Coming Full Circle

Does someone want to tell me where the last five months went?

As a completely random side note, Comcast is the worst company in the world and everyone who has their service should cancel it immediately.

Anyways, It's been exactly two weeks since I got back to the states.  The trip back felt like it took forever.  The layover in the non air conditioned Chicago airport didn't really help although I got to spend a few last hours with fellow APIer Julie as we reminisced about Europe and talked about all the things we were going to miss.

Souvenir shot glass map of Europe (minus Zurich)!

The adjustment hasn't been too bad.  The biggest things are trying to figure out which way to look when crossing the street and trying to stop converting dollars into euro in my head.

I made this list a few days before I left Ireland about things I was and wasn't looking forward to about going back to the US:

Worries about being back in the states:

-Hearing annoying American accents everywhere [This was true at first but I'm starting to not hate it so much.  It helps to be away from the east coast as well.  I do however miss the Irish accent terribly]

-Driving on the right side of the road [Not an issue but like I said, knowing which way to look when crossing the street is still a struggle]

-Not being able to go to a new country over the weekend [A different state is nowhere near as fun]

-Not having pubs/being carded buying festive beverages [True]

-Not being in Ireland [True]

-Not having insanely old buildings to see everyday [True]

-Going back to CSU [True]

-Greek life [True}

Looking forward to:

-Going to cousin's wedding [True.  It was fun!]

-Reliable hot water / good water pressure in shower [True but could easily live without]

-OVEN [True]

-Getting back on the dollar [Would be true if I had money to spend]

-Everything being so much cheaper compared to Dublin [True]

-Getting back into climbing [Very true...not climbing for about 5 months takes a very noticeable toll]

-Going back to CSU [True]

The weekend after I got back, the family went to Idaho for my cousin's wedding which meant I got to see the extended family which was nice.  If I had to choose between the potato country and the potato state, the potato country will always win.

The Portland Rose Festival has been going on which means there are fun things to do in town which is another good distraction from no longer being in Ireland.

The weirdest thing about being back is that it almost feels like I never left.  Not in the sense that things here haven't changed (because some things definitely have) but it feels like I was never in Europe.  As time is going on, it's starting to hit me a little more but it honestly feels like the last four months were some sort of dream.

The beginning of my Europe shrine in my room.  I wake up seeing the flag above me every morning

Writing this blog has been an experience.  Sometimes it was a serious pain to condense and write about my week and sorting through often times hundreds of pictures was not an easy task.  I’m hoping that people actually read it and enjoyed hearing what I was fortunate enough to be able to do over these last four months.  It was good for me personally because I forced myself to write every week which I think when I look back on this trip in a few years, I’ll be able to remember so much more than if I hadn’t written anything.

And so here ends the Dublin, Ireland 2013 blog.  If anyone wants to see some of my thousands of pictures or hear about anything else in greater detail, please let me know!

Once again, thanks for reading!

Slán!

[I started a new blog if you're interested: Check it out! ]