LESSONS LEARNED Part 1: Hey, Freshman.

This is the first in a series of posts that I’m going to entitle: Lessons Learned. It’s going to be about the knowledge I’m gaining here in Ireland not just academically, but socially, monetarily, and maybe even spiritually. Some of these lessons, unfortunately have been learned the hard way, but those are the ones that leave the strongest impression, right? So here we go:

Lesson 1: Don’t trust two-in-one washer/dryer combos. Yes, you read that correctly. Our clothing sanitation device is actually a washer AND dryer in one very petite machine. Unfortunately, the dryer half isn’t exactly holding up his end of the bargain. Luckily, my roommate’s mother coerced her into bringing a clothesline (which she brought begrudgingly) under the assumption that it would be the “most useful think she brings to Ireland”. Lesson 1-2: Always listen to Mom. Our clothes are strung up all over the apartment, but on the bright side, it always smells like laundry!

Lesson 2: Don’t order water in a restaurant. That’s right, make the frugal choice and stick with some free tap water, right? Nope. Order water in a restaurant and it comes to you in a fancy glass bottle for 3.25 euro. That’s about $4.20 for water. I know. I’d rather take my chances and go take a swig out of the River Liffey than pay that again.

Lesson 3: Bring your own bag to the grocery store. And be prepared. Bags here cost and extra 10 cents if you want to use them, and the cashiers do NOT do the bagging for you like the nice people at your local Stop & Shop. My roommates and I have been caught struggling at the end of the conveyor belt shoving pasta, milk, and eggs into our backpacks and coat pockets then struggling through the 15 minute wobble back to our apartment. On the other hand, it’s a great way to get people using reusable bags. We sure do, now!

Lesson 4: Patience. Looks like you were right all along, Dad: Patience is a virtue. When I spend a half hour trying to connect to the internet: patience. When I’m only registered for half my classes and still don’t have a set schedule: patience. When I’m jumping into classes half way through the year and don’t understand anything: patience. Even though I’ve had moments here where I feel like I’m just kind of floating around without any real ground under my feet, I know that in a very short time I’ll have caught my flow and will fall into a groove. It’s a bit annoying to feel like a freshman all over again, but I guess life is just a series of being a freshman, working your way up, and then becoming a freshman again. But being a lowly, ignorant, freshman is when you have the most to learn, right? If we feel like we know everything, we won’t learn anything new. So here I am, with my pen and pencil (or rather, my keyboard) ready to learn and ready face new challenges!

Bring it, Ireland!