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

As some of you know, we got a new order of t-shirts made, because the first order didn’t turn out the way we wanted.  The ‘Globe’ on the first order turned out very different than how we would have liked, but the new ones look perfect!  The new order arrived this morning, so we now have them available for sale!  The new shirts, because they turned out perfect, will be selling at the cost of 10 EUR each.  We will still have the older t-shirts available for 7 EUR each.

Here’s a look at how the new ones turned out:

If there are any of you that have already bought the older one, but would really like to have the new one, what we will offer is this: Return the older t-shirt (as long as it is CLEAN!!!), and pay the extra 3 EUR, we will take back the old one and give you the new one!

I will be at home for most of the afternoon, so if there are any of you that are leaving today or tomorrow, and would like to have a t-shirt before you go, you can come by my apartment on campus to get one!  I’m in Avoca 7, River Apartments.  Or you can ring/text me at 087 6761959 and we can arrange something!

That’s all for now; All the best to everyone for a great holidays, and a well-deserved rest!  Talk to you soon,

Ed

I saw an announcement for the Dublin Christmas Market, which is starting on Dec 12, so I thought I’d pass on the information about it on to all of you! It will be going on right at the IFSC (Irish Financial Services Centre) in Dublin, and is just a 5 minute walk from Connolly Station! Here is a link to their map and here is some information about what they will have there. It sounds like it will be pretty good, or at least as good as the one in Belfast! I hope to go and find out for myself!

As many of you know, we have decided on our final design for our T-Shirts, and we thank you all for voting! The final winner on the contest was the Globe/Bus/Pint design. We are happy to say that the order for the shirts has been put in, and we’re hoping to get the shirts here as soon as we can. We were told they will be ready perhaps as soon as this Friday, and no later than next Wednesday. We will let you all know as soon as the shirts are here, and we will do our best to give everyone the chance to buy one, particularly those of you that won’t be back after Christmas. We have ordered what we hope is a good mix of sizes, and we have got have of them in black and in ‘Kelly Green’, so there will be some choice for you too! We’re still not sure of what the final price will be, as we haven’t gotten the bill for the t-shirt company yet, but as I mentioned before, they will cost either 8 or 10 Euro each. We will let you know when the shirts arrive.

The film this weekend is the Irish Christmas film Evelyn, starring Pierce Brosnan, Aidan Quinn, and Stephen Rea. It’s based on the true story of the first case ever to reach the Irish Supreme Court, and is about a man who has to fight regain custody of his children after his wife abandons the family. It’s a great holiday film, the perfect film to show right before Christmas time in Ireland! We will shot it as usual in theatre 1 in the Arts Block, this Sunday evening, starting at 7:30 PM.

That’s all for now; I hope everyone is working hard to get all their essays and assignments finished in time! All the best and hope to see you all soon.

Ed

We’re not sure how long it will take to get the T-Shirts made once we decide on a design, but we’ll try our best to get them before the end of the semester! The approximate price for each shirt will be 8–10 EUR. We will let you know then about different sizes and colours available. (Currently we are considering two colours, black as well as green, to give you some choice). The writing and designs on the shirts will be in White. Please take a look at the designs and let us know what you think by voting for your favourite!

And now: The poll!

PS: If you are having trouble casting your vote, pop us an email, we’ll add it manually.

Quite a few things to talk about in this email

Belfast

First, we just wanted to say thanks to everyone that went on the trip to Belfast!  It was the largest weekend trip that we’ve ever done, and we hope that everyone had a good time there.  Also, we wanted to say sorry to the people who were in the two rooms with the broken heating; I’ll get you some drinks to make up for it!  Also, with regards to the Giants Causeway day tour — we did call the hostel in advance to tell them that (the majority of the people in) our group was interested in doing that tour on Saturday and that they should let the bus company know about this. I rang the hostel about this more than a week before we arrived, but either the hostel did not forward our request or the tour company ignored it.

We are now considering writing a formal complaint to the owner of the hostel about both problems.  As we’ve never had any problems with them before (we’ve been staying at the same hostel for several years now) we were very surprised to encounter these issues.  Hopefully everyone that wanted to see Giant’s Causeway got to go, even if it was on the express tour on Sunday.

Newgrange

Just as a reminder, the details for the two trips to Newgrange are as follows:

Saturday-group

Our booking is for 11:00am.  We will leave from Maynooth at 9:45am.  The tour lasts about 2 hours, so we will return to Maynooth at about 2:30 in the afternoon.

Sunday-group

Our booking is for 10:00am.  We will leave from Maynooth at 8:45am.    The tours is 2 hours, so we’ll be back to Maynooth at about 1:30 in the afternoon.

We still have spaces available for both days, so if you’re interested in signing-up, you can e-mail us, or text me at 087 6761959.  Also, we will hold a second chance to sign-up this Thursday evening in the Arts Block.  I will be in the corridor by the computers between 6 and 7 PM for anyone that still wants to go!

Film

Our film this weekend, due to ‘popular demand’, will be the film In Bruges, starring Colin Farrel. The film will be, as usual, in Theatre 1 in the Arts Block, this Sunday evening, starting at 7:30 pm.

That’s all for now; hope to see you all soon!

Ed

And here… comes the Belfast trip! There are a few things that people need to know when going to Belfast, just some basic information that I should bring to your attention.

