Day 2 06/02/12: Views of Ireland, Bog Museum, Ring of Kerry, Sheep :o

Compare Ireland's landscape from what you thought Ireland was going to be like and what it really looks like. Compare it to your home and other travels.


I've always thought that the landscape of Ireland was going to be a lot of green land with nothing but green grass. It is all that, but a lot prettier than I thought it would be. There are a lot of mountains and hills. It's a lot rockier than I thought it was going to be. Also, I was not expecting the lakes and waterfalls, as awell as all the rocks. All in all, I thought that the landscape of Ireland was extremely gorgeous and a thousand times prettier than I thought it would be ♥. Compared to Korea, Ireland is kind of similar in a way, landscape-wise. Korea is pretty green in the countryside and also has mountains (not as high as the mountains in Ireland, though). Compared to my home, Ireland is completely different. There are no mountains nor any high hills. Also, the closest thing Illinois has to Ireland's dramatic shorelines is the beach of Lake Michigan. Also, the grass isn't always green in Illinois. I think there are pretty places in Illinois, but in Ireland, the views are absolutely spectacular *-*. There are no words to describe it, really. 


Summary of the day, highlights, & funniest moment of the day:


We ate a fulfilling breakfast this morning, visited Kerry Bog Village (museum), saw and took pictures of amazing views, watched the dogs that guided (and terrified) the sheep, got bit by lots of bugs, ate fish and chips at The Lodge in a town in Waterville, got hot chocolate from a bus cafe, and saw a REALLY pretty waterfall. We got our shoes dirty, but it was worth it. I think that the funniest moments of the day would be the Timmy song we listened to on the coach bus and when me and Christine did our foot five in the hotel :D.

more views *_*

Albert in one of the rooms at the Bog Museum haha

my soaked Bog Museum guide

dramatic shorelines

sheep dog!

SHEEEP 

fish and chips. yummmmy. 

stunning waterfall *_*

Day 1 06/01/12: Flight to New York, then to Shannon, Ireland

Reflect on the first 24 hours of travel...exciting, difficult, looking forward to?

I thought that my first 24 hours of travel were pretty tiring and sluggish. I know I can't really complain because we were expecting the times of the airplane flights and all, but I was still pretty tired. I thought the views were absolutely spectacular though :)! The occasional cows and horses we saw were pretty rad too. The only thing tha tI would've changed is to have the power to make myself go to sleep during the plane flight to Shannon, Ireland. I had a lot of fun when we (me, Christine, Theresa, Sophia, Xochitl, and Albert) were playing cards the whole time while we were in the airport. I have learned that Albert is a boss at playing cards (and that you probably shouldn't play against him if you get angry easily). I hope that the rest of the trip is even better than today. The most exciting part of the trip would have to be looking at the great views of the mountains of Ireland. I've only seen pictuers of Ireland, but never in person. The hardest part of the trip would probably have to be handling my tiredness and laziness throughout the day. I'm most excited for the Ring of Kerry tomorrow!

Summary of the day & highlights:

Today we went to the airporst, played some exciting game of cards, saw Bunratty's castle, visited the town of Aundare, saw the wonderful views of Ireland, took some pictures with the views and a horse (and its dead-looking foal o_o), and visited Ross's Castle before heading back to our hotel. I thought the highlights were seeing the views, and playing Egyptian Ratscrew (card game) with my group. 

Me and Christine on the flight to Ireland

Everyone waiting at O'Hare airport

Shoe picture :D

Hello Ireland :)

Beautiful views <3

Bunratty Castle :o

Horse and foal :D

Poem: "The Darkness" by Lord Byron

1.) I read "The Darkness" by Lord Byron. I liked the poem and I enjoyed it because of many reasons. I enjoyed the dark, gloomy tone that the poem had that the other poems didn’t seem to have. While reading the poem, I could imagine myself in the situation in the poem, watching all of the horrors occur. I also liked the language of the poem and the fact that I knew what most of the words in the poem meant J.

