Blog- Week 3

Kelli Monheiser

Blog- Week 3

Out of the three weeks that we have been in Ireland so far, I can honestly say that this weekend has been the most experiencing yet. As we set out on a weekend trip to Brussels, Belgium and Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Thursday afternoon, the fun began early. We did our usual planning about a week and a half early making sure we had a trip to Galway, taxi to Dublin, and this time, a flight to Brussels, Belgium. Being the first group to fly out using Ryan Air, a very cheap airline within Europe, there is some advice I can offer both students looking to take the Ireland Study Abroad trip, and those who are currently on it planning trips. First off, take a small bag because first off, there is a full cabin at all times, and second off, because you are probably going to be luggin’ your bag with you at all times. Also, oddly enough, you don’t check in at the airport, but instead you check in online with your passport number prior to even going to the airport. Don’t forget to this or you may get charged 70 euros. They are very stingy about the size of shampoos and lotions, so make sure you have read the rules and have them in a clear bag when going through security. Also, using a screen shot on your phone to access your ticket is a joke. Simply go to Ryan Air’s customer service desk and print your boarding pass. It will make life a lot easier.

When we got to Brussels, we stood in the airport for about 15 minutes pondering what we were going to do from here. The language barrier was a task that we found very challenging. There is something a little discomforting about the fact that on trains, planes, taxis, trams, busses, menus, and about every other document, they spoke in Dutch. We got by, to say the least.

For dinner, we walked up and down downtown streets to find the last place they were cooking dinner. Publico. Here, we got to know our pubtender and waiter, who happened to attend UNL as a college student. CRAZY!! After talking to them a little bit and collecting a list of fun bars to go to, they bought us a round of shots and sent us on our way. We stopped at the Bizon pub where I made it about a drink in and fell asleep on the table while the others carried on. I woke up about twice to find that the two guys from the restraint had met us at the pub. After they bought rounds all night for the other, I came to conclusion that simply talking and getting to know those from that area will not only get you an insight to what the country and city is like, but it may get you a night of free drinks. So be friendly and put yourself out there with an open mind to take in the different types of people and cultures.

Throughout the trip we found getting around the cities to be a task and what I learned from getting lost and found and then lost again is to take taxies. If you need to get to a specific place, simply show the cab driver an address and get to where you need to be. Between five of us, splitting the cost was worth it. However, if you can simply get a train ticket or a tram ticket to get to a general location like central city, do that. It is worth it to save time and to save temper.

Going to three different countries in three days, I would say that this week is a good time to talk about the language issues and the barriers that it possesses. In Ireland, depending on where you go, the accent may seem a little strong, but when you travel to an area where English is not the first or even the second spoken language, a whole new door of challenges opens. We walked out of the gates in the Belgium airport thinking that we got this, but as we worked our way out of the airport, and to the train station and on to the train, I think we all were a little more worried. As we sat on the train hoping something would come over the overcome telling us to get off, we looked for clues telling us it was central station. Lucky us, in our group of five, we had two that had at least a class or half of Dutch allowing us to get the basics; on, off, open, close, right, left, central station and so forth. It worked out fairly well. After we managed to maneuver our way to central station by train, we found a group of men and asked them for direction. Most conversations will begin ‘do you speak English,’ and the response you will most likely get is ‘a little’. This became routine through our trip, but for the most part, everyone helped us as much as they could which we give thanks too.  

     To make our walk and rides and getting directions a little easier, we managed to get addresses and walking directions to all places that we wanted to go screen-shot on our iPhones. With this, if we found someone who could only speak a little English, we could show him or her the address and they could point us in the right direction. It was a very good way of going about it because we planned to not have much Wi-Fi. The step-by-step directions also came in very helpful only when we knew direction. Being a farm girl, I am pretty aware of directions, but once I was put into a city, I lost that sense. We found it more helpful to ask a group of women over men, and to ask a group over a single person, and to make sure we were on the right track before going on any further and getting ourselves lost.

So overall, in response to the different languages, I think that we got along fairly well by being well prepared and knowing our destination, being courageous enough to ask for help, and smart enough by knowing the types of people to ask and the situations to avoid. It was a good and experiencing trip. Hopefully they wont all be like it, but for the most part, it was a very good learning experience.