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Well here I am in the good ol' Emerald Isle. I've actually been here in Belfast for about 12 days now, but it just took me a while to finally sit down and get to making one of these puppies. Not to mention, this has been one of the busiest two weeks in my wee life. Between orientation, meeting new people, numerous pub crawls, getting settled, registering for classes, exploring what Belfast has to offer, traveling to Munich and then onward to Dublin for two of the biggest beer festivals in the world, and sleeping...this is the first chance I've considered sitting down to reflect and write.
It will probably be easiest to split this entry up into several key categories since so much has happened in the past 2 weeks. Some events and experiences could fill up one long entry so I'll try to keep everything as focused as possible.
- Why I came to Belfast- preconceptions, first impressions, etc
After all the traveling I've already done this year between Israel, Spain, China, and Taiwan, I have to admit that I was not particurly excited about my stay in Northern Ireland from the beginning. It was hard to image that I would be spending another three months away from home after all of the time I had already spent out of the country this year. Not to mention, I did not find anything particularly challenging about coming to the UK. The language and culture would be very similar to the US, especially when contrasting that to Asia and the Middle East, and I just was not sure what Northern Ireland particurly had to offer besides an interesting courseload that I would otherwise not be able to experience at Northeastern. because of this, I did little prior research on Belfast and what it had to offer, and did not even start packing until about 12 hours before my plane left the ground.
It was not until my plane started into it's final decent into Belfast did it finally hit me that I would be spending the remainder of the year in Ireland (well technically the UK, but now's not the time for those details)- a country where my roots were so deeply tied. Rolling green pastures speckled with white sheep and cozy little cottages were all I could see for miles and miles. Even though many aspects of coming to Ireland are probably much easier than going to some other places in the world, I knew at that moment I had taken for granted just how much I had to learn about this place's history, geography, culture, and how I would fit in.
In addition, I had not yet come to a new country completely on my own for a semester of studying. I would have to balance out the thrills of traveling and exploring with the discipline of keeping my grades up and taking the most out of my classes. I did apply to come to Belfast for several key reasons. First, Queen's university is a world renowned university that offered Genetics electives that I could never find at home. The genetics research facilities in the UK are also some of the greatest in the world. For less educational purposes, Belfast was located in a convenient place of Europe, where I could easily travel to other places when (and if) I had any free time. Not to mention, I love a good pub and Belfast is certainly known to have quite a few. The troubles of Belfast also lured me to this location. Although coming to the Uk was a safer choice for travel, Belfast has a rocky history in which it has grown from tremendously (and one that I knew very little about). I think Lonely Planet accurately sums up why I finally decided to come here in the best way:
"Once lumped with Beirut, Baghdad and Bosnia as one the four 'B's for travellers to avoid, Belfast has pulled off a remarkable transformation from bombs-and-bullets pariah to hip-hotels-and-hedonism party town."
- Arriving in Belfast- Accomodation, Orientation
The days before I came to Belfast, people were constantly asking me if i was nervous about my trip. Nervous was never quite the word, but I had a constant feeling that I was incredibly unprepared for my trip. I knew very little about what I would do after my plane landed, where I would be staying, where I would eat, who I would meet, how I would afford life on the pound instead of the dollar, how much I would need to know about the "Troubles" and how much of an issue they still played in the city, and the list goes on. I had a general mindset that I would just roll with the punches, and it would all work out somehow. Stepping off the plane from Newark to Belfast, I was greeted by a smiling committee of Queen's university students holding a sign. It turns out that about 15 people on my plane were also coming to study at Queens. We made sleepy chit chat (due to the time difference) as we waited for everyone to get their backage, and then a bus brought us over to our living accomodations. The airport is about a half hour from Queens and downtown Belfast. The drive was everything I expected a drive through Ireland to be- passing through countless farms on narrow streets (not to mention driving on the other side of the road). The bus dropped us off where I would be living, a dorm community called Elms Village. It's about a 15 minute walk from campus through a richer neighborhood of Belfast that has lots of restaurants, pubs, churches, etc. Overall- it's a very cool location. Many kids complain about the walk, and I probably will too when it gets cold, but as of now I really like it.
My room is pretty awesome. It looks like a typical freshman dormroom (Elms Village houses international kids and the freshers on campus). It's a single with a very comfortable bed, closet, private bathroom, and large desk area. There are about 8 similar rooms on the floor of my building and they all share one large common room and kitchen.
