#IPESummer2022
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Quarantine, Movies, and Velociraptors?!
Hi everyone! I’m back after another week in Ireland. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I tested positive for COVID last Friday and had to be quarantined for 7 days. That being said, I don’t have too much exciting stuff to talk about this week. The beginning of my week was mostly spent writing an essay about the factors of emigration in Ireland from 1845-1922 which had to be turned in by Wednesday evening. I still had to quarantine on Thursday and Friday so I basically just slept in, relaxed and watched a few movies on Netflix that I’ve wanted to watch forever. Since finishing my 7 days of quarantine on Friday, I’ve caught up on laundry, stocked up on snacks, gone on a fair share of nature walks, and played a bit of pick up basketball.
The quarantined COVID crew being extremely productive and working on essays over Zoom and not arguing about whether regularly drinking milk is weird or not. (Drinking milk is not weird)
Nature Strolls
After being cooped up in our rooms for several days, everyone that finished quarantining decided to get some fresh air and go on several nature walks.
The COVID crew fresh out of quarantine
We explored nearly all of the nature trails on campus, frequently stopping to play cards (lots of BS and Egyptian Ratscrew). Luckily, the weather this week has been phenomenal for our mini excursions around campus.
Some of the beautiful greenery showcased on the trails around UCD’s charming campus
On one of our walks, we discovered an empty pit surrounded by concrete walls and fencing. We honestly have no idea what the pit is used for, but we theorized that it was used to house Velociraptors in the early days of UCD.
Abandoned Velociraptor pit in the middle of the woods on UCD’s campus?!
Shortly after discovering the top secret Velociraptor pit, we were apprehended by the dinosaur authorities and thrown in a jungle prison. Okay not actually, but it would’ve been a lot cooler if that actually did happen.
Picture of me being held captive in the jungle prison that may or may not have just been some bars covering a drainage ditch next to the trail we were walking on.
In addition to our little expeditions on the trails around UCD, we also decided to walk down to the ocean and play more cards one night. The random beach that we found boasted a lovely view of Dublin Bay and was definitely worth the short hike from UCD. While we played cards on the beach, we were able to witness the tide swiftly creep up hundreds of feet before finally stopping a few yards away from where we were playing.
View of Dublin Bay at high tide from the beach that we found
Snacks
Being cooped up in my room for so long gave me plenty of time to contemplate what snacks I was going to snag as soon as I finished quarantining. I ended up splurging on two bags of brioche rolls with chocolate chips, a box of Frosted Chocotastic Pop-Tarts, six delicious chocolate chunk cookies, and two bags of bagels (with cream cheese of course) from the Centra on campus.
Moments before a bagel feeding frenzy
Basketball
Not playing basketball over the course of the past week as well as watching the NBA Finals definitely reignited my desire to get back out on the courts, so that's exactly what I ended up doing today. We played for several hours before finally calling it quits and ordering some Domino’s for dinner.
Movies
Being quarantined meant that I had tons of free time to watch whatever I wanted. Furthermore, since I’m in Ireland, I have access to some movies on Netflix that aren’t usually available in the US. On Thursday night, I watched Hustle, which is a basketball movie starring Adam Sandler. If you enjoy watching the NBA and Adam Sandler, you’ll definitely enjoy watching this movie. I ended up watching Inglourious Basterds on Friday which I thoroughly enjoyed , but it is a bit gory so it may not be for everyone. I spent Saturday night watching Fight Club which is another top tier movie in my opinion.
Anyways, that's it for this week's blog. Thank you all for reading. Until next time!
Dominick Thornton
Computer Science
Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies at UCD
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Adventures on The Emerald Isle
Hi everyone! My first week in Ireland has been unreal. I arrived in Dublin around midday on Sunday. Most of Sunday and Monday were spent unpacking and exploring the stunning University College Dublin (UCD) campus. The rest of Sunday and Monday were spent playing pick up basketball at one of the basketball courts on campus. My Modern Irish History class began Tuesday morning followed by an informative field trip to EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in the afternoon. Wednesday morning and afternoon consisted of 7 hours of physics including a lecture, tutorial, and lab. Wednesday night was occupied by more pick up basketball games. Another physics lecture kicked off my Thursday morning accompanied by another physics lab in the afternoon. Thursday was also karaoke night at the UCD Clubhouse Bar which ended up being where most of the students in my program spent their night. Friday’s classes consisted of another history lecture and a history tutorial. Pick up basketball consumed most of the night once again. On Saturday morning, we set off on a day trip that included a demonstration at Irish Working Sheepdogs and visits to Hollywood, Wicklow, and Glendalough. Saturday night was spent at the Keavan’s Port pub where some friends and I watched the UEFA Champions League Final while enjoying a few drinks. Sunday, the day I’m writing this blog, is more of a chill day. I slept in, did some laundry, and am going to grab some groceries and food later tonight before classes start up again tomorrow.
Arrival
My flight from Chicago to Dublin luckily only took a little over 6 hours. As we landed, I could see plenty of the picturesque eastern coast of Ireland. The Dublin Airport was also extremely nice minus a slight delay collecting our baggage. From the airport, some friends and I split a taxi to UCD for about 50 euros. During the taxi ride, two things kind of shocked me. Number one, everything was green. Every leaf, every blade of grass, every vine was a vibrant green. It was almost overwhelming at first seeing how green everything was, especially coming from Michigan. The second thing I noticed was how nice the roads were. In Michigan, potholes seem to be more common than road signs at times, but I don’t think I’ve seen a single pothole here yet.
The vibrant Irish landscape as seen from the Irish Hollywood sign
UCD Campus
During my first tour of campus, I noticed that everything was extremely modern and organized while still incorporating an abundance of nature everywhere you go. A great deal of the buildings seemed to have been built within the past five years or so. The apartments, gym, and other facilities on campus are all extremely nice inside. Beautiful tile and brick walking paths connect all the buildings. There are also two small lakes that a variety of ducks and a few swans call home. The swans look extremely charming at first but we’ve come to find out that they’re not so nice to their fellow birds. We’ve witnessed a few times where a swan has chased one or more of the ducks out of the water for seemingly no reason at all.