1. For those of you from outside the European Union (like myself), please remember to bring your passport or other documents with you, as we are technically going into another country.
2. Remember that they use British Pounds up there (Sterling), not Euros! If you have a bank card from a bank here in the Republic of Ireland or another EU country, you should be able to use that card in the cash machines up there to withdraw pounds with no problems.
3. Please remember to stay together with other people when you are there; don’t go wondering out alone! I don’t imagine there will not be any problems, but please remember that Belfast is not a place you want to start trouble in! And please, whatever you do, do not go into West Belfast by yourself!! The people there won’t necessarily be happy to see you!
4. Our hostel does not provide breakfast, but there is a Tesco and several other shops close to the hostel. There is a kitchen at the hostel for you to cook something!
5. The buses to go to Belfast will leave from in front of the Student’s Union building, this Friday 3:00pm. We will leave from the hostel in Belfast to come back to Maynooth between 4:00 and 5:00pm. We will decide as the weekend goes!
6. If you decide to go on the Giant’s Causeway day tour, which I’m sure most of you will, please go on the Saturday! The tour does not finish until around 6pm, so you won’t make it back in time go home on our bus if you do this tour on the Sunday! Remember, you can sign-up for The Giant’s Causeway and Black Taxi Tours right at the reception desk of our hostel!

Here’s a few of those links again for you to look at about the city and other things (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

That’s all for now! See you all tomorrow for the film!

Ed

The facts again:

Where to

Belfast City

Date

Friday to Sunday, 28—30 November 2008

Departure

3:00 pm on Friday from Student’s Union

Important

Do not forget to bring your passport!

Return

Leave Belfast on Sunday at 4 pm

Cost

55 EUR per person

Includes

Transport & accommodation

I should have sent this information to all of you in the last email, but I forgot to do it! It must be my old age catching-up with me…

Anyway, I want to announce sign ups for our last trip of the semester, to Newgrange! Since I’m really bad at explaining exactly what Newgrange is, here are several links that will tell you all about it (1, 2, 3, 4).

We have 2 bookings for Newgrange; each booking allows only a maximum of 48 people per visit! The 2 bookings are for Saturday, December 6 at 11:00am, and Sunday, December 7 at 10:00am. This means we will have to leave Maynooth early to get there!! I will let you all know next week when we will have to leave for each trip. The cost for the trip is 12 EUR per person, and this covers the bus and admission into Newgrange.

Sign-ups will begin tomorrow evening before the film! I’ll be in Theatre 1 in the Arts Block from 7pm! Remember the cost is 12 Euro per-person for everything!

Just a quick announcement for the film this weekend. It will be ‘Intolerable Cruelty’, Starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Here’s a link about the film.

As usual, the film will be at 7:30 PM in the Arts Block, Theatre 1, this Sunday evening.

For those of you going on the trip to Belfast, we will send an e-mail early next week giving all the information you’ll need to know for the trip.

All the best,

Ed

Well, I think we’ve got all the volunteers we need to go to Galway by train, but I’d like 1 more volunteer, just to be sure! Anyway, since many of you had questions about how to get to Heuston station in Dublin, I found the perfect thing for you to look at so you can see where it is and how best to get there. Have a look on this, and you can zoom in and take a look for yourself! Also, I have decided that I will go to Galway on the 14:35 train. I will leave Maynooth on the number 66 Bus into Dublin. This bus is scheduled to leave from Maynooth at 13:05. Anyone who would like to go at the same time as me to make sure they get there with no problems can meet me at the front entrance of Dunnes Stores at 12:45.

If there is anyone else getting a later train, and I know there are a few, please text me when you’re close to Galway, and I’ll come meet you at the station!

That’s it for now! See you all soon!

Ed

Hey guys, I’m Conor Flynn from Deukuma (The German Soc).

I just wanted to tell you guys about our first event of the year. We’re having a welcome session next Wednesday 15th October and we invite all your members, but in particular your German members to attend. We’ll be meeting in one of the lecture theatres in JH (which one is yet to be confirmed but we’ll let u know when we know) at 7.30 and then we’ll be moving on to Caulfields for our 1st Stammtisch of the year. It’d be great if any of you guys came along and we’d be delighted to see ye.

We’re really trying to get Deukuma revived this year and we hope that this event is the first of many this year. Maybe later on in the semester or in the year our two societies could organise something together!

Anyway, hope to see some of you guys next week!

Conor

So, if anyone is interested, just show-up to JHT8 (some room in the John Hume building) at 7:30 on Wednesday!

All the best, and hope to see you all soon!

Ed

First off, I’d like to thank everyone that went on the trip to Glendalough! It was a great sucess, and a great day over all! We had excellent weather, and everyone seemed to have a good time! It was also a new record for the International Society: we had 129 people attend the trip, making it officially the largest trip we’ve ever had! Thank you all for participating (and for coming back safely)! There are already plenty of peoples’ photos of the trip on Facebook, so be sure to have a look there! Also, don’t forget to add us all to your Facebook friends lists!

Galway and Train volunteers: As for the trip to Galway, we still need a few more volunteers to go there by train. I will set-up a meeting time tomorrow evening (Tuesday October 14) from 6 to 7pm in the Arts Block for anyone willing to go to Galway by train. I will be in the corridor by the circle of computers in the Arts Block to answer any questions you have about the arrangements and other details, and to give back some of the money if you decide to go by train. If you can’t be there at that time, please e-mail, or ring/text message me at 087 6761959 to make other arrangements for a time and place to meet.

