Irish and Czech Fuji Film

As my favorite Danish proverb says: another Friday, another Fuji Film blog post! Or maybe that’s just what I say. Either way, it is time for my fuji film to get the spotlight it deserves. 

  My polaroid watched a medley of landscapes pass before its lens this week—everything from the sea, the countryside, and the magnificent interior of the Shelbourne hotel. How did I find myself in all of these places, might you ask? Through the wonderful DIS Study tour arrangement; once again, the program exceeded all expectation and organized the most incredible week-long international field trip. 

It all began when I arrived with my Core Class, New Media and Changing Communities, in Dublin on Saturday morning. Dublin is becoming an increasingly popular place for tech companies to call home because of the low tax rates, already attracting companies such as Google, Amazon Web Services, and Facebook. Our time in Ireland was split between academic visits and cultural immersion, the latter of which included an excursion to the mythic Cliffs of Moher on the west coast. 

The class woke up before dawn on Sunday to make the drive from Dublin to Limerick, then on to the Cliffs of Moher, and back again. It was a tough wakeup, but watching the sun rise on the lush Irish landscape was unlike anything I had ever seen before (similar to my experience in Norway!). We enjoyed blue skies and a cool breeze until around lunchtime when we arrived at the cliffs:

The darkened atmosphere painted a moody backdrop for the cliffs to present themselves and my camera and I had a field day. 

I wrote in my journal later that night about how the green moss cascaded down the rocky cliffs with a poetic ease, exploding in a cacophony of white spray and force with the angry seas below. In retrospect, perhaps that is what makes this place so endearing; that there is a narrative in the landscape that unfolds if you open yourself up to it. The grass, flattened by the wind, rippled across the terrain like veins on a heart. It radiates so much passion but so much peace. We are so small in the face of nature.

My instagram-filter accomplice and all-around partner in crime, Silke Thompson is pictured above. As I’m sure you can tell from this photo (and luckily for me), Silke is always ready for a photoshoot, rain or shine, concrete or dirt!

We returned from the Cliffs of Moher late Sunday evening and began our study tour with full force on Monday morning. Our first visit was with Google, where they clarified their professional skills, explained the advantages and frustrations of working with the tech industry, and shared their best career advice. I could probably fill an entire post with the lessons I learned from visiting these companies, but for now I will just this: I was shocked by how many different hats each employee has to fashion, and I realized that to succeed in an industry its not enough to be smart. Every “googler” that we spoke to had an incredible tenacity to learn and experiment (in other words, it doesn’t matter what they know as much as how they can innovate with the tools they are given). It was inspiring and altogether heartening to know that creativity and engagement was valued above all else. 

Later that afternoon, my class trekked across Dublin to Trinity College where we ate lunch, went on a walking tour of the city, and saw the Book of Kells. I study Art History at home, so when I finally got to the dimly-lit room housing the Book of Kells, I could hardly contain the fireworks going off in my head. 

On the eighth day of October in 2019, I, along with fifteen of my classmates, had my “I am in love with Ireland” moment. Between our visit to Brand & Retail Design and Amazon Web Services we all convened at the Shelbourne Hotel for afternoon tea (in the Constitution Room where the Irish constitution was ratified in 1922!). Towers of tiny sandwiches, pastries, and desserts sent me into the food coma of the century. 

I bid farewell to Ireland and their delicious foods on Thursday, only to say hello to Prague and their delicious desserts on Friday. I’m in the Czech Republic to meet up with friends from my home university, stay tuned for more stories and photos!