Transition Period

As much as I enjoyed our tour of Scotland, constantly being on the move for 10+ days helped to get me very excited for the next phase of our adventure- settling in Ireland! The day following our return to Edinburgh, Beth and I had the chance to explore the city since our flight to Ireland was not until 10pm that night. We visited the Castle and spent over three hours meandering through the displays. While weaving through the throngs of people here for Festival, we tried to do some souvenir shopping before going back to the hostel to round our stuff up. Since we had little left to do in the city, we figured it was best to just head to the airport early so we wouldn't be stressed for time.

Now, I knew from packing back at home that I might encounter some issues with the weight of my bags. Continental allowed us to bring a 50lb bag, but our Aer Lingus flight between Edinburgh and Dublin only allowed us 20kilo (around 44lbs). When we got up to the ticket counter to check in, I discovered that my checked bag was actually the perfect weight, but that my carry on bag was 6kilos too heavy. The woman at the desk told me I was better off transferring the extra weight into my checked bag and paying for the overage (9GBP per kilo!). Luckily, I was able to put about 3kilos worth of stuff into my purse and on my body, so I ended up paying for just an extra 3kilos. I had to go to another counter to pay the 27GBP, then come back to the ticket counter with my receipt to get my boarding pass. Ugh. Now I know to bring a very small bag if I ever use Aer Lingus again, and at least I don't need to deal with any more flights for a long time!

The flight itself took only an hour. We arrived in Dublin around 11:30 and went through customs. Thankfully, there were no issues with our permits and they let us into the country! Woo hoo! After collecting our bags, we went outside to take the shuttle into the city. It was a ridiculous 7Euros, but what could we do? We didn't arrive at our hostel until after 1am (good thing they have 24hr check in!). We woke the entire room of four other girls as we struggled to squeeze our huge bags into the tiny space and make our beds. I was so excited for sleep!

The following morning, we walked just down the street to the USIT office for our orientation session! There were 5 Canadians there as well. I think it's too bad for us that we only are allowed 4 months of work when everyone else seems to have a year. It will definitely be a disadvantage to us, but I guess all of us Americans have to deal with it. Orientation was very informative and quite overwhelming. There are a lot of different things we have to register for and forms to fill out, as well as finding housing, jobs, getting a bank account, etc. One step at a time, I guess. Although there's a lot to figure out, I actually got quite excited. Like I said, I'm sooooo ready to have a steady place to live where I can finally unpack my suitcase! I'm trying to remain optimistic and just keep my head on straight for the next few weeks. It will be a stressful time finding a place to rent and a job, but I'm in Ireland, right? How bad can it be? (Then again, I'm a little afraid to say that and then have the shit hit the fan.)