I knew it would happen: I miss St. Mike's. Badly. I frequent the College's site, but that's reasonable because I check my email all the time. But here's what it's come to...I watched our interactive virtual tour on YouTube all afternoon just so I could feel more at home. Don't judge.
Even though I've only been here three weeks, I'm already starting to appreciate things from home that contrast with the way things run around here. Some of the differences are cultural (especially one's attitude toward something) and should be embraced; some are due to location. I'm hoping that I'll come to love these differences and appreciate them in their own right. The "U-curve" of culture shock informs me that I will eventually find the happy medium (more on that later, perhaps).
The top three things (in no specific order) that I appreciate more about SMC - this list will grow, I'm sure:
1. Alliot - We don't know how good we have it with an unlimited meal plan! Not only can we eat as much as we want, it's also prepared for us. I hate cooking for one. It's tricky, especially in a foreign country (though their food isn't too different), on a limited budget, and as a picky eater.
2. Small campus (geographically) - I don't want to complain, but (I'm going to anyway...) my feet really hurt. I'm not used to walking to and around a big campus. Someone told me today that the distance between my apartment and the main gates of campus is 1.8 km (I looked it up and it's actually 1.4 km, which is .9 mi). So basically I walk at least 2 mi every day, sometimes twice a day. I go into town a few times per week, too, and that's about 40 min from my apartment. I should have toned thighs by the time I get home, but my gosh, my poor feet. It would take me less time to walk from my res hall last semester to PK Cafe across the street if I took the long way around (via Campus Rd, which, by the way, I didn't know actually had that name).
3. Population - I miss running into friends on the way to class and smiling at people from across the quad (OK, I guess there's nothing stopping me from smiling, but no one is smiling at me!). I miss small classes. I don't know the people who I sit next to here, and I probably won't because I'm finding that students rarely talk in class. I love the size of SMC. I couldn't go to a university the size of UCC for four years. Of course, people naturally find their niches...but I'd rather find a lot of little niches on a small campus.
I'm also realizing very quickly that there is so much more to St. Mike's than I've experienced thus far. The email server doesn't have an "abroad" setting so I've been getting the school's mass emails this week. And it's amazing what I find myself interested in when I don't have the option of attending a certain event or trying out a new activity. That should tell me something -- I need to broaden my horizons! I do have a "senior year bucket list," and I think I need to add a few things to that. For example, our Wilderness Program - it would cost me $5 to go snowshoeing. Why haven't I done this? $5! Or the ski pass - $30 for a season pass to Smuggs. I don't ski or snowboard, but for $30 I might as well try! I spent the same amount of money on a fan for white noise. C'mon. Next year, I'll be hitting the slopes.
(I'm having a lot of fun with this link feature...check out the song that's stuck in my head. It's good, I promise.)
I skyped with my little sister (shout-out to you, Mo, since I know you read this!) and two friends today, one of whom is back at SMC having spent last semester here in Ireland. Her advice to me was to let things unfold (because they will) and to be present here. Those of you who know me well know that I find living in the moment awfully difficult. I mentally venture off into the past and the future most of the time. I find myself saying and thinking "I can't wait for Germany so I can be with family" or "I can't wait for summer." But I can wait, and I have to wait, and I need to wait.
There's this great passage that I referred to a lot last semester in witness talks and in my own personal reflection. It's from Sue Monk Kidd's book entitled When the Heart Waits, and it's about actively waiting. I'm having trouble finding the talk I wrote that includes the quote, but basically, Kidd encourages her readers to think of waiting for something not as nothing but as time and space to better one's self. Before I got here, I was waiting for this; now I'm waiting for travel experiences. And after they're over...? I'll always be waiting for something, that I can guarantee; I am a forward-thinker and there's no stopping my tendency to think about the future. But I think it's important for me to make the most of my waiting. Otherwise, I may miss out or regret not doing something.
My New Year's resolution was to not say "no," to embrace every opportunity that came my way. Well, as it usually goes for most people, that hasn't happened at all. I've been a little hermit sometimes because I'm a little overwhelmed all the time. As I adjust, I will -- I hope -- begin to make the most of my time here, in the now, and say "yes" to all good things that this lovely island has to offer.
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