A couple of swans along with some of their babies
As I briefly mentioned earlier, a couple of friends and I found an outdoor basketball court a few minutes away from our apartments the first day that we arrived. We’ve been playing pick up games there almost everyday after class so far. We’ve met a ton of local people and other people that are in our program as well as other summer programs here at UCD.
The food that is provided as a part of our program has been insanely delicious. We had a welcome dinner on Monday at the remarkable UCD University Club restaurant that was mouthwatering. Other than that, almost all of our other meals are provided by Pi Restaurant. In my opinion, all of the meals here have blown the dining hall food at Michigan out of the water so far.
Steak dinner provided by the UCD University Club restaurant
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
Our first trip of the program was to the EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum which was founded by a former CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. The museum was almost completely reliant on technology for all of its exhibits. What once used to be an old storage building close to the port of Dublin housing whiskey and a variety of other things now houses screens and projectors that tell the history of emigration in Ireland.
A metal sculpture showing the evolution of ships that carried Irish emigrants (Credit: Callen Fields)
Sheepdog Demonstration
The first stop on our Saturday trip was to a farm where they demonstrated how sheepdogs are used to drive sheep. Each dog impressively responds to various whistles that instruct it where to drive the sheep. After the demonstration, we got to meet a couple adorable baby sheep along with the sheepdogs.
One of the baby sheep that we got to meet
Hollywood
After seeing the sheepdog demonstration, we visited the Irish Hollywood and were able to get a picture with the Irish version of the Hollywood sign. The view from the sign which was shown earlier was insanely scenic.
The Irish Hollywood sign
Wicklow Gap
Following our Hollywood visit, we stopped at the Wicklow Gap which is one of the highest mountain passes in Ireland. Were able to venture off down a little path on the mountain and take a few pictures in front of a lake farther down in the valley.
The Wicklow Gap
Glendalough
The last stop of our trip was in the small old town of Glendalough which has turned into an extremely popular tourist destination. The town is located in a valley between two jaw-dropping mountains. The town consists of an old cemetery, a round bell tower, and a few lakes among various other attractions.
The cemetery at Glendalough
The upper lake at Glendalough
The lads and I chilling at Glendalough
Bars and Pubs
Thursday night was karaoke night at the UCD Clubhouse Bar which is the only student bar on campus. Karaoke was definitely a hit that night and most of the students in the program ended up showing. Saturday was the night of the Champions League final so after getting back from Glendalough, we went downtown to a pub called Keavan’s Port where we watched the game and downed a few drinks. All of the bars and pubs were packed for the final.
Final Thoughts
Overall this week has been action-packed and ridiculously fun. I’m hoping the rest of my program is as intriguing as this week has been. Anyways, thank you all for reading. Until next time!
Dominick Thornton
Computer Science
Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies at UCD.
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Swimming, Ice Cream, and... Getting Sick?
Hi everyone! I’m back after my third week in Ireland. This week has been quite the rollercoaster. Monday was the June Bank Holiday in Ireland so we didn’t have our usual physics lecture that day. Since we didn’t have class, we decided to go out to an Italian restaurant in Dublin Monday night. On Tuesday, we had a full day of classes during which we watched The Wind that Shakes the Barley and learned more about the Irish fight for independence. Wednesday afternoon consisted of a trip to The Forty Foot in Dún Laoghaire where we took a plunge in the ocean and stopped for some famous ice cream and drinks afterwards. The weather on Thursday was beautiful so we ended up playing basketball till it was dark after classes. Friday night I unexpectedly tested positive for COVID so that was basically the end of anything fun for the week.
Food
The Italian restaurant that we went to was called La Caverna and was located in Dublin’s famous Temple Bar. I ended up ordering the carbonara pasta after much deliberation between that and the tortelli. The inside of the restaurant was beautiful and the carbonara was delicious. It was so delicious that by the time I thought to take a picture, my plate was empty. Sorry about that. Anyways, I do have a picture of some ice cream that I bought from the Centra at UCD on Tuesday after class. I ordered one scoop of mint chocolate chip and one scoop of a bubble gum flavor. Both flavors were quite delectable.
Mint chocolate chip and bubble gum flavored ice cream from the Centra at UCD
Today, I ordered a large New Yorker pizza from Domino’s along with a side of twisted dough balls since I can't go anywhere. The entire pizza and all six dough balls were gone within a matter of minutes once I brought them up to my room. To be fair though, that was my only meal today and I was practically starving so it's not as insane as it sounds.
The Forty Foot
The Forty Foot is a popular swimming location in Dún Laoghaire that we visited earlier this week. The weather was decent that day, but it was definitely a little chilly because of the wind. Nobody that I’ve talked to actually knows how The Forty Foot got its name. It's basically just a 10 foot rock that people jump off of into the Atlantic. The water was frigid the first time I jumped in. I also got a mouthful of saltwater that I definitely wasn’t expecting because I don’t think I’ve ever swam in the ocean before. Despite the freezing cold water and the mouthful of saltwater, I did jump in a second time just for fun.
The Forty Foot in Dún Laoghaire (We jumped off of the rocks partially shown on the left side of the bottom picture)
After everyone swam for a bit, we walked down the road to Teddy’s Ice Cream which is home to the famous 99 whipped ice-cream cone. I got a traditional cone covered in crushed Oreos which was insanely delicious. I almost went back for seconds because it was so good but I managed to hold myself back. Compared to the Centra ice cream I mentioned earlier, Teddy’s Ice Cream was on another level of deliciousness. I don’t think too many other ice cream places that I’ve tried even come close to Teddy’s.
After devouring our ice cream, we walked to The Forty Foot pub which had an amazing view of the city. Our group sat on a balcony outside overlooking the ocean. It was a little chilly outside but the view was definitely worth it. We ordered a couple of pitchers for our group and sipped on them over the course of about an hour or two before we decided to head back to our dorms and sleep.
The view from the Forty Foot pub in Dún Laoghaire
COVID :(
Friday night, I found out that a few people in my group tested positive for COVID so I also took a test and unfortunately found out that I was also positive. This was somewhat surprising to me because I didn’t really feel sick. The only symptoms that I had were a very slight cough and a runny nose. Our program took a day trip to the Glasnevin Cemetery on Saturday, but I obviously had to sit out for that trip. Since Friday, I’ve basically just been isolating myself inside of my room, doing homework, and having food delivered. It is what it is though I guess.
Thank you all for reading my blog this week. Until next time!
