First off, I would like to apologize for not writing in a while. I have the lead part, and a twelve minute monologue, in a play competition here and I have been very busy because of it. Now to get down to business...
I came to Ireland expecting to be immersed in a different culture. To experience the native customs, food, and language differences that living in another country has to offer. Leave it to Willamette University to screw that up.
Here is the basic recipe Willamette University used to cook up their Ireland study abroad program:
Step 1: Take twelve students from a small liberal arts college. Make sure you marinade them with plenty of wrong expectations, telling them they will have the freedom and independence that studying a different education system provides. Once thoroughly marinaded, put these students in a pressure cooker, forcing them to spend massive amounts of time together. Wait until personalities clash, then remove from pressure cooker.
Step 2: Take your partially cooked students and add one Professor of Chemistry from their home university, have him teach an Irish culture and music class.
Step 3: Put students and American Professor in large pot. Add carrots, potatoes, and so much structure the students have a hard time integrating themselves within the local Irish college community. This structure should take the form of two required classes early in the morning, making it so the students are limited in the classes they can take with Irish students.
Note: Make sure when adding the two required classes that you only use the Willamette students that have been marinading. DO NOT allow any other students into these classes or your dish will have a funny aftertaste.
Step 4: Take your boiling pot of twelve students, one Professor and the other ingredients, and put them on a bus. Have this bus simmer on weekend long trips around Ireland. Make sure the students wake up early for these trips, occasionally miss their non-Willamette classes, and are treated like High School students on a field trip. If done right, your dish should have a subtle flavor of overbearing chaperon, touristy Americans, and no free time to sleep or do laundry.
Step 5: Once your dish has simmered for long enough, add the final ingredient of required movies for class. These movies should take away free time once a week on Tuesday evenings, and not allow students to go to the many societies and clubs that happen at this time.
Step 6: Add salt, pepper, and paprika to taste.
Step 7: Serve. Repeat these steps next Spring semester with a different batch of Willamette students.
If you couldn't tell by the above recipe, the Willamette University study abroad program is not what I expected it to be. The classes that are required of us by Willamette University separate us from the rest of the students populace, and reinforces the fact that we are outsiders - making it harder for us to get to know the local students. The amount of time that our required classes take up is about as crazy as Charlie Brown after he changed his name and joined the Manson family.
For example:
A standard 1.0 credit class at Willamette University is three hours a week. The 1.0 credit required Irish music and culture class, which is being taught here by Professor Silverstein, is three hours a week, plus movies and weekend excursions. I'm not a math major, but it seems to me that 3 hours in class + two hour movies + entire weekend long trips = more than just 1.0 credit. My point is that the time we are required to put into this class does not equal what we are getting out of it, with either credits or educational value.
As much as I am complaining about the structure and setup of the Willamette program, I am still having the time of my life. I mean seriously, I'm a twenty-one year old adventurous college student in Ireland. I would have to be as exciting as John Kerry not to have fun.
Note: I would like to note that although I may disagree with some of Professor Silverstein's policies regarding his class, I am not attacking him or anyone else personally. I have the utmost respect for Todd, and am glad he is on this trip with us. I am merely using satire to critique the problems with Willamette University's study abroad program to Ireland, so that they may be improved for future students.
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