2.) I think the poem is trying to say that once it is the time for the world to end, and the world is full of catastrophes, every man (or creature) lives for himself. All the riches, luxuries, and money that you may have will no longer matter. Every man will have the same look on his face: desperation to be spared from death. Everything will revolve around death and there will no longer be love in the world. The poem also talks about the lack of religion and that people will not even care for a higher being when in disastrous situations. Once the world is falling apart, people will give up everything to stay alive. This connects to today’s world because I feel that many movies today are based on post-apocalyptic events causing the whole population to be in mayhem. I also think it’s relevant in today’s world because I feel that that’s how this world would respond to monstrous disasters as well. The phrase “every man for himself” is clearly identified in movies today that include apocalyptic events, such as zombie outbreaks, airborne illnesses, etc. Most of the characters in the movies put their own lives before others and do not allow themselves to trust others. Like in the poem, all the love and care is replaced by fear and mistrust. Also, I don’t think that the world has changed or will change. I feel Lord Byron is telling us that it is in man’s nature to become helpless, selfish, and savage once placed in a life or death situation.

 3.) The poem is “romantic” because it expresses a personal experience of the poet, it contains a lot of negative emotions (anger, fear, sadness, etc.), and it glorifies nature. It expresses his personal experience because it was the poet’s dream. I think that the poet wants the readers to imagine all of the events in his poem and feel all of the powerful emotions. It glorifies nature in that it shows how nature is in control of the lives in the world. In the end of the poem, “the winds were withered in the stagnant air,/ And the clouds perished; Darkness had no need/ Of aid from them.” This shows that although man needs nature in order to survive, nature does not need man. 

Celtic Tiger

1. What factors attributed to the rapid growth in Irish Economy in the early 2000s?

They began to become open to the global market and began trading. They also had a low tax rate (corporate tax rate). This attracted many people to build their businesses in Ireland. Ireland also began to invest in their education more.

2. What factors attributed to the rapid decline in thea Irish Economy?

The decline happened because, with their newfound money, many people in Ireland began to spend..and spend A LOT of their money (expensive restaurant, helicopters etc.). Many bought property, such as hotels. Also, house prices rose extensively. The Irish banks started to loan out tons of money. The Irish government failed to regulate the banks despite several warnings. This created a chain reaction. When the Irish people lost money, the banks didn't have enough money to loan out. Soon the government was bankrupt. :(

3a. 1950-1990

During the 1950's-1990's, Ireland was basically an agriculturally based economy. They didn't trade with other countries around the world. Because of this, they developed slower than other West European countries. During the worldwide recession in the 1980's Ireland had high unemployment. They soon began to flourish, though, during their "Celtic Tiger" phase. America during the 1950's, however, was doing really well while trading with other countries around the world.

3b. 1990-2007

During this time, Ireland was becoming a "Celtic Tiger." As unemployment began to decrease businesses started to flock over, Ireland was thriving. Although not many knew, there were signs that this "Celtic Tiger" phase was not going to last. Anyways, Ireland had one of the highest GDPs. During this period, many migrated into Ireland because of low tax rates (corporate). Ireland's unemployment rate was also very low. For America, in the early 1990's, they were facing a recession.

3c. 2007-2012

Since 2007, the Ireland's GDP has fallen from over 180 Euro billion to less than 160 Euro billion. Residential property prices have also decreased substantially since 2007. America has also not been that well. The US debt has increased substantially (citizens). There has also been a loss in wealth.

4. Please develop three curiosities about the Irish or international economy.

- How come the wealthy Irish people spend all their money instead of saving it?
- Will a nation's economy always crash when they are on a high like Ireland was during their "Celtic Tiger" phase?
- Why isn't Ireland still not able to build itself back up again like they did before?

Our Chicago Field Trip

                                              

Our class travels in small groups of around 5 or 6. A teacher is in charge of each group. It's necessary for us to stay in these groups so that we don't lose one another as well as make sure everyone is at a certain place at a certain time. This will be especially important when we travel outside the country because we will make sure that we will not be late to certain events as well as make sure no one gets lost in such a large and foreign country. 