Dominick Thornton
Computer Science
Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies at UCD
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Performances in Praha
Ahoj!
This week has been super fun, busy, and filled with some super cool things! This trip has felt like it’s going by so fast and I can’t believe it’s half way done!
First off, we celebrated my friend’s birthday by going to a Yung Gravy concert at the Rock Cafe here in Prague! We were in the first row at the concert. It was a very small show compared to what one would expect in the United States, so it was super fun and interactive.
We also went to see a ballet called Leon & Lena at the Estates Theater. While I am not a huge fan of watching ballets, it was interesting to watch and the building it was performed in was super beautiful!
Some friends and I also took a day trip to Divoká Šárka, a nature park about 45 minutes from Prague by tram. We hiked the super pretty trails and hills as we explored the park. We also swam in the lake there and were able to jump in the water from a 3m high platform which was exciting! We also found a huge chair at the park and took a picture in it!
I also went to visit the Narrowest Street in Prague! It is in Lesser Town and it has a traffic light indicating when you are allowed to walk through, since only one person can fit at a time.
I have also been able to go to more beautiful churches nearby! I recently went to The Church of Our Lady Victorious and of the Prague Infant Jesus. The interior was super nice and they offered English mass.
I’m super excited to realize that I’ve started to discover some of the lesser known parts of the city and I can’t wait to visit even more!
Čau!
Maya Mileski
IPE Prague, Czech Republic
Biomedical Engineering
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Returning Home
Hi everyone! I’m finally home after my last week in Ireland. The six weeks that I was there flew by and I can’t believe it’s already over. It was hard saying goodbye to everyone that I met over there, but I survived and made it back alright.
Last Few Days in Ireland
Since this was our last week in Ireland, we had to take final exams for our physics and Irish history courses on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. That being said, I spent most of Monday relaxing and studying for the physics exam the next day. After the exam, we celebrated being done with physics by going downtown and grabbing a burger and a few drinks at Wetherspoons followed by an oreo shake from Burger King. We spent most of the next day completing our history final exam that consisted of two short essays. After that exam, we returned to Wetherspoons once again to pregame for a bit before we went to Dicey’s Garden. Dicey’s is a popular nightclub in Dublin that was recommended to us by several Irish people that we met during our program. We went with a group of around ten friends and danced for several hours before heading back to UCD. Once we got back to UCD, we had a box of chicken and fries covered in delicious seasoning delivered to us. We devoured it then headed to bed to get some rest before the coffee meetup with our program coordinators and professors on Thursday morning. After coffee, we played several 5 vs 5 soccer games on one of the smaller turf fields at UCD with a few local kids. After that, we went back to our dorms, packed a little, and showered before going on a small field trip to Killiney Hill Park. We took the train to Killiney and hiked up a massive hill to the park where we were able to experience an amazing view of Dublin and tons of Irish coastline.
A few pictures from Killiney Hill Park
When we returned from Killiney, we finished packing and said our final goodbyes to everyone in our friend group before trying to get some sleep before our flights the next day.
First Few Days at Home
My flight departed from the Dublin airport at 9:30 am on Friday and arrived at O’Hare a little after 11:00 am Chicago time. The flight wasn’t bad at all and everything went extremely smoothly. My parents picked me up from the airport and drove me the final two and a half hours home. After we got back, I handed out a few gifts that I brought back from Ireland including some Irish coffee and Guinness fudge. The fudge is decent and definitely tastes like Guinness. The coffee is also pretty good and my mom said she loves it so that’s cool. On Saturday, I visited with a lot of my family and celebrated my grandma’s birthday. Today, my brother and I played a round of disc golf with a few friends and relaxed at home for the rest of the day. It’s definitely been a lot warmer here than it was in Ireland. I kind of miss the cooler Irish weather, but I definitely don’t mind how sunny it’s been here since I got back.
The Irish coffee and Guinness fudge that I brought back from Ireland.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this program has truly been an amazing experience. I’ve been able to visit a multitude of astonishing places, made tons of awesome new friends, and had tons of fun all while getting credit that transfers back to Umich. Anyone that has the opportunity to study abroad most definitely should. You won’t regret it. With all this being said, I’m glad to be back home with my family and other friends. I’m also excited to reconnect with my new friends that met in Ireland when we go back to Ann Arbor to begin the semester.
Anyways, that’s it for this week's blog. Thank you all for reading! Until next time!
Dominick Thornton
Computer Science
Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies at UCD
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Last Full Week in Ireland
Hi everyone! This week has been action packed as usual with trips to Belfast, Killarney, and downtown Dublin. This week is also my last full week in Ireland so I’ve definitely been trying to make the most of it.
Belfast
On Monday, our program went on a day trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland which is actually part of the United Kingdom. In Belfast, we visited the Titanic Museum where we learned about the history of Belfast as well as how and why the Titanic was built in Belfast.
The Titanic Belfast Museum
After a few hours in the museum, we had a quick lunch before going on a tour of various neighborhoods in Belfast. Our tour guide grew up in Belfast and was an active Republican that fought during the Troubles several decades ago. He showed us several of the peace walls that were built to separate the unionist protestants and the nationalist catholics in Northern Ireland. Those walls still separate neighborhoods in Northern Ireland and nobody knows for sure when they will be taken down.
One of the peace walls in Northern Ireland
Trivia and Karaoke
The UCD Clubhouse Bar held its first trivia night this Tuesday so a few friends and I formed a team and competed. Unfortunately, we took second place and missed out on a free round of drinks, but we still had a ton of fun. After the bar closed, we played Manhunt which is basically a mix of hide-and-go-seek and capture the flag for several hours in the courtyard outside the bar before heading back to our apartments. On Thursday, the bar hosted another karaoke night that we decided to go to. A few of us (including me) had quite a bit to drink because it was going to be one of the last times we would be able to before we leave next week. One important takeaway from that night is that singing the piña colada song with everyone around you after a few drinks is one of the greatest things you’ll ever experience.
