Giving the Albright Community a Taste of Home!!

This month has seen me turn to the wardrobe and pull out the winter garments including jumpers and woolly socks in an attempt to combat the sudden cold streak that has taken grip over us all!
The East Coast of the US got its earliest snow fall in over twenty years and we made the most of it by going sleighing, building snowmen and having snowball fights; only after all our homework was complete of course!

Last week I decided to take brave the snow and walk to the local shop to stock up on all the ingredients I needed to make some homemade soup I also managed to pick up a couple of bruises along the way and in hindsight slippery pavements are probably best to be avoided! Back in our kitchen American students started to magically appear out of nowhere when they caught a whiff of the concoction I was cooking, something I called "Irish soup"! It went down a treat and I only had one bowl by the time my college friends had devoured the rest!

My culinary prowess continued as I was asked to make some Irish food for the International Student Dance. I decided on potato bread and colcannon and enlisted the help of a few fellow international students.

I always remember the story my granny told me about how she had to make colcannon in school and the Headmaster asked her what it was because she had done it totally wrong and according to her the teacher threw the bowl right across the railway tracks, well I wanted to throw my colcannon out the window because let’s just say when you ask someone to drain the potatoes you don’t expect them to mash them with the water! If you want a job done right do it yourself, however after salvaging what I could and tasting my potato bread I was happy to serve it to the Albright College Community.

While the two hundred guests enjoyed flavours from around the world I took to the stage with my trusty tin-whistle to perform ‘Galway Girl’ from the movie ‘P.S I love you’. The crowd really enjoyed it, they seem to really appreciate Irish music over here and ask a lot of questions regarding life back home. Listening to them trying to say “Fermanagh” gives me a laugh because I never knew it could be pronounced in so many ways until now!

There does however seem to be a general consensus that Ireland is wet, green and.... wet which unfortunately, as we all know, isn’t far from the truth! Rather than dispute our damp weather conditions I’ve been spreading the word about my hometown, Enniskillen, and talking up our tourist attractions! I wouldn't be suprised if sometime in the New Year I have some Americans knocking on my front door! Best warn the family!!

Snow Day!!

The East Coast of the US just got it's earliest snow fall in over twenty years!!



Time flys when you're having fun!!

I really can’t believe how quick time is passing by! As the old adage goes, ‘time fly’s when you’re having fun’, and October has definitely been a fun filled month!

Now two months in to my time at Albright College, Pennsylvania I have made lots of friends, from Philadelphia, to Nigeria and China they come from far and near. Recently one of my new friends invited me to his twenty first birthday party at his house in a nearby town. After enjoying the burgers and hot dogs we moved towards to camp fire where I indulged in my first ‘smore’, a crazy concoction of crackers, marshmallows and chocolate. Verdict… delicious!

I’ve really gotten into the swing of things at college now, the constant string of assignments requires good time management and I now know that the formal approach to presentations in my business classes means that I have to swap the tracksuit bottoms and hoody from home for a suit and tie. Studying subjects outside my comfort zone has really allowed me to broaden my horizons in terms of education and learning.

October also brought the dreaded mid-term exams which meant I had to keep my head in the books. With the stress of adapting to a new examination system, the library soon became my friend, but the hard work paid off and I passed the mid-terms! I was surprised at how competitive the students are over here when it came to exams. Everyone wants to know what mark you got so they can compare how they are doing against you.

After the mid-terms we had a few days off College for “Fall Break” so I organised a trip to New York City with other participants of the Study USA programme. The three hour bus journey flew by and in no time I was standing amongst the tall skyscrapers and negotiating my way through buzzing crowds whilst trying to navigate all the different streets.

Having gathered together at our hotel opposite Madison Square Garden, the itinerary had been agreed and we set off to embrace the fast pace of New York City!  After grabbing a quick bite to eat at the famous Hard Rock Cafe, our first stop was the Statue of Liberty.

Sightseeing was followed by retail therapy. The shops were big, bright and expensive! In Times Square we called into the M&M shop and watched how the sweets are made, or as they say in America ‘candy’.  Next on the list, Broadway, tickets were booked and that evening we went to see the show ‘Chicago’.