As many of you know, I will give you some of your money back to pay for you travel costs, so you won’t have to pay any extra money! I know there were a few people that I spoke with who said they are interested, so please let me know! Here are the train times timetable for going to Galway on Friday and then coming back to Dublin on Sunday:

Dublin (Heuston) => Galway, 17.10.2008

Leaving: 11:10, 14:35, 16:50 and 17:50
   Arriving: 13:51, 17:15, 19:16 and 20:31

Galway => Dublin (Heuston), 19.10.2008

Leaving: 16:15 and 18:15
   Arriving: 19:10 and 20:57

Please get in touch soon or come to the meeting tomorrow if you’re willing to go by train; I still need about 10 more volunteers! It will really help us all!

That’s all for now; please get in touch if you’re willing to go to Galway by train, or have any questions about it!

Ed

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

Well, as you can see, we’ve got everything up and running, and so we are finally able to get down to the fun stuff!  As many of you know, we will begin the sign-ups for our first two trips of the semester this Sunday evening at 7:00 PM in the Arts Block, Theatre 1. The trips will be Glendalough and Galway. Please be advised that you must pay for each trip at sign-up! Please try to have the exact amount of money with you.

We will also be showing a film, but we haven’t had time to decide what we will show yet.  Sorry about that!  It’s been a really busy week for us.  We will let you know on Sunday evening. Surprise, surprise

All the best to everyone,  and we look forward to getting another great year for the International Society underway!

Ed

Also, there are three really great day-trips that you can sign-up for once we arrive at the hostel in Galway: The Aran Islands, Connemara, or The Cliffs of Moher/Burren.  You can sign-up for these excellent day-trips right at the reception desk of the hostel that we will stay at after we arrive.

The facts again:

Where to

Galway

Date

Friday to Sunday, 17—19 October 2008

Departure (bus people)

2:30 pm on Friday from Student’s Union

Departure (train people)

See this post

Return

Leave Galway on Sunday about 7:00 pm

Cost

70 EUR per person

Includes

Transport, accommodation & breakfasts

Here are some websites to give you an idea about Gledalough and what it looks like (1, 2, 3).

Also be sure to take a look at the photos from the last trip!

Where to

Glendalough

Date

Saturday, 11 October 2008

Departure

10:00 pm from Student’s Union

Return

Leave Glendalough about 4:30 pm

Cost

10 EUR per person

Includes

Transport

Important

Don’t forget to bring warm and rain proof clothing, and possibly some lunch! Trip will take place no matter what the weather.

Just wanted to welcome you all again and thank you for coming to and signing up at our feeble little desk in the Sports Hall today

If you haven’t heard of it yet, we’re having a Pub Crawl on Friday evening. All the details can be found in this post.

That’s it, talk to you soon,

Floz

Just a quick note to remind you of tomorrow’s “Clubs & Societies Day” (formerly known as “Fairs Day”).

This is your one and only chance to see all the pass-time offers here at college in one place. All the clubs and societies will have a little table in the main sports hall and present themselves. The whole thing starts at 9:30 (I think!).

This is also the best and most convenient time to sign up with the International Society. It’ll only cost you 2 EUR for the entire semester (the money goes straight to the college insurance company). It is important that you do sign up, otherwise you cannot come along to our trips (again, for insurance reasons). Also, the more members we have, the more money we get from the college, which in turn will allow us to better subsidise the trips (i.e. make it cheaper for you guys).

So see you all tomorrow,

Best regards,

Floz

We’re still finalising the details for the Pub Crawl, but here’s the tentative schedule for Friday the 3rd of October:

17:00

SU Bar

18:00

O’Neills

19:00

Caulfields

20:00

Bradys

21:00

Clockhouse

22:00

Glenroyal

23:00

Roooooost

We should also have a greasy burger at some stage, just to be on the safe side

Feel free to join in at any stage, but your coolness will obviously be maximised if you start at 5…

First off, we would like to welcome you to our website, to Ireland, and to Maynooth! We are very glad to have you with us! We as a Society have worked for years to make your time in Ireland more fun and enjoyable by offering activities, parties, films every Sunday evening, day and weekend trips, and to help you transition into Irish life and the Maynooth experience. We are an organization started and run by International Students, so we know what it’s like to come here for the first time! We hope that all of you have got the basic things sorted out for yourselves, like accommodation and course schedules, because after this is done, the fun stuff can begin!

We are planning to start the year off with a quick ‘meet and greet‘ session in the Arts Block, Theatre 1 next Sunday evening (Sept. 28) at 7:30 PM. We will give you all a chance to meet the committee members and ask questions about the trips and activities that we will have throughout the year, and we will show our first film of the semester! We will also give details about signing-up for the Society and for the day and weekend trips! Then, it’s off to the pub!

We already have the provisional schedule for all of our trips for the entire semester posted here, so please have a look! We will begin sign-ups for our first two trips very soon, and will let you all know when and where you can sign-up!

In addition to this, we will also be organizing a Maynooth ‘Pub-Crawl‘, so you can get to know all of the local places here in town!

Thank you for taking the time to visit our site, and we look forward to meeting you all and having a great year!

All the best and hope to see you all soon,

Ed (+ Floz + Simone + Steffi)

Update: The film will be a good old Erasmus Student’s classic: L’auberge Espagnole

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

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

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

The film this weekend will be The Closet, or Le Placard in the original French. The film will be shown as usual in The Arts Block, Theatre 2, at 8:00 PM!

We still have two missing jackets at my apartment (Avoca 7) left from the Dutch party, and Lars still has not been contacted about his missing jacket. The pocket has his student I.D. in it, so I hope someone realizes that they have the wrong jacket by now! Please contact me if you know who has it, or if you know anything about it; there were a few Irish people at the party when I arrived home, and I suspect one of them masy have taken it by accident, and they wouldn’t be on our e-mail list, so please ask if you know any of the Irish guys that were here if they have Lars’ jacket!

