Hi everyone! Ed here!

First off, I was asked to announce that some people from the Residence Office will be hosting a Christmas Lunch in Erne Hall, Apt 5 on Christmas Day, beginning at 1PM in the afternoon, for any and all people who will be here on Christmas Day. There will be plenty of food to eat, but please bring your own drinks, plates, and cutlery, as they won’t have enough of these things at the apartment. Also, you can bring along a dessert or vegetable dish if you like.

Second, I’d like to thank all of you who made it such a great semester for the International Society. I hope that everyone had a great time, and that in at least some small way, your participation in out trips and events made your time here more memorable. We had our largest ever Day trip and Weekend trip, both in this semester, so it really was a huge success for us. To those of you who aren’t coming back, I’d like to say that it was great to meet you all, and that I wish I could’ve known you all better, but this is the way it goes; there is never enough time to get to know everyone, at least not as well as we would like. But meeting you all has been an honour, and I thank you all for making things go so well and be so much fun.

I hope that all of you have found yourselves in the company of those who are most important to you, where ever you are, and that you enjoy yourselves during the holiday season. All the best to you, and may good fortune smile upon you.

Sincerely,

Ed Niedbalski

Hello everyone! Ed here!

First off, the film this weekend will be Scoop, starring Scarlett Johannson and Hugh Jackman. This suggested by one of you last week. As usual, the film will be shown in Theatre 1 in the Arts Block, this Sunday evening, starting-time 7:30 PM!

As for the trip to Glendalough, I’m glad to say that we are completely full! Sorry to anyone who won’t be able to go along with us; if there are any cancellations, I can give you a call and get you in! Just a reminder, if there are any problems or anything happens while we’re on the trip, please ring me at 087 6761959.

Update: Since there were so many people ringing and e-mailing about the trip to Glendalough, I just called the bus company and asked what else they had available, so we could get some extra seats, and what they told me is this: They have available for this weekend a double-decker bus that fits 80 people! This will be in addition to the 54 seat bus that we already have! So this means, there are extra spaces now for the trip to Glendalough!! So if you had texted or e-mailed me today or yesterday, and I told you that the buses were full, there are now extra seats available!! Hence, if you are still interested, we can arrange to meet for signing-up! What I will do is this: I will be in the Society ‘Office’ (which is just my apartment on campus, Avoca Hall, Apt 7), tomorrow evening from 5:30 PM. You can come by then and sign-up for the trip, or text me at 087 6761959 if you need to make other arrangements! So everyone that wants to go to Glendalough will now be able to!

And, some details to work out for the trip to Galway. Our issue is this: we will have 1 bus (maximum 54 people) going to Galway. But we’ve also got more people than this going on the trip (over 75), so what we will do is have some people go by train! We’ve done this with other trips in the past, and it always works out fine! If you have gotten yourself a Student Travel Card (which I strongly recommend that everyone gets), we can get very good prices for the train, and we can give you back some of the money you paid to us for the trip to cover the costs of the train and the bus to Huston Station and back. And so, I put out a call for volunteers to go to Galway by train! I will give the full details about going by train to anyone interested; just e-mail or text message me about it! For example, if you have lectures that go later than when the bus is leaving (2:30) that you must attend, you can get a later train! I personally will be going on the train a bit earlier in the day, so that I can be in Galway before the bus arrives. Anyone interested in going at the same time as me on the train can let me know! Remember: only people with a Student Travel Card can volunteer to go by train (otherwise it would be too expensive).

If you don’t have a Student Travel Card, it’s very easy to get one! All you have to do to get one is go to the Students Union Office, fill-in a very small application, they take your photo, and you have your card! It takes less than 10 minutes, and only costs 15 Euro! The card gives you discounts not only on the train, but also many different shops all over the place. I can tell you for sure that if you go on any other long journeys by train while you are here in Ireland, you will save more than enough money to justify buying the card!

That’s all for now! Let me know by e-mail or text if you’re interested in going to Galway by train, and I’ll work out all the details with you individually! And I’ll see those of you going to Glendalough on Saturday! Remember to be prepared in case there’s rain! Dress warm, and bring a lunch with you if you like! There is also a hotel with a restaraunt/pub there, as well as a few snack stands that have food and tea/coffee. And don’t forget about the film on Sunday! ‘Scoop’, 7:30 PM, Theatre 1 in the Arts Block this Sunday Evening!

All the best and hope to see you all soon,

Ed

Hi everone, Floz here!

Apologies for the lack of recent news / posts, but we’re all enjoying our summer break, aren’t we

But don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of stuff to come once the new semester gets going.

In the mean time, if you have any questions, problems or whatnot, don’t heasitate to contact us.

So see you soon and enjoy your Summer,

Floz

Hi all, Ed here!

Just to let you all know, the AGM Meeting will be in Theatre 1 in the Arts Block at 7:30 pm this Sunday evening! Please attend this meeting for us to say goodbye and to hold our election for the committee for next year! Plus, we’ll be giving out the vouchers for the free drink at the AGM, so please remember to be there (on time) so you can get yours!

We’ll then get ourselves down to Caulfield’s around 8:00pm, for free pub food and a few drinks! We’re really looking forward to seeing you all, for one last chance to hang out and to say goodbye! Hope to see you all there!

And to those of you who have already gone home: thank you so much for such a great year, and it’s ashamed that you had yto go already– but I wish you all the best back home and in all your future endeavors. I trust you’ve already begun to reflect on your time in Maynooth, and I know it’s an experience that none of you will soon forget.

All the best,

Ed

Hi everyone! Ed here!

We’re planning an AGM (that’s Annual General Meeting) for next Sunday, June 1st, 7:30 PM at a location that will be announced in the next few days. Because of the exams and the normal class halls being used for studying, we will have to make arrangements for somewhere else. I will take care of this early in the week and let you all know. The purpose of this meeting is for us to have a bit of a ‘goodbye’ session, and we hope to have an ‘election’ for the committee for next year. We would also like to get some of you to let us know what you thought of the events and trips that the society held this year, and maybe even get some of you to write a brief ‘testimonial’ about your experiences with us that we can post on our website!

After this short meeting, we’ve got a party scheduled in Caulfield’s Pub at 8:00! There will be free ‘Bar Munchies’, and 1 FREE DRINK for everyone who comes along! Our way of saying thanks to all of you for such a great year!

And on more thing: If any of you are willing donate your pillows and duvets, since most of you won’t be able to take them home at the end, we can keep them in storage over the summer and give them to new Internationals next year when they arrive! The Residence Office has arranged for extra storage space this summer for us, so I’d like to get as many as we can! I’ve done this in past years, and I’m hoping to do it again this year with your help. Also, if there is anything else of value that you can give, such a clothes and other items, I can arrange to give them to a local charity! So please, don’t just throw everything away at the end! Contact me and we can make arrangements to put all of this stuff to good use!

That’s all for now; see you all at the AGM and party!

Ed