Moving away from home may not be a big deal for some. Moving to another continent on the other hand, is a big deal for everyone. Jacob, our ITT Dublin Ambassador tells us how studying abroad in Ireland changed his life…
Moving to Ireland is an amazing feat, and you should treat it that way. If like me, you are from Canada, you’ve moved over 5000km to a new country to study. In my eyes, that’s amazing. Not only will you learn your area of study, but you will be able to experience and learn a new and different culture. You will learn how the Irish live life, how they solve problems, how they have fun, how they do everything in day-to-day life. This knowledge that you will pick up will not only change how you live your life, but overall how you see life.
In my last six months here in Ireland I’ve met many people. The people I have met while staying in Ireland range from the obvious (Irish) to American Canadian, Dutch, German, Austrian, Spanish, Brazilian, Chinese, Korean, and people form dozens of other countries. These friends that I have made in Ireland will most likely be my friends for life, with trips already planned for people to visit each other once the school year ends.
Now aside from the obvious – friends and environment – living in Ireland can change your life just by the language the Irish speak. I know what you’re thinking, the Irish speak English, right? Well, yes they do. And in my experience, the way the Irish speak English will eventually change how you speak English! There is another blog that I’ve found extremely accurate in describing the slang you’ll hear while living in Ireland. This blog from Juergen Kan is basic slang that the Irish say from day-to-day, and you may pick some of it up. Coming to Ireland I used to say “awesome” and “great” but after six months, it is slowly changing to “grand” and “deadly”. This is simply from hanging out with the Irish, but when I Skype friends from Canada and the Irish slang slides out, they love it.
Alright, let’s get to the main reason Ireland will change your life. Travel. The move alone to Ireland takes nearly a full day to complete, and with that big of a journey already completed what’s stopping you from traveling more? Now I’m not saying you should go and travel every weekend, though it is cheap and convenient, it can quickly add up. Let’s not think about the downside of not being able to travel every weekend, and let’s get back to how easy it is to travel when you want to. You are already in Europe, so take advantage of it! You may not be back for some time and if you do come back to Europe you’ll have to take the long flight over again. Ryanair has some amazing deals from time to time so that you will be able to travel throughout Europe with ease. Your school may also have tours of Europe that will be discounted due to the amount of people buying tickets (Ask about this! The ITT Dublin mystery tour was for 50 students (first come first serve) and went to a random country in Europe. This is by far the most fun I have had since arrival in September as I met tons of new people from my school and I managed to get Lisbon, Portugal).
The traveling experience will definitely change your life for ever, and I believe Ireland is the perfect spot to start. Traveling through Ireland is easy due to the size of the island, and with tours leaving every day going throughout the country, it’s easy to see anything you would like to see.
Come study in Ireland, it will change your life forever.