A typical day in Dublin is drastically different from my small school in Virginia. Instead of the normal 5 minute commute I'm accustomed to, I walk 20-25 minutes to get to class. This means getting myself up an hour early to ensure that I'm not late for my 9 am class. Life isn't so bad, though, when you're privileged enough to walk through the heart of Dublin twice daily. Myself and a group of 5 meet outside our apartments for the trek to school each morning.
International School of Business classes are in the morning, so my Monday commences with a course on the Social and Economic Aspects of Ireland. I share this class with approximately 30 European students. On Mondays, we discuss the social side of Ireland with our program director, Francis Kelly, as the professor. On Wednesdays, we have an economist named Stephen Chandler who teaches on Ireland's economy. Class lasts 90 minutes, and then it's off to my Marketing Communications class. This is a bit smaller with 20 students. We are all in groups of five, and the class objective is to develop a marketing plan for an Irish-based company. This is where we really delve into intercultural communications, as each group is made up of at least three nationalities; my group has one German, three French, and an American. We meet up a few times a week outside of class to work on our plan. We must present the final work to the faculty members during the mid-term week. After Marketing I grab a quick lunch, and then it's off to History of Ireland. Six other Americans in the CEA program and two French students who are studying International Relations makeup the class. The Natural History Museum is just around the corner from school, so we are fortunate enough to have spent a couple of classes there exploring Irish history first-hand. After history is our Communication and Global Competence class, which teaches us about cross-cultural communications. We had an assessment this week questioning us on topics such as: American perception to foreign culture, the influence of Europe on the nations it colonized, and how "time" rules some cultures (American), where it's an after-thought for others (Irish). Mondays and Wednesdays are busy for me, but it evens out when I only have one class- Popular Culture of Ireland- on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
In Pop Culture, we study the myths and truths behind Irish culture through selected course readings and field trips (example: Leprechauns are more popular in America than they have ever been in Ireland). This week, we took a field trip to Croke Park in Dublin, the premier sporting venue in all of Ireland. Here they play the championship games for all Gaelic Athletic Association sports. GAA sports are unique to Ireland, and they play a huge, competitive role in county pride amongst 32 counties in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. A GAA championship is the equivalent to your favorite team winning the Super Bowl! Our first assignment in Pop Culture is to develop a photo essay featuring various parts of Dublin, each picture explaining a symbol in the city and its relevance to Dublin culture. After class, I usually stop at the grocery store, prepare dinner, then begin my homework for the night. It's not all work here, though. Last week, we made a day trip to the 12th century monastery in Glendalough, and today we went paint balling with CEA/ISB students and faculty.
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| Our daily commute includes a wonderful view of The River Liffey |
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| 18 students from ISB/CEA live together in this apartment complex. |
International School of Business classes are in the morning, so my Monday commences with a course on the Social and Economic Aspects of Ireland. I share this class with approximately 30 European students. On Mondays, we discuss the social side of Ireland with our program director, Francis Kelly, as the professor. On Wednesdays, we have an economist named Stephen Chandler who teaches on Ireland's economy. Class lasts 90 minutes, and then it's off to my Marketing Communications class. This is a bit smaller with 20 students. We are all in groups of five, and the class objective is to develop a marketing plan for an Irish-based company. This is where we really delve into intercultural communications, as each group is made up of at least three nationalities; my group has one German, three French, and an American. We meet up a few times a week outside of class to work on our plan. We must present the final work to the faculty members during the mid-term week. After Marketing I grab a quick lunch, and then it's off to History of Ireland. Six other Americans in the CEA program and two French students who are studying International Relations makeup the class. The Natural History Museum is just around the corner from school, so we are fortunate enough to have spent a couple of classes there exploring Irish history first-hand. After history is our Communication and Global Competence class, which teaches us about cross-cultural communications. We had an assessment this week questioning us on topics such as: American perception to foreign culture, the influence of Europe on the nations it colonized, and how "time" rules some cultures (American), where it's an after-thought for others (Irish). Mondays and Wednesdays are busy for me, but it evens out when I only have one class- Popular Culture of Ireland- on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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| Our Pop Culture of Ireland class, along with Event Management students from ISB, were given a private tour of Croke Park! |
In Pop Culture, we study the myths and truths behind Irish culture through selected course readings and field trips (example: Leprechauns are more popular in America than they have ever been in Ireland). This week, we took a field trip to Croke Park in Dublin, the premier sporting venue in all of Ireland. Here they play the championship games for all Gaelic Athletic Association sports. GAA sports are unique to Ireland, and they play a huge, competitive role in county pride amongst 32 counties in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. A GAA championship is the equivalent to your favorite team winning the Super Bowl! Our first assignment in Pop Culture is to develop a photo essay featuring various parts of Dublin, each picture explaining a symbol in the city and its relevance to Dublin culture. After class, I usually stop at the grocery store, prepare dinner, then begin my homework for the night. It's not all work here, though. Last week, we made a day trip to the 12th century monastery in Glendalough, and today we went paint balling with CEA/ISB students and faculty.
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| A scenic view at Glendalough National Park. (Photo courtesy of Ashton Ulrich.) |
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| Francis took a paintball off the noggin. |
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| After a long day of paintballing, we stopped at Johnnie Fox's, the highest pub in Ireland. |
I hope this gives you a better understanding of life for CEA/ISB students here in Dublin! Be sure to catch another post next week!
Rory Finnegan is the Fall 2014 CEA MOJO in Dublin, Ireland. He is currently a senior at Virginia Wesleyan College.