This was only the second time that I would have travelled outside the country but the first time that I will be travelling alone for most of the trek across country. Talk about being nervous. I was excited and nervous just because this was probably the first time that I realized that I’m going to be living in a different country for the next nine months.
When we arrived in Belfast I still didn’t feel like I was somewhere other than America. We arrived at Ulster University where I will be studying and it had a different feeling than the school back in Spokane had, that feeling of difference felt right at the same time, like this is where I was meant to be. It was different in that the shore was only a few minutes away, something that I wasn’t used to at all, the school was smaller since it was one of the few campuses that Ulster has and, there was nobody on campus because of our early arrival, something that I wasn’t used to.
The people and the country itself exceeded my expectations by far. The people are friendly, and when I say friendly I mean genuinely friendly. The scenery that NI has to offer is unexplainable; you just have to visit for yourself. I am excited to have this place as my temporary home because just from interactions so far they have been great and I haven’t even seen the half of what Northern Ireland has to offer which is the exciting part. For example, one night some of us went to a local pizza place (Dino’s) just a couple of blocks away and the worker there was so gracious and welcoming to my new friends and me; something I didn’t expect right off the bat. Can’t wait to go there daily. Lol. I can’t wait to take on Jordanstown /Belfast with my five other scholars and new friends. That is the best part of the whole situations. I always said that it was never the place that made the experience but it was always the people and since the people that I have been surrounding myself with in this program are great, the experience and my time here have been great too. Oddly enough even though I don’t play an ounce of basketball I have felt welcomed into their community, which I am forever grateful for. Can’t wait to spend time at the other scholars new “homes”.
