Freezing Cold and Incredibly Fun Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Classes at UCD usually only meet once or twice a week, and are only an hour long. Compared to the time spent in class at my university, this was a much lighter workload. Definitely take an Irish language course if you have the chance!

On-site administration of your program

FIE staff were fantastic in making us feel supported at UCD. The semester I was there, there were only three FIE students at UCD, so someone from the staff came out to grab coffee with us on campus once a week to make sure we felt included and were doing well.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I lived in an on-campus apartment with 3 Irish roommates and 1 other American roommate. The situation was great and I was so happy to make friends with those people. However, UCD is farther away from City Centre, so I had to take the bus whenever I wanted to go into town, so that got pretty expensive.

I thought it would be much more difficult to be a vegetarian in Dublin, but I was able to find a lot of great vegetarian and vegan restaurants in town. Also, the quality of food is so much better than America! It's much fresher with fewer preservatives and chemicals; I felt like I could eat much more ethically on a reasonable budget than I ever have been able to do in the States.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

By the time St. Patrick's Day came around, I was able to give the huge wave of tourists directions around different shops and pubs and bus routes, which felt pretty cool. I was able to make many Irish friends while at UCD and had the opportunity to travel to many parts of the country with FIE.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Pharmacies are cool because you can almost treat them like doctors. You can tell them your symptoms and they'll help you find what you need. It saves a lot of time if you have a minor issue like a cold or a small injury. I would recommend looking into taking Vitamin D supplements because the sun is much much weaker than I was used to living in North Carolina and I had an annoying cold for about a month because of the weather differences.

I didn't feel unsafe in Dublin or on UCD's campus. There was actually much less sexual harassment on public transportation and sidewalks than has been my experience in American cities. I think Irish culture is generally much more respectful. But like in any city or college campus, stick to well-lit streets and walk in groups.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I didn't have much trouble, but I also didn't travel much outside of Ireland. I took two weekend trips to other countries in Europe, but that was all I could afford. If you want to travel a lot, you'll have much more difficulty managing a budget. Transportation around Dublin also got expensive. If I was in town at night, the last bus out to UCD left around 10-11 depending on the day, so taxis back to campus could get expensive as well.

Select all that apply

• Dorm
• Apartment

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• Local Students
• Americans

Select all that apply

• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• FIE trips to the North and the West
• Learning about Irish culture
• Restaurants/pubs

• Facilitating transportation costs around Dublin

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