~January 12/13th, 2017~
Thursday is my first say on campus as a visiting student!! We have our orientation from 9:00am-12:00pm on both Thursday and Friday. We were in a huge lecture hall, with almost 200 people in it. It was somewhat scary, but also comforting to know that I was surrounded by students who were in the same boat as me. During the orientation, we learned about the University College Cork, living in Ireland, how to get registered with the country, and so on and so forth. I was able to take down a lot of useful information. After orientation, I went to lunch with a few new friends that I had made earlier that morning. It was fun to get to know new people and hear about what brought them to Cork, in addition to what they are hoping to accomplish during their semester in Ireland.
On Thursday night, I went out to dinner with Dad at the Franciscan Well Brewery. This is a local micro-brewery that is very popular amongst the locals. They of course had their signature beers, but also fire oven pizza, which was right up our alley! Then after dinner, I met up with a few of my roommates and new friends for a drink at one of the local pubs.
Orientation the next day was very much the same as the day before, lot of information of how to adjust to life in Ireland. After orientation, I went to lunch with friends again, and then walked around the city center to waste time before we had to go pick up our UCC ID’s. We then made a collective trip to the grocery store and learned to navigate the foreign brands and names together. It was a fun day.
That night, I met up with Dad for his final night in Cork. He was leaving Saturday morning, so we met on campus for a coffee, then moved to a pub for a pint, and then a restaurant for some dinner. We had such a great time reflecting on the trip and reliving the memories we had made. I couldn’t help but get emotional a few times, because the thought of him leaving made everything very real and definite. Once he leaves, it will no longer feel like a week long vacation; I am here for the almost five months. It is exciting, but also a little scary. However, it was so helpful to have him come here with me. I don’t know what I would have done without him. After dinner, he walked me back to my apartment, and we said our goodbyes (me emotional again). We had the best week, and I couldn’t be more thankful for him and overjoyed with the memories we made together. I’m going to miss having him here. But it’s not goodbye, it’s just see you later.
