Asking what I expect of going to Ireland is like asking what
I expect of a great adventure. It is a place that I have always wanted to go, a
place that filled bedtime stories and fairytales, and a place that
I have often dreamed about. Having the opportunity to not only travel there,
but also to be traveling while expanding personal, cultural, and educational
knowledge, is like none other.
Needless to say, my expectations are high, simply due to the
nature in which Ireland has been presented to me since I was young. It is an
ancient, mystical place with a history that is unique and extremely rich. Of
course I don’t expect to see fairytale come to life, but I do expect to see the
vibrant green of rolling hills, the rocky beaches, and places that I know to be
real, but could only dream of what it would be like to stand there.
From communicating with my partner in Ireland (Mikey), I
expect that our welcome will be a warm one and that collaborating on a project
together will open our eyes to new perspectives. I know that we will each bring
something unique and seeing how we can combine ideas and thoughts to ultimately
create a new product for final presentation will be a great experience in
expanding the way in which I may think or go about doing something.
I believe that our current progress on the product bodes
well for positive and productive interaction when working face to face. Being
able to physically handle the project piece will only aid in my understanding
of it and promote new ideas, innovations, and thoughts. It is hard right now to
gauge size, weight, functionality, and ease of use simply from a photo and I am
sure it is frustrating for Mikey to only be able to work with tables of
measurements and photos, when being able to handle actual jewelry and see how
it fits in the jewelry box in real life would be much easier for instantaneous
results.
I expect the culture of Ireland to be different from ours,
but not radically so. I am looking forward to learning new traditions and
customs and living a different lifestyle for a week. Having traveled abroad
before, I have learned that it can be extremely easy or painstakingly difficult
to adjust to a new culture, but it is an excellent way to become more open and
accepting of new ideas and allows for a much broader view of certain concepts.
From food to clothing up to complex notions of religion and society, I expect
to learn a great deal from interacting with Mikey and the other students and
from simply being immersed in that environment.
There are also things that I expect to be different, but I
am not sure how I will react to them. Food is one thing that, while I am
certain that I will enjoy it, it might take some getting used to and perhaps
some courage. I tend to be quite wary about trying new things, but I have found
that, while travelling, it is best to try something at least once. This
sometimes leads to horrid tastes and textures that I would never try again, but
often I find that I really enjoy something new and will miss it when I arrive
back home, searching though specialty aisles at the supermarket to find it
again.
Another thing that I am unsure of is social customs. I have
found that what is socially acceptable in America may not always be acceptable
in other countries (and vice-versa). I plan on reading about such things
en-route to Ireland as well as trying to adapt quickly once there. I feel that
modern Irish culture will not be so different from American culture, but I am
sure that I will notice both similarities and differences when we arrive.
One
thing that I was not expecting, but found through my own research, was the size
of the town of Letterfrack. I knew that it was small, but it was nearly
impossible to find from satellite imagery until I fully zoomed in. As a student
of geography, I couldn’t help but note its size, orientation, proximity to both
the ocean and other cities and came to the following conclusion: Letterfrack is
quite isolated. I am now even more excited to be there in person, having
studied it from a purely geographic perspective.
As stated before, my expectations, both personal and
academic, are quite high for this experience. I hope to learn and expand my way
of thinking to a higher degree and to return a bit wiser. I look forward to my
interactions with Mikey and working hands-on with the jewelry box. I have
anticipations of being immersed into a new culture and a new lifestyle. I face
this experience with excitement and apprehension because, while I have a lot of
expectations of my own, I do not know what to expect.
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