Reflection Eternal

Okay, okay so I haven’t updated in a while. I’ve become one of those people.

But the thing that’s weird is that I haven’t spent a whole ton of my time thinking about Ireland and being abroad. I thought it would be weirder than it is right now, but my adjustment has been incredibly smooth. I’ve jumped back in the foray with most of my friends, picking up like I never left. My job has helped, if not forced, me to reassert my interest in American politics. Waxman and I have gone right back to scheming about the future and waxing (no pun intended) intellectual about the upcoming elections. I haven’t been checking the BBC obsessively or anything, I’ve been back into Kos and Atrios and the Washington Post.

The only things I find myself missing frequently are the people. There are times when I just wish I could bring my friends form Ireland to hang out with my friends at Juniata or my friends at home for a weekend. I think the combined weight of that force of fun would just knock everyone on his or her ass. There is also the fact that I talk to Pat on the phone like every day and we have all e-mailed each other a good bit since we’ve been home.

I’m not sure what to make of this. Part of me thinks that things will get really weird when I get back to school and realize what I’ve missed. I don’t think that’s necessarily the case, though, because most of what I’ve missed has been social and I think I’m pretty much caught up on that (by the way, I almost feel vindicated about earlier hang-ups on leaving the country because I didn’t really miss that much, no offense to everyone who stayed here).

There’s another part of me that thinks that maybe this is it and that the occasional pangs of longing I get for “the mother country” (even though I have no Irish descent that I am aware of I am still going to call it that) are the worst its going to get. Maybe I’ve been told about reverse culture shock being worse so much that it’s totally downplayed in my mind. Maybe I expected it to be worse. Maybe it’s not that bad because I was a wuss and went to an English speaking country where the popular culture is practically American.

I think I need to wait a while before I start getting completely reflective. I just left practically, and even though it feels like I never left the U.S. to begin with, I was gone for four months. Maybe then I will feel up to writing some grandiose reflective and comparative piece. But as for now, I’m too concerned with who’s going to win the U.S. Senate primary in September in Maryland.

Home

I’ve gone through a myriad of emotions since I arrived back in the United States two weeks ago. At first, it was pretty much a state of awe, especially when the humidity of the East Coast hit me as I walked off of the plane. The flatness of the land, the countless tress – these were all familiar aspects of the land to me, yet they seemed so strange after the landscape of Ireland at first.

So there were some initial reverse culture shock things that got to me, like driving on the other side of the road, hearing all American accents, seeing my parents and realizing that I was going back to live with them when I had been in Europe on my own for months, but it wasn’t really that odd. I’ve found myself quickly slipping back into the routine of my old life.

I’ve seen most of my friends at family at this point and have been working for two weeks. The strange part about it now is that I feel like I am starting to forget what it was like in Ireland. It’s almost like it never happened, strangely enough. I’ll feel like that a lot of the time, then all of a sudden something will remind me of the “mother country” (I’ve decided I’m going to call Ireland that even though my family is in no way to my knowledge Irish). I find a lot of joy in these moments, as its like a private moment to myself.

At the same time, while I have had no problem seamlessly fitting back in with my friends, I somehow feel kind of different. Sure, they have some jokes I don’t get because I wasn’t here, but I really didn’t miss anything. It was the same old shit – East parties I’ve been to before, rugby teams I’ve played, professors I’ve had – nothing new. While that was their experience, mine was so much more. I made completely different friends, was taught different subjects by new profs, played rugby in Ireland where its no joke, and last, but not least, I traveled all over Europe! I feel like my worldview has perhaps expanded, while everyone here has kind of stayed the same.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. My friends said they’re glad I haven’t become some snobbish study abroad kid like so many people do. I’m essentially the same kid, but I can’t help but appreciate things in a different light because it’s like I now have a source of comparison.

