Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk

So today was the last day of decent weather, at least according to weather predictions. So I decided to make the most of it, and take a train to Bray. I had read about a great hike (or cliffs walk) that was approximately 5 miles. Figured why not? Since I don't have gym access here, figured it would be good exercise and I'd get to see some cool stuff. So I took the DART to bray and walked a bit on the beach. I had to ask around and found the path for the Cliff Walk from Bray to Greystones. The ground was a bit stoney and rocky, and I realized I don't have the best hiking shoes. It was an awesome hike, but it was tiring! I walked and walked and took some pictures along the way. There were all sorts of people walking the trails - young, old, Irish, French and German. When I saw the older people walking, I figured it would be easy...boy was I wrong! haha. It wasn't bad, but it was a lot of walking and by the end my feet were killing me. It was definitely worth it though. The weather was beautiful and I got to hang out on the Greystones Beach afterwards. The beaches in Ireland are obviously a lot different than in Los Angeles, but nonetheless, it was a lovely beach. Afterwards, I took the DART back to Bray, had some seafood chowder and headed home.

Kilkenny & Kells Priory

So, taking advantage of the lovely weather here in Dublin this past weekend, we decided to take a bus out to the countryside.  It was a 2 and 1/2 hour bus ride to Kilkenny.  I took one dramamene thinking it would be enough, but since we rushed to get to the bus and barely made it, we got a seat in the back and it was hot and crowded. I seriously wanted to die, was sweating and felt like crap. It was the longest 2 1/2 hours of my life.  We finally got off the bus and went to see the Kilkenny Castle.  It was a guided tour and we got a little bit of the history and background of the city.  Apparently the Victorian people were much shorter and the beds were kinda small. Overall it was pretty interesting and it never hurts to see a cool castle.

  

We walked around town a bit, had lunch and then took a cab to Kells Priory, one of the largest and most magnificent monuments of all of Ireland.  Of course, we read about it in our Ireland travel books and it said it was a must.  The cab driver was a bit surprised that we would even want to go there.  It was a 20 Euro cab drive there, but it was worth it.  It was a very cool place, and there wasn't anyone there.  We got to explore the ruins and walk around, play with the sheep.  Well Will tried to play with them, but they

 ran away.  It was a cool experience and was great to see a bit of the countryside. Not to mention the weather was fantastic. I brought a big jacket thinking it would be cold didn't need it at all.  The bus ride back was much better. I took two dramamene and ran to the front of the bus line to get the front seat.   I know now that I am going to need a lot more dramanene if i'm going to take more bus rides around Ireland...

Lovely Weather

Just a sidenote, the weather has been absolutely grand here the past few days! Its been dry and sunny and I just love it!!!

Taco Tuesday & Tonic

Amit, Talia's brother came to visit for a week. So we did our best to keep him entertained. He came in on Tuesday, so we had Taco Tuesday night. Mexican food is not very common here in Ireland, and real authentic ingredients are hard to come by. Their sour cream is more like crem fresh. Despite that, we got some taco mix and stuff from Moor Street and Fresh supermarket and Chef Will Kaner, and his su chef Amit cooked up some yummy beef tacos with guacamole and salsa. It was delicious and very filling.

On Thursday night, Talia organized a Smurfit Mixer at the request of other fellow international students. We have appointed ourselves the social chairs of the school, since there the social activities are a bit lacking at the school. Its not like Pepperdine at all, where we have weekly mixers and events. Apparently all of the students here are super serious, at least the people in the MBA Program. Guess its not as common getting MBA's in Ireland and the students are always studying. Since we don't take the same classes, the Exchange students are kind of left hanging. So we planned to have a mixer at Tonic, a local bar/lounge in Blackrock. We found out later that the school had planned Smurfit Thursdays at Tonic for later that night, so it appeared that we went all out for the event. It was fun, we had some drinks and met some cool people and got to know some MBS and other fellow "International" Students. Feels weird to be considered "international." Hopefully we can have a few more fun events and get to know some more UCD students.

Classes

I am currently studying at the Smurfit School of Business at the University of College Dublin. As exchange students, we do not take classes with the regular MBA's. Instead we take classes with the specialized Masters Program. Currently, I am taking:

• European Union
• International Business Management
• Conflict Resolution in Employment
• Management of Technology & Innovation

During my first week of class, I fell asleep in every one of my lectures. I'd like to believe it was due to jet lag, but it may have to do with the fact that 1) I have very limited knowledge on the European Union, 2) My professors have heavy Irish accents and/or mumble in their Irish tongue, 3) It is just natural for me to fall asleep in class (those who've had classes with me can attest).

Overall, I don't think the classes will be too difficult. Compared to Pepperdine, the course load is a bit lighter - no quizzes, generally just a group project/presentation and a final exam or final paper. One thing that is kinda funny is that for many of these assignments, they want us to do a factual recap, no analysis. So basically we are doing book reports like back in grade school. Right now I have morning classes on Tuesday and Wednesday, and two classes on Thursday, leaving myself a very long weekend :)

Ireland at a Glance

So I have been here for about a week now and here are a few Ireland observations:

• Irish people are generally nice and friendly (especially to lost Americans trying to find their way through the city)
• The DART (train) is awesome and makes getting places easy
  
• It rains A LOT and can get very windy (an LA umbrella does not stand up to the Ireland weather, have had a lot of umbrella flippage since I've been here)
• Irish people are very tall (I feel very short) and many are blondes and red heads
  