Vitor, Noah, Me, and Nate during karaoke night on Thursday
Nate helping me devour some of the greatest Pringles I’ve ever eaten after karaoke night
Killarney
Since our program didn’t have any trips planned for this weekend, our group decided to go on a day trip to Killarney on Saturday (massive thank you to Grace, aka Groc, for planning and booking the entire trip for us). We woke up extremely early in order to be on a bus by 6:00 am to the train station in Dublin. We then boarded a three hour train to Killarney. Once we arrived in Killarney, a few taxis took us to a small village where we would begin a 7 mile hike. In the village was an adorable little cafe where I ordered nutella and marshmallow pancakes and an Irish coffee with Baileys. The pancakes were delectable and the coffee was also pretty good. Once we all finished whatever we ordered we began our two and a half hour hike through the mountains. The entire hike was picturesque with small lakes and charming little sheep greeting you as you rounded every bend in the trail.
The entire crew during our hike. Back row from left to right: (Kendall, Noah, Aidan, Nate, Grace, Kate, Jane). Front row from left to right: (Emma, Me, Groc, Rachel)
A few photos from the rest of the hike
At the end of the hike was a boat tour that took us through a few of the major lakes in the Killarney National Park. The tour was just as amazing as the hike and ended at a castle that was renovated into a small museum.
Views from the boat tour
After the boat tour, we were taxied back to downtown Killarney where we ate at the Curious Cat Cafe. I ordered a steak sandwich and a peanut butter, chocolate, and banana smoothie and it was one of the greatest meals of my life.
True greatness in meal form
Once we finished eating, we walked back to the train station to return to Dublin. We arrived back in Dublin a little after 11 pm and didn’t get back to our apartments till after midnight, but it was all worth it.
This concludes my blog for this week. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Until next time!
Dominick Thornton
Computer Science
Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies at UCD
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Trivia and Killarney!
Hey readers! I’m Aidan McKiernan, and I’m studying abroad in Ireland with the Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies program with UCD. Week 6 is coming to a close, and my final exams are coming up. We didn’t really have class this week, so I’ve been mostly relaxing and studying up. It certainly wasn’t my most exciting week here, but there were definitely some fun moments.
Early in the week, the campus bar hosted a trivia night! I stopped in a bit late and missed the first round, but I joined my team of friends there for the rest. Honestly, there were a lot of tough questions. We tried our best with Irish geography and old songs, and we just barely lost first place by one question. Missed out on a free round of drinks, but it was a fun time nonetheless.
Later in the week I went to town with some friends again to check out some bars. The first one we checked actually had a really nice atmosphere. There was a talented guitarist playing live and a lot of people were there enjoying themselves. It was a little crowded for us though, so we moved on to a place nearby, Fitzsimons. It was a bit calmer here. There was an upstairs open air section, but there was live music downstairs. Unfortunately, I forgot to grab any pictures. It was a tough choice, but after looking around a bit, we sat downstairs and played some cards. I bought an unreasonably priced slushy myself, but some others (not naming names) had a little more…
The aftermath of some intense card games and a little alcohol.
With no program scheduled field trips remaining, our group decided to plan our own (shoutout to Groc)! On Saturday we took a long train ride to Killarney to see the national park and tour the area. The weather was dodgy in the morning, but it cleared up enough just in time for our 3 hour walk. The trail bisected two mountain ranges dotted with waterfalls and impressive rockscapes. Naturally, plenty of photo ops were present.
Sheep grazing upon a desktop-background-level landscape.
A dramatic rock framed by a lake.
The whole group! Left to Right; Front: Emma, Dom, Groc, Rachel; Back: Kendall, Noah, Me, Nate, Claw, Kate, Jane (photo by cool stranger)
Upon completion of the hike, we didn’t have to walk back (thank the gods). We had a boat tour waiting for us at the end! We passed through the lake system all the way back to town, even stopping by a castle.
Nate exploring the remains of Ross Castle.
A view from the water with Nate (middle) and Noah (right)!
When we got to town we stopped at Curious Cat for dinner. I picked up an incredible reuben sandwich, as well as chocolate whisky flavored ice cream at an ice cream place later. Since whisky freezes at a lower temperature, it made the treat a lot softer and gave it a nice flavor!
Please admire this reuben from Curious Cat.
After all that was the long journey back. It wasn’t the most pleasant with train layovers and bus swaps, but we made it back eventually. I’ve been pretty exhausted today, so I’ve been taking it easy. But that about concludes the week. I’ve just got exams and I’ll be home soon! That’s all from me, thanks for reading!
Aidan McKiernan
Computer Science
University of Michigan
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Croke Park and the Guinness Storehouse!
Hey readers! I’m Aidan McKiernan, and I’m studying abroad in Ireland with the Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies program with UCD. Week 5 is just about done and dusted now, and I’ve must say-- time has been flying. At this point, physics is fully complete besides the exam, and history just has a couple of lectures and an exam remaining as well. It’s a little scary that I have only two weeks left here, but I’ve been having plenty of good experiences. I am definitely excited to see my people back home again once it's over.
Speaking of good experiences, this was a really fun week. UCD is by the coast, so on Monday I went with a group to the beach to hang out. The tide was low, so there was a massive expanse of sandy area to run around and play football on. After everyone tired out, we set up on the grass to play some cards and talk for a while. We stayed out really late, which has been a bit of a recurrence recently for me, but it was totally worth it.
The endless expanses of sand at the coast.
On Tuesday we had a field trip to Croke Park, a stadium for Gaelic sports. We had a guided tour which took us through the locker rooms, the stands, and the post-game lounge for the players-- I even got to hold a trophy!
Celebrating some kind of victory... for sure (photo by Dominick).
If you’ll recall a topic from 2016, Pokémon Go has made a resurgence in my group. The UCD campus is quite a hotspot for some crazy creatures, ranging from cute to ferocious-- I just managed to befriend a few!
Me and my dear buddy Gyarados (photo by Dominick).
Chillin with my Dubwool in the grass (photo by Noah).
Saturday was pretty relaxed, I went back to the bakery that I went to with Carson last week again, and we finally got his cupcakes. It was also near closing, and since bakeries have to throw out anything that doesn’t sell… the lady threw in some stuff for us for free!
A nice chocolate cupcake, graciously donated by Carson.
Just this Sunday, we finally elected to take a trip to the Guinness storehouse. It was a huge building where we followed a self-guided tour to see the whole process of how the beer gets from barley to the bar counter. There were cool attractions baked in all over, and even some included pints. Awesomely, the whole exhibit is built around the largest pint-glass-shaped structure in the world!
