Study Abroad

eauclaire

hello! i'll be studying abroad at ul next spring, and i was just wondering what advice you all might have as i prepare and get ready for my semester.
i really can't wait, from what i've heard the campus is great (about the size of mine here in eau claire, wisconsin).

klong

Don't be loud and obnoxous
Don't whinge about how great things are "back in The States..."
Make friends with your housemates quickly or things may go downhill fast
Have a sense of humour

From a UL student living with UWEC students...

CaliforniaKatie

Eauclaire,

You're going to have a blast! I am also from the US and studied abroad my junior year in Spain, and I enjoyed it so much that I spent the following summer doing international summer school in Galway. I then spent a year working in Ireland, and am now set to attend UL in the fall to get my masters'- so the whole experience can definitely suck you in!

Klong does have some great tips. Unfortunately, you'll soon realize that Americans are LOUD. I didn't realize how obnoxious American tourists/visitors can be until I'd spent enough time living in Ireland was able to pick them out of a crowd (and be embarrassed to share anything in common with them)! No one wants to hear your phone conversations about how many drinks you sucked down last night or how cute you think so and so is, and if they hear it in an American accent, it just adds more fuel to the fire!

I think its important to remember that even though you're going to a country that is fairly similar to the US in regard to everyday life, you are are still in a new country, and you need to be respectful of the people that live there.

Be as social as possible. Making friends should definitely be one of your top priorities. Join a society, or the gym, or whatever you're interested in.

And prepare for the rain. I love it here, but the rain is constant!

cornbb

CaliforniaKatie wrote:

the rain is constant!

Not this week, its a fabulous hot sunny day outside. Ok, that happens for maybe a couple of weeks in the year, but the campus looks amazing on days like this.

Hope you have a good time here guys. There are 2 americans in my class and they're having a blast.

eauclaire

klong wrote:

Don't be loud and obnoxous
Don't whinge about how great things are "back in The States..."
Make friends with your housemates quickly or things may go downhill fast
Have a sense of humour

From a UL student living with UWEC students...

thanks so much for the helpful hints. i guess i'm just one of those people who likes to be a little bit prepared.
and i understand that there is a general hostile attitude towards americans. in all honesty, is there really any getting past that?

kaimera

There's not really a lot of hostility tbh. You get no more fools here than anywhere else tbqh.

Ignore them if anything happens.

And do attend the UL boards beers

Eveybody now!

rmacm

Yeah there isn't a whole lot of anti-Americanism here well not that I've witnessed anyway. You should have a great time. Try and get in some travel around the country while you're here aswell. Oh and the UL boards beers too

Cheers
Rory

eauclaire

thanks so much. i am really excited, and from what i've heard, ul is a great place to be. i know as it gets closer to the date, i'll get more involved with everything, but it helps to know that there are welcoming people already there.
any hints as to what i should avoid, just offhand?

kaimera

Avoid in what sense?

Places that are 'anti-american' so to speak?

Look, no matter where you go, you are guaranteed to meet folk that have a differing opinion to yourself and the US government but don't let that hold you back.

I don't know of places off hand like that really.

klong

Avoid UL boards beers (I've avoided them all successfully!)

kaimera

klong wrote:

Avoid UL boards beers (I've avoided them all successfully!)

OI! Not cool :mad:

Don't mind klong, she's just bitter.

klong

She? She?

But seriously, EC, as Kai said, avoid in what sense?

eauclaire

no, i didn't mean to avoid anti-american places. i mean, i'm well aware that there are going to be people who have preconceived notions of what i'm like based only on where i'm from. i'm going to go, regardless, and have a great time, i'm sure
i just mean, any places on campus that really aren't so hot, charge outrageous amounts for food, places where no one really hangs out, that sort of thing.

kaimera

rofl. woopsie!

Library food area for one to avoid [afaik, pricey]
Engineer building [too many engis there ]

off the top of my head at this late hour.

eauclaire

i appreciate it. gotta save all the money that i can, ha.
i've heard that plassey and kilmurray are the best places for me to go to meet the most people, and are the cheapest.

and klong, you live with other UWEC students right now?

kaimera

For places to live, check the sticky above in the forum.

