My First Couple Days in Galway!

I have finally made my way to Galway! Dad, Lisa, and I arrived here after our week long trip around the southern part of Ireland. Upon arriving in Galway, we went directly to my apartment building so that I could get settled in and acquainted with my new home. My apartment is quite nice really. It is a two bedroom apartment with a good-sized kitchen, living and dining area, and two bathrooms. Thankfully, the apartment is fully furnished, so moving in was really simple. I share a bedroom with my friend Dan from St. Joes, and the other bedroom is occupied by two other St. Joes students. The building is located in Galway City, about a 20+ minute walk from NUI-Galway, where I will be studying for the semester. I really like the location though, because it is much closer to the bay, the grocery stores, all kinds of local shops, and of course, the pubs! I think it is going to be a great place to live.

Orientation began yesterday morning with about 4 hours of talks from various departments and staff members of the university. It was a pretty informational session, but it dragged on for quite a while. That was the extent of our first day of orientation, and I left it realizing I have a long way to go before everything is off and rolling here in the next few weeks. I spent the rest of the day getting myself organized and grocery shopping so I have some eats! Last night my flatmates and I got together with some other people from our building (some from St. Joes and some not), and we walked around Galway and explored some of the local pubs. Many of the pubs have live bands after about 9:30 or so, which is one of my favorite things about this wonderful country! Most times the bands play traditional Irish music using an array of instruments including tin whistles, accordians, guitars, flutes, fiddles, drums, harmonicas, etc. The bands that don't play Irish music are typically cover bands, which I don't care for as much, but they still contribute to the atmosphere! Overall, it was a great first day, and I love Galway so far!

Today, we had our second part of orientation, which consisted of departmental meetings which talked about the courses and process of registration and the like. I still don't know what classes I am taking, so I will need to figure that out in the next week or two. We have until September 25th to make our final decisions regarding classes, and some classes don't even begin until the week of the 14th, so I still have some time.

That's about it so far. I've only been here for two days, so not too much has happened yet. I'm sure I will have more to talk about next time I write. Also, I have more pictures from the Blarney Castle, Killarney, Dingle Peninsula, Cliffs of Moher, and in betweens. I will be uploading them soon, and passing on the link. Thanks for reading, and I'll talk to you all soon!

Miss everyone much and wish you all could be here enjoying Ireland with me.

Until next time!
~Seamus