I’m now working on flowing back into the swing of American politics. While my interest has been rekindled, I feel a new appreciation for our political system. Sure, we have lots of problems with our way of government, but when compared to the political culture of Northern Ireland, it looks like paradise. As much contention as we have in our political culture, it’s still better than one where violence is widely accepted, as is the case with Northern Ireland. I think we just are used to a culture that is not homogenous. We don’t all have to be one religion or ethnic group to get along, as seems to be the prevailing view of most Northern Irish. We can have a society comprised of different groups. Naturally, we have had some problems (I do believe we fought a civil war and had a massive civil rights movement over such differences) and there are plenty of problems still, but on the whole, our society still functions.

It’s almost the exact opposite of what I was worried about – my abroad experience has made me appreciate the United States more, not less.

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So, I’m home, I made it, I survived. I plan to continue blogging throughout this summer, as I’m sure there will be times when thoughts come into my head. I still feel like I have plenty I should write about, and someone informed me that apparently I didn’t disclose enough information (i.e. stories about boozing) on here. Trust me, if you want a story about boozing, just ask me. I have plenty.

Amsterdam and Beyond

Amsterdam is a fascinating city. Katie and I just returned on Tuesday after spending three nights there. There’s a lot to say about the city – it’s pretty much the sin capitol of Europe. It’s like Vegas (even though I’ve never been to Vegas), except seedier and dirtier. There’s something to be said for walking down the street, smelling the scent of marijuana being legally smoked in “coffee houses,” staring at prostitutes in the window, being propositioned to buy ecstasy and coke on every corner, and seeing hundreds of drunk, wild, and just plain insane people. It was almost a surreal experience.

You go into ordinary gift shops are surrounded by bongs, pipes, and all sorts of weed paraphernalia. They have t-shirts advertising the fact that prostitution is legal – one of the Amsterdam logos used by the gift shops is the simple yet correct symbol of “XXX.” The city never seems to sleep, especially on a weekend. Out hostel was right on the edge of the red light district and along a main avenue of bars and clubs, and there never ceased to be noise all night except for maybe a brief period between 6 and 8 AM. The clubs are all open until about 5 in the morning, and when they close the noise of the crowds ensures you know it. It was just plain wild.

We visited some sights, such as the overpriced Van Gogh museum and the extremely moving Anne Frank House, yet spent most of the time enjoying the seedier sights and the nice weather we had during our stay. I think Amsterdam quite possibly has the best people watching of any place I’ve ever been. We spent one afternoon in the park just watching people go by and it was incredibly relaxing.

The entire atmosphere was a bit surreal. However, I can see that place being an enormous amount of fun with a bunch of friends and just going wild.

After the thrill of Amsterdam, I came back and had my first UK exam the next day. I also had one yesterday, and one more on Monday. My time here is certainly limited. I have to say, though, that I have thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s been such a wild ride and I feel like I have experienced so much more outside of my small life cruising between Maryland and Pennsylvania.

I have such a taste for travel these days. I feel like when I get back to the States I want to go to so many places. I can’t believe I’ve never been to New York City before! I’ve never been on the West Coast. I want to go to San Francisco and Chicago and the Grand Canyon and the Great Plains and Vegas…there’s so much out there to see. I wish I could have seen more of Europe even though I really have seen a great deal. I would really like to go to Eastern Europe, like Prague or Budapest. I even want to go to Canada this summer at this point!

I’ll be back in the U.S. in less than two weeks. It’s almost hard to imagine what it’s going to be like once the euphoria of home, family and friends wears off. I imagine it’s going to be weird. I’ll write some more soon after I take my final exam. I know I am going to have some concluding thoughts and there have been a ton of political developments in Northern Ireland I have yet to discuss. I also have plans to write a final comparative analysis and some thoughts about the UK/Europe and the United States.

Milan to Minsk

Rome was a pretty out of control city. As it was Holy Week, there were people EVERYWHERE. This was cool, yet at the same time it was kind of annoying as we had to face 3 to 4 hour lines for all of the main attractions. I was unable to see the Sistine Chapel, but managed to get into a lot of the Roman history. The Coliseum was fascinating, as was the Roman Forum and Palatino. Simply put, I was awestruck to sit in front of something so old. We don't have anything like that in America, yet here is a city built around such things where people have been living for thousands of years.