Thanks and see you all soon,

Ed

I just wanted you all to know that we still have a few places left for the trip to the Botanic Gardens at Powerscourt this Saturday! We will have a last-minute sign-up session for anyone still wanting to go with us on Thursday, May 1, between 6 and 7 in the Arts Block! We will be by the circle of computers in the corridor! The price is 10 EUR, and this is the cost for the Bus only, admission prices are discussed below.

So, here’s the run-down of the trip for Saturday: The bus will pick us up in front of the Student’s Union on Saturday morning; we will be leaving at 10:30 am. Please be ON-TIME! The travel-time there should be no more than 45 minutes each way. We will then come back between 4:30 and 5:00 pm, so we will hopefully be back in Maynooth no later than 5:45 pm, depending on when we leave from there. And here is a link to the Powerscourt Gardens’ page that talks about the prices for entry.

The Student price for entry into the Gardens is 7 Euro, and the Student price for the Waterfall is 4.50 EUR you have the choice of which things you want to see when you’re there; you can just go into the Gardens if you want, or just the waterfall, or both if you like! But remember to bring your student IDs with you so you can get the Student prices!

That’s all for now— see you tomorrow between 6 and 7 pm in the Arts Block!

Ed

The facts again:

Where to

Powerscourt Gardens

Date

Saturday, 3 May 2008

Departure

10:30am from Student’s Union

Return

Back in Maynooth 6pm at the latest

Cost

10 EUR per person

Includes

Transport

The film this weekend will be Road Trip, the American comedy about a group of university students who travel half way across the country to keep a video tape from getting to one of the guy’s girlfriends! Here’s a link to read about the film. The film will be at 8:00pm, Theatre 2 in the Arts Block, this Sunday evening!

And to answer all the questions about the trip to the botanic gardens, YES, we still have places! You can come to the film this weekend to sign-up! Or, if that’s not a good time for you, you can e-mail or text me at 087 6761959 to meet sometime to sign-up!

That’s all for now! See you at the film!

Ed

I just wanted to let you all know that we were able to get a bit of extra money from the Student’s Union, so we will be able to have our own bus for the Galway trip! I’ve made the booking for it, and it will leave at 2:00 pm this Friday from in front of the Student’s Union Building! Also, I wanted to mention that we have 2 or 3 spaces still available, so if you’d like to sign-up, let me know very soon!

And one more thing: I hate to bring up money, but there are about 12 people who still need to pay for the Galway trip; I have to collect that money and get it in the bank by Friday morning, or we won’t be able to pay for our bus! Please get in contact with me tomorrow and have the money ready if you haven’t paid yet! If not, I’ll have to cancel your beds at the hostel, and I don’t want to have to do that! I won’t be around tonight because I’m going to a show, but get in touch with me tomorrow! You can ring or text me at 087 6761959.

As for the trip to the botanic gardens, we still have some places left for it. If you’d like to sign-up, contact us and we can arrange a time to meet so you can get on the list and pay!

That’s all for now! If you still need to pay for the trip, get in touch with me as soon as you can on Wednesday!

Ed

The facts again:

Where to

Galway City

Date

Friday to Sunday, 18—20 April 2008

Departure

2:00 pm on Friday from Student’s Union

Return

Back in Maynooth on Sunday about 8:00 pm

Cost

60 EUR per person

Includes

Transport & accommodation

The film this weekend will be O Homem Que Copiava, a Brazilian comedy! As usual, the film will be in Theatre 1 (or 2) in the Arts Block, this Sunday night at 8:00pm!

We have also set a date for the trip to the Botanic Gardens at Powerscourt in Enniskerry! The trip will be held on Saturday, May 3. The bus will pick us up at 10:30am in front of the Student’s Union, and we will leave from there at 5:00pm. The cost is 10 EUR per person for the bus, and we will let you all decide when we arrive what addmission price you want to pay, because there are different prices depending on what you want to see there; remember that this is the site of Ireland’s highest waterfall! We will begin the sign-ups this Sunday at the film!

Hope to see you all there!

Ed

Sorry for only getting back to you so late. We have good news for you — the numbers work out and we can financially afford to hire our own bus for the trip up to Belfast (whoo-hoo!). So here are the final details:

We’ll be leaving tomorrow (Friday, 4 April 2008) at 2:00 pm from in front of the SU Bar.

As usual, please be there a bit earlier than that so we can leave on time. Don’t forget to bring your passports or official ID as we will be crossing a border…

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for more great weather this week-end and see you all tomorrow,

Floz

The facts again:

Where to

Belfast City

Date

Friday to Sunday, 4—6 April 2008

Departure

2:00 pm on Friday from Student’s Union

Important

Do not forget to bring your passport!

Return

Back in Maynooth on Sunday about 8:30 pm

Cost

55 EUR per person

Includes

Transport & accommodation

The film for this weekend will be The Last King of Scotland. Have a look &mbdash; it’s a really good film! It will begin as usual at 8:00 in Theatre 1 (or 2) in the Arts Block, this Sunday!

And, we’d like to announce some tentative dates for a day trip to the botanic gardens at Powerscourt in Enniskerry in Co. Wicklow! In addition to having some of the nicest gardens and park areas in all of Ireland, there is also access to Ireland’s highest waterfall! We are planning a trip there for either May 3 or 4 (Saturday or Sunday), and we will let you all know when we’ve set a definate date! Here’s some sites to look at to see what’s there (1, 2). Click around on these links to see what they have there– it’ll be great time for our last trip of the year! The price will be 10 EUR per person for round trip transportation from Maynooth to there and back. There are different price options for entry at the Gardens, as you can pay to see just the gardens, or the gardens and the waterfall! We’ll let you decide what you want to pay for once we arrive!

