My favorite days were back to back, filled with friends and great craic. The first day I went with my roommate and we walked around town to get some lunch and then ice cream. Everyone in the country was going crazy that they were roasting to death and they didn't know how to handle 70 degree weather. HA, try summers back home in the 90s with the humidity factor, I think the Irish would actually melt. However it was comforting to walk around town and see everyone else sunburnt and not golden tan. Finally I found a place where I am not the only awkward looking pale person with streaks of bright red, despite the pain I felt in great company as I looked around. When we were walking home, we ran into our friends Aoife and Sara and started tossing around a ball and playing music, hanging out. The Irish lifestyle is so carefree, but also so full of life and great company.
The next day was just as beautiful and even warmer, so you can imagine how uncomfortable the Irish were feeling. My friend Aoife who I had been with the day before plays guitar so she decided to bring it with her and play for us. As soon as she started strumming her guitar, I was stunned. I had no idea her voice was so amazing--she started off by playing House of the Rising Sun and I was in near tears. She writes all of her other music and certainly could have a career--- check out her website: http://www.myspace.com/aoifesmithmusic
Eventually a few of my friends with Aoife took the music out to the pitches were various people were sunbathing, playing frisbee and what not. We sat under the shade of a tree and just listened as Aoife played song after song, we were all in great amazement of her talent. It was a relaxing day, but was so much fun and certainly one of the most memorable of my time in Maynooth.
The next day I hit the books, finding a new favorite studying spot in the Computer Science lab. I had to prepare for 3 exams, Irish Studies, Sociology, and Victorian English. After a few long days of studying, it was time to see how Irish exams were going to be...
Final Exams in Ireland were greatly different from those back home at Saint Mary’s. Besides the less intense studying that occurred, the structure and strict nature of the exams was interesting, but also intimidating. The only time I felt scared in Maynooth was when I went into these exams. Thankfully I had my three exams on the last two days of the two weeks, which were given for exams. Meaning, I was told by friends what to expect and what to bring with me. My first exam was my Irish Studies course, which was about Irish literature so the topics spanned from Oscar Wilde to James Joyce and W.B. Yeats along with a load of other poets and authors. It was an early morning with the exam starting at 8:30. Walking there I felt fairly confident about the topics and what I would write on, but as soon as I walked into the gym I lost every thought in my head. There were massive swarms of people everywhere, standing in the hallway outside the gym, waiting to be let in. First of all, back home, I simply walk to the designated room, sit down, do a little studying, and even get candy or something from my teachers. In Maynooth, there is so much madness that one can hardly even think. In order to enter the gym to take the exam, I had to find out my seat number on the wall and then as soon as the doors were thrown open, people started furiously funneling through them. Inside the doors are supervisors who make sure that no one comes in with coats, notes, purses, backpacks, or basically anything besides pens and pencils. I, however, looked so American as I passed through the doors with a few of my notes and was told to put them away. After managing to make it into the gym, another obstacle was thrown upon me—find my seat. The gym was filled with rows and rows of desks from the front to the back. The way they had numbered the desks was even slightly confusing, going around in a snake. Eventually I made it to where I was supposed to be and I sat down trying to recall anything I could about what I was supposed to write on. After a few minutes, someone came on a loud speaker and explained the rules of the exam. As soon as the man then said begin, you heard people slamming open their booklets and starting to furiously write, it was if every second counted to the Irish. During the exam, they had several people walking up and down the rows, looking over your shoulder to make sure you were not cheating. I personally found this to be quite distracting and had to make myself focus at times on what I was doing. One also has to put your id card on the desk for someone to come around and check. I had never experienced anything like my exams in Maynooth and as much as I love NUIM, I would rather take my exams back at SMC. Eventually by the third and final exam, I was a bit more used to the pacing and the craziness and actually did not want my exams to end for it meant the end of my time as a student at NUIM.
No comments:
Post a Comment