Classes in Ireland

After attending classes in Ireland for over a month now I have noticed many differences between Irish and American classes.

1. Silencing cellphones isn't a requirement or an expectation. Phones go off in classes and the professor continues to speak not saying anything about it. The average phone interruptions per class period of 2-3 hours is about 3-4 times.
2. Going to the pub with students after class is permissible and something that happens quite often in the semester.
3. If a class says it will start at 10 a.m. don't expect it to start until about 10:10 a.m. or 10:20 a.m. Professors have a tendency to be late as do most of the Irish students.
4. A class that is supposed to take 2 hours will only take about an hour. This is because the class will start about 15 minutes late then about 45 minutes in there will be a 15-20 minute coffee/cigarette break then it usually will end about 20-30 minutes early.
5. Professors don't like to teach, they like to read--read from handouts and read from PowerPoints. Most classes don't have much dialogue between the student and the professor.
6. There is no homework. The only thing students are graded on are either one essay the last week of the semester or an exam.
7. Every course is in some way relatable to democracy or something democratic and the professors reference it often.
8. Professors swear in class saying words like 'Feck' frequently.  

US Could Learn Shipping Manners From UK

For some 22-year-old females, moving to a different county may change their online shopping habits. I am not most females. After moving to Ireland in early February, I continued to shop online and have been extremely impressed. However, placing my first order in a different country did worry me at first. 

For starters, the address system works here a little differently than in Wisconsin. I didn't know if I would get my address right so my package would come to me on time, let alone at all. My first order was 3 movies from the UK Disney store which is located in London, England. Having the package come from a different county worried me a little too. 

Within a week, I realized I shouldn't have worried at all. It actually made me think about American shipping & online shopping and after doing a bit of reflecting, I think the US could learn somethings from the UK. 

Here are a few of the things I really appreciated about my ordering & shipping process:

Cool thing #1: When I ordered my 3 movies it didn't give me the option to have them shipped individually. The only option was one box. This cuts down on delivery costs, fuel emissions & wasteful packaging. When I order things in the US even if I pick the option: ship everything in as few packages as possible (doesn't even have a 1 box option) they products still come in different boxes, sometimes on the same day!

The single box my movies were delivered in.

Cool thing #2: I did of course screw up my mailing address BUT the company didn't send my package back to the company in London and refund my money (this happened to me and my fiancé who moved shortly after Black Friday and our whole Best Buy order got returned to the company instead of being forwarded with the rest of our mail). The shipping company (DHL Shipping) instead emailed me saying the package was being held at their Ireland shipping facility and could I please contact them to update my shipping address.

Cool thing #3: When I submitted my order online the estimated delivery time was 5-7 days from the time I ordered it. Even WITH my screwing up the address I got the package in 5 days. In the US, it seems most packages come between 7-12 days and it's usually at the end of the estimated time of arrival, not the beginning & those orders are coming from with in the same country. This order came from a different country!

Cool thing #4: When I opened my box the packing plastic inside was 100% recycled plastic AND biodegradable! I have never (not even once) seen any form of plastic in the US that says it is biodegradable. Ahh! This made me so happy!

The BIODEGRADABLE packing cushion. It made me so happy.

In conclusion, after my first online ordering experience in Ireland & the UK I am EXTREMELY impressed and will continue to order things online until I move back to the US in June. I really think the US could try to be more eco-friendly & revise how they ship things to their clients. A little bit of a change could go a long way!

High Wire Artists

I listened to a speaker today who related religion to the art of 'high wire artists' in the sense that it sometimes takes a lot of risk and literally a leap of faith to believe in God. The man himself, was a nonbeliever but the way he talked about these artists intrigued me. I had no idea about this form of 'art' or sport until today but I am finding it extremely interesting. People have been attempting and succeeding this feat all the way back to the 18th century. Some solo, others carrying people on their backs and some performing tricks as they walk across the wire. Now days, it seems the art form has evolved to include other more daring additives but is still equally as fascinating to me.