It’s been a couple weeks since my last blog and time seems to never slow down! I am now in the middle of the semester, with deadlines and presentations coming up fast.
Amidst the chaos of classes, readings, and deadlines, I’ve been incredibly grateful for how naturally friendships have formed: both in my flat and in my lectures. When it comes to my flat, everyone was an exchange student/study abroad student, so we were all looking for friends to connect with during these three short months in Belfast. Living with 10 other girls and sharing only two bathrooms and a kitchen sounds chaotic on paper, but everyone is so wonderful and kind that it works perfectly. What I’ve really come to appreciate about these connections with my flatmates is the fact that everyone is down for mini adventures whether it’s late night ice cream, a movie night with British snacks, or a fun day trip out of Belfast.
Such an instance occurred a couple weeks ago! It’s an unofficial rule (according to myself) that when you’re in Northern Ireland, you can’t not go to Giant’s Causeway for a day trip. Luckily, my flatmates were all down for this mini adventure, and we got to hike the cliffs and stand on the infamous hexagonal basalt columns!
Aside from my flatmates, I have really enjoyed meeting new people in all of my classes. I’m usually someone who does not easily open up to new faces. However, within the first day of each of my courses, I connected with at least one other person.
From my Intro to Film 1 class, I’ve met three other amazing people, and we’ve even dubbed ourselves the Fantastic Four. It’s been so fun discussing films and assignments outside of class and just learning more about the different individuals that study here. The group discussions during our seminars are always full of laughter, and they’ve definitely made me more comfortable in taking on a new area of study.
In my Organizational Behavior class in the Business School, I’ve also met three other girls through an upcoming group presentation. It’s always a little stressful to have to complete a group presentation within the first few weeks of a semester, even more so when you come in with no friends. However, I’ve been so lucky to have met people who are both fun and intentional people, so it’s really been smooth sailing this entire time! *phew! Through this group project, it’s been really fun to talk to students actually from Northern Ireland and learn a little more about their communication habits. I’ve heard so many new words that we would never use back home. For example, I would always tell my friends at Pitt that ‘I’m tired,’ but the students here are always saying ‘I’m knackered.’ The differences in everyday language has been so interesting to learn about and has made the group work so much more fun.
As I reach the middle of the semester, I’m definitely feeling my time here in Belfast slipping through my fingers. There’s so many things I still want to do, but the days just go by so quickly! However, I’m really grateful for the connections I have been able to make during these weeks here in Belfast, and I can’t wait to see what happens next! (Ex: a fire drill at 9AM today while I was cooking…)
It seems like the only pose I know is two peace signs… oh well…