For the past two months I have been studying at University College in Dublin, Ireland, but when asked to write a profile on my study abroad experience, I didn’t know where to start.

Looking back on all of the trips we have taken so far, I remember turning to my friends sitting next to me on the bus and declaring, “I believe this is what they call globe-trotting” and it was true — we were jet setting almost every weekend in an attempt to see all of Europe before our four months in Dublin were through. What a rush it is to sit down and book a flight to London or Prague or plan a highlands tour of Scotland!

Then there is the time when I am actually there, exploring places I have only read about and taking pictures of cities that I have only seen in pictures before. History takes on new meaning, and I soon realized that every tour guide has his or her own way of telling a story. There is a surreal feeling to all of this that no amount of journal writing, email updates or articles can ever capture.

Of course, there is also the fun, silly side of studying abroad. The times when you realize that even two English-speaking people have a language barrier, when you visit a Irish farm specifically to go bog jumping, or when you decide that the best way to experience Europe is to eat a cupcake in every city, village or town you visit.

There are also so many amazing opportunities. I mean, how many times will I be able to skip class to go see a World Cup qualifying game in Croke Park? Granted, no one scored during the entire game, but the atmosphere alone was well worth the price of my scalped ticket and missed lecture!

Even mundane tasks become an adventure when you’re abroad. Our first time grocery shopping was an event in itself — having to pay for shopping bags and then trekking halfway across the city back to our apartment was an experience I will never forget. Lectures and class projects are both a frustration and an opportunity to work with people from all over the world.

Joining a community service group has been my window into the Irish culture — distributing food on soup runs around the city in the evenings takes me to places I would never have seen, and visits with the elderly are so much more than merely playing board games.

I am halfway through my semester at U.C. Dublin, and I still have so much more that I want to see and do. Hopefully I will get to hike up Killiney to overlook the piers of Dun Laoghaire (and Bono’s house!), return to Rathvilly to see my distant cousin’s hurling match, and take one more trip over to England to visit a new friend in Nottingham. Even now, however, I can say that I have had the time of my life and wouldn’t trade anything for the memories I have made here.