One of the attractions, getting your very own face printed on the foam of a pint.
A view from the rooftop Gravity Bar- you can see the whole city from up there!
It’s been a fun fifth week. There will be much more happening in the last two weeks-- I’m super excited to head to Belfast in Northern Ireland on Monday! Thanks for reading this week, I’ll keep writing about the happenings moving forward, so stay tuned.
Aidan McKiernan
Computer Science
University of Michigan
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World-renowned Writers and Cliffside Cows
Hi everyone! I’m back after another exhilarating week in Ireland. Monday was my 19th birthday so some of my friends surprised me with a chocolate cake from Tesco. The cake was surprisingly good considering it was from a supermarket. The next day we went on a quick little field trip to the National Library of Ireland. Wednesday and Friday were spent at the basketball court after classes as per usual. Saturday consisted of a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway followed by a long train ride home and some drinks in Dublin. Today we are just going to order pizza, stay in, and play some card games since the buses are running on a weird schedule because of a marathon going on today.
National Library of Ireland
After our Modern Irish History lecture on Tuesday, we were able to visit the National Library of Ireland. At the museum, we explored two main exhibits featuring two Irishmen that won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The first exhibit that we walked through featured Seamus Heaney. We learned that Seamus Heaney came from a predominantly farming family and was one of the first people in his family to pursue a career in poetry. Before reaching the second exhibit, we were shown an insane Lego replica of the library that took around five years to be completed.
The Lego replica of the library
The second exhibit featured W. B. Yeats who heavily influenced Seamus Heaney’s works. In this exhibit, we learned quite a few interesting facts about the Yeats family. First of all, we learned that W. B. Yeats proposed to a woman named Maud Gonne a total of five times and was rejected every time. After all of these rejections, he decided to propose to Maud Gonne’s daughter, Isuelt Gonne, who also rejected him. In addition to this, we learned that W. B. Yeats used to create visionary experiences with Tattwa cards. These cards along with a carved piece of lapis lazuli that was gifted to Yeats were some of the items on display at the exhibit. The piece of carved lapis lazuli was the topic of one of Yeats’ more famous poems.
The carved piece of lapis lazuli that was gifted to Yeats for his 17th birthday
The Cliffs of Moher
My Saturday morning began at 6am in order to not be late for the bus. The bus took us from Dublin all the way to Galway on the western coast of Ireland. Our first stop was at the Barack Obama plaza. The plaza was named after Barack Obama after he visited Ireland in 2011.
Cutout of Barack and Michelle at the Barack Obama plaza
Our next stop after the plaza was at the Cliffs of Moher. The views from the cliffs were surreal. During our visit, we met a pigeon that let us get astonishingly close to it and snap a ton of photos.
The super cool pigeon we met at the Cliffs of Moher
The pigeon wasn’t the only cool animal we met at the cliffs. As soon as we arrived, we spotted cows roaming the emerald green pastures all around us. When we were walking on one of the trails, we were actually able to get within arms reach of one of the cows.
Cute cow that we met on the trail (it may or may not have peed a little bit while we were there)
On the main trail through the cliffs, there was a historic tower that we were able to climb to the top off.
View from the tower at the Cliffs of Moher.
After walking around the cliffs for a few hours, I worked up quite an appetite so I decided to stop for a quick snack on the trail.
Me snacking on a stack of rocks at the cliffs (a little too crunchy for my liking to be honest)
After experiencing the cliffs, we ate actual food at McGann’s Pub in Doolin. We were seated outside in a beautiful garden-like area next to a lovely little creek. Most of the people around me ordered the fish and chips meal and we all highly recommend it, but a few other people said the beef stew was also amazing.
Galway
After eating lunch, we ventured off to Galway on the western coast of Ireland. While we were in Galway we ate dinner at The King’s Head Bistro. Three of my friends and I ordered the Kings Head Blood Red Ale. We all agreed that it was probably the worst tasting drink that we’d ever had. Only one of us was able to finish our ale by the time we left. The fish and chips that I had was extremely good though so it kind of made up for the disgusting ale.
Couldn’t pass up taking a pic with this random sign in Galway since I still have braces
Saturday Night
Instead of taking the bus back to Dublin, we decided to stay in Galway and take a train back to Dublin a few hours later. We all bought our train tickets the day before so we wouldn’t have to stress about getting them when we got to the train station, but this somehow came back to bite us. As soon as we got in line to board the train we realized the train only had carts A, B, C, and D. However the seats listed on our tickets were in cart E. Cart E was nonexistent. One of the workers on the train basically just said good luck when we asked him what we should do. In the end, most of us had to either stand or sit in the hallway between carts until some actual seats opened up after a few stops. Once we found seats, we played BS and spoons with a deck of cards we had for the rest of the two and a half hour train ride across Ireland. After arriving in Dublin a little after 10pm, we strolled down to the Silver Penny Pub for a few drinks to end off the night.
Hope you all enjoyed reading my blog this week. Until next time!
Dominick Thornton
Computer Science
Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies at UCD
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Exhilarating First Week
Hey readers! I’m Aidan McKiernan, and I’m studying abroad in Ireland with the Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies program with UCD. I’ve just finished my first week here and it’s been sweet. It might well have been the most eventful week of my life. With orientation, field trips, and hitting the city, there hasn’t been a dull moment. Of course it’s been a ton of fun, but there’s been challenges as well. The biggest has been missing loved ones back home (xoxo). Anyways, I’ve got a ton to talk about, but I’ll do my best to keep it concise.
Day 0
After disembarking from the plane and making it through customs, I hit my first roadblock. My plane had problems with our checked bags, causing an hour-long delay. Fortunately, this gave me time to exchange my leftover dollars for euros at the nice airport rates. Unfortunately, this meant I missed the bus sent by UCD to collect us. Eventually I got my baggage, and was forced to get a taxi to campus with a couple other members of the program.
We got dropped off at the campus Centra, a common convenience store in the area (think 7/11). In the same building was the front desk where I picked up my brand-new UCard for room and campus access. After that was sorted, I lugged my stuff to the housing accommodations, made my way to my room, and started unpacking!
