Rag week

So this week in Sligo (and in some other cities as well) was something called Raise and Give week, or Rag week in short. Basically, this week is supposed to be about charity. Some activities in which you can participate in and donate money to charity that way, bars donating money for charity when buying certain products etc. But, what this week mostly is really about, is partying for almost one week straight.
There were all sorts of different parties organized in almost every bar and night club in town and some of them were open as early as 12 am.
On Monday, the first day of Rag week, I went to one of the bars near to my school and very popular among students, with my friend, just to see what this "infamous"Rag week  is about. It was maybe 7 pm when we got there, and already many people were feeling rather, cheerful. But all in all, it was a nice night, met quite a lot of people we knew and all that. And it wasn't even nearly as crowded in the bars and pubs as it was in the last days of Rag week, which was really nice.
I went out with friends on couple other nights as well, though most of the parties that for example the night clubs were organizing, were a bit disappointing. If there was supposed to be any theme in any of the parties, you really couldn't tell. The only major difference to any other week was that it was a lot more crowded in the bars, especially in the last few days of Rag week.
It seems that the bars aren't too big on the themes of their parties, which is kinda sad. Especially when, for example this "White party", me and my friend actually bought some white clothes and got all dressed up, only to find out that very few people at the party were wearing anything white. But oh well, at least me and my friend can feel good about the fact that at least we did something for the theme.
All the time I've been here in Ireland, there's been talk about how much the Irish drink. And until Rag week, I would've said that the Irish drink just about as much as the Finns, nothing too shocking about their drinking habits. But Rag week, now that's something that the Irish beat Finns at, not even we have anything like this. A lot of people really seemed to be drinking the entire week, since I saw a lot of people already drinking when I for example walked to school or when I went to do the groceries early in the afternoon. What surprised me though, was the fact, that even though so many people were drinking a lot and many days in a row, there seemed to be very few more or less serious accidents. Or then I just haven't heard about them. I guess  that's the difference between Ireland and Finland; if anything like Rag week were to arrange there, I'm sure a lot more people would get hurt, accidents would happen etc. So in a way, I am happy that we don't have it in Finland. But, it was still nice to experience it and see what it was about. And now that I think about it, maybe it wasn't as bad as I would have thought. But all in all, this week was incredibly interesting, both in the good and in the bad, with loads of random events happening when I was out with friends.


After Rag week ended, it was time for something completely different: Sports, and not just any sport, Gaelic football. I've always hated watching sports, it just doesn't interest me in any way. But for some reason, I really loved watching Gaelic football. It was first time ever seeing the game, and I have to say, it was very interesting. It was Sligo v Offaly, and at first, me and my friend were confused which team was which. But then, when we managed to figure it out, we could really get into the game. The game looks quite random, since it has elements from sports like basketball and football. And to be honest, we're still not entirely clear of the rules of the game, but since we are definitely going to see another match of this cool game, we're gonna do some research. And next time, following the game and more importantly, actually understanding what's going on in the game, will be a little easier.
Another sport I'm really interested in going to see, is hurling. Another Irish sport. It's weird, normally I'm not interested in watching sports, so I'm not exactly sure what is it with these Irish sports that makes even someone like me interested in them.
To finish up, here's a couple of photos from the match:

One month in Ireland

Sorry about the long silence, I've been a bit ill, especially last week so I didn't feel like writing anything. And well this week, I've just been lazy. And when I finally managed to get something written, my internet connection died and I couldn't finish my writing. But now, I'm officially back.
On Sunday (February 16th), I realized that it's been a whole month since I came here. I really can't believe that I've been here that long, even though if it feels like I've been here even longer, but certainly not in a bad way. The time does fly here, and terrifyingly fast, I might add..
I've adjusted to my new school and hometown better than I had hoped. I've actually noticed small changes in me that I can thank Ireland and the people for. One is the fact that I have gotten more polite, saying things like "Excuse me" or "Sorry" even when it's not absolutely necessary and it has also become dead obvious to me. Sad to say, this is not even nearly always the case in Finland, unfortunately.. Finns aren't completely rude bastards, but the comparison to the Irish, it does no good for the image of Finns, there's no way around it.
I've also noticed that nowadays, I don't get caught off guard or absolutely surprised if a stranger either greets me or just randomly starts talking to me. I've started to like it and sometimes I even properly join in the conversation and tell something about me and my life, in stead of just nodding or going "yeah, ahaa" All in all, somehow I feel more open here than I did in Finland, and it must have something to with the people.

