Still Here (Georgie)

So I’m still here in Ireland. When I log out of my hotmail account I keep seeing the weather reports for Melbourne and I sigh with envy. Ahh, the sun!

Classes have now finished and it’s a study week this week, and while I should be reviewing the entire Macroeconomics course as it’s the subject I struggled with the most, I am finishing off final essays, of which there are many.

In other news a friend from Melbourne Uni who is on exchange in Birmingham came and visited for the weekend. And when I say weekend, I mean a uni weekend, which is four days long. And this was awesome, except for the fact that I had to hand four essays in on Friday and so I had to write off the weekend homework wise. But we got to do some touristy stuff. We went to Glendalough (pronounced Glen-da-lock) in the country over, Wicklow, where there’s a bunch of Monastic ruins in the middle of a national park, very nice. And to the Guinness factory – who ever knew there was so much information about Guinness?

The big problem I’m facing at the moment is when to go home. When I booked my ticket for the 26th of Feb, I knew I would probably change it and come home a little earlier, but wasn’t certain on a date. So now here are the factors that I have to take into account:

– Mum’s selling our house and has bought a unit in Balwyn and I want to be home before we have to move out.

– I signed up for the Global Issues Program and I have registered up for a core subject – ‘Global Citizenship’ – which is an internet subject through the University of British Colombia that starts on Jan 5th.

– I am running out of money! I have about 2500 euros, which sounds like a lot, but will at most, last me about 50 days. And I have to buy some serious winter clothes.

– I miss home a bit, and for a little while was thinking of getting a flight back that would land me in Melbourne on Christmas morning.

– When is the next time I am going to be in Europe? I am sort of tossing around the idea of doing postgrad in Ireland, or taking a year off between undergrad and postgrad and au pairing/travelling for a year, but both are, of course, not certain.

– I got accepted into the overseas history Subject ‘Searching for the American Dream’, which will set me back at least $8000, but realistically, probably more. Should I save a bit of money for that? And if I get back earlier I will be able to get a job and work a bit over summer.

 – I don’t want to get back and be like ‘why on earth did I come back when I could be in Europe?’ and suffer a little reverse culture shock, which everyone says happens. But I might just have to fill up my summer so I have lots of stuff to do.

– And I think there is a certain pride with travelling to Europe and staying away from home as long as you can, finances permitting. And I don’t want all my friends to be like ‘Why did ou come back early? Are you insane? It’s Europe!’

– I’m a little tired at the thought of backpacking again. While I do love it and I think travelling s brilliant, after being settled in one place for so long I’ve gotten used to not having to pack up my entire life every 3 days.

– I do want to see Scotland before I go home, and as I’ve come to Ireland, I wouldn’t mind discovering a bit of my other family history.

– Where to spend christmas? I have 2 aussie friends in Munich for christmas, but I also have a bunch of families in Ireland that have all offered to have me. It would be nice to spend it with family, but am I just wasting time when I could be travelling?

– And the final one, completely out of my control. My British Airways flight stopped off in Bangkok on the way over, and I’m assuming it will be stopping there on the way back, which is a little worrisome.

And I think that is a long enough list to contemplate for the moment. Exchange is awesome, even if I have been going out a little too much.

Until next time,

Georgie x