The highlight of the trip for me was standing at the top of the Empire State building at one a.m. in the morning, the sight was breath taking.  New York had definitely lived up to it’s reputation as the city that never sleeps. Big lights and bigger personalities, I’ll be paying this city another visit for sure.

Back at home my friends have returned to college in Belfast and Dublin, I can’t help but wonder if I’m missing out on something but then I realise this is an opportunity of a lifetime and I’m not missing out, I’m carving out my own path. In saying that I’m missing working in Frazer’s One Stop shop, I think I might have to find a job on campus if I’m going to continue to fund “living the American dream”!! 

I can’t wait to see what unfolds over the next month with so much ahead of me including the College “Homecoming” and Halloween!

Right now though I’m researching for a paper focused on the teaching techniques of Kindergarten teachers in relation to academic achievement, better get back to that, time is of the essence!



The Irish Invade Pittsburgh!

Word had reached me that there was an Irish American festival on in Pittsburgh which was a five hour journey away from me on the bus.

A few quick phone calls to other Study USA students later and bus tickets were booked and the hotel paid for! Pittsburgh here we come!

This weekend as the American’s would say was ‘the legit’! My Fermanagh brogue really went down a treat at the Festival with someone even describing my accent as ‘dark chocolate melting’?! I didn't really know how to respond to that so I just smiled politely and quickly walked away! 

The local news company also picked up on our accents and interviewed us; we even played a few tunes on the tin whistle much to their amusement.

You realise how much of a "small world" we live in when the band on stage shout over after hearing you are from Fermanagh and the lead singer announces that she loves going to Asda to do her shopping and there's a good butchers at the top of Enniskillen! Turns out the band were five sisters going by the name of ‘Screaming Orphans’ from Bundoran of all places!

The mood of the day was one of remembrance with the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on many peoples minds.
I chatted with a couple of people and described how even in Northern Ireland anyone old enough to understand what had happened could remember that day so clearly, and can tell you exactly what they were doing when they heard the tragic news.


The American people have a lot of respect for the brave men and women who put the needs of others before themselves on that day and indeed in the years that have followed. Having met two friendly USA military officers at the Irish festival it was amazing to see first hand how grateful people were for their services as they came up to thank them personally.


All in all it was a great weekend!

A year at Albright begins!!

Having said my final farewells to family and friends the day had come, off I went to Dublin to catch a flight to Philadelphia where my Study USA experience would begin, once I landed at the airport the realisation of what was happening hit me and I said goodbye for now to my fellow programme participants, Roisin and Emma, as we went our separate ways from Philadelphia Airport.

Jet lag hit me hard on arrival at Albright College yet there was no time to sleep! After a campus tour and a meeting with other international students from China, Korea and Japan I finally had something to eat and got a chance to hit the hay in my new dorm, my home for the next year.

The Albright “Convocation” was a new experience and a great way to start the academic year. As we made our way to the sports hall the sound of bagpipes filled the room and all new students lined up to receive a special badge to welcome them to the Albright community.

Three and a half weeks, an earthquake and a hurricane later  and I have begun to settle into life on campus and the American classroom system!

Class participation is key in the US! Everyone has an opinion and the lecturers expect you to partake in class discussions. "Credit" is also gained by attending experience events such as plays, seminars and workshops which is very different to the essays and exams of University life back home in Belfast. My American classmates have such a good attitude to their studies and a solid work ethic which is really encouraging.

However once all the homework  has been completed its time to socialise! Recently I joined my new group of friends to celebrate one of the girl's twenty-first birthdays so we set out for a meal at a local restaurant. I decided that I would ignore my mother’s words of wisdom and order an American hamburger with “chips”. Chips, as I soon found out, are not the sort of chips you get at home but merely crisps much to my disappointment!

The American portion sizes can be pretty ridiculous at times and the burger I got that night, as my granny would say, ‘could have fed a family’!

Thankfully I decided to join a few clubs as well as the gym which have kept the extra pounds at bay! Ultimate Frisbee in particular has not only been a great way to keep fit but also a chance to make some great friends.

One month in and it’s so far so good!