Birthday and I survived!

27th Jan - Monday
My birthday. Woke up to a text message. Facebook was full of messages on my timeline. I was in a good mood, if a bit tired because of the wind. Altering air pressures do that to me, and it's been windy and rainy for a week now.

Anyway, lecture went quickly by while jotting down notes. Sometimes it's a bit difficult to decide what's important and what's not, because everything is interesting. :P The tutorial was fun, as now I was prepared to answer the questions.

After that I dashed back to my room to get ready for the evening. Got myself a two month subscription for Knights of the Old Republic, as a present, but didn't play it yet. I had gathered some new friends to spend some time with me at the student bar. (forgot to take my camera)

Took some pics with my phone, but they're not that good;
this was the best one.

I went there a bit before seven, and five past no one had shown up. :P But then one showed, and we sat and talked for a bit and the rest came half past. And they bought friends, and a birthday cake! I was so happy and we had loads of fun, if all we did was talk and drink. :D

Got home at around one-ish, and stayed up 'til little after two. Because I can't sleep if I'm drunk.

It was a wonderful birthday.





28th Jan - Tuesday
Woke up to a note in front of my door, informing me that I had a parcel waiting at the office at Merville. Took a quick shower and went to get it. I knew mum had sent me something, no idea what it was.

Tuned out to be a pair of soft socks and the warmest slippers ever. <3

Had my lectures, read what I was supposed to and played SWTOR. In the evening, when one of my flat mates was going out we noticed that the front door wouldn't lock; and I''d noticed that the toilet seat was broken. Went to bed way too late.

29th Jan - Wednesday
Woke up tired and annoyed, and anxious and everything not so nice. Logged the problems of the flat - they were taken care of during the day.

I had lectures from one to nine, with a couple of brakes in between, but I had to do schoolwork on those. And joined a game society and a traditional music society on Refresher's Day. Can't wait for the meetings.

At nine I was feeling so bad, that all I could do was play video games, because I know I can't sleep when I'm feeling like that - I'd end up having a panic attack or something.

Finally went to bed at three, having joined a wonderful RP guild in SWTOR and gotten to 'meet' some cool people there.

Hope the rest of the week will be better.

The end of the week

22nd Jan - Wednesday
Woke up in a mood. Damned hormones! Managed not to snap at anyone the whole day, and even managed to talk a bit...

Almost didn't find the first lecture hall, because Blackboard said it was in a different room, but it was in the same one as it was on Monday. Arrived about five minutes late, but luckily didn't miss much. Apparently I wasn't the only one who had trusted Blackboard, as there were people slinking in for good half an hour.

Which to me seemed ridiculous; if I'd missed twenty minutes of a fifty minute class, I wouldn't bother showing up. It's not like they take attendance in lectures.

After this lesson, I ran around sorting out my schedule with the international office. Got it all done, now I just should remember to draft out and send my Learning Agreement... as if I will, my head's like a sieve when it comes to these things. I also got a ticket for my first day trip in a couple of week's time; I'm going to Glendalough. Can't wait!

Then I had some free time which I spent the normal way; on my laptop.

And in the evening I had a double lecture especially for exchange students called "Ireland Uncovered". That's basically some basic historical and cultural information about Ireland, but it seems very interesting. After the lecture I got something to eat from the shop and went to my room. Went to bed as quick as possible.

23rd Jan - Thursday
Still in a mood. Feeling very antisocial, wouldn't want to go to lessons.
Got up anyway, showered and made myself look presentable enough. My first class of the day, Early Medieval Ireland, was in the Science Building and I almost couldn't find it - there were no signs anywhere about the lecture hall locations. ><

Inner courtyard of Newman Building

After lecture back to the room. A quick bite and a rest, then to another class; another session of The Woman's Voice. Got to start a bit late, because the lesson before us stretched and our professor had a some technical difficulties - she's got a new Mac. I love these lessons, because I know something already, and they're seminars, so we're asked questions.

