Reflections from Ireland
By: Jackson Briggs
Issue date: 9/12/08 Section: Diversions
After a seven-hour flight that felt like thirty, our plane landed in Dublin, Ireland, where we are kicking off our study abroad trip with a three-week stay at beautiful old Trinity College. Dublin is a large and busy, dreary but cosmopolitan city.
The skyline is dominated by cranes and modern skyscrapers, as Ireland continues to experience an economic boom. The result of its expansion is an increasingly diverse population.
Walking down the street you will see Premier League soccer jerseys, American fashions and sport apparel (apparently Major League Baseball hats are "cool" to the European equivalent of the people in the States that think soccer jerseys are "cool"); fashionable, "European"-looking pedestrians; and plenty of facial piercings. If you're as lucky as I have been, you may even see men in tuxedos and chef's hats selling discounted bread, or a small, impromptu procession of people in flower child garb playing hand drums and singing.
But Dublin also has a strong sense of tradition, and is rich in history. Walk through just about any part of town and you will see a towering, lavish church surrounded by old buildings of varying architectural styles. Every sign in the city is printed in both English and Gaelic, and every once in a while you can hear a nearby conversation being held in the traditional tongue.
The country's favorite sport is not soccer, like most of Europe, and not even rugby. Instead, the Irish eschew modern favorites for hurling, an old Gaelic game that escapes description, but could best be explained as a cross between lacrosse and field hockey.
Even though the streets of Dublin are packed with plenty of teenage punk wannabes, European backpackers, American tourists, and busy corporate types, they still hint that underneath it all is a backbone of national traditions.
Since Dublin is such as cultural crossroads, it's only fitting that my favorite experience so far has involved thousands of singing locals, a handful of Swedes, and plenty of conversation about American politics.
The skyline is dominated by cranes and modern skyscrapers, as Ireland continues to experience an economic boom. The result of its expansion is an increasingly diverse population.
Walking down the street you will see Premier League soccer jerseys, American fashions and sport apparel (apparently Major League Baseball hats are "cool" to the European equivalent of the people in the States that think soccer jerseys are "cool"); fashionable, "European"-looking pedestrians; and plenty of facial piercings. If you're as lucky as I have been, you may even see men in tuxedos and chef's hats selling discounted bread, or a small, impromptu procession of people in flower child garb playing hand drums and singing.
But Dublin also has a strong sense of tradition, and is rich in history. Walk through just about any part of town and you will see a towering, lavish church surrounded by old buildings of varying architectural styles. Every sign in the city is printed in both English and Gaelic, and every once in a while you can hear a nearby conversation being held in the traditional tongue.
The country's favorite sport is not soccer, like most of Europe, and not even rugby. Instead, the Irish eschew modern favorites for hurling, an old Gaelic game that escapes description, but could best be explained as a cross between lacrosse and field hockey.
Even though the streets of Dublin are packed with plenty of teenage punk wannabes, European backpackers, American tourists, and busy corporate types, they still hint that underneath it all is a backbone of national traditions.
Since Dublin is such as cultural crossroads, it's only fitting that my favorite experience so far has involved thousands of singing locals, a handful of Swedes, and plenty of conversation about American politics.