DUBLIN -- I have never been out of the United States. The furthest I have ever been from home was Chicago during the summer after my senior year. The longest I have been away from home was two months last semester at AU. So no, I am not a worldly person and no, I am not the biggest traveler. However, I have always planned to be. And thus my epic journey to Ireland came into being. Maybe it's not necessarily epic, but for a girl from a town so small that it only has one stoplight (because it's only big enough for one intersection), this is pretty big.
You may have already guessed my ignorance of foreign things such as the currency exchange, the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit and the conversion between a kilometer and a mile. You also may have noticed that all of this is math. Just to state: I am a journalism major with a minor in cinema studies. I'm not going to be able to wake up before an early class and do the required math to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit (C*9/5+32 -- yes, I looked it up). Thankfully, I can just assume it's cold and raining. Hooray for stereotypes! But seriously, the currency exchange provides a bigger issue. The biggest issue: a phone plan.
Americans are texters. We like to text, not talk. Don't even try to deny it. And those American phone companies know it. So when you go asking about an international plan, be prepared for the worst. I have learned this the hard way this week. It's a ridiculous flat rate a month for calling plus a sickening amount per minute. It's the same principle for texting, except at an even scarier rate. My conclusion: buy a phone in Ireland. It's simple and God knows it's got to be cheaper.
Besides these few issues -- though at this point they seem like a lot -- I am totally psyched to get my butt on the (slightly dreaded) seven hour flight. I have a lot of hopes for my experience at University College Dublin. Most of them are unrecognized and will probably come to my attention when I actually get there, but I have some. I hope to make a lot of friends, I hope to work on my cinema minor and I secretly hope to start talking in the accent. As for what I know: I know I want to be the biggest tourist ever and see everything I possibly can. Yeah, you know what it looks like: the constant snapping of photographs, checking the huge map while you stand in people's way, the "I love Dublin" T-shirt. Okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the idea. And I know I am going to have the most awesome time of my life. I'll keep you updated.
You can reach this staff writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
