nice try, earl

Despite his efforts, Earl had no success trying to keep me from Ireland. While I could see a wall of clouds hanging between the Newark runway and New York's skyline, I was still on board and off the ground sixteen minutes early. The flight was easy... I even had an empty seat next to me, so I took full advantage and sprawled out for a good nap.

I was one of the first few to customs. "And how long will you be staying for?" "Just a week." I watched the woman in front of me have her passport stamped and sail through, then looked back at the line behind me. I realized they would quickly come to hate me because I would answer, "Until December 18th." And then pull out a folder of paperwork and have a nice chat with the clerk about what I'd be studying and where. When he asked me to step in front of the camera to have my picture taken, he was happy to see me smile, as he said he has to remind most people that smiling is actually okay.

My bag was easy enough to spot on the carousel since I had put about 8 disposable luggage tags on the handle. And it's huge. My cab driver took me right where I needed to go, but honestly I expected more out of him in the way of chatter. Past Ireland-goers had told me how friendly cab drivers are and that they'll always have a story for you. I think the most I got from mine was, "jesus christ," when he lifted my bag into the trunk.

My fear that I had over packed was quickly overcome when I met up with a girl at the gate to our residence, and she was dragging twice what I had. Our rooms are quickly becoming our own with beds finally made, and pictures stuck on the walls, and we now have minimal food in our cupboards.

After we got into our rooms, we were lead across the city to the Tisch building. Our day was spent doing a brief orientation, then lunch at a cute little café. We got our Irish cell phones, keys to the building, and then went off to explore the city a little on our own and bought hangers and thumb tacks.

Yes. We toasted the beginning of the semester with our first round of Guinness pints.
There are 18 kids in the program, split between screen writing and music video, (although our companion courses allow us to overlap in study), and everyone seems like a blast! It feels like we’ve been together for a week already…


Things to know:
1 - Continental will not accept single pieces of luggage over 70 pounds. Especially not 76 pounds.
2 - Cab drivers ask you to wear your seat belt (culture shock?!)
3 -The same exact cab ride can cost one person 21 euros, and someone else 36.
4 - "Chips" are fries. "Crisps" are chips.
5 - Frosted flakes are simply, "Frosties."
6 - "crack" is fun. means "fun."
7 - Grocery stores do not only encourage bringing your own reusable bags, but will actually not give you a disposable bag for your groceries. And if you ask for one because you forgot they will remind you that you'll just throw it away when you get home and it's a waste.
8 - many college students do not know how to grocery shop for themselves.