2008 Woodie Awards
Bar initiates study abroad student to Irish culture
Clare Herlihy '07
Issue date: 2/14/07 Section: Features
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With study abroad application deadlines looming large, many of you on Hawk Hill are probably struggling with deciding where to spend your semester abroad. There's Rome, the Eternal City or Madrid, with its exciting nightlife.
Saint Joseph's University even has programs in Australia, China, Japan, South America, and now Africa as well. Essentially, the world is at your feet, and it is up to you to decide which program suits you best. The deadline for Study Abroad applications is March 2, and more information on individual programs is available from their website, which is www.sju.edu/cip.
As for me, I spent the fall 2006 semester in Galway, Ireland, and I believe that it is the best decision I made in college. The Irish people are friendly, Galway is a vibrant university town, and the location is an ideal launching pad for exploring other European cities. These are all benefits that you have probably heard at an information session or read about in CIP office materials.
I know that when I was trying to make my decision, I had a difficult time getting a feel for the culture of a city strictly by looking at pictures and reading city guides. What really helped me the most was talking to previous study abroad students about what it was "really like" to live in a certain city for a semester.
The colorful, varied answers I got convinced me that Galway was the best place for me. To help those of you who are now in that position, I have written the following in-depth portrait of one aspect of my personal experience in Galway.
"There's so much glass on the floor!" exclaimed Rachel. She was right; it didn't matter which way I moved, my feet crunched over broken pint glasses. Smashing pint glasses was practically a sport amongst the Irish boys at the Hole in the Wall, Galway's premier destination for hormonally-charged university students. With two euro pints and an ample dance floor, Hole in the Wall, or "the Hole" as we called it, was my favorite place to start out an evening in Galway.
Saint Joseph's University even has programs in Australia, China, Japan, South America, and now Africa as well. Essentially, the world is at your feet, and it is up to you to decide which program suits you best. The deadline for Study Abroad applications is March 2, and more information on individual programs is available from their website, which is www.sju.edu/cip.
As for me, I spent the fall 2006 semester in Galway, Ireland, and I believe that it is the best decision I made in college. The Irish people are friendly, Galway is a vibrant university town, and the location is an ideal launching pad for exploring other European cities. These are all benefits that you have probably heard at an information session or read about in CIP office materials.
I know that when I was trying to make my decision, I had a difficult time getting a feel for the culture of a city strictly by looking at pictures and reading city guides. What really helped me the most was talking to previous study abroad students about what it was "really like" to live in a certain city for a semester.
The colorful, varied answers I got convinced me that Galway was the best place for me. To help those of you who are now in that position, I have written the following in-depth portrait of one aspect of my personal experience in Galway.
"There's so much glass on the floor!" exclaimed Rachel. She was right; it didn't matter which way I moved, my feet crunched over broken pint glasses. Smashing pint glasses was practically a sport amongst the Irish boys at the Hole in the Wall, Galway's premier destination for hormonally-charged university students. With two euro pints and an ample dance floor, Hole in the Wall, or "the Hole" as we called it, was my favorite place to start out an evening in Galway.
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