Sommer's Time in an Irish Winter

I have been here six days and yet it feels like I have been here a month. I keep waiting for someone to wake me up from an apparent alter universe I am living in! Walking to a simple convenient store is like walking through a fairy tale, passing old brick buildings covered with ivy, walking over canals with quaint bridges and swans gliding to greet you. From my kitchen window I can see the giant "catedral"straight ahead, the old castle looking University to my left and the ocean with all the rivers and canals leading to it on my right. This is obviously a dream I am living in in which I will probably not wake up until that fateful day in May. Instead of listing off my day to day experiences, I am going to write a list of things that I have learned while staying here thus far.

Lesson 1- Bathrooms are called toilets

Lesson 2- There are a lot of sheep.

Lesson 3- Salads are not really salads here, they consist of a pile of lettuce sided with meat.

Lesson 4- Galway has not entered the 21st century, there is not WiFi anywhere

Lesson 5- Do not pick up the plates at a restaurant after eating and do not leave tips!

Lesson 6- The bacon is cooked, it only LOOKS raw...

Lesson 7- Nothing is built for comfort here.

Lesson 8- It is more then socially acceptable to order a beer at 3 in the afternoon

Lesson 9- Guinness tastes amazing in Ireland and only in Ireland.

Lesson 10- Two new drinks that are very good and a staple for everyone who cant handle Guinness: Kopper Burg and Bulmers Hard Cider

Lesson 11- People do not pick up after their dogs. At all.

Lesson 12- A line is called "a que" here.

Lesson 13- When someone says that a person "has crack" that means that the person is funny not that they sell hard drugs. For example "the two priests on campus have great crack, you'll love them for that."

Lesson 14- Mass here is very different. First off it lasts 36 minutes, everyone mumbles prayers and nobody sings, not even the priest. At communion people kneel around the alter and wait for someone to come around and give them the bread.

Lesson 15- Registering for classes is a nightmare for international students.