Geez, Jason. Can you stop getting sick? Those back home watching the news are gonna get worried.

I know, I know. I started feeling bad after my Ring of Kerry trip. I mostly stayed in and rested for awhile and then felt up to going to things again, although it has put a significant damper on my new career as a pro rock climber. Haven’t been out since the first week. However! I did order some climbing shoes to help me along. The climbing shoes at OPC and at SUAS are both quite small. I was able to make do for the time being, but the ones I ordered should hopefully be a little bit bigger and allow me to keep trying out rock climbing without trying Chinese foot binding.

What else is going on at school?

Unfortunately, we’re starting to hit that point in the semester where I have “assignments” and things are “due.” Gosh what a drag. Someday we’ll realize college is most productive for young adult minds when we take away all the school parts and just keep the social development and new experiences parts. But until then, alas, I will keep on working under this system. Thankfully, some of my topics are and assignments are kind of interesting. For instance, my Irish Folklore assignment includes an Irish Witch character called the Cailleach! I’ve been enjoying my folklore class. We’ve talked a lot about storytelling (As I told anyone around for a brief two week period this summer, I am going to become a professional storyteller and figure out the rest of my life later) and in class, we even made a St. Brigid’s Cross out of rushes.

Hey Jason, I heard your ISA program did a bus tour around the “Ring of Kerry”. First off, what is that? And secondly, was the travelling in the bus miserable?

Oh man was the travel miserable. I know you asked that question second but by golly does being in any form of transportation (except boats, maybe I should live on an island), really make me a sad bean. Firstly, however, the Ring of Kerry is a trip around a western peninsula of Ireland that houses county Kerry. It is filled with scenic views of mountains, hills, pastures, rivers, and bays. Some of the views were especially nice, but my favorite part was getting to know some of the other members of my ISA group better.

What all did you see?

Well, we stopped along many outlooks over water and valleys. There was a particular spot called the Knot of Kerry which was a bridge overlooking some rocks in a very interesting formation. It was a neat little spot in a small town with a coffee shop and a spot for tourist gifts. I must say, I feel a lot better about the horrible cartoonization of Irish culture in America with silly looking leprechauns and four leaf clovers, after seeing the Irish tourism industry is far worse. Our bus was called the “paddy wagon” and had a a giant cartoon leprechaun smoking a pipe on each side of the bus. It was a little brutal. All in all, a good trip though.

Hey Jason, what’s SUAS? What does it stand for?

Hey there! SUAS is a climbing gym in Limerick, although I haven’t got a clue what it stands for. My friend Johan from Sweden has invited me along a few times now, and I get a discount on Tuesdays as a member of the Outdoor Pursuits Club, or OPC for short. Plenty of OPC members go on Tuesday nights in a big group, to practice and have fun. Some people do rope climbing with a partner, but Johan introduced me to something I was unfamiliar with called bouldering. Bouldering is basically rock climbing but you’re not clipped into anything! The walls only go about 15 feet in the air, and there are gym mats on the ground to catch you if you fall. Unfortunately they’re biggest shoe was still a little small for me, but I made it work and I had a great time 🙂

So are you, like, becoming physically active? Gross. What about our agreement to never do anything ever? Is going outside gonna be like a regular thing?

Hopefully I will continue to be somewhat active, despite my normally sedentary lifestyle. I may be “leaving my room” and “doing things” now, but have no fear, I’m the same nerd as ever. On Monday I went out to a board game night with Games Society where I made some new friends, won a game of exploding kittens, and talked about Dungeons and Dragons. Even if rock walls and board games aren’t things unique to Ireland, I’ve gotten to meet an incredible international community in just a couple days. Experiencing things with a group of people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, whether those are everyday things like rock walls and hikes, or riveting things like Catan empires and Level 7 Warlocks, it’s cool to learn and grow in an international community.

So, a little birdie told me you and your father got captured by pirates. Care to explain?

Well, first things first, don’t wander around places you don’t know when you’re in a foreign country. Especially don’t board suspicious boats going up a river unless you’re ready to get attacked by pirates. My father and I were not ready, and alas, we were trapped. The boat began sinking as we were stowed away, and oddly enough we had exactly 60 minutes to solve a serious of puzzles, which were left behind by the pirates for some reason I can only dream of, and escape with our lives (and of course our treasure).

Ah. So you went to an escape room. Got it.

Escape room indeed 🙂 My father and I have always enjoyed puzzles. My dad used to have a “MENSA” puzzle of the day tear-away calendar that we would try and solve together when I was younger. I went to an escape room in a big group when I joined the Batten Honors College at Virginia Wesleyan, but my father had never been and we both liked the idea. The night before we had some practice playing a computer game called “Death Squared” where we had to work together to solve a series of puzzles as well. Obviously, since I am alive, we escaped, and had a blast doing it.