Two weeks ago, I did a trip to Donegal with my friends. Donegal is a nice little place quite near Sligo, ideal for day trips such as ours, since we were able to see the main sights and eat at a couple of restaurants and cafes during that one day alone.
We visited the Fàilte Ireland's (The Tourism info center of Ireland) office there and the lady there was so incredibly friendly and helpful and she was telling us about how there's so much to see in Donegal and pointing out all the important sights, and after all, all we had said to her was that we just arrived to Donegal and yet she told us all that without us even asking.
And since picture is worth a  thousand words, here are some photos of our trip:

Old cemetery in Donegal

    

   

 

Cause no blog is complete without at least a little bit of food porn..

Somewhere over the rainbow..

En route from Donegal back to Sligo

Donegal castle

Nothing new hasn't really happened, I go to school and classes, go out with friends a couple of times a week, kickboxing and that's mostly what my normal weeks are made of. But, I did do something new a few weeks ago; I tried Tai Chi for the first time. It was very relaxing and soothing and afterwards I felt all mellow and like I was in peace with the world or something. Though at first, when the instructor was talking about energy flows and stuff like that, I was wondering to myself, what is this, some sort of a hippie thing. That's why I was surprised, when I found myself really liking the class. Something I'm definitely keep on doing if I just have the time.
One thing most of you have probably noticed is the lack of photos of me and my friends. Which of course is due to the simple fact that I have no friends here.. Or not.
In one way, I'm sad that I don't have a small compact camera nor a smart phone, so I could take pictures of me and my friends when we go out. My camera is way too big to take with me to a party or when going out on the town. But, here is one of the few pictures of me and my friend, taken at some sort of an anti-Valentine's Day party at Velvet, one of the night clubs here. A place that actually has some class, believe it or not.

That's about it, I probably left out a lot of stuff since it's been so long since the last time I've written anything. But I'll try to get on writing more regularly from now on. So, till next time, bye!

First week of school

On Monday it finally began. I had my first classes at IT Sligo. Though the beginning wasn't exactly the most promising one; I got lost. Like really lost. I asked directions to the classroom from one of the faculty members and still couldn't find the damn room. But luckily I met one of the exchange students who was on the same class with me and we eventually found our way to our first class.

On top of getting lost, the night before I had come to the harsh realization that I wouldn't have just one but 3 classes at the same time, which basically would mean serious changes to my timetable. Thank god it turned out to be just a misunderstanding on my part having looked at the wrong timetables. I ended up dropping out of one of my courses due to schedule difficulties. But considering that I switched Introduction to Financial Accounting to Cultural Tourism, we're not exactly talking about a huge loss.

Courses:

At IT Sligo, I'll do 6 courses in total. I thought it would be more work, but I have less classes in a week than I would have thought. But of course that just means more work out side of school, presentations, essays etc.

All in all, the courses seem really interesting. There is quite a lot of theory, but it is combined with practical exercises and examples. The teachers seem to be really competent, not only do they know a lot of their area of expertise, they know how explain it and teach it to us students. And also they seem quite excited about having Erasmus students among the Irish students. Oh, and thing I'm hugely relieved about are the rather neutral accents of teachers. I have no problem understanding what they're saying, which is nice, since especially a heavy Irish accent is something that takes some time before you'll be able to fully understand it.

Also, a couple of the courses include a few very pleasant surprises: On my Cultural Tourism course, we'll do a day trip to Dublin in March, visiting a museum and possibly an art gallery. And another course, we'll get to plan a two-day trip to some destination. Depending on the budget, we'll either go somewhere in Ireland or The UK, or then somewhere else in Europe. So far Scotland, France and Poland are some of the alternatives. I'm excited about going anywhere, even if it's just some other city in Ireland, like Dublin or Galway, so there's really no chance of being disappointed with the destination, wherever we'll end up going.

