Many people asked me why I chose Ireland. In fact, I studied in America through an exchange student course when I was a junior in high school. Therefore I thought that studying in Europe would be another particular experience. In addition, originally in America, there was not the school of law in undergraduate studies which I was interested in, but Griffth College Dublin (GCD) of Ireland set it up. I knew that studying in Ireland would be a valuable experience for me. Therefore, I worked hard for my goal of becoming an exchange student. The TOEFL score is one of the application conditions, so I prepared for the test steadily. I also participated in English conversation club twice every week. Even though I had such a tight schedule, I worked hard to not miss a meeting. These efforts helped my time in Ireland actually. After I was selected as an exchange student, I made greater effort than before to encounter more English circumstances. I watched many American dramas and did a short period internship in America and participated in an English conversation club.
Flying to Ireland, Starting Dublin Life 
When I arrived in Ireland, I felt that the atmosphere was quite different from America’s. Even the ordinary buildings’ styles of architecture were unusual. Streets also showed off the feeling of Europe itself. In that quite unfamiliar situation, I was afraid of the fact that I would have to do everything myself. However, at the same time, my heart was all aflutter in anticipation of fresh life. Dublin, the capital of Ireland was not that large but it was enough to feel the mood of the feudal age because of the existing castles, many historic sites, and old Catholic churches throughout the city. Every day I could see these historic arts and also watched impressive plays by performance artists here and there on the street.
209B, The Griffith Halls of Residence
I lived in the dormitory of GCD. It was opened for other universities’ students, so I could get along with various students of several schools. My SMU friend Minhae, who came with me, and two Irish friends named Marie and Rebecca, from another school in Ireland were put together with me by lot. Thanks to Marie and Rebecca, I could meet many friends of other schools, and know more about their unique cultures closely. We cooked different traditional foods of each nation, treated one another, and chatted all night gathering around the tables. We went to pubs and clubs all together and dropped by friends’ houses on all sorts of holidays like Halloween and Christmas. Also, I could have a greater variety of experiences than others because of Marie and Rebecca’s thankful help. They offered precious opportunity to feel real lives and superb natural landscapes which a foreigner could not easily find.
Grown-up through Living as One of the People of Ireland 
One of the merits of Ireland exchange students was the accessibility to travel to many other European nations easily and cheaply. In spite of Ireland’s excessive prices of commodities, by using low price airline Lion Air, it was possible to go to France and England inexpensively. As one of the nations of Europe, Ireland gave me many opportunities to meet people from Spain, Germany, France, and Croatia. After my dear times, I found grown-up enough to live by myself. It is never easy to live in surroundings which are not familiar for oneself. I became aware of a way of living with others. In addition, I could be skilled at the basic things for living like managing my own money. If I’m asked, “What is the most valuable thing I gained in Ireland?”I can answer precisely ‘Confidence. ’ I could feel that my self-confidence was raised gradually, and based on it, I could and can do everything about any part of life with confidence.
Miss U, Ireland
Ireland has their own color distinct from other European nations. Ireland loves music and dance. It loves the dark beer Guinness. It has warm-hearted people, and also has pride in their language, Gaelic. Although it was quite a short time, about 6 months, it was sufficient for having affection about Ireland. Life as an exchange student in Ireland became a permanently memorable page of my life.