After Rome we headed to Milan, which is a much more modern city. We were surrounded by high class clothing stores in the downtown area, and it rained the entire time, but it was still fun to be there. We had a low key celebration for Katie's birthday (which was also on Easter) inside a nice hotel. We had a fantastic dinner (eating is something I enjoyed the entire time in Italy), and I think I am starting to get a taste for wine. It’s amazing how much better wine tastes when you're not drinking it from a box as I am used to.

From Milan we soon went on to Paris, a city I was incredibly excited to see. Strangely enough, Parisians and the British always joke about how Americans have a fascination with Paris, and I am guilty as charged to that account. I think it might be my intense interest in the French Revolution and Napoleon, but somehow I really enjoyed Paris. We also shared a room with a really cool couple of an American girl and a British guy who were a ton of fun.

The Louvre was amazing - it took us a whole day to get through it, and we didn't even see anything. I saw some of my favorite paintings (mostly David pieces about Napoleon). One of the things I noticed, however, was the lack of respect a lot of people have in these museums. There are blatant signs about not taking pictures that most people ignored. It's surprising, not only because some of these paintings can really be damaged by flash, but because it's downright disrespectful and ruins the ambiance of a museum. Come on people, use your memory, you really don't need to videotape every single piece of art.

Katie enjoyed a lot of the impressionist paintings in another gallery whose name I can't remember. The Eiffel tower is really as beautiful as they say, especially at night. When you step back in front of it, you just kind of feel in awe. I mean, when you think about it, it's really cool - I was standing in front of the Eiffel fucking Tower! This was something I found myself doing the entire trip.

After Paris, we headed for one night to the city of Glasgow, Scotland. I really wish we had more time to spend there It was a really neat city - very down to earth and working class feeling. There was a great nightlife, and I enjoyed some haggis, which apparently are sheep’s guts boiled in its stomach. It tasted a lot like scrapple to me, and despite the ewwwws eschewed by many of the American girls about it; I thought it was really good.

Before we knew it, we were back in Belfast. I think we were both really glad to be home (strangely enough, I referred to Ireland as home there whole time). It made me think how much I am really going to miss it here when I go back to the States. I tend to waver back and forth a lot between really wanting to go home and wanting to stay forever. I wish I could travel around forever, yet at the same time I really miss my family and friends in America.

Right now classes are over and I have a week of studying, then one final trip to Amsterdam, then exams, then about a week to relax, then I come home. Before I know it (and all of you know it) I'll be back in the States.

Italia

Italy is quite a fascinating country. I was lucky enough to be there during their election, with the infamous Silvio Berlusconi up for re-election. He's about the equivalent of our President Bush in his conservativeness, yet is perhaps even more controversial. He's been tied to all sorts of shady business dealings, including one indicting the husband of one of the UK's Cabinet ministers. All that aside, it was very cool just to be there and see all of the election posters. Being the nerd that I am, I kept stopping to take pictures (especially of ones that I am NEVER likely to see in the U.S., like the Communist Party and the Socialist Party).

The first place we went to was Venice, which is possibly the touristiest place I have ever seen. It's constantly filled with people, you have to walk everywhere, and there are a lot of churches and the like. Complaints aside, it is quite a lovely town. The fact that the weather in Italy is much better than in Ireland helped a lot, too. So we spent two days there before heading on to Florence.

I really enjoyed Florence, and the fact that we stayed with another "Eagle Abroad" made it even nicer. Florence, like Venice, is also touristy, but it was a little better as far as prices were concerned. The amount of famous art that is in that town is ridiculous. Even though I got a B- in Survey of Western Art, I still found myself in awe upon seeing some really famous works. So we stayed there for a few days before hopping on the train down to Rome. Let me remind, also, that during this entire time it's Holy Week, so I was in store for a ton of people in Rome.

More on the flip side.