Registering for classes at NUI is very different than registering for classes at SU. Most study abroad programs will have students schedule their classes before even arriving in their host country, this is not the case for NUI. At NUI you do not schedule your classes until orientation, which occurs a few days after your arrival in Galway. At first I was kind of annoyed that I did not know what classes I would be taking because I am a person who likes to plan everything out and not knowing my class schedule in advance really threw me off. However, I now understand why NUI has its visiting students wait to register for classes until they are on campus in Galway. This is because the registration process is very intricate and requires a lot of explanation. At Susquehanna you are given a lovely newspaper that lists every class offered the next semester along with the times the class meets and how many credits the class is. At NUI students have to find all of this information on their own. Each academic department posts the course timetables on their department’s website. Each department posts these timetables in a different location on their website which makes locating the timetables very difficult. Some departments neglect providing the timetables at all and instead students have to call that academic department directly to inquire about any class times or locations. The wonderful staff at the international affairs office explains this process in depth during orientation and they are always willing to answer any question you may have about registration. Once you have found a handful of classes (classes are called modules here) that you are interested in taking and have located the timetable for each course you must officially register your course load on the NUI campus portal. This process is very similar to registering for classes at SU and there are detailed instructions provided to students during orientation. This semester I am taking five modules. This may seem like a lot because a normal course load at SU is four classes, but classes here usually only meet twice a week for about an hour. If a class meets for two hours then it usually only meets once a week. So, even though I am taking five classes I am not sitting in a classroom for nearly as many hours a week as I would taking four classes at Susquehanna. (See my schedule below) I am currently taking Irish, Landscapes, Culture, and Literature, Music, Gender, and Ireland, Celtic Mythology, Religion, and Folklore, Modern Political Thought, and Irish for Beginners. I am excited about these modules because I will learn so much about Irish culture and history. So far my favorite class is Irish for Beginners. This is an introductory course to Gaelic for visiting students only. Many residents of Galway speak Gaelic as well as English. Bilingualism is typical of Irish people from the west coast of Ireland more so than it is for those who live on the east coast (Dublin area). Because so many people speak Gaelic in Galway many road signs, building names, menus, etc. are printed in Gaelic and English. I thought learning Gaelic would be a great way to connect with the Galway culture and already I am able to identify words on signs and can say basic phrases in Gaelic. (Below is an introductory conversation in Gaelic) I am really excited to see what I can gain from my other classes and in what other ways I am able to use what I have learned in the classroom to connect with Galway in a cultural sense.
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