The International Friendship Association is a club here on campus that arranged a bunch of activities for the new International kids for their stay here. This club has been one of the greatest things about coming here. The Irish kids who volunteer with club let us in on all the secrets of Belfast including the best bars, cheapest food, shortcuts, etc. unlike a lot of kids in the US, I have found these students to be sincerely nice. It was no problem making friends at some of the events they put on, and a lot of the volunteers even go out to pubs after so they've become friends more than just kids that are here to show us around. The first night a good group of us went to the Globe pub, which had good music and relatively cheap beers (also nothing in this land in cheap, ugh). Over the week we learned of other local pubs such as the Botanic Inn (otherwise known as The Bot), and the several bars in the student center (a very strange concept for the American students).
I've also had the chance to explore the campus over the past week or so as well (besides just the pubs haha). The Lanyon building is the main glorious building on campus, which is Queen's claim to fame. next to the Lanyon, is a large botanical garden with gorgeous flowers and foliage. If the weather keeps up, I hope to spend a lot of time here (even though the weather is only supposed to get colder and rainier from here...) The gym (or PEC as they call it), it one of the coolest gyms I have ever seen. I never thought that I would go to a gym that would put Marino to shame, but this definitely does. It has a full rock climbing wall, dozens of fitness classes, state of the art machines (each with its own cable television screen), 2 huge pools, sauna, numerous weightrooms, etc etc etc. The library is also brand new- just completed in the past year- and it is magnificent to say the least. Even if my classes end up being ridiculous, I wouldn't mind spending time in this place because it is so modern and cool to chill in.
Speaking of classes, they start tomorrow. I registered last week, and it looks like it should be a pretty interesting semester. I'll be taking Manipulative Genetics, Immunology, and Philosophy. More on those to come...
- Exploring Belfast- Downtown, Cave Hill, Shankill district
In a lot of ways Belfast reminds me of Boston. It's not a very big city (much smaller than Boston evern), and very walkable. It's easy to run into people you know downtown while still having an urban feel. There is lots of shopping, great pubs, and a tremendous student population. It doesn't take long to travel before you are out of the city and in the rolling hills of Ireland once again.
Cave Hill is definitely my favorite part of Belfast so far. It is a large cliff in the North of the city that can easily be accessed by bus. It'd be about an 1-1.5 hour walk to actually get to the hill from Queen's, and then another 50 minute hike to the top. The hike never gets too strenuous, and the higher up you get, the prettier tha view gets. Once at the top, you get an amazing view of the entire city of Belfast, the Mourne Mountains, the harbor, and further into the rolling farms. Many of Belfast's biggest attractions such as the City Hall Ferris Wheel and the Victoria's Square Shopping mall can be seen here. It's definitely eerie to look down on the city from such a peaceful height when I know so much has gone on their in the past 50 years or so. One little Irish boy told us that one particular valley at the base of the hill was constant filled with flames while the Troubles were at its worst. The city look very united from the top, even though we tried desperately to find the "peace wall" that divides the shankill from the clonard districts. I know I'll be back at this hill many times throughout the semester.
The day after, Jenn and I decided to explore the history of the city a bit more. She asked a bus driver where we should go to see the best murals representing the troubles. Belfast is full of these murals, some peaceful and optimistic, some violent and ominous. The bus driver directed us to the Shankill (Protestant) side of the wall to learn the most valuable information. Even though the city is overall at peace, there are subtleties such as this that give clues to the division that still remains. Asking another bus driver could have sent us to the Clonard side.
The Shankill region of Belfast one of the eeriest places that I have ever been. The weather was cloudly, cool, and damp. Hardly anyone walked the streets as we walked from mural to mural, taking pictures and reading the graffiti. Some murals portrayed children dancing and holding hands, while others displayed masking gunmen armed with assault rifles. Even though this is a fairly large attraction for tourists in Belfast, I still felt tremendously out of place. The townhouses in the area were adorable and looked like any other, except for the elaborate murals decorating the sides.
I never felt that I was in any danger walking through this neighborhood, however it was unnerving to know the potential that this area had and has. Of course Northern Ireland has made tremendous strides for peace, but it still sent a chill up my spine to know what had happened on the streets that i was standing on.
This weekend I'll be sure to check out the Falls side of the wall.
- Munich- Oktoberfest
more to come...
- Dublin- Arthur's Day 2009
more to come...
- Giant's Causeway
more to come...
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