Name: Samuel Davis

Program: CIS Abroad – Semester in Ireland – University of Limerick

Location: Limerick, Ireland

Samuel’s Semester in Ireland

My most memorable moment would have to be a bit abstract. With so many good moments to choose from, the common denominator was always when I was with friends. I made a lot of friends in the erasmus program at Limerick, we started a friend group in the first week and got very close in the short time we were there. We called our group chat “Limerick Lads” and we are still texting every now and then. Vibing with the lads was the highlight of my time in Ireland.

With how similar food can be in western culture, it’s hard to find new foods to try. But I was surprised at a few differences in the food culture over in Ireland. My favorite would have to be the chicken fillet roll, which is basically a sub sandwich with chicken and whatever else you’d like on it. But if the Irish know one thing, they know how to cook chicken haha. A spicy chicken fillet roll always hit the spot when I was getting a quick lunch on campus between classes or heading home after the club at 3 am.

 

I experienced a little bit of culture shock, most notably in transportation. Back home I drive around so much that I don’t need to use buses or trains usually, but in Ireland I didn’t have my truck so I had to get used to buses and ubers. Also the doors! Whenever I came across a pair of doors, which was more often than you’d think, one always seemed to be locked no matter what. And you had a 50/50 chance of opening the unlocked door the first time.

I absolutely made the right choice to go abroad. Not everything was sunshine and rainbows, literally because of the rain but also because of a few other points of character development I underwent over there. I won’t get into those because of personal reasons but ultimately I have grown more than I thought I would from my time in Ireland. That’s what an experience like study abroad should be, a challenge to learn and grow from.