Campus of IT Sligo and studies in general:

There are approximately 6 000 students at IT Sligo and there are a couple of different centers for different subjects. Of course the campus is huge and I got at least a little lost of everyday of my first week of school. But the thing I noticed though, was the fact that even though the school has a lot of students, it really doesn't like there are that many students. Every time I have some free time during the day and I for example go to the library or just want to take a seat somewhere, there's pretty much always room somewhere. And the campus doesn't feel as crowded as I would have thought. I'd say the cafeterias are the only places that are quite crowded most of the time I go there.

The campus is actually a really pleasant place. There are a lot of windows and light everywhere. The library is big and well equipped with a lot of different books, computers and different areas for studying, depending whether you want to study independently in silence or do a group project. And there are a couple of stores on campus selling things like notebooks, pencils, school books etc. Hell, there are even ATMs on campus!

So all in all, I get the feeling that the campus is better than the campus of my school back in Finland in many ways.

Of course finding my way around the campus takes time, though I think the worst is already behind me. But then there are the different procedures when it comes handing in school assignments, deadlines, doing exams etc. One thing that surprised me and perhaps creates a little pressure on me was the fact that if I happened to fail one of my exams, I'd have to pay 50€ for taking the exam again and the time for retaking it would be some time in August, by the time I have already left Ireland. Not sure should I consider that as encouragement and motivation to study hard for the exam or as a bit of an ultimatum. Anyways, I'm not too worried that cause the courses I'm taking seem really interesting and useful, which is bound to add motivation to studying. And also, the courses don't feel that hard or complicated, for now, at least. So I really shouldn't have any bigger difficulties passing them.

After school:

Especially the beginning of the week was quite exhausting for me, simply due to the fact of going to a whole new school, courses and the excitement and maybe slight nervousness of the new situation. But it was all for nothing, everything went so well, maybe even better than I had hoped. So during the first few days of the week, I didn't go out much. I did go out on Monday night, but I got home quite early cause I was quite tired and I had classes in the morning.

On Thursday, I tried one of the sports alternatives of the school. Kickboxing! I had never tried it before, but it turned out to be so much fun! One lesson cost only 3€, which is not too expensive, even for a student budget. The lesson wasn't too challenging, but afterwards, my legs did hurt quite a bit (and they kinda still do), so I must've really done something at them.

After kickboxing, I went straight home, got ready and then went out with some friends. The beginning of the night was nice. We went to one of the popular pubs among students called Shenanigans (awesome name for a pub, right?), which was a nice place with student friendly prices. From Shenanigans, we went to a night club called Pure. In short, Pure was probably the shittiest night club I've ever been to. Really crowded that you had to keep on shoving people so you could even move in there (and apparently that night wasn't even that crowded, so it gets worse..), people being so beyond wasted that it was just horrible, the sinks of the bathrooms were all clocked up cause they were filled with vomit, desperate guys hitting on anything that has boobs, mostly crappy music played with a really really high volume, and what else..So I highly doubt I'll ever go there again. At the least the company of that night was good, even if the place wasn't, so the night wasn't all bad.

On Friday I only had one class, what a nice way to end the school week. Since I've been out late last night, I took the Friday night a little slower. I went to the movies with my friend, to see Wolf of Wall Street. That movies was 3 hours of pure fucking decadence and hilarity. It was an excellent movie! And the tickets cost only 8,65€. And there was no student discount cause it was Friday night and the movie was 3 h long. So that is the "more expensive" price of a movie ticket here.. I remember when movie tickets were that cheap in Finland, that was years ago! I know I'll definitely go the movies more often here with the prices like these. And the thing that surprised me, was the size of the movie theater here. Sligo is much smaller than for example Joensuu, yet the movie theater is about twice as big!

Saturday, I was supposed to to this Chinese New Year event with a friend, but when we got there, it seemed that the whole event was cancelled, probably due to the weather. It was really really windy that day, for me it felt like a storm, with the wind actually pushing you when you walked.

