Next question, please!

a)      What phone device are you using while abroad?  Did you purchase one there or did you bring your own?  How much does it cost to use a mobile phone abroad?

I originally purchased a cheap, 12 pound pre-paid phone when I arrived in Belfast. Bad idea. I dreaded having to use it. It was so difficult to text on. All it was good for was emergency situations and I didn’t have any numbers to call anyway other than 999 (the equivalent to 911). After I was living here for a few weeks and heard about some other options I dropped the phone and went for another plan. Now I use giffgaff (a phone company here). It is pretty cheap, there is one option that is only 5 something pounds a month. That plan doesn’t give you a lot of minutes and texts but I can call and text other giffgaff users for free so it doesn’t matter because almost all of my friends have giffgaff (for that exact reason). It isn’t a contract so that means I don’t have to stress about having money in my account at the end of the month, and every month I can switch what plan I want. Giffgaff is also a great way to go because I can use my iPhone from the U.S. I didn’t have to buy anything new and I am already used to how the phone works. Plus I carried it with me everywhere anyway. The original phone/plan I got would be the best option for someone studying abroad back home, but not here. It is amazing how many minutes, text, and data you can get for such little money. It really makes you realize how much we get ripped off in the U.S. 

b)      What technology is available at your location (computers, internet, printers etc)?

The school pays for us to have internet in our dorms. It is through a private company though which kind of sucks. I have a lot of issues with internet connection and the company has awful costumer service. Other than the internet and a TV in the living room, we don’t have any other technology in the house. Because of TV licenses you can’t watch TV in your room unless you pay for it yourself. As for computers and printers, you have to go to the library for those. The university does not give you print money like Carlow does. It costs 10p a page, and you can’t use the double-sided trick here. It is okay though because you really don’t have to print much. For most classes you only have two essays a semester and that is all you really have to print.

My housing situation...

During my time at Queen’s I am staying in university housing. It is different than some of the other university housing though. Some of them are all grouped together, like a little neighbourhood. This one is just one building by itself on a main street. I like it a lot better this way. In Elms Village, the main university housing, there are loud kids everywhere haha. My building looks like an apartment building from the outside, and it feels like an apartment compared to Elms Village, except that it isn’t an apartment building…ha.   It consists of three floors. On each floor there are about 16 bedrooms, 4 toilets, 4 showers, and one kitchen and living room, known as the common area. Each floor is divided up into 5 sections to keep noise level down and protect against fires. The building is a non-alcohol building, which I am in favor of. I see the houses that allow alcohol and they are always a disaster, especially on the weekends. I have my own room. I really enjoy having my own space. You would think I would be more messy since it is just me, but I actually keep it more clean. I think it is because it feels more like mine. I have shelves and a rack to hang my clothes on, a desk, a bed (obviously), and my own sink. The sink is by far my favorite part. It is so convenient! My building is mostly international students ( I think I mentioned this before…sorry). The first 2 floors are almost entirely international students. The third floor is a mixture of international and freshmen. The building has only one RA, and she also is the RA for another house down the street. So, that is quite different in comparison to Carlow and many other universities I visited back home that all have RAs on every floor. It is actually pretty nice because you don’t have to worry about getting in trouble. That is not to say we do bad things! Honestly. It just means that if we are all up late and decide to meet in the common area to cook together and/or watch a movie at two in the morning we can do so without worrying about being yelled at. We don’t get super loud because we know other people are sleeping, but you know that would not be allowed if there was a RA posted on the floor right next to the common area haha. It makes living here more fun and spontaneous.

I really enjoy the set up here. It makes meeting people very easy. Since most of us eat at similar times we are always cooking and sitting at the table at the same time, so we kind of have family meals in a sense. The kitchen can get chaotic at times, especially at dinner, but I love it. It makes cooking and living here so much more fun. It also is nice to have a living room. Every Sunday night we have “series night” (yeah, I know, very creative title) where a lot of us gather in the living room to watch Homeland. At first it was just 4 or 5 people from the floor who always hang out and our group of friends. Now it has grown and almost our whole floor joins us. It gets pretty crowded but we love it. The housing is one of the best parts of the experience here. I always think about how much I am going to miss it when I leave. 

The first week I was here I took some videos of my room and the floor...I tried to find them to post here but of course I deleted them off of my phone. I made them via instagram so even though they are online, I cannot save them. Here are the links to them on my facebook page but I am not sure if they will work since my page is private. Facebook is telling my they will though. They are nothing special. Obviously it can't all be captured in a 15 second video, but it helps to give an idea. So, give it a try if you are interested:

The flat: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=207312736111541&l=8780787983383391047

My room: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=207310422778439&l=7874323357736476352