    I thought that the china in the Irish Heritage Center was interesting because I never knew that those china pieces were important to the Irish culture. All of the pieces were intricately made and beautiful. 

    Our group learned to be exact on time and to never be late. This will be important when we travel to Ireland and the United Kingdom, so I want to make sure that our group isn't late again. We definitely learned a lesson today considering that we caused the teachers to talk quite a bit on how our group was late. I also thought that today was a good day for us to learn how we will be traveling while we are travelling abroad. We were in our groups and in a busy city so I thought that it taught us how we should stick together and make sure that no one gets left behind. 

Beowulf

In Beowulf, the characters Beowulf, Grendel, and Unferth are very similar to the characters in movies (superhero movies in particular) today.

“No man swims in the sea/ As I can, no strength is a match for mine” (25). Beowulf is an incredibly strong man who is famous for being a hero. He slays monsters and no other man can beat him. This prototype of a hero figure is in tons of action and super hero movies today. Like Beowulf, all the heroes or super heroes in modern movies are strong and filled with extraordinary and supernatural strength. Likewise, those heroes become famous for saving lives and fighting off terrifying villains…just like Beowulf did after slaying Grendel the beast. Some examples include: Superman, Spiderman, and Batman.

“Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty/ Hills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred,/ Grendal came, hoping to kill/ Anyone” (33). Grendel is the image of the villains. He is a beast, hungry for blood and for destruction everywhere he goes. In the end though, he is killed by Beowulf. This similar idea is illustrated in the superhero movies in that every evil villain or monster is causing chaos only to get defeated by the hero.

“Unferth spoke, Ecglaf’s son,/ Who sat at Grothgar’s feet, spoke harshly/ And sharp (vexed by Beowulf’s adventure,/ By their visitor’s courage, and angry that anyone/ In Denmark or anywhere on earth had ever/ Acquired glory and fame greater/ Than his own)” (24). Unferth represents that one miserable guy in the movie that wants to get rid of the superhero because he’s jealous of the hero’s great powers and good looks. In the poem, Unferth is jealous of Beowulf’s “adventure” as well as his fame. Even though Beowulf has come to save the town from a deadly beast, Unferth does not favor him because Beowulf had “acquired glory and fame greater/ than his own.”

Who is Tyler MacNiven?

1. The most important thing I can take away from Tyler's approach to travel is his willingness to continue moving forward and not stopping. Throughout the video, it is mentioned that Tyler gets extremely exhausted at times, yet he motivates himself to keep moving forward and continuing on his journey in fear that he will want to stop if he rests. Another thing is his optimism in travel. He never seemed to complain about anything.

2. I think Tyler's approach to travel relates to his his normal everyday life in that he will always want to try new things and motivate himself to complete things that he has already started. I think that he will always have optimism in his daily life considering that he is a happy guy.

3. "Walking is such a great way to travel. It's healthy, it's natural, and it can't be rushed." I can definitely apply this to our upcoming travels because it shows that walking is the best way for one to travel and experience a new place. Another quote in one of Tyler's videos spoken by George Meegan that relates to walking is "When you travel in a vehicle, you are going through the scenery...when you're walking, you're a part of the scenery." When we walk in new or unknown places we not only see our surroundings, but we're putting ourselves into our surroundings and allowing ourselves to interact with things or people that we wouldn't be able to do while in a vehicle.

4. I think his advice for us would be to keep an open mind, to learn new and exciting things, have a good attitude, and not let the little things distract us from an amazing adventure.

5. I'm excited to ask Tyler:
What was the most difficult thing you had to overcome in your long walk in Japan?
Would you do it again but in a different country?


UPDATE:

I thought that the interview with Tyler MacNiven went really well. I thought that he was a really great guy and that he was pretty hilarious. He answered all of our questions from what he thought was most difficult about walking in Japan all the way to questions about his girlfriend and whether they were still together or not. I will definitely look at the trip in a new way. I won't complain about things on the trip probably...(maybe). It will change the trip for me because I will know that I should allow myself to become part of the scenery that we see instead of just looking at scenery.