So in stead of that event we decided to have some lunch at one of the cafes/restaurants. The food was nice and about the same priced as in Finland. After that we had coffee and cupcakes at this nice cafe.After that, we decided to have a little tour around Sligo, since neither of us had really had the time to explore Sligo that much. We discovered some nice shops, restaurants, buildings.. We even went inside one of the cathedrals. I had never been inside one before, so it was quite interesting. The cathedral was really old, I think it dated back to the 15th century or so. 

After the tour, we decided to out again. We went to some party at the apartment of one of the exchange students. At first, it was a bit awkward, since we really didn't know anybody there. But as the night went on, more people came in, even people we knew, so we got to talking with people. A little later, everyone left the apartment to go to the bars or night clubs. We ended up going to a club with one of the Irish we've met earlier. All in all, it was a fun night with dancing, getting to know some new people and all that. A really nice ending to my week.

We'll see what the next week will bring. But so far, life in Sligo has been really good!

Induction day 1 & 2

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.

First impressions of Ireland

It's been almost a week since I arrived to Ireland and during this time, I've already noticed that this country is quite different from Finland in all aspects, I've experienced culture shocks (positive ones, though) and I've noticed that I really really like it here. So here are some of the things I've came across here, perhaps even a bit of a comparison between Ireland and Finland. So bare with me, this is gonna be one hell of a long post.

People:

You know what they say about the Irish people being friendly? Well, they're right about that! The people here are so incredibly and genuinely friendly. Finns aren't too talkative, we can come across as rude etc. etc. But here, it's the complete opposite. I've actually been greeted by total strangers on the street and at the grocery store. A thing that small, yet it feels so big for me. We never do that in Finland. Sadly.
And when I was trying to find a travel adaptor for my laptop, I tried on several different stores before eventually finding one. At one store, when I had asked if they had those and the answer was no, their reply was "So sorry love, we don't have them." Another shock for me. Till coming to Ireland, I had always thought that people referring to other people, even though they don't know them as `love´was just a British/Irish cliché, but I guess I was wrong. Even though for a Finn, hearing something like that from a complete stranger, may feel weird or a bit pushy even, I was surprised of how comfortable I was with it. And to be honest, I liked it even, it felt warm and friendly.
Another thing when I tried to find that adaptor was when I went to yet another store that didn't have them, there the cashier asked if I had visited some store (I had) and then he suggested yet another store, and I didn't even have to ask for it separately. And of course he gave me clear directions how to get to get there, when I explained that I don't know my way around the town too well yet. I don't think you'd get that much information from simply asking "Excuse me, do you sell. travel adaptors?"
So yeah, with people like that, it's so easy to feel like home in this country.

Ireland- expensive or cheap?

I'm gonna say, neither. The only good thing with Finland's high as fuck price levels, is that pretty much anywhere you go, you won't be shocked by the price levels. There aren't too many places  that are remarkably more expensive than Finland.
Sure, some things are more expensive here, but only a little. But even those differences are evened out by the products that are cheaper here than in Finland. Fruits and vegetables seem to be cheaper here, especially some more exotic fruits. But then things that are quite cheap in Finland, can be surprisingly a little more expensive in Ireland. Noodles are one example of that. And those are just a few examples of the price levels here.
The thing that surprised me was the amount and size of different stores in Sligo, especially when this town is quite small (less than 20 000 inhabitants) In Finland, if the town is small, usually the amount of stores is quite small and the selections at stores aren't too good. But in Sligo, there is without a doubt the best (and probably the biggest too) grocery store I've ever been to; Tesco. The selections are HUGE, there are at least 5 different kinds of pretty much any product. And the thing that might make the price levels a bit cheaper than in Finland, are Tesco's own cheaper versions of almost all products. Not to mention that the quality of them is really good. Not just some crappy, cheap products. So you can pretty much find anything at Tesco. The only question remains, why the hell can't we have this store in Finland too!

