After the six-hour flight – where I unfortunately lost five hours to the time change and got only one hour of sleep – I arrived at Shannon Airport. I expected cool, rainy weather upon my arrival but I was wrong. When I stepped off the airplane, I was taken aback by the unsuspected warmness. After congregating with a group of 21 students and three professors, taking a bathroom break, and sitting for a quick snack, we hopped on a coach shuttle to our first destination: Cork. Although I was extremely excited to be in my first European country, I couldn’t help but snooze off on the ride. Luckily I was able to stay awake for the first 10 minutes or so because our driver stopped at the first sighting of a castle and we all got out to take pictures. Once I got back on the shuttle though, I crashed. The shuttle ride to Cork took around two hours. When I woke from my quick nap, we were stopping for a quick lunch break at a gas station. There, I had my first Irish meal: a fried veggie burger with lettuce and a mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise, and chips (more commonly known as the Irish term for French fries). The burger was potato based and surprisingly had a decent amount of vegetables in it. Soon after our lunch break we arrived at our first place of residence, University Hall at the UCC Campus. I was shocked to find out that each student would be getting his or her own room and bathroom. I was excited to have privacy but a little disappointed that we were all separated from one another. After unpacking and getting settled with the apartment complex, the whole group went to dinner at a restaurant called Milanos. I was a little unsure of how tasty the Italian food would be in Ireland but my vegetarian Cannelloni dish was delicious. After dinner, majority of the group decided to explore some Irish pubs. We decided on a place called An Brog, since we heard from a few people it was one of the best pubs in Cork. After toasting to Ireland, maybe more than once, the night only got better. I tried my share of Irish beers/ciders (Bulmer’s, Carlsberg, Murphy’s, etc.) and even met some local Irish guys, Vronin and Tiernen. They both attend UCC but were off for the summer. Vronin told me he would soon be traveling to Ocean City, Maryland, whereas Tiernen was about to travel to the western side of Canada. It was funny to hear of their excitement on traveling to America/Canada because I was overwhelmed with my own excitement of being in Ireland for the first time.
My first day/night in Cork was certainly a success. I was able to quickly bond with students from my group, find decent meals to eat, and experience my first night out on the town without getting lost. I am really looking forward to more fun nights to come in Cork.
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