I’ve been pretty lucky with my experience so far. Linfield offers free (meaning, it’s paid for by my tuition rather than an added program expense, so I might as well take advantage of it!) flights to and from your first study abroad experience. For a program fee, they also organized my housing, transport to and from the airport in Ireland, and insurance while abroad. I’m traveling in a group with 11 other people, so we’ve got a bit of a support network already.
We met at Portland airport at 5 am on Tuesday, January 9th. I, of course, got absolutely no sleep the night before. This was… mostly intentional; Monday night, my AMAZING friends from McMinnville drove up to get dinner with me one last time before I fled the country for a few months. This then turned into arcade games and laser tag, and dessert nearby. It was a great opportunity to see them one last time, and it made flying out easier knowing I have so many fantastic people to come back to. You guys seriously rock! After dinner, I went back to my house and repacked – because there are always last-minute things to add or remove. When everything was crossed off my list, it was time to throw my bags in the back of my dad’s truck and head to the airport.
We got to the airport and met with the group before going through security. The nice thing about getting to the airport at 5 am is that there is basically no line for security, and the TSA agents were all very relaxed and nice. We got though security without issue and went to look for our gate. After finding a spot for the group, we set our luggage down and I watched everyone’s stuff while they went to find breakfast and coffee. Our first of three flights was from Portland to Chicago, O’Hare, and it didn’t begin boarding until 7:30, so we were in for a wait. When we finally got to board, we were faced with out first problem: people had placed their coats and personal items – the second carry on which is supposed to go under one’s seat – in the overhead compartments, so we had to check our larger carry-ons. This lead to frantic unpacking and repacking to make sure meds, important documents, laptops, etc. were going to stay with us. My camera, GoPro, and the spare clothes I packed in case my luggage was lost all ended up getting checked in that bag, and I was fervently hoping everything would be returned to me on time.
Our flight to Chicago went well. We arrived on time and found our next gate pretty easily. It was about 2:00 pm local time when we got in, and I found a pretty decent (if somewhat pricy, but welcome to the airport and a state with sales tax) place to get a pizza. You can’t really go wrong with a classic pepperoni pie, and I can now sort of say I’ve had Chicago pizza. Our layover in Chicago was 5 wonderful hours, so we ate, stretched, napped, wandered, and did whatever we could to kill time. Boarding was straightforward and the plane was a lot nicer than I was expecting. Dinner and breakfast were both included, and while I don’t have the most discerning palate, I thought both were pretty good! We flew in to Heathrow airport in London overnight (again without sleep) and our next “adventure” began.
Our dinner was surprisingly good. I got a cheesy pasta with tomatoes, two crackers with cheddar spread, a salad with dressing, a dinner roll and butter, and a fudge brownie. All in all, a pretty decent spread!
We arrived in England in time to watch the sun rise over the clouds. 
While our Chicago layover was 5 rather useless hours, we were supposed to have only 1 hour in London. Our plane touched down late due to busy traffic in the air. Then, being at the back of the plane, it took forever for us to actually get off. The terminal we arrived in didn’t serve connecting flights to Shannon, our final flight, so we had to take a bus over to a different one. This meant going through security again – which meant most of our group had water bottles to empty out. While the lines were short, two people in our group got stopped going through – still a mystery to us, because we all made it through Portland security just fine. When we were all together there, we had to go through a passport check. One the plane, they passed out small cards to fill out for going through the check. I asked if we needed one since we were just passing through and was given a confident “no.” Well, that confidence was a bit misplaced because we did need to fill them out. The information was pretty simple: name, passport number, port of origin, home country, etc. But when you have 11 people rushing to fill them out and a serious shortage of pens, we weren’t doing so well. Luckily, the agent who was at the gate wasn’t too picky (apparently they’re supposed to be filled out in all caps, not that any of us realized that) and sent us quickly through. The first members of our group to make it rushed to find our next flight and I stayed to direct people towards our connection. The last three of us ran full speed to make the flight, which was already completely boarded and ready to leave. We made it through the last passport/boarding pass check and were free to go! The flight to Shannon was only an hour, but it was a wonderful chance to relax after our stressful transfer.
When we got to Shannon, we had to go through customs, which was super simple. This is my first time traveling outside the US, so this was an entirely new experience for me. I checked half a million times to make sure I had all the right paperwork to go through: passport, acceptance letter from NUIG, letter from our apartment complex, letter from my doctor explaining the medication I was bringing, and proof of insurance while I was abroad. They looked at exactly two things: my passport, and a quick glance at my letter from NUIG, and I was free to go! We had the advantage traveling in a large group because a lot of the information for all of us was the same. They also knew we were students, so that may have expedited the process a bit. While the wait wasn’t fun because we were all exhausted and stressed, I don’t think we spent more than 45 minutes to get all 11 of us through – which includes the time for other passengers on our flight going through before us. Linfield arranged for a van to pick us up at the airport and I was one of the lucky ones: all of my checked bags made it through. Some people were missing a bag or two though and had to fill out lost luggage claims. After that, we loaded up in the van and headed off to Galway, our home for the next 5 months.
We’re living at Cuirt na Coiribe student accommodations, which is about a 10-minute walk from campus. I have 4 roommates in my apartment and my own room (score! Introvert Kelsey is happy!). We all share a kitchen (stocked with a decent supply of pots, pans, utensils, etc.) and a living room on the main floor. I share a bathroom with 1 other person. There’s a cool spiral staircase in the entry hall up to the second floor, which has 2 more bedrooms and a small kitchenette – with the only working microwave, ugh. I, of course, am on the top floor of the apartment complex – this makes 4/4 of my rooms while living at Linfield. But at least I have a decent view.
My room looking in with the door at my back. 
My room looking out with the window at my back.
Upon arrival, we went to buy bedding and a few people bought groceries. We unpacked and started settling before enjoying a much-needed dinner at Smokey’s, an American style restaurant just downstairs. I’m not sure if it was really one of the best bacon burgers I’ve ever had, or if I was really just that hungry – I’ll need to visit again to be sure! After a shower, it was time to get some much-needed sleep so I wouldn’t doze through orientation the next day.
So far, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Everyone we’ve met along the way has been so kind and helpful. Even the store clerks are patient with our tired and confused minds. Classes start (sort of) on Monday, and we’re getting more information on that during day two of orientation today.
My Irish adventure has just begun, but I’m so excited to get out and explore!
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