Climate

A lot of people have thought I'm weird for being so excited about the Irish weather, the usual reaction "but it's so grey and rainy there all the time" Sure, it's a little rainy. But compared to Finland, it's so refreshing to be surrounded by so much green in mid-January.So it really doesn't feel all that grey to me. And of course, with no snow nor minus degrees (yet anyway) the climate here is so much better and more tolerable than in Finland for someone who hates the snow and cold. And the days are a few hours longer here, it gets dark a little after 6 pm and it gets light around 8 am. It's not much, but anything for the few extra hours of daylight.
Even though it is rainy and it's "winter" here, the sun still shines quite a lot, compared to Finland. It's nice to see the sun after such a long time, cause sunlight during winter in Finland is so rare.
One thing I've noticed that the weather can change quite quickly. If you go out and at that moment it seems that it's not going to rain, it's still better take an umbrella with you, cause the weather can change really quickly. I learned that after a couple of times walking home from a grocery store without an umbrella, in pouring rain.
Temperature in Sligo is quite pleasant. So far the wind hasn't been too strong or cold, and with 3-9 degrees temperature, even I can say that it feels warm here. Though that might partially be due to the fact that it was about -20 degrees when I left Finland. We'll see if the weather starts to feel colder to me after a few weeks.

Living

I was preparing myself to the fact that regardless of the warmer than Finland climate, the flats in Ireland might be colder than the ones I've gotten used to in Finland. I was right about that. The common areas of my flat, especially in the beginning, were freaking freezing, even though all the radiators were on full power. But now that I've spent time here, it seems that I'm slowly getting used to the chillier room temperature, or then it just really takes a while till the flats start to get warmer. My own room has been nicely warm, though (thank god!), excluding the first cold night.
One interesting thing here are the faucets. Here there are different faucets for cold and hot water. And sometimes it feels like there are only two different water temperatures; cold as a corpse and hotter than hell. But after a while, I've gotten the hang of them. And at least the shower is modern, with hot water coming without having to wait for too long.

On Thursday, I'll meet the other exchange students for the first time. Something I'm really looking forward to. And after that, I'll most likely get to know the town more and will see some sights. But that'll be a whole new story, something I'll tell by the end of this week. So till then, bye!

"I'm going on an adventure!"

Yay, finally pulled myself together and started this blog. So off we go.

January 16th, 5 am, Helsinki-Vantaa airport. This is where it all began. Me, extremely tired, flying off to Ireland for 6 months. A dream come true really. Though this day was far from dreamy, it being one of the longest days of my life.

I was feeling a bit nervous on that day for I have never flown anywhere and now I would do it for the first time, and alone. But in the end everything went fine. I found my way around both the Helsinki-Vantaa and Oslo airport and everything. Everything was going really smoothly, a lot better than I had hoped, until my flight from Oslo to Dublin anyways. That flight was over an hour late. Sure, at the time I really didn't care cause I was going in and out of consciousness, but when I finally arrived to Dublin, the first thing went wrong. I found out that I had missed my bus to Sligo with just 20 minutes. This meant that I had to wait for the next bus for almost 3 hours. So I waited.. By then, I had already been up for about 30 hours and I was so beyond exhausted that I just sat at the bus stop in Dublin, not really moving anywhere. And then, when my bus finally arrived, oh boy the relief!

On the bus, I was supposed to sleep a little,but I couldn't. I was mesmerized by the gorgeous landscapes of Ireland. Now I knew why this country had the nickname `The Emerald Island.´ It was so lovely and green everywhere!

When I finally arrived to Sligo, it was such a relief and a pleasant surprise that my Irish landlord had come to pick me up from the bus station and to take me to my new flat. By the time we reached my flat, all I could think was "I'm here, at last. I made it." The first (and only so far) bit of a negative thing about Ireland was that the flat was kinda freezing. For my liking anyways. So the first night I slept with a cardigan, several socks, gloves and a scarf on, under a huge blanket. So much for Finns being hardcore when it comes colder temperatures, I guess.. Regardless of that though, I was incredibly happy to have finally made it to Sligo. And now, my adventure could really begin. This have only been a prelude for all things to come..