Alright Jason, I heard you joined the “outdoor pursuits club” at University of Limerick. I have to say that sounds like a whole lot more “going outside” and “doing things” than you have ever wanted in your life. What was that all about?

Okay, maybe lay off the judgement here, although I do hate going places and doing things with a burning passion. But anyways, I did indeed join the Outdoor Pursuits Club. I joined for a handful of reasons. The first is simply that I had a friend from Sweden, Johan, who was a member and suggested I join. He said it was a lot of fun. The second is that being on a semester abroad is a time to try new things and do stuff you don’t normally do. Outdoor Pursuits seemed like a good way to meet people and stretch my comfort zone. Lastly, a lot of what they do involves climbing. And I think climbing is pretty nifty. So hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to do some climbing, meet people, stretch my comfort zone, and if I happen to do a little exercise by coincidence of those things then hey, my doctor probably won’t be mad.

Okay Jason, “Games Society” that sounds a lot more up your alley. What’s that like?

Now there’s a fair point and a good question. I haven’t officially joined Games Society yet but I plan to. They do all manner of games from board games to tabletop RPGs to video games. It is indeed up my alley and I hope to join and make some new friends as well as get out of my room on days when I don’t feel like physical activity (which is probably most of them let’s be real here). Both Outdoor Pursuits Club and Games Society are part of the active student life here at University of Limerick. Clubs and Societies, or “Clubs and Socs” as they are commonly referred to here, are very popular and a way for students to come together outside of classes and engage in hobbies and have fun.

Hey Jason, I heard you weren’t feeling well, how’s it going buddy?

Aw man thanks for asking, no one in particular. It’s nice to know someone cares. It’s been a little rough goings. I’ve just been feeling some general cold and flu symptoms, but when they first arrived they hit me like a truck and I thought it was going to be much worse. I guess the slightly different strains of disease over here are something my immune system isn’t yet used to. However it wasn’t all bad as I was able to learn a little bit and become prepared for a future illness/ accident. I was already kind of familiar with how my insurance and the doctors here worked, but now I feel much more confident and aware. I was able to contact my ISA representatives and learn a little bit more about the process of using my insurance and going to the doctor.

I’m glad to hear it wasn’t too bad after all. Was there anything you learned about Ireland through this endeavor?

Yeah I did! I think a lot of the time when people are sick in the states (regardless of severity), some people around them don’t care, and others start flipping out like they’re about to catch a worse version of the Bubonic Plague. There are definitely a few illnesses going around here, and in seeing others who are also sick as well as seeing people’s reactions to those who are sick, and people seem to acknowledge the illness, try and avoid spread, and then keep moving on with their lives. It’s not a melodramatic or big thing. Additionally, I learned general pharmacies here have a much more involved role in care taking here than in the U.S. Normally in Ireland, people only go to a doctor or nurse for something extremely severe. If someone is sick, ill, or injured and don’t know what’s going on or how to treat themselves, they’ll visit a local pharmacy and the pharmacist will help to recommend something and keep them healthy.

So Jason, I heard you got to see a castle with your ISA study abroad group! How was it?!

… Well. Growing up, I lived in Northern Virginia right near Washington D.C. We went to museums and DC, all the time. Whenever my cousins would visit from Connecticut, all they wanted to do was go to D.C. and museums, and they were always so excited, and I did not understand. My mother explained that this was fascinating because they didn’t have it back home and they didn’t get to go to museums very often.

After living in England for two years, castles kind of lost their thrill. Going was still a fun time as I got to know some of my fellow ISA members better and got to see a little bit of Limerick City. We also went to a local “milk market” which was basically a farmers market with some nice food. I bought some bread, honey, and a little chocolate pie that was delicious. It was very nice and all in all a great day.

Hey Jason! So now that you’re in Ireland, what’s it like getting settled?

Hey there! It’s pretty good. My first day I went down to an Aldi within walking distance of my apartment and got some essentials like food, soap, and of course, chocolate. The apartment I’m in has eight single rooms, four upstairs, and four downstairs, and a common room/kitchen upstairs. The rooms are pretty small, and the bathroom upstairs is tiny, but I figured that would just incentivize me to spend more time out and about experiencing Ireland, so I wasn’t too upset. Now I’ve got food, some hand towels, and have met all my flat mates. Bedding and general kitchen stuffs were already supplied, so that was convenient.

What about school? Are you adjusting well?

So far we’ve been doing orientation for new students and internationals. Mostly they’ve been going over differences in the European versus American and otherwise schooling systems. I’ve got an idea of the classes I will take and even know about the various “clubs and societies” or “clubs and socks” as they are known, which I could potentially join and meet people in. I am beginning to wonder if studying abroad is more popular among females, as I was not only the only male studying abroad from my home university this semester (1 out of about 13), but also the only male studying at limerick from the ISA program (1 out of about 12), and the only male in my flat (1 out of 8). But overall, things are well. And I’m excited for more.