Got ready for my first night out. A bit worried about going around alone, but then I ran into a couple of girls from the US and tagged along. First we went to a pub to listen to some music. Guinness was only 4,70! O.O

They just sat around the table and played.

My 1st Guiness in Ireland. Yummy.

After that we ran to Temple Bar and Turks Head, where ESN had arranged a traffic light party. That, too, was fun, if a bit noisy and crowded at the end. Met a few people, had a drink. When it was time to go, I couldn't find my coat, but that's only a coat, so I don't mind so much. It would still be nice to get it back, though...

One of the girls borrowed me her raincoat, and we took a taxi back to Belfield. It was around two or three in the morning when I finally got to bed. A long day, but, in the end, all fun.

24th Jan - Friday
First and only lesson for today started at ten. Slept 'til five to nine, dressed quickly and dashed off. Living on campus has it advantages. :P

After that grabbed some breakfast, rested a bit and made myself up. At little after twelve I left for the city centre. Got the right bus that would've taken me all the way to where I wanted to got, but I got out a bit early and walked. It was rainy and a bit windy, but it's Dublin!

A map of St. Stephen's Green, a Victorian park.

Victorian. Yes, obviously. :P

I so want to see this place in spring!

Walked across St. Stephen's Green, and got to Grafton Street, where all the shops are. Popped into a few, but didn't really buy anything. I was more sightseeing this time around, anyway.

I walked around Grafton Street and Temple Bar area for good three-four hours, but then my feet began hurting, so I decided to take the bus home.

Here are some more pics from along the way:

St. Stephen's Green shopping centre, at the beginning of Grafton Street.

Molly Malone statue. If you don't know the song,
go listen to it, now! :D

In front of a tattoo parlour. xD

 
Got my first birthday card. Thank you! <3

25-26 Jan - Saturday and Sunday
My feet are killing me. The wind is getting ridiculous. I'm doing absolutely nothing this weekend. These were my first thoughts of Saturday morning. And I didn't do anything constructive at all. Popped into the shop at one point, but that doesn't count. :P

Now it's ten to nine Sunday morning - woke up at around seven, because of the bloody wind rattling my window - and I plan on doing absolutely nothing today, too. I'll play Skyrim and cook, that's all. :P

Start of the 1st lecture week

Monday 20th Jan

I woke up at eight and after brushing off, went to do my laundry... That was an experience. ^^'
You pay three euro per machineful, and you do that with your student card. And if you want to use the drier, it's an additional one fifty. I sat there through the wash, and decided that the drier would take too long, I'd air-dry everything this time... But I didn't have any place to hang the clothes, so I just spread them around the room.

Then I had some free time before my first lecture at one, so I had a leisurely breakfast and some data-time.

I left to look for the lecture hall at little after noon, because I still have no idea where everything is. Newman Building - that's the building for Arts - is huge and full of corridors and it's way too easy to get lost there. Luckily people here are very helpful, so all I had to do was ask a couple of people, and I found it all right. And in time, even!

So the first lecture was "the British Celts" and it sounds very interesting. This was more of an introduction to the module, so nothing really new came up...

The lectures here last usually for an hour only, which is really weird for me, but then there's the tutorial bit during the week and that's the other hour.

I also had the British Celts tutorial an hour later, so there was time for lunch in between. And I went to buy a notepad. And ended up buying a poster, too, from the seller that was in front of the shop.

Come on! I had to!

And in the tutorial I got my first real annoyance. The professor asked a 'question' from me... Too bad the so-called question was about five sentences long and I couldn't really tell what she was asking, it was more of an explanation. ><

Nothing more worth noting happened on Monday.

Tuesday 21st Jan
Slept 'til ten, took a shower and had breakfast. My first lecture of the day started at three, so I had time to clean my room a bit and play games. Even skyped to Finland before leaving for the lecture. And remembered to eat, too.

