The Final Countdown

I'm sorry that I haven't been updating you all on my European adventures but finals at UCD started yesterday and I have been trying to study. And, yes, I do mean "trying." After a semester of very little work it has been hard to get in the right mindset to study hard (I accidentally watched Waiting for Guffman last night), but I guess I can't complain.

Finals here are a lot different than at home. First off, the exams are not administered on the UCD campus, but rather at a convention complex about a 30-minute walk away. UCD has the building that looks like a concert venue and smells like a barn. It has 2000 tables and chairs set up and each student gets assigned a seat. They also have a bag check that you must check your bag into for one euro. They don't want to take any chances that you are cheating.

I walked to the exam place but there are also free shuttles that leave campus every 20 minutes. The problem- with a building that holds 2000 students, a bus that carries 40 leaving every 20 minutes is not going to do much. From what I hear, students literally get into fist-fights over who gets on the bus because no one wants to miss their finals.

I had my first final today and it was an essay test, like every other exam I have this semester. Financial Institutions Management was the exam d' jour and I think I did a decent job; at least I hope I did well because it was worth 100% of my grade, which is very nerve-racking.

And the Final Countdown to the US: 3 weeks from today! Who's excited?

Classes

Three classes done for the first week and two more this afternoon. Here's the recap so far if you're interested:

Financial Institutions Management- This seems to be primary about financial regulation. It is taught by an Irish professor (who has ten children) and I would say about one third of the class is American. This week we talked a lot about what happened in Ireland when their economy started going downhill.

The EU and the Business Environment- This class may be a lot of work but learning about the EU can only be beneficial. We're learning about the EU and what it can and can't do, plus the pros and cons of having a supranational organization.Currently, the EU consists of 27 states, with Croatia and Turkey petitioning to become a part.

Cross-Cultural Management- I just had it this morning and, although it is at 9 am, it seems like a fun class. I am one of only 3 Americans and the class has 16 people counting me. I don't, however, think there are any Irish students in it. Actually, they are enrolled in it they just didn't show up. We have many French students, plus Australian, Spanish, Austrian, and one kid from the Netherlands. Today we talked a little about cultural differences and it should be a good class for discussions.

Right now I'm on my way to get a brouchure about taking Irish here. It's only a 6 week class and it could be fun, and I'll know how to use words like "craic" without sounding like a tourist.

On that same idea, I am trying to look more and more like a local as I settle in. There is one problem- everytime I open my mouth it is plain as day that I am from America. So I can either be an articulate American or a mute Irish. I'm working on a fake Irish dialect currently, but my best line is "they're after me lucky charms."

First Day of School

Pond on campus

Unlike everyone celebrating MLK Day, I started school today. Ok, I only had one class and it started at 3, but I still had to start school.

My only class was Financial Institutions Management, which will tranfer for my Finance degree. We talked about the problems with the Irish economy now. Ireland went from being the second poorest country in Europe to having the second greatest GDP. Now they have fallen on hard times like much of the world. One of the speakers at orientation said that this is the best time in the past 15 years to come to Ireland because its future is being decided now. There is a lot of talk about what happened to the Irish people when they had all this money, and how their priorities switched and they became less friendly.

So far classes really aren't that different from the US. My professor did arrive ten minutes late and his cell phone kept going off. I will keep you updated after I have a few more classes.

Considering the number of questions I get at ICS on how to print, I thought U of I had the hardest print release ever. False: UCD has the most complex printing system ever. It took me the whole day to print a bank statement proving I have enough money to stay in Ireland (one has to show they have at least 1000 euro to pass immigration). I had to get a card, which I later find I couldn't use unless my document was on a USB, fill my other card (the machine kept rejecting my money!), get a password, and finally print. Brittany had to get special software installed to print her stuff. I'm thankful I don't work at these computer labs or I would never be able to beat Mario Bros level 8 during work with all the people asking me how to print.