Day 1:
On Thursday it finally began. The first day of induction, meeting the other exchange students for the first time and finally taking a look around the campus of IT Sligo.
There are quite a lot of new exchange students coming from different countries such as France, Brazil, The United States and Italy. What surprised me though was the fact that about 80% of all the new exchange students were guys. Most likely due to the new international program for engineering or something like that. People seem really nice, though, so I'm sure we'll have no problem getting along and having a blast together.
On the first day we took a tour around campus, which is huge, I might add. I'm pretty sure I'll get lost on the first days of school. But at least all the buildings and centers for different programs are on the same area, which helps a lot. The campus seems really nice, there are a lot of different places for studying and/or just hanging out with friends. The library is big compared to my school's. And there are even some really comfy-looking lounges for students with sofas, music and things like that, if we for example want to take a break in studying.
I had lunch at the main cafeteria with some of the girls and I noticed one thing that Finland beats Ireland in hands down: school food. First of all, the school food was really expensive. Sure, if you went out to eat at a restaurant, the food wouldn't be that expensive, but for school lunch, something that you have to eat 5 times in a week at best, it's insanely expensive. And also mainly really unhealthy, foods like French fries, hamburgers and other fast food like that. Sure, there were salad alternatives as well, but they're a lot more expensive. Fast food is nice every now and then, but there's no way I could eat it on a weekly basis. So most likely I'll end up taking my own lunch with me to school. So it seems like it's one point for Finland and especially to its excellent school lunch.
In the evening, I went out with some of the exchange students I've met during the day and then we went to one of the local bars. It was a nice night, I got to meet some new people etc. Though I went home quite early cause the next day we would had the other day of induction and a trip to a waterfall. Or so I thought.
Day 2:
It was quite rainy when I walked to campus on Friday morning. But since we're in Ireland, so it's not surprising. Sadly, the planned trip to Glencar waterfall was cancelled due to the rainy weather. To a Finn who's used to hell of a lot worse than just a little rain it sounded rather weird to cancel the trip cause of the weather, especially when we're in Ireland, where yes, it does rain quite often. But oh well, at least we'll do the trip some other time. The waterfall is something I really really want to see while I'm here.
In the afternoon we got to take a look around the Knocknarea Arena, a place where all the students of IT Sligo can do various sports with a reasonable price. The place was well-equipped with gym, a big gymnasium, soccer fields etc. Extremely good opportunities to do all kinds of sports, compared to my school at least.
In the evening I met up with the other Finnish girl here in Sligo and went to a goodbye party of some exchange student she knew. It was a fun night. Though in the beginning, we looked like the ultimate Finnish stereotype, with two Finns sitting by themselves at the table and all the others talking in big groups. But as the evening went on, we got to talking with some new people, even to a couple of Irish people. From the party we went to a night club that had a some sort of 90's theme party. Normally I'm not too big a fan of night clubs, but that club was actually a pretty good place, mostly due to the 90's music. All in all, it was a great night, perhaps the most fun I've had while I've been here in Ireland.
Tomorrow it'll be the first "real" school day for me, with actual classes. We'll see how lost I'll be at the campus. But considering that I haven't had actual classes since December, I'm actually really looking forward to them. And especially seeing what it'll be like to study in English in stead of Finnish. But I'll tell more about it all by the end of next week.
On Thursday it finally began. The first day of induction, meeting the other exchange students for the first time and finally taking a look around the campus of IT Sligo.
There are quite a lot of new exchange students coming from different countries such as France, Brazil, The United States and Italy. What surprised me though was the fact that about 80% of all the new exchange students were guys. Most likely due to the new international program for engineering or something like that. People seem really nice, though, so I'm sure we'll have no problem getting along and having a blast together.
On the first day we took a tour around campus, which is huge, I might add. I'm pretty sure I'll get lost on the first days of school. But at least all the buildings and centers for different programs are on the same area, which helps a lot. The campus seems really nice, there are a lot of different places for studying and/or just hanging out with friends. The library is big compared to my school's. And there are even some really comfy-looking lounges for students with sofas, music and things like that, if we for example want to take a break in studying.
I had lunch at the main cafeteria with some of the girls and I noticed one thing that Finland beats Ireland in hands down: school food. First of all, the school food was really expensive. Sure, if you went out to eat at a restaurant, the food wouldn't be that expensive, but for school lunch, something that you have to eat 5 times in a week at best, it's insanely expensive. And also mainly really unhealthy, foods like French fries, hamburgers and other fast food like that. Sure, there were salad alternatives as well, but they're a lot more expensive. Fast food is nice every now and then, but there's no way I could eat it on a weekly basis. So most likely I'll end up taking my own lunch with me to school. So it seems like it's one point for Finland and especially to its excellent school lunch.
In the evening, I went out with some of the exchange students I've met during the day and then we went to one of the local bars. It was a nice night, I got to meet some new people etc. Though I went home quite early cause the next day we would had the other day of induction and a trip to a waterfall. Or so I thought.
Day 2:
It was quite rainy when I walked to campus on Friday morning. But since we're in Ireland, so it's not surprising. Sadly, the planned trip to Glencar waterfall was cancelled due to the rainy weather. To a Finn who's used to hell of a lot worse than just a little rain it sounded rather weird to cancel the trip cause of the weather, especially when we're in Ireland, where yes, it does rain quite often. But oh well, at least we'll do the trip some other time. The waterfall is something I really really want to see while I'm here.
In the afternoon we got to take a look around the Knocknarea Arena, a place where all the students of IT Sligo can do various sports with a reasonable price. The place was well-equipped with gym, a big gymnasium, soccer fields etc. Extremely good opportunities to do all kinds of sports, compared to my school at least.
In the evening I met up with the other Finnish girl here in Sligo and went to a goodbye party of some exchange student she knew. It was a fun night. Though in the beginning, we looked like the ultimate Finnish stereotype, with two Finns sitting by themselves at the table and all the others talking in big groups. But as the evening went on, we got to talking with some new people, even to a couple of Irish people. From the party we went to a night club that had a some sort of 90's theme party. Normally I'm not too big a fan of night clubs, but that club was actually a pretty good place, mostly due to the 90's music. All in all, it was a great night, perhaps the most fun I've had while I've been here in Ireland.
Tomorrow it'll be the first "real" school day for me, with actual classes. We'll see how lost I'll be at the campus. But considering that I haven't had actual classes since December, I'm actually really looking forward to them. And especially seeing what it'll be like to study in English in stead of Finnish. But I'll tell more about it all by the end of next week.
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