College Court is reasonably cheap and you can get yer own commodities [digitial tv and fast broadbandfor eg.]

rmacm

eauclaire wrote:

i just mean, any places on campus that really aren't so hot, charge outrageous amounts for food, places where no one really hangs out, that sort of thing.

As kaimera said the library cafe can be pricey enough. The restraunts aren't too bad. The easiest way to live cheaply is buying your own food and cooking rather than eating in college everyday the expense of which can quickly mount up. Not too many places to avoid really other than that.

Cheers
Rory

klong

eauclaire wrote:

i appreciate it. gotta save all the money that i can, ha.
i've heard that plassey and kilmurray are the best places for me to go to meet the most people, and are the cheapest.

and klong, you live with other UWEC students right now?

Yes, PM me if you want to know more about that

The library cafeteria is the most expensive, but has the healthiest food (and the best-looking women). Packed around 1330-1345.
Do people go to the Sports Bar for food?

Plassey has loads of foreign students; in my house theres six foreigners and two Irish; I beleive its pretty much the same next door.

For groceries go to Tesco (in town) or Dunnes at the Parkway; Superquinn has good food but you pay a little extra.

eauclaire

well, can't say as i'm looking for the best-looking women, seeing as though i'm female. but thanks for the head's up, ha. i take it the campus has many foreign students?

rmacm

Hi,

There's quite a few foreign students around loads of European, Chinese and American students. What are you going to be studying here?

Cheers
Rory

klong

Chinese are in the main here to learn English and stick to themselves- and they wonder then why their English doesn't magically improve.
Americans- many of whome aren't yet 21- drink themselves silly for the first few weeks, then settle down a wee bit.
Europeans....eh...speak European a lot.

Peteee

klong wrote:

Europeans....eh...speak European a lot.

Ahh european...what a great language!

cooperguy

klong wrote:

Chinese are in the main here to learn English and stick to themselves- and they wonder then why their English doesn't magically improve.
Americans- many of whome aren't yet 21- drink themselves silly for the first few weeks, then settle down a wee bit.
Europeans....eh...speak European a lot.

Ya i was an orientation guide last year and there was a load of excited under 21's from the U.S. tellin me how much they were lookin forward to the pub

eauclaire

so just curiously... say you weren't much of a drinker. does that put you outside of the social circle a bit, or not so much?
i know here, especially at UWEC, we have an obsession with getting drunk and partying and underagers go nuts with it. it's a little bit insane.

kaimera

I'd say not so much. I mean there are clubs and socs to join and I'm sure there would be a few in your class that aren't all that interested in drinking al the time.

Besides, you can go out and not drink. UL Beers being an example...we always have good craic even when I don't drink

rmacm

eauclaire wrote:

so just curiously... say you weren't much of a drinker. does that put you outside of the social circle a bit, or not so much?

I would say not granted I can't really speak from experience as I do drink. But I know people who don't and they get on fine socially. The UL beers is a reasonably good place to meet people granted most of those in attendance are Computer Systems people. We should try and get more people to come along next year.

Cheers
Rory

Paulj

Hey, i'm living in plassey at the moment. Its the cheapest place alright, and loads of foreigners of many nationalities. I'm in my final year so its a bit different for me but it looks like a great place to spend a year abroad. Some of the houses have 8 people living in them so you could get to know loads of people (if you want to!).

The campus security aren't half as strict here compared to, say dromroe or thomond villages. Which means you can get away with more parties and stuff like that.

One thing...i have to agree with the previous poster that mentioned about loud americans, i don't know how often i've heard a couple or them shouting across the street having a conversation at 3am keeping everyone awake!! :mad:

I'm sure you'll have a great time hear ...also while you're in ireland you should try and travel round a bit, both in ireland and europe. There's an airport really closeby called shannon that flies cheap flight (see www.ryanair.com) to loads of major european cities. The american i lived with last semester went to something like 9 counties all around europe during his few months here (dont know how he afforded it though!).