As I have gone into my final week of the Bucknell in Dublin trip, I have mostly focused on friendships this last week. This past weekend, I and fellow students on the trip traveled over to Amsterdam for our free weekend. I think that this was a great experience as it was a needed break from Dublin but also a chance to explore another culture with the friends I have made here in Dublin. Now that I have completed my internship, I have time to soak in our final few days and spend valuable time with my friends. I am very appreciative of this trip as it has allowed me to experience new cultures and new people in a learning environment very different from a university. Looking back on this experience, the first few weeks went by in an instant, but as we have gotten closer to the end of the trip it seems to have slown down. Now that I consciously know that I am leaving on Friday and the only full day I have left is tomorrow is somewhat sad but also somewhat heart-warming. I have learned so much from my internship and know that I will carry the new skills I have acquired with me through life and my professional career. I am thankful for my supervisor, the professors, and the students that have accompanied me on this trip and helped me grow individually and academically. As an International relations major, this experience will be very beneficial in helping me understand and get a perspective on other nations. Although I have enjoyed this experience, I do not think I will come back to Ireland for a while as a result of being here for this lengthy period of time. This does leave me excitement for the future when I come back I want to see if things have changed socially, politically, or economically. I don’t expect much of a change in the future, but it will be something that I want to keep an eye out for, specifically the tourism industry within Ireland, as my internship was focused on tourism. If I had to think of something that I will miss the most about my experience, it would be the weekend trips that we took. Although the bus rides were tiring it was a fun bonding experience with my classmates where we were sometimes forced to get to know eachother.
Photo of the delicious ramen that I had the other night. Tragically the ramen ending up spilling all over my lap getting off the bus to take it home.
Photo of a canal in Amsterdam. Snapped this photo because of the bright sunshine and cool blue boat in the background.
Painting from the Rijksmuseum. One of the best ones that I saw inside because of the attention to detail and the contrast of colors.
Photo from one of our last nights in Amsterdam. Spectacular sunset to end a spectacular trip!