My first thought was- “Nice.” Compared to oxford housing where I lived last school year, this was elite. There were four private rooms for four people, each decked out with: a desk with lamp, bed, full-body mirror, and nice closet space. Even two bathrooms! I barely believed it, but sure enough, the doors labeled 1 and 2 led to two full bathrooms and not more private rooms. The kitchen was awesome too. A counter with a stove, a whole dining table, two couches and tons of cupboard space. Not to mention two minifridges, a toaster, and microwave! One of the minifridges happened to be a freezer, but… we don’t talk about how we found out.
Day 1
After getting a much needed full night of sleep, I headed off to orientation. This was my first chance to get a good look at campus, and wow- it was pretty. The architecture is clean and modern, but it still feels very natural. There was a duck couple relaxing in the grass, greenery everywhere you look, and multiple ponds integrated in the campus, teeming with wildlife.
A pond on campus, if you look close you’ll see one of the swans!
Orientation went well! I got to meet the instructors, coordinators, and media team, as well as the rest of my class. For lunch we went to Pi Restaurant where our lunches and dinners will be provided during our weeks here. As much as I don’t want to admit, the food is near or above UMich dining hall level.
Later that evening, after some exploring, we had our orientation dinner. We were told not to dress up, but doing so left me feeling out of place. We visited the UCD Club Restaurant, where we were served a full three course meal- drinks included! This marked my first pint of Guinness… it was pretty gross. As a side note, the drinking culture in Ireland was pretty shocking. There's even a UCD campus bar! I'm lucky to be of drinking age here!
Grabbing a pint with the guys: Carson (left) and Dominick (right) (he doesn’t usually look like that)
Later that day I faced my next battle. I totally locked myself out of my room at night. The worst part was, I left my glasses, phone, and shoes in my room. I had to borrow a roommate’s phone to call the front desk. After a quick midnight stroll, I got helped back in and got some more much needed sleep. I’ve failed to mention so far, but practically everyone I’ve met in Ireland so far has been really welcoming and helpful. It makes an experience like this all the more enjoyable
The rest of the week wasn’t ultra-interesting. We had some lectures and labs and a few smaller activities. I don’t want to bore, so I’ll leave some of the more mundane class activities for a less eventful week. Let’s talk trips!
Trips!
On Tuesday, we had a trip to the EPIC museum in Dublin. EPIC, short for “Every Person is Connected”, details stories of Irish emigrants throughout history. I learned a lot about reasons for emigration, and that an absurd amount of people have Irish roots. It was a short and sweet trip, but the real kicker of a trip was a bit later.
This Saturday was our trip to Glendalough. Spoiler alert: Saturday takes the crown for best day this week. Getting up at 7:30am wasn’t easy, but it was certainly worth it. First stop was a sheepdog demonstration! A farmer taught us how sheep farming worked and how they train dogs to help. We even got to pet some lambs!
Meet Marty! He was a dubiously soft little buddy.
Our next stop was a small town called Hollywood. This town in Ireland is actually the indirect name origin of Hollywood in the States. The townspeople here were super friendly, and helped guide me and some friends up to a familiar sign…
Me with the Hollywood sign in the original Hollywood. (photo by Nate)
The view down from the Hollywood sign ft. random sheep.
I must note that the scenery the whole trip was awesome. We were also fortunate to have really nice weather the whole trip (most of the week for that matter). We had to have a quick stop for a photo op just before Glendalough.
Me enjoying the scenery and weather. See the lake in the distance! (photo by Simon)
Finally we made it to Glendalough, the last stop. We got to enjoy our packed lunches and explore! The old monastic site was picturesque, at I was really enjoying the company of my new friends. We had a nice walk in the surrounding valley, and finally headed back to UCD.
Chillin on a tree in Glendalough with Noah (left) and Callen (right). (photo by Carson)
The day wasn't over yet though! After a quick rest, we took a bus to town. We chose a bar known for cheap drinks, Wetherspoon-apparently there are like 7 in Dublin! We met up with a sizable group of other members of our program there and had lots of fun (responsibly)!
I oughta stop rambling now, that's about all for this week. I hope you'll join me for my next post!
Aidan McKiernan
Computer Science
Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies at UCD
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Last Goodbyes Before Dublin
Hi everyone! My name is Dominick Thornton and I am going into my sophomore year studying computer science at the University of Michigan. I am finally about to depart for Dublin, Ireland where I will be participating in a study abroad program for the next 6 weeks. My excitement this week has been through the roof because I’ve never been outside the US or even flown in a plane before. Everyone that I’ve talked to about this program has assured me that this is going to be the opportunity of a lifetime as well as expressed how jealous they are of me. Not all is sunshine and rainbows however. Being away from all of my friends and family for 6 whole weeks is definitely not going to be easy for me. Leaving my cat behind is going to be especially hard after spending tons of time with her over the past month or so since I was the only person in my family that was on summer vacation.
My cat, Steph Furry, soaking up the sun.
Since I’ve been home for the summer, I’ve also been able to get outside and enjoy nature quite a bit. It’s been raining a lot lately where I live recently so all the vegetation has been super green and luscious around me.
Nature trail close to my home in southwest Michigan.
With all of the recent the rain, mushrooms have also been spouting up all around where I live. I was actually able to find a few morel mushrooms one day on a little hike through the woods.
The morel mushrooms that I found and eventually fried in butter before eating.
With all this being said, I’m wondering how the nature in Ireland will compare to southwest Michigan considering how much rain Ireland gets.
Preparing for Departure
Overall, packing and preparing everything that I need for my trip hasn’t been stressful at all. All I really needed to do was get new luggage, convert some of my USD to euros, and get a new rain jacket. I did all of this about a week or two before my flight and everything has been going super smoothly so far which is always a plus. All that I have to do now is get on my flight and hopefully get a little sleep before touching down in Dublin.
This concludes my brief pre-departure blog. Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to follow my journey throughout Ireland!
Dominick Thornton
Computer Science
Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies at UCD.
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Gaelic Football and Guinness
Hi everyone! I’m back after another lively week in Ireland. Our physics classes ended this week which is great because all we really have to do now is study for the final exam and go to a few more history lectures. Outside of classes, this week has been quite intriguing. To begin the week, we took another trip down to the beach where we played some more cards and downed a few ciders. The next day, we visited Croke Park as a part of our history program where we learned about Irish sports and the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). In the following few days, we took advantage of the marvelous weather and played tons of basketball and Pokemon Go. I was also able to mix in a few workouts at one of the gyms on campus which was refreshing because I haven't consistently gone to the gym in ages. On Friday night, we watched a movie in one of the student lounges before watching clips of Gaelic football on Youtube. We returned to Croke Park the next day to watch two extremely entertaining Gaelic football matches. To finish off the week, we went on a leisurely tour of the Guinness Storehouse before heading back to the dorms to rest up for our trip to Belfast on Monday.
