Meeting Irish friends

As new international students, we are constantly invited to introduction and integration events, where we can meet people from all over the world and start friendships that you will enjoy and probably never forget. Unfortunately, there are not many occasions in which we can hang around a lot with Irish people, besides the classroom during the initial couple of months. I have seen Erasmus students plan their days with other Erasmus students only, which may be due to the following factors: 1. On weekends or holidays, we ...

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Rain proof life!

It is well known that Ireland has chaotic weather. If you Google the phrase "experience all four seasons in one day", Ireland will surely pop-up in the results. I found it lovely that Irish people seem to be proud of their country's weather and are willing to joke about it. An Irish friend recently told me "Having waterproof clothes is more important than having warm clothes". This is true. It can be really cold sometimes, but being a bit cold is not as bad as being drenched ...

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Fred Valdez at Maynooth

Get a bike!

Maynooth is a small and beautiful town which can be easily traveled with a bike, and it has a lot of cycling roads everywhere. My quality of life really changed when I decided to buy a bike. I was now able to come back home from the laboratory in the university to eat, and then head back to the laboratory. It was also easier to carry my bags whenever I went to Lidl or Aldi to buy the groceries. We have the “Maynooth bikes” store close ...

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