That’s all for now! Hope to see you all at the film this Sunday! And there’s still a few places for the Belfast and Galway trips, so please come by to sign-up or pay for them if you’re planning on going!

All the best,

Ed

Four things in this post: Film announcement, St. Patricks Day, Belfast Trip, Galway Trip.

First off, the film for this weekend will be Superbad. It’s a hilarious American comedy, well worth watching! Bit of a change from last week… The film will begin, as usual, at 8:00 PM, this Sunday evening in the Arts Block, Theatre 1 (or 2, depending on wether the projector plug works).

Next: St. Patrick’s Day! As every year, we arrange a meeting time to get the train into Dublin so you can all get good spots for the parade! It is important to be in town early to get good spots for the parade! The timetable says there is a train 10:30 AM from Maynooth train station going to Connolly Station, and this is the best time to go in! I’ll be working my security job all day starting at 12:00, but please come by to say hi! I’ll be at The Bailey, just off of Grafton Street! I’d love to see you there! But dress nice, otherwise I can’t let you in! Haha! Here’s a little map to help you locate the place (link).

As for the trips: we will begin sign-ups for both the Belfast and Galway trips this Sunday evening! We will be there in Theatre 1 from 7:30 pm for sign-ups!

The Belfast trip will be from 4—6 April (Fri. to Sun.), and costs 55 EUR per person. Links: 1, 2, 3

The Galway trip will be from 18—20 April (again Fri. to Sun.) and costs 60 EUR per person. Links: 1, 2, 3.

I would like to mention that each of the hostels has trips on offer that you can sign-up for right at the reception desks! The hostel in Belfast offers the Giant’s Causeway and Black Taxi Tours (Floz’ photos from last year), and the hostel in Galway offers the Connemara, Aran Islands (more photos), and Burren / Cliffs of Moher Tours! So, if you are interested in doing any of these great day trips while visiting Belfast or Galway, you can sign-up and pay for them right at the reception desks of the hostels when we arrive there!

That’s all for now! Hope to see you all this Sunday for the film and sign-ups, and also out in Dublin on St Patrick’s Day!

Ed

The film for this weekend is The Wind that Shakes the Barley, the Irish film about the struggle for Irish independence in the 1920’s. This is a very serious film, and we have to advise everyone that it has some very graphic and violent scenes in it, so just know this if you decide to come to the film on Sunday. We will begin as usual at 8:00 pm in Theatre 1 in the Arts Block.

And, we’re glad to announce that we’ve already made provisional bookings at the hostels for both of the upcoming weekend trips!

1. We will be running a trip to Belfast on the first weekend of April, from Friday April 4th to Sunday April 6th! Here’s some information about what there is to do in Belfast (1, 2).
2. Also, we will hold a trip to Galway from Friday April 18th to Sunday April 20th! This will give at least 3 weeks before the end of the semester, so that you will all have time to finish up your essays and assignments! So we hope to get good numbers turn out for both trips! Here’s some information on what there is to do in Galway (1, 2).

We will begin sign-ups for both trips very soon, once we get final prices for everything sorted out; the costs will most likely be around 60 Euro per person for each trip, and that will include round-trip transportation and 2 nights accomodation on each trip. We will let you all know very soon!

That’s all for now! See you all this Sunday at the film!

Ed

The film for this weekend will be ‘Waking Ned’, or as it was called in the U.S., ‘Waking Ned Devine’. It’s a very good Irish comedy about a man who wins the lottery, and then dies, and his friends try to collect his lottery winnings for the village he lived in! We will start as usual at 8:00 PM, Theatre 1 in the Arts Block, this Sunday evening! Here’s a link to see a better description on what the movie is about.

Also, I’ve been asked by the History Society to tell you all about a trip they are running, and they’ve offered to let International Students sign-up as well! It’s a trip to Kilmainham Jail in Dublin! This is one of the most famous prisons in Ireland, as many of the people who fought for Irish independence were held there. The history Society is running a trip there, and they’ve told me that the price will only be 4 Euro per-person! That includes the bus from here to the jail, addmission, and then back to Maynooth! The trip will be held next Saturday, March 8th. The bus will pick up from in front on the Student’s Union at 2 in the afternoon, and return around 6. They will hold sign-ups in the Arts Building this Tueday and Wednesday; I will send out more details about it when I know them! In the meantime, here’s link that talks about the jail.

Tha’s all for now! Hope to see you all at the film!

Ed

What I mean by this: please follow this guide and email us the public link to your photo albums that could be of interest to other members (for instance, of the Kerry Trip).

Thanks a million,

Florian

Just wanted to let you all know the final details for the Ring of Kerry trip!

Friday we will be leaving at 1:30 in the afternoon from in front of the Student’s Union building on the North campus. The trip to Kerry will take approximately 4 hours depending on traffic. We will hopefully arrive and chck in to the hostel by 6 pm and be able to hit the town for dinner and go out to the great pubs they have down there!

Saturday morning we will be on the actual Ring tour; we will announce departure time for this while we are on our way down to Kerry, as we need to sort out times and details about the day tour on Saturday with our driver. The tour will take most of the day, and will get us back to the hostel in the early evening. We will then have another night for gonig out in the town!