• Irish people walk quickly through the city and most are wearing headphones and listening to music
  
• The Irish are very eco-friendly/green, as they charge you for bags in the grocery store and most places have energy conserving appliances.
• The Irish do drink and can be found at a pub almost every night of the week..and some even sing Irish drinking songs while drinking
• The Irish uses terms like handy, brillant and grand
  
• Ireland is a bit behind the US in terms of technology
  

I've been surprised at how not necessary "slow" Ireland is, but how behind in technology it is compared to the US. Our apartment is great and is in the new and up coming gasworks building, right next to Google. It has the "fastest" internet you can get in Ireland but is always timing out and not working. Also, we have a washer and dryer at our place, but apparently people here don't dry a lot of their clothes. We found that the few times we did, we had to quickly grab it out of the "dryer" before it filled up with water. It's kinda funny...

Despite this, it has been an awesome week so far.

Getting Settled

On Friday, we took the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transport) to the UCD campus for our Welcome Dinner and I got to meet some fellow MBA'ers. Of the "Exchange" students Talia and I are 2 of 6. The other four are from China, and one of the girls is also named Rachel. When one of the Irish students met me, he was like, "wow your English is great!" I was like, "uh I'm from the US". He was kinda embarrassed, but I just laughed. Everyone else is here for the full year program, so we won't have them in any of our classes. They served drinks before dinner, which was nice, considering Pepperdine is a dry campus. It helps a bit more in the mingling with strangers and introducing yourself. The people I talked to seemed nice and friendly.

After being wide awake until 6AM Dublin time, I finally got to sleep and woke up around noon. I then proceeded to go jogging and explore a bit of my new city. I stumbled across a park, which had a nice running path. There were

cool jungle gyms, tennis/basketball courts, and a soccer field. It was a pretty cool place, think I will go back for a run, since I don't have gym access. The only problem will be when it rains, which it does a lot....

On Saturday we went out to a "pub" nearby and I had my first taste of Irish Guinness...well I had a taste of Will's and I have officially decided that I don't like it. Its very bitter and taste like cold coffee, almost. Me and Talia had Bulimers which is Cider. I think I will stick to that, but I may try a black and tan before I officially pick my drink.

I'm here!!!

Today marks the first day of my time here in Dublin! The flight was surprisingly quicker than I thought it would be - a little over 9 hours. The airplane wasn't the most comfortable, but it wasn't too bad. The time change was a bit difficult. Got on the plane at 4PM, and had to try to sleep at 6PM, cause it was technically 2 AM or so....so I slept a bit and got into Dublin around 10 AM. Got my two big ass suitcases (which was over the limit but the lady let me slide) and took the aircoach to the area I'm staying at. The bus driver was super nice and came to let me know that it was my stop. I had no idea, so I was just
chilling thinking I would be off at the last stop. He was nice enough to get my luggage out and hail me a cab. I asked the driver if I could sit in the front seat cause I get carsick and he said sure. Not remembering that they drive on the other side, I tried to get into the driver's seat! The cab driver helped me find our apartment, which was a bit confusing. When we got to the area, the cab driver called Talia and I got to see our lovely apartment.


It's a two bedroom, two bath apartment in a nice bustling area. Talia and I decided to not live too close to campus as it was the same price/or more expensive and there wasn't much to do there. It's kind of the equivalent to living in Malibu vs living in Santa Monica. I'm so grateful that Talia and her husband Will came early and found the place. I was getting a little worried last week, not knowing where I would be.

So I started to unpack a bit, and before I got too tired, the three of us went to a couple of shops, where I could buy a comforter and pillows. I also got a prepaid cell phone, figured it would be a lot easier and it's only 19c per minute to call home. So after we got the stuff, we grabbed some lunch and took the train home. I then proceeded to sleep for a good 4-5 hours and felt a lot better. Only problem is, its 10:4o PM rite now and I'm not the least bit tired. It may take a few days to adjust.

It feels weird to be here already. It seemed so far away and didn't feel real until I left the airport. Tomorrow we have some more orientation stuff. I'm kinda glad I didn't come any earlier, because Talia said the first day of orientation was basically everyone getting together and having drinks at a pub, which is nice but at least I didn't miss too much. Today was some team building/outdoor activities, but since I was way too tired, I didn't go. Tomorrow there is some sort of personal and professional development series, and then student ID's, a library tour and the welcome dinner. Not sure if I'll do the whole day of activities, depending on how tired I am...

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

I seriously cannot believe I am leaving tomorrow for Dublin! It felt so far away. I am really excited and a little nervous. Last time I studied abroad it was with friends and I kinda had a better idea of what to expect. This time, I will be traveling by myself, and must try to find my way to my new place. Luckily everyone there speaks English (or their version of it!)

It will definitely be weird not being at Pepperdine, knowing that all this stuff is going to go on while I'm gone, but I know I will have an awesome time!

I spent today just hanging out with family, my little niece in particular who is so cute, I could die! I'll be sad not to see her grow up for the next three months, but my sis promised to post pics and videos so I can see little Alexis! She slept during most of my visit with her today, I really wanted to wake her up, but Can wouldn't let me.

So as of tomorrow afternoon, I will be off to Dublin to spend the next three months living, studying (hopefully not too much), drinking and having a fun time!! Cannot wait!! But...I will really miss everyone back home! Email me and let me know how you're all doing. I will be on Skype, once I figure it all out.