The first lecture of the day was more of a seminar, really. It's called The Woman's Voice and it's about the representations of women in Ireland "from the year dot to present day" as one of the professors put it. This, too, was more like an intro to the module, so we got off early, so I had time to buy coffee before the next lecture - normal 'recess' is ten minutes, now I had twenty.

Next up was Irish Literature in English, and that's especially for foreign students, and it was right up my alley, although the professor there spoke really fast. She talked about how the English invasion and the loss of Irish language went hand in hand and all that, so nothing really new for me, yet.

After the lectures we had this Buddy Program meeting. We've been assigned to groups that were mostly exchange students, but also a couple of Irish students. My group was mostly Nordic, so we had things to talk about. We talked for almost two hours and the I had to go to the shop.

After I got back to my room, I Skyped back home and went to bed at around eleven-ish.

1st weekend

Went very quietly. There was an option to go on a pub crawl on Friday, but I decided against that this time.

Instead I went to IKEA on Saturday; bought some essentials, like a proper pillow, some kitchen utensils and an oven-proof dish. That was basically my whole day; afterwards I was so tired and my feet hurt, so I decided to spend the rest of the day loitering about. It was, after all, already six o'clock.

On Sunday, I walked almost three kilometres to the nearest Tesco, to buy proper food. The register wouldn't accept my Visa Electron, although there's been no problem elsewhere. It was annoying...

I was supposed to do my laundry today, but after cooking some lunch, I decided not to - I'll do it tomorrow - as my ankle was giving me serious trouble, I could barely walk, let alone go up and down the stairs.

Anyway, got some lovely pictures on the way to Tesco:

Blue skies for a change. It was a warm day.

It seriously feels like spring here!

I want a car like this! <3

This road was scary to cross... 

These gardens are crazy! I mean, palm trees? Really?

And tomorrow my lessons start. Finally! ^^

Dublin bus tour

In the morning we had an Erasmus Student Orientation, I joined ESN and had a quick lunch... I really need to start cooking here. I'm getting sick of these sandwiches. ><

After lunch it was time to find the bus stop where the open top bus would take us for a tour of Dublin city centre. Luckily I had asked around and had a vague idea of where to go, and for once I found it on first try.

The top of the bus was packed full... and it was very, very cold once we were moving.

One of the many pubs we passed. I swear there was one in every corner.

Love those colourful doors. There was one street otherwise very gray, but the doors were all a different colour, it was gorgeous.  

This is the best pic I got of the Guinness warehouse. ><  Need to got there again, and take a peek inside, too. 

Need to visit here, too.

And dad wanted to get here, if I remember right. The main postal building.

 After the tour, I went back to the dorms. Just to take my stuff there and warm up a bit, because they were showing Pacific Rim at Global Lounge and I wanted to see it (again). After that I talked a bit to a girl I met - another new Facebook friend.

Wow, I'm being social. xD

A couple of episodes of BBC's Sherlock and to bed. I need to find those launderettes this weekend, as I'm running out of underwear.

Starting to settle down

15th January
I had my language aptitude test in the morning, at half past nine. >< First time I've had to wake up that early this year. Results are going up in two weeks... Hope it went well enough. :P

Pictures from the campus, on the way to the tiny grocery store on campus. Nothing much else happened during the day, I got SWTOR working, so I played that a bit and Skyped to Finland. <3 Those calls really help this being away from family.

In later afternoon, there was an International Student Welcome assembly, followed by a fair and a reception. Talked with loads of people, got the rest of the week scheduled up. I had to leave around five or six, because I was bushed. Went to the dorm and watched Farscape until I went to bed at around ten.

16th January
Woke up at ten, and even having slept near 12 hours, I was still tired, so I just took some breakfast and sat around until one, when there was an info of School of English and a campus tour after that. Forgot to take my camera with me, though...