Sunday will be a relaxed day, with plenty of time to go around the town of Killarney and visit a few local sites. We will meet back at the hostel on Sunday afternoon, and we will get on out way back to Maynooth at around 3:00 or 4:00 pm.

Here’s another last minute look for those of you who have not gotten a chance to see what’s in store for you on the trip (1, 2, 3, 4).

That’s all for now— see you there on Friday!

Ed

I hope everyone has been having a nice week! We’re just letting you know about a few events going on in the next week!

Next Wednesday (Feb. 20) there will be a charity 70’s fancy dress night in aid of the Marie Keating Foundation. The NUIM Snooker Club, the Maynooth Gospel Choir, the Paintball Club and NUIM Geography Society are presenting and organising it. The evening in the SU will be featuring (from what I’m told) a very good Elvis impersonator (he won Elvis Idol 2007 in Las Vegas!), as well as a Tina Turner Impersonator! And, our own Gospel Choir will be joining them for the show! We have a few of our own in the Choir, including Floz!

It’s sure to be a great night, so go on and get yourself some tickets for it! And the best part is, if you live on campus, the tickets only costs 2 EUR! You can buy your tickets at Maeve’s office (that’s the Student’s Reception office right at the River Apartments)! Get them quick! They’re selling fast! All proceeds from the show will be going to charity!

And, in honour of this event, our next film night (this Sunday 17 Feb.) we’ll be showing the recent musical Hairspray! The film will begin at 8:00 in the evening this Sunday, Theatre 1 in the Arts Block. Hope to see you all there!

Just so you know, we will send out final details about the Ring of Kerry trip (exact departure and return times) early next week.

All the best,

Ed

I want to start by saying thanks to all who signed-up for the Ring of Kerry trip, and sorry to those who didn’t get on the list; we’re limited because of the fact that we have our driver and bus booked for the entire weekend, something we don’t do for the other trips. But we can assure you that there are (generally) no limits on how many people can go on the other trips we will hold later this semester! For example, we had nearly 80 people go on each of our trips to Cork and Belfast last semester, and we’ll be able to do the same for the trips we do later in this semester as well.

The film this weekend, in honour of the recent tragic death of actor Heath Ledger, will be the film for which he will be best remembered, Brokeback Mountain. The film will begin as usual at 8:00 PM, this Sunday in the Arts Block, Theatre 1. You can always check what’s on over at the activities page.

And someone wanted me to mention it to our new members: A big number of our members are on Facebook, and networking through this has helped the process of meeting and connecting a little easier. So look out for others out there, join our group there or register yourself to help meet some of the cool people that are here in Maynooth! I of course am not cool, as I don’t have a Facebook page! Haha!

Anyway, hope to see you all soon, and I hope all the new people have enjoyed their first week of the semester!

All the best,

Ed

I hope all of you have had a nice time at home during the holidays! I also never had the opportunity to say thank you all for making it such a great semester! It was one of the best we’ve ever had, and I’m so glad that everything went so well and that so many people participated in Society events. Thank you all for making it such a great success and an excellent semester; without your participation, the Society wouldn’t have been the great success that it has been. It has made all the work worth it, and I thank you all for making it so great.

As for this semester, we’ve got the first trip planned and booked! We’re just waiting to hear back from the Bus company so we can announce the final prices! The trip is the Ring of Kerry Tour, and the dates are Feb 22-24! We will leave in the early afternoon of Friday 22 and return in the late evening on Sunday 24. Here are some websites that will show you what there is to see and do down there (1, 2, 3).

What our trip will include is this: 2 nights in a very good hostel in Killarney, free breakfast and wireless internet included! Our bus driver will also be staying with us to take us on the actual Ring of Kerry Tour on Saturday! The Ring tour lasts all day Saturday, and is one of the best and most breathtaking places in all of Ireland, and is probably the best bus tour in the country. We will then have most of the day in Killarney on Sunday, and start to make our way back to Maynooth in the late afternoon.

The tentative price for the trip is 75 Euro per person for everything! This includes the return bus trip there and back, as well as the actual Ring of Kerry tour on Saturday, and the 2 nights in the hostel with breakfast! A pretty good deal if you ask me! Take a look at Florian’s photos from the trip last year!

We will know the final price very soon, and we will begin sign-ups very soon! And also, for those of you who are here for the full year, I will be giving you the first opportunity to sign-up for the trip! Remember that we can only have a maximum of 54 on the trip, as we will only have 1 bus going on the trip!

That’s all for now, we’ll be in touch again very soon! Thanks again to all that participated in the Society last semester and made it such a great success. And to those who are not coming back for the second semester, thank you for letting us be a part of your experience of Ireland, and it was a pleasure to meet you all; our hope is that we’ve been able to make your time here more memorable, and hopefully your memories of the trips and the friends you’ve made will be some of your best that you have from your time here. Remember us, remember me, and always remember what I hope you will all come to think of as one of the best experiences of your life. Thanks…

Ed

Floz here. Just a quick note to show we’re still alive Hope you all had a nice holiday break and that the exams are running smoothely. If you’re new here, or you will come here shortly, do not hesitate to pop us an email (see contact).

If you’re worried about finding a place to live (if your on-campus accomodation is not already sorted out), don’t worry, there’s plenty of places to stay in Maynooth, and the room-sharing market is always dynamic (so there’s always vacancies). Usually within a week of arriving here you will have found a suitable place to stay!

Until then, you can stay at (fairly) affordable prices in the Maynooth Campus Accomodation. This is what most people do. Apart from that you can also start having a look at daft.ie — this is pretty much your one-stop-shop for online accomodation advertisments here.