The beach that we returned to on Monday at low tide
Croke Park
On Tuesday’s field trip we were able to walk through almost all of the stadium as a part of our guided tour. We began by watching a quick video about the history of Croke Park and the GAA before heading into the service tunnels that led to the team locker rooms. The stadium has four identical locker rooms that allow for multiple matches in one day as well as a player’s lounge where all the players go to relax after their games. Inside the player’s lounge is an enormous chandelier composed of 32 Gaelic football to represent each county in Ireland and 70 sliotars to represent the number of minutes in football and hurling matches.
The chandelier in the players lounge that changes colors to match whatever teams are playing that day
After seeing the player’s lounge and locker rooms, we made our way onto the field and into the stands where they let us hold replicas of the football and hurling trophies. Our tour guide also gave us a brief history of some of the famous events that have taken place at Croke Park such as Bloody Sunday in 1920, the Special Olympics in 2003, and the Muhammad Ali boxing match in 1972.
Picture of me holding a replica of the hurling trophy at Croke Park
After the tour, my group of friends decided that we had to experience an actual Gaelic football match so we bought tickets for two games on Saturday. The first game was a blowout as Derry stomped out Clare. The next game was quite close and a lot more entertaining with Dublin eventually pulling away from Cork in the second half. There were also a lot more fans for the Dublin vs Cork game which makes sense because those are two of the biggest counties in Ireland. The burgers that I bought at the stadium were surprisingly decent and I was also able to find a cool hat that I ended up buying. Overall, the whole experience was a ton of fun and I would definitely recommend visiting Croke Park if you’re ever in Ireland.
Croke Park during the Dublin vs Cork match
The Guinness Storehouse
Our tour of the Guinness Storehouse was completely self-paced and was a lot more interesting than I expected. We started the tour on the ground floor where we learned a little bit about Arthur Guinness and how he signed a 9,000 year lease for the St. James Brewery in 1759. Then, we learned about all of the ingredients that go into a Guinness and the entire brewing process on the next few floors of the storehouse. One of the floors had a cafe where I ordered a Guinness mocha as well as a chocolate muffin. The Guinness mocha was delicious and tasted exactly how it sounds: a mocha with a tinge of the iconic Guinness flavor. The muffin was also extremely delicious. The next part of our tour was a Guinness tasting experience that began in an aroma room. The aroma room was a completely white room with four pillars that emitted four of the main aromas associated with brewing Guinness. Also inside the aroma room was a bar where they poured everyone a shot glass of Guinness that we took into the next room for the guided tasting experience.
One of the pillars in the aroma room as well as our shot glasses of Guinness
After the tasting experience, we went up to the next floor where we had our pictures taken and printed onto a pint of Guinness!
Our pictures that were printed onto our pints of Guinness
Our tour ended at the Gravity Bar which is on the top floor of the storhouse and boasts an incredible view of the city. At the bar we redeemed our drink vouchers and enjoyed our second pints of the day. To be honest, every Guinness that I’ve had has been more and more tolerable regarding the taste. I’m not sure if it’s just an acquired taste or if I was just getting buzzed since I barely ate anything all day.
Views from the Gravity Bar at the top of Guinness Storehouse
After finishing our pints, we returned to the gift shop on the ground floor and made a decent number of solid purchases before heading back to UCD.
Thank you all for reading my blog this week! I hope you enjoyed and continue to follow along with me as I begin wrapping up my last few weeks in Ireland. Until next time!
Dominick Thornton
Computer Science
Big 10 STEM and Irish Studies at UCD
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Reflecting on Germany
Hi everyone!
I have officially landed back in the US and been here for a week! Adjusting back after being in Europe for almost 3 months has been tougher than I imagined, but I am so thankful for the experience that I had this summer!
I was able to meet some incredible people from all across the country, as well as people from Canada and Europe. I got to visit 7 countries (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Luxembourg) and make a lifetime of memories.
If you’re reading this blog and on the fence about study abroad, I would say to jump all in. I was absolute terrified before I left. Even once I got there, I wanted to go home immediately. That’s ok! I found out later that it happened to almost all of my friends for their first few days. It’s a weird experience being in a totally new country across the world with no familiar people but the great thing is.. you meet people! And they will become some of the best friends you will ever meet.
By the time I was packing up to leave Germany, I was a mess. I had the same feeling as before I left- I was terrified to leave Germany and my friends that I had grown to love very much.
Studying abroad is probably the best decision I made for my education- if you’re leaning towards it, just lean all in. You will not regret it at all!
As for now, I’m getting ready to start school in a few weeks and adjusting back to the US life.
Thank you for listening to my adventures for the whole summer!
Grace Whah
Biomedical Engineering
RWTH Aachen
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Final symposium, and farewell to Germany
Hi everyone!
Unfortunately, this is yet another boring blog (COVID edition), but there are some fun highlights!
Sadly, up until Thursday, I was still in quarantine for COVID-19. I was super bummed about this because it is my last week in Germany, but my friends here were so supportive and did movie nights with me / brought me food to keep up my spirits. I am incredibly grateful to have met such wonderful people.
I got out of quarantine just in time for our final research symposium. I am really proud of the research I conducted this summer and I was happy to answer the questions of so many people who were interested in my field. I also got to see the research of my friends and all of the amazing progress they made! Overall, it was one of my favorite days here.
The next few days I had my last experiences in Aachen. I hung out with some friends, visited our favorite food spots one last time, and got ready to go on one last journey through Europe before heading home.
Saturday, my friends and I caught a flight to Milan. We had to wait 3.5 hours in security (airports in Germany right now are so crazy) but we finally made it. The next day we got up at 6:30 am and made the most of our day in Milan even though it was 102°.
Sunday evening, we took a train to Lugano, Switzerland - maybe one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in my life. We were able to swim in the lake there (so shockingly warm) and enjoy some gelato in each other’s company.
