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not just mac's... supermac's


Happy Thursday! I am loving this 4 day workweek, how about you?! If you didn’t get a chance to read yesterday’s post - “aren’t gas stations amazing?!” - you can catch up now by clicking here! Also, if you didn’t get the chance to vote for me to be the next #MaximCoverGirl, you can click here to vote or click here to read about why it’s important to me (and then vote!). You can vote once every twenty-four hours, and I’d be so grateful for your support! If you’re all caught up, well then buckle in, kiddos! We’re taking this virtual tour back to Dublin! Woop woop!!

One of the most exciting parts of my first week in Dublin, aside from all the other exciting parts of moving to the land of my ancestors, was having an Orientation with the other students in my Masters Program, followed by a reception including the other students from Music and Film. Going into orientation, I was a bit nervous. You know those first day of school jitters you had when you were a kid where you worried about what to wear and if you’d be able to make friends? I felt like a little kid trying to pick out my outfit. In classic ‘me’ fashion (literally and figuratively), I settled for a pair of comfy, yet stylish jeans, my pale blue Chuck Taylors, and a relaxed yet nice t-shirt. Everything about the outfit screamed 'inappropriate for Ireland's climate," but luckily, it was the perfect choice for that night.

I got to campus early for orientation (also, classic me), passed by some beautiful ivy, and found a bench overlooking the rugby pitch. I sat, listening to the Hamilton soundtrack and watched some seagulls pick at bread that had been tossed their direction. Seagulls in Ireland are massive. Imagine any normal-sized seagull you’ve seen in your life, double or triple it in size depending on its sex, and you’ll have a normal-sized Irish seagull. They’re unlike any other gulls I’ve seen in my life, and it’s truly incredible.

Orientation was fun. The other students in the program also had some jitters, but it was fun to go around the circle and introduce ourselves, as well as meet the faculty for our program. It turned out that the head of our program who had interviewed us was actually taking a leave of absence the first semester, which threw all of us for a loop. It was surprising news to find out once we all arrived in Dublin, but we all managed to bond as a group and roll with the punches.

After orientation we had a joint welcome reception with the music and film students, which was pretty fun. I got to know the others in my program, as well as a couple people in the film and music programs. We had some Merlot and some Curiosity Cola (gross), and after the reception, my new group of friends and classmates all agreed we’d go to get SuperMac’s together. SuperMac’s is basically an Irish version of McDonald’s. Of all the places we chose to get food after first meeting each other, it is still hilarious to me to imagine a group of us Masters students squished around a couple tables in the upstairs at SuperMac’s. After eating, some of us had to leave to catch buses home, and a few of us popped over to Cassidy’s for some pints. After having a pint at Cassidy’s, bonding with some people over mosh pits and ska music, and admiring the massive Star Wars mural on the well, as well as other 80s pop culture memorabilia, I called it a night and headed back home to my flat.

If you’re ever in Dublin, it’s worth checking out the Star Wars wall at Cassidy’s. I wouldn’t recommend SuperMac’s unless there’s literally nothing else open (even though I, admittedly, had SuperMac’s before in Galway on my solo trip to Ireland back in 2013). Have you ever felt those new-experience jitters like I felt before my orientation? Or have you ever wandered into a new place with new friends and found a blast from the past that you love like the Star Wars mural at Cassidy's? I’ve had so many friends who have had similar experiences, and once we share our stories, we ended up cracking up about them. If something like this has happened to you, I’d sincerely love to know! Subscribe in the e-mail submission box below and reach out, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so happy you're here and that I’ve been getting a lot of really great, fun-to-read stories, questions, and feedback from a community all over the globe from all different chapters of my life (and from people I don’t know *yet*)! The other stories of people’s travels that I’ve gotten to read via e-mail, text, tweet, DM, etc. recently bring me such smiles, and I am so grateful for all of it! I hope I get to hear all about the crazy stories you’ve been thinking about as we’ve been on this virtual journey together! Especially during this time of uncertainty and pandemic, it's important to surround yourself with things and people (via video chats) that bring you joy; we're all in this together. I couldn’t do this without you! So THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, truly, thank you.

Sincerely,

Johny

P.S. - If you want to catch up from the beginning on this series of adventures, here's a cheat sheet to the posts (in order in which they were published):

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