am NEVER EVER going to complain about how much anything costs in Ireland again. And I am definitely NEVER going to complain about the cost of things back home in the United States. I swear. (unless it's the cost of textbooks or my education, I'm still going to be complaining about that)

 

Overall, I really loved London. It was kind of a way of proving to myself that I can fly to some other place alone and navigate things in an unfamiliar city well enough to be completely fine. I wasn't really worried about getting lost since I had a map. I tend to worry about small things, like the amount of time the Tube is going to take to get from Westminster to London Heathrow. But I do think the London trip helped me to prove to myself that I can do things alone, be fine and have fun while seeing a ton of cool, unforgettable stuff. And I think that might have been the most important part of the whole trip. That sort of personal confirmation that I can figure things out. Like when your phone runs of money, you go to Starbucks and use their free Wi-Fi to talk to your dad, so that everyone else knows you're okay. Also, getting lost isn't such a bad thing. I accidently stumbled across this ridiculously cool street that only had bookstores and stores with art/sketches in them. Literally, the entire street was just those two things. So, really, that's what is important about traveling. You can get a greater sense of what you can do and how to handle adversity (though, really, running of money on a cell phone isn't the best example of "adversity" but it's the one I have, so I'm going to go with it.