Hello again, friends! And happy Cinco de Mayo! It’s been a while since my last post,
but I’ve finally got the time to sit down and unleash a few words onto paper (or,
ya know, the internet). I’ve been spending my days holed up in the library on
facebook … I mean studying … for my five finals I have to take before departure.
I had my first final this past Wednesday, and let’s just say it won’t exactly
be best friends with my GPA. But that’s all water under the bridge!
I’ve been waiting to write up this installment of my Lesson’s
Learned saga since getting back from my euro trip which is now two weeks in my
past. I can’t believe how the time is flying. I’ve got some great knowledge to
throw at you so let’s get started, shall we?
Lesson 1: Check,
re-check, double re-check, and quadruple check. Now, this is something that
I know to do, but it’s those tiny instances when you forget to check the
smallest thing and end up paying through the nose that drill this lesson into
your brain. We had two instances of this on our trip. The first was in Prague
when Lindsay realized at 11pm that her 2:00 flight to Istanbul was actually for
2:00 am, not pm. Whoops. We all helped book flights and connecting flights and
trains and trams until a few hours, some stressed phone calls to mom, and a good
bit of money later, we had her all set to go to Istanbul. What airline
schedules flights at 2:00am anyway?? Such a small mistake, and yet so stressful
and costly. But even so, everything turned out just fine! The second unfortunate
instance happened as we were leaving Budapest. For whatever reason, my friends
and I ended up with different flights home – theirs in the morning and mine in
the late afternoon. I was sitting and enjoying a leisurely breakfast as my
friends scrambled around packing up their things when I had the nagging feeling
that I should check my boarding pass. Sure enough, my flight home from Budapest
was schedule for April 8th, an entire two weeks earlier. I started
at the page in disbelief for about five minutes, and when the number still hadn’t
changed from an eight to a twenty one I decided to pack up my things and head
to the airport with my friends to see if I could catch their flight back to Dublin.
Luckily, there were still spots left on the flight. When the lady who booked my
ticket handed me the calculator to show me the price in euros I had to white
knuckle the counter to stop myself from keeling over and bleating like a goat. I’d
say it cost me an arm and a leg, but really it was more like an arm, a leg, a
few organs, and a kneecap. All because I forgot to double check the date.
Needless to say, it’s a mistake I will remember forever, and hopefully never make
again. But even these financially agonizing setbacks weren’t enough to spoil
the trip of a lifetime. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, mistakes
included.
Lesson 2: Hindsight
is 20-20. Looking back at this semester there are only a few things I would
have done differently. For instance, I could have branched out and taken a few
general electives and possibly had a few less exams instead of taking an
unnecessary five sociology classes. I don’t regret taking the classes I did at
all though. It would have been nice not studying for five exams, but I really
liked most of the classes I took, and have made some really cool friends
because of it. I also wish I had had some insight about the small money waters
that catch you before you realize they were completely unnecessary purchases. For example: a €14 discount travel card that I
used once (for a few cents off a large mocha latte), a €24 euro textbook that I
didn’t even glance at (oops), a €10 lock that was supposed to be “the best for
the gym lockers” but ended up getting cut off with a bolt cutter because it got
stuck (I got another perfectly fine lock for €1), and a few other small items
that proved to be unnecessary. That’s already €48 euro! That’s almost 10 pints
of Guinness! But, you live and you learn, right? In the future I’ll be more careful
about making sure something will be useful before I spend money on it.
Lesson
3: Do the things you’ll remember
when you’re forty. I’m not entirely sure why, when I think of my future
self remembering my youth, I think of myself as being forty. Maybe I
subconsciously think I won’t make it past forty. Or maybe forty is just so inconceivably
old to me that I can’t picture myself being older than that (my sincerest apologies
to those of you who are now not speaking with me). But nevertheless, it’s my
philosophy to do the things I’ll remember when I’m forty. When I’m forty I won’t
remember how much money I spent here, I won’t remember what I got on my exams, I
won’t remember the hours spent in the library, I won’t remember reading article
after tedious sociology article, I probably won’t even remember my GPA. What I
will remember is Paris, Prague, Rome, Florence, and Budapest. I’ll remember seeing
original Van Gogh’s in Amsterdam. I’ll remember the best waffle I’ve ever had
in Brussels. I’ll remember going out with my friends for pints and live music
on school nights. I’ll (sort of) remember doing Irish car bombs on St. Patrick’s
Day. I’ll remember the time spent hanging out and exploring Dublin with my
friends when I “should have” been studying for finals. These are the things
that really matter in life. Not the money and the grades, but the friends and
the memories. I may not have been a star pupil this semester, but when I’m
forty, I’ll be able to look back on and very happily remember the semester that
has forever altered my life.
So
there’s the lesson for today: always put things in perspective, whether
foresight or hindsight. As I finish up this blog post I’m sitting on my bed in
a stream of sunlight, sipping coffee, and looking out my window at the
passerby. It’s even the small memories like this one, the image of Dublin from
my bedroom window, that I’ll keep with me forever. I can’t believe how fast the
time has gone by. In just twenty one days I’ll be back on American soil. WILD.
I am incredibly excited to see all of you again! But I will be a little
brokenhearted to leave the place that has so easily become my second home.
Twenty one days means I’ve got a lot of memory making to squeeze in. I’ll be
sure to keep you posted on how I spend my last few weeks in Ireland!
Until
next time, cheers friends!
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