Then back to the dorm and cook. I made pasta and ate it, then I took a nap, slept an hour almost. Then I talked to mum through Skype again. Then I went to a X-Box (Kinect) evening. Ended up sketching and laughing at people flailing around. It was fun. Met new people. Then to the rooms again, took a shower and now I'm writing this.

Tomorrow I'll probably have more to write about, as I'm going for a open top bus tour for Dublin.

Trip and the first day

 I know I said that I wouldn't start a new blog for this trip, but it's way simpler this way.

So this blog is for my student exchange in Ireland, at UCD.

My trip started on the 12th January when mum took me took the Helsinki-Vantaa airport and we did my check-in and luggage drop (two huge bags of essentials). I cried on the way to the airport, in the car... Not because I didn't want to go, but because there were so many unknowns, there still is.

Mum took me to dinner in the hotel restaurant and we spent the night quietly in the hotel room. Mum worked and I watched a film, can't remember its name... Anyway, went to bed around eleven.

I slept very fitfully and woke up even before my alarm went off, and that was around four in the morning, a quick breakfast and we were at the airport again at around six. I went through the security gates and went to the gate to wait for my flight to Copenhagen.

My hand luggage, hand bag and coat on the bench at Helsinki-Vantaa

The flight went fine... I had all these accidents I was worrying about - been watching too much Aircrash Investigation, but the flight went perfectly; my ears didn't even pop.

We arrived to Copenhagen little before eight (local time) and I was getting seriously tired; my eyes wouldn't stay open and all speak became a mumble. I had five hours to spend there and I'd never been at that airport, so I had to go to the info-desk to ask about the gate and a place to sleep. In the end I found a nice quiet bench and took a nap - slept an hour with my bags under my legs and wrapped around my feet.

When I woke up I needed to eat, so I went to look for a place to get food... Did you know it is almost impossible to find decent grub at an airport. I wanted a nice, healthier sandwich or a salad, but in the end I just had to take what they had. Did get a nice coffee at the Starbucks there, and the seller there (Can you call him a barista, isn't that a woman?) was just cute. He was sweet and funny and interested. So I had my coffee and got really sleepy again.

There was this quiet lounge, where I saw other people sleeping, so I went there too. After another nap, it was time to find the gate.

On the flight from Copenhagen to Dublin, there we a couple of babies on the plane and I was so worried that they'd be crying all the time. But luckily the girl behind me was the sweetest ever, she smiled at me when I looked at her, and reached to touch when I had to get up to let people pass. And she fell asleep during the landing. That was adorable.

Dublin Airport <3

In Dublin, I got my bags really quickly. And then I was off to find the UCD people and get to the right bus. Everything went perfect; I got to the bus stop just when the coach got there and got on just in time. The fare was cheaper than in Finland ever.

It was just too bad the coach stopped at the opposite side of the huge campus and I had to lug my bags all the way to the Merville House to get my key and info. Got them alright and bumped into one girl who showed me where my dorm was. Dumped my stuff and went to buy some food. Spent the day on my laptop, resting and watching Farscape. Did meet my flatmates; seemed like nice girls.

Finally there!

1st day

Woke up around ten, had some breakfast and unpacked. Then I went to look for the announced charity sale. Got an extra pillow, some eating utensils, a pot and a mug.

Belgrove Student Village - the place I'll be living in for the next five months.

Took these next shots on the way to the charity sale.

Next up a trip to the grocery store.  Got coffee, tea, bread and some other essentials. Chatted a bit with my flatmates and after that fought my Steam Network functional and played a bit. Took a shower and now I really should hang my clothes up and get tea.

My desk and wardrobe. And my skylight. <3

I've finally gotten my room to the right temperature; it's not freezing and not too hot. The heater I have is a little over-zealous sometimes. The shower and bathroom are a nightmare though, I really need to get some heavy-duty slippers or something, because the floor is burn-freezing my feet off.