So stay tuned, we’ll be back shortly with more infos regarding upcoming activities and trips,

take care,

Florian

PS: Oh, who we are… Well, basically just a bunch of committed international students that try to help wherever we can to make your stay here as fun (trips, parties and other events), smooth and uncomplicated as possible :-). More about us here.

Sorry it took until today (Saturday) to announce the film for this week; this is a hectic time of year for everyone! Anyway, for the last film of the semester, and since we didn’t do it yet, we decided to show something Irish! We will be showing the Irish comedy Intermission, starring Colin Farrell.

I hope to see you all there! Be sure to bring some drinks and something to eat! The film begins at 8:00, Theatre 1 in the Arts Block.

All the best,

Ed

How is it going? Tired of studying / writing the 137th essay . . . ? Looking for some diversion ?

There is a concert (actually 3 concerts in 1) in the Aula Maxima tonight (Thursday 13 Dec). The Choral Society, Somebody Else (?) and the Gospel Choir are performing their end-of-year gigs. There are a number of international students performing too, so all the more reason to check it out and get a nice change from all the uni work. There are not too many cultural events happening here in Maynooth, so you shouldn’t miss this one!

Sorry for the late notice, but doors open (tonight!) at 7:00, the concerts start at 7:30 (I think), and goes for about 2 hours (maximum). Not sure how much it costs to get in, but it shouldn’t be too much, especially not for students.

For those who don’t know the Aula Maxima, it’s the free standing building on your left as you walk onto the South Campus coming from the footbridge, and across the small bridge over that little river. (That’s Building 3 on this map).

Hope to see you all there, good luck with the exams and essays,

best regards,

Floz

I just want to tell you all that there will be only one bus to Newgrange on Saturday. We filled the first booking, but we only go 5 people for the second. So there will be 54 of us going to Newgrange. Everyone that signed up before Sunday can still go on the trip, but there will only be the one bus, so we all must go at the same time. I’ll contact everyone that signed up for the seond booking individually to explain what will happen.

As for the trip itself, we will be getting the bus at 8:30am from in front of the Student’s Union building this Saturday morning. Don’t be late!! We will be leaving at 8:30am exactly! Our booking begins at 10:00, so we have to be there on time! Let me know if there are any questions then!

As for the film this Sunday evening, we are still open to suggestions! We’re hoping to show a comedy, so let us know what you’d like to see (or if you have the DVD), and we’ll see what we can do!

That’s it for now! All the best!

Ed

Just to let you all know, we still have some spaces left for the trip to Newgrange next Saturday 8 Dec! If you’d still like to sign-up, you can come over to the film this Sunday to put your name down, or you can contact me at 087 6761959 to arrange to meet sometime if you can’t make it to the film then! Remember, the 15 EUR covers the round trip on the bus as well as admission to Newgrange.

As for the film this Sunday, we will be showing “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. Here is a link to tell you what the film is about if you’ve never seen it.

I hope to see you all there! Be sure to come out to the film on Sunday to sign-up for the Newgrange trip! The film will start as usual at 8:00 pm in Theatre 1 in the Arts Block!

That’s all for now; see you there!

Ed

As mentioned in the last email, please come and support the NUI Maynooth Volleyball Club — it’s run by Matthieu, Simone and myself, and consists pretty much only of international students!

We will be playing two games tomorrow (Wednesday 28 Nov), in the main sports hall. First game starts at 11:00, the other at 12:30.

Please help us win these League games, I’m sure it’ll be fun to watch!

Thanks a million, and see you tomorrow hopefully,

Florian

UPDATE: Thank you all so much for coming, we had a great time and some cheering ladies really make a difference! Here are some photos from the event.

I want to sent out a very special thank you to all of you who went to Belfast, and made it one of the best Society trips we’ve ever had! This was the largest trip we’ve ever done; we had 85 people on the trip, including the 8 from the Volleyball Club! I had a really good time myself, and I hope that everyone one had a great and very memorable time as well! Between Giant’s Causeway, The Black Taxi Tour, and the Christmas Market, I’d say everyone had lots of fun!

And now, for the details about out next trip:

We will be holding our last (half) day trip of the semester on Saturday, 8th of December, and we will be going to Newgrange, which is an old passage tomb in County Louth. Older than the Pyramids in Egypt, as well as Stonehenge in the U.K., the site at Newgrange was also used as an ancient ‘calendar’, as the tomb was built so that the sun would light up the inner chamber on only one day of the year. It is one of the most important historic sites and (thus) one Ireland’s top tourist attraction! Here are some really good websites that will tell you all about Newgrange 1, 2, 3.

We have two group bookings for Newgrange on Saturday, December 8th: the first group begins the tour at 10:00, and the second group will begin at 11:00. Each tour will last about two hours, and Newgrange is only about 1 hour away from here, so we will all return to Maynooth by 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon. We know that many of you will have assignments and essays to finish, so we booked early times to give you the rest of the day to study! The final cost for Newgrange will be 15 EUR per person. This price includes the round-trip on the bus and the admission cost into Newgrange!

Sign-ups for Newgrange will begin tomorrow, Tuesday Nov 27th. We will be at the Arts Block 6 – 7 pm as usual in the corridor by the computers. We will also be there 6 – 7 pm on Wednesday as well for sign-ups!

That’s all for now! Thanks again so much to everyone that made the trip to Belfast such a success! And one more thing: We’d like to get some photos of the trip to post or link to on our site! If you are willing to share some or all of your photos with us, please send them to us so we can publish them on our web page. Let us know! We’d love to put up some great photos!