Monday morning, we headed to Andermatt, Switzerland - again, one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to. We were able to hike around the Devils Bridge and hangout before saying goodbye.
Andermatt is where I departed from my friends to head back to Aachen. Many tears were shed from all of us as I went to get on my separate train. I am going to miss spending every single day with them, and I’m really gonna miss Germany, so this was a really hard day for me. But I know I will see them again and we will be friends for life bonded over this amazing summer.
After 11 hours of trains due to some classic Deutsche Bahn delays, I finally made it back to Aachen, packed my bags, and 2 hours later headed out to go to the airport. I’m writing this as I am on the train there now.
I am going to miss Germany terribly. After spending almost 3 months here, I genuinely see my life here and I am absolutely a changed person. I am so much more fearless and do not care about so many of the small things I used to care about. I am forever changed because of this. I will definitely do more reflection in my last blog when I arrive back in the states, but I just had to get that in there. Germany will always have a very very special place in my heart.
Auf Wiedersehen Germany, I’ll love you forever.
Grace Whah
Biomedical Engineering
RWTH Aachen
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My Exclusive Tell-All: Study Abroad in Iceland
Hi blog family,
Welcome to my final blog edition of the summer series. I'm writing to you from my home in Boulder, Colorado, now nine days after departing my temporary home in Iceland. Even though it's been over a week, many of the magical qualities of the trip have stuck with me, so I'm excited to take a peek in rearview mirror and review my six weeks there with you all virtually by my side.
In the Classroom
The first word of "study abroad" is indeed study, and so although I've primarily covered the adventurous bits of my journeys, the time has come to hit the books. The two courses I took were Programming & Intro to Data Structures (EECS 280) and Sustainability in the Icelandic Context. EECS 280 certainly has a reputation at U-M for being a kind of "make or break" course for students in computer science, but my impression of the course is slightly less dramatic. Although squeezed into a near third of a regular semester, I felt that I had a much stronger grasp on some basic programming functionalities than I began with, and the course was appropriately challenging for someone with minimal coding experience beyond ENG 100. There was almost always some amount of "take home" work, but as my colleague Erin has pointed out, the assignments were manageable to get through while collaborating with classmates.
The sustainability course was significantly less work than EECS 280, which strikes a good balance given the constant workload of the latter course. This course covers several areas of engineering topics, including different renewable energy forms, an introduction to thermodynamics, and some real life case studies from Icelandic energy generation. What's special about this class is that it serves as a backbone for many of the program excursions to geothermal and hydropower plants, which gives you can opportunity to see the content in action.
Living in Reykjavik
TLDR: Reykjavik is expensive. Everything in Iceland is more expensive. This doesn't mean it's not worth going.
Housing, excursions, and transportation are covered through the program, which primarily leaves students with the responsibility of paying for their meal and merchandise purchases out-of-pocket. For quick reference:
A realistic weekly budget is probably around $250-$300 USD.
An average meal is $20-$40 USD.
A shirt from 66 North, the premier Icelandic outerwear brand, is $45-60 USD.
With all of this said, there are some truly unique spots in Reykjavik that are only a short walk down Laugavegur Street or elsewhere nearby, so here is my non-exhaustive recommendations list:
Kiki's - great spot for dancing on a Friday night
Perlan - amazing panoramic views, only a short walk from Reykjavik University, and has underrated gelato
Sundhöllin - "public baths" by the program housing which is a true local culture experience
Café Babalú - a quirky but cozy coffee house, also a great place for homework
Klambratún - the local park with super summer vibes during the few sunny days in Reykjavik
Packing List
Even though its the summer, you can pretty much expect one weather pattern on average in Iceland: overcast, 50 degrees Fahrenheit, with a chance of rain. Pack lots of waterproof clothing, not just for the day-to-day but for excursions outside of the city (such as waterfalls) that tend to soak visitors. One thing you won't need: a winter jacket. Although it gets cool, bringing a down coat will only collect dust in your closet, as it doesn't get even close to the temperature range of a Michigan winter. A useful utility for your electronics are power adapters, especially those that are also transformers (devices which can adjust voltage). The voltage of electricity coming out of outlets in Iceland is different than in the US, and so you'll need it any time you want to power up. A final word of advice is that you pretty much won't need any local currency, despite being a common piece of travel abroad advice. Not a single place I went didn't take credit/debit card payment, and in all likelihood you won't end up using any Icelandic krona you convert at the currency exchange.
Final Thoughts
If there's one thing you can take from my blog, it's that studying abroad in Iceland is an incredible experience. If you're looking for a program that incorporates sustainability, is set in a scenic landscape, and exposes you to unique cultural contexts, IPE Iceland checks all three boxes. The main tradeoff compared to other abroad programs is living expenses, but like those other programs, you will have the opportunity to offset those costs through roles like this (become a blogger for IPE!) or through IPE student funding. To put it simply, I have absolutely no regrets about coming to Iceland for my study abroad experience.
I am sad to say goodbye, but hopefully I've given some insight into what living in Reykjavik, Iceland for six weeks looks like. Should you have any lingering questions, don't hesitate to reach out, I'm happy to help!
I'll leave you with a few photos, in case you're not yet convinced about coming to Iceland ;)
Until next time,
Charlie Cappelletti
Industrial & Operations Engineering
IPE Iceland
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Finishing research and COVID :(
Hi everyone!
This week is unfortunately going to be really boring to read due to circumstances beyond my control (I apologize in advance!)
This week I made the finishing touches on my research project. I was able to actually print with cells in sterilization and the process ended up being successful! This was a huge relief to me as it was what I’ve been working towards this whole summer, and I’m super glad to know it worked the way I wanted it to. Here are some pictures of the different steps I took throughout the week for this project.
Additionally, Wednesday it was incredibly hot so we went to the outdoor pool in Aachen! It was so much fun & I am glad we got to cool off from the very hot day.
Unfortunately, I tested positive for COVID-19 and have been isolating in my room. I’m really bummed as this week was my last chance to get to explore Germany, but I know that I did so much exploring during my time here so far and I need to focus on getting better now. I leave one week from Tuesday, so once I get out of quarantine, I’ll still have a few days to say goodbye to this country and I’m excited for that.
Grace Whah
Biomedical Engineering
RWTH Aachen
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