All the best and see you all soon,

Ed

The facts again:

Where to

Newgrange

Date

Saturday, 8 December 2007

Departure

8:30 and 9:30 am from Student’s Union

Return

About 2 and 3 pm

Cost

15 EUR per person

Includes

Transport & admission cost

There are a few things to mention, so I’ll start with the easiest thing, that is important for everyone to know:

About money: I’m sure no one really needs to be told this, but just to make sure, please remember that Belfast is in Northern Ireland, and is technically considered part of the U.K. This means that they have the Pound and not the Euro for money. But not to worry! If you have a bank card (it shouldn’t matter if it’s from an Irish account or from another country), you can use your card in the bank machines when we are there to withdraw Pounds. You don’t need to worry about changing money before you get there. The banks here will charge higher fees to change the money than it will cost to just get the money from the cash machines, so just wait until you get there to get out some money.

About the train: Just like for Cork, we will need some volunteers to go to Belfast by train. The good news is that you can get the train from Maynooth into Connolly Station, and the train to Belfast goes directly from there! You can also buy your ticket for the entire journey right from Maynooth! All you have to do is ask at the station here in Maynooth for a Belfast return ticket, and the price of the trip from Maynooth to Connolly and then back on Sunday will be included in the price of the ticket! I will discuss financial details with those of you who choose to sign-up for the train in person. I’ll be in the Arts Block by the circle of computers from 6-7 pm today(Tuesday) and Wednesday to take sign-ups for the train and give you back some of the money for your tickets! The train times to Belfast from Connolly are 13:20, 15:20, and 16:50. Journey time from Conolly to Belfast is listed as 2 hours 10 minutes. I’ll come to the station to meet all of the people who come up by train. Please don’t hesitate to come by the Arts Block to sign-up! Or give me a ring or text at 087 6761959 to let me know if you’d like to go by train!

About day trips and activities As I mentioned in the first e-mail about Belfast, the two main attractions are the Giant’s Causeway and Black Taxi tours. You can sign-up for either of these trips at the reception desk at our hostel! If I remember correctly, and the prices have not changed, the Giant’s Causway Tour costs 15 Pounds and the Black Taxi Tour costs 8 Pounds. Also remember that the Christmas Market will be going on right at the City Hall, which is less than 10 minutes walk from our hostel! Queens’ University is also very nice, and has great botanical gardens to walk through! You can get details about all of these activities at these websites:

— For the city and Christmas Market: http://www.gotobelfast.com

— For the Black Taxi Tour: http://www.belfasttours.com

— For Giant’s Causeway: http://www.northantrim.com

— … or check out Floz’ photos from last year.

About safety: While there is little risk in going to Belfast, please remember that the city has earned its reputation as being ‘rough’ for a reason. I must advise all of you that if you go out, please don’t go out alone. Now this is the same as I’d tell you all for any trip we would go on, but please take extra care when we are on this trip. And, most importantly, please don’t go into West Belfast (the area where the Black Taxi Tour takes you) by yourselves, even in a large group. Only go there if you’re with the Black Taxi Tour guides! If you’d like to know why I ask this, please ask me in person! I don’t want to scare anyone, I just want to remind you all to BE SAFE!

That’s all for now! I hope you’re all well, and I’m really looking forward to getting a BRATWURST when I get there!

All the best and see you soon!

PS: Since we have the trip on, there won’t be any movie this Sunday. However, a much more cheerful movie will be shown the week after

As you all (may or may not) know, Ed is away right now, but he’ll be back by Friday. He says hi and misses you all very much. Sorry you have to put up with me in the meantime

First of all, thank you very much for coming along to Cork and making it such a smooth and fun trip! Nobody got hurt [hang-overs not included], or missing, or in trouble, that’s awesome I just finished uploading the pictures I took – as usual you can find them on my flickr account. If you want to download some of the pictures, please make sure you follow these instructions.

Regarding the Belfast trip sign-ups — no, it is not to late yet. The last opportunity for signing up as well as paying (if you haven’t payed yet!) will be …

… The next movie night is going to be this coming Sunday, 18 November, and we will show “Hotel Rwanda”. That’s a bit of a more serious film this time, but absolutely worthwhile watching. Thank you all for your suggestions for movies, keep those coming!

All right, that’s it for now, enjoy the rest of the week and talk to you soon about some more activities that we are planning right now!

What’s there to see and do in Belfast? Well, apart from its historical importance, there will be a Christmas Market at Belfast City Hall starting the week that we are there. There will be foods from all over the world! For instance, lots of German food, like Bratwurst and Krakauer (and salami!), not to mention your good ol’ Glühwein! There will be Spanish paella, a French fourmagerie, Dutch cheese, and lots of other things as well! It’s one of the best times to go to the city!

Please check out this website or consult your favourite travel guide to find out about all the things there is to do in Belfast! The two main activities are the Giant’s Causeway Tour and the Black Taxi tour, both of which you can sign-up for at our hostel’s reception desk (see Floz’ pictures from last year to get an idea). These are very popular and I highly recommend both of them!

I look forward to seeing all of you soon! All the best!

The facts again:

Where to

Belfast

Date

Friday to Sunday, 23—25 November 2007

Departure

2:30 pm on Friday from Student’s Union (people on bus), or later … (people on bus/trains from Dublin)

Return

Back in Maynooth on Sunday about 7:30 pm

Cost

50 EUR per person

Includes

Transport & accommodation

And thank you very much to all the people who have agreed to go to Cork by train. We still need at least 3 more volunteers, so if you’re interested, please let u