Breaktime FYM Parallel Lives

[U2democrat]

Is it BUNAC (http://www.bunac.org/)? Most other schemes will charge fees for things that you could do yourself for less money.

Yeah it is...so do you recommend BUNAC? I'll be going to the study abroad office here at school in the next few days to see what they think.

 

[redhotswami]

Yeah it is...so do you recommend BUNAC? I'll be going to the study abroad office here at school in the next few days to see what they think.

i'd say take a look at programs your school has to offer. often they are in bed with some other groups abroad. i'd be more inclined to trust something that is sponsored by your school than to go with an outside organization.

that being said, i know there are loads of study abroad (even over the summer) opportunities with the irish govt. i wish i had kept my resources to share with you, but i'm sure the SA office can be more helpful.

 

[Irvine511]

... just to butt in, but what i would recommend is taking your junior year study abroad to go some place you'll never get to again -- go study in South Africa or India or go somewhere that you'll be forced to learn a 2nd language, like France (or, a combination of the two, Morocco) or wherever.

and then, after you graduate, find a job in the UK/Ireland -- American citizens can get 6 month work Visas without much of a problem (though we're not treated as well as the Commonwealth, as Aussies and Canucks and others who didn't have the gumption to fight a revolution can get 2 year work visas).

just my totally unsolicited $.02.

and if you want to be a politican, i would highly recommend learning spanish.

so go to, like, Argentina or some Latin American country where democracy is tenuous, and see if you can't do some volunteer political work counting ballots or something grass roots or whatever.

*sigh*

to be in college again ...

 

[U2democrat]

Working for the govt would be very cool.

I really just want experience outside of the United States my last summer before I have to enter the real world

ETA I'll probably do the peace corps after I graduate, so that'll give me my chance to go places I normally wouldn't.

 

[Kiki]

I'm a nurse who is so damn smart I found a cure for every ailagment that's baffled scientists for years. However since finding these cures one random day, I've made so much freaking money, I've given up nursing as a profession and live in my quaint cottage in Ardamore, Ireland. My house is filled with Waterford crystal and fresh flowers, it's never dusty or dirty or messy. I have a renowned chef for a husband, and the body of a freaking super model. I can eat anything, anytime, and it doesnt stick to me!

well....when fantasy does become reality, I'll be a published writer, hopefully strike gold like JK Rowling and have that cottage near Waterford city, and fill it with waterford crystal!

 

[U2democrat]

mmm Waterford, very nice


Oh for this summer I want to do something that is financially feasible since my dad will be retiring at the end of December.

 

[Mr. Green Eyes]

I'm a well known photographer, and a writer of several best-sellers. I back-pack across Europe, which inspired one of my best selling memoirs. I have a cottage in Ireland, a house in Hawaii, and a penthouse apartment in DC. Everyone is understanding toward everyone else. There are no major diseases that kill millions of people, there aren't any wars, and the world lives in peace. I'm friends with the members of U2. I'm a millionaire, because of my best-sellers. I brig my family and friends to trips around the world, all for free. I also have super powers.

 

[Mr. Green Eyes]

Oh, and there is a cure for the common cold.

 

[Hinder]

My alternate life:

* I am actually a great jazz and blues guitar player. I sing - not 'well' by popular standards; my voice is too gritty, too 'unusual' for that.

* My only home is the road, my only possessions are my guitar, a Harley, and my road dog is - you guessed it - a dog.

* I make millions, but look like a hobo.

*And, by the way, I'm actually a guy, even if people sometimes mistake me for a girl.

*I'm 95 pounds lighter than I am now.

* Nobody dares call me Shirley.

 

[Diemen]

I'm a respected photographer with a few well received books and National Geographic covers under my belt, living somewhere close to the mountains and the sea with my wife. We live a fairly quiet life, with a close-knit group of friends and a house big enough to invite friends and family over often.

I make a comfortable enough living to be able to spend spend weeks, maybe even months at a time traveling to distant locales and submersing myself in the landscape - hiking and camping in rainforests, mountain landscapes, unspoiled tropical coastlines... taking pictures of the beauty I'm lucky enough to see in person and share with those who can't or haven't yet seen it themselves.

 

[Irvine511]

are these supposed to be the fantasy life you wish you had, or the life you would have had you made different choices?

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I don't know either

 

[Diemen]

I'd like to think my parallel life isn't entirely out of reach.

 

[BonosSaint]

Whatever anybody wants. I'm happy people are participating in it. I'm enjoying however people are using it.

 

[Irvine511]

fantasy life:
-- writer and director of brlliant, award-winning documentaries and films
-- married and raising two children
-- have the paycheck and schedule to have 4 months a year free to do random volunteer work
-- homes in NYC, California Coast, and make frequent trips to the Caribbean and Europe, and every year have a specific "voyage" where i tread less traveled paths
-- i keep my hair and those creeping 20 excess lbs at bay well into my 50s
-- go into semi-retirement as an adjunct professor of media studies
-- finally publish that novel
-- friend to dogs everywhere

semi-realistic fantasy life:
-- writer and producer of serious, thought-provoking documentaries and films
-- married and raising two children
-- have the paycheck and schedule to have 1 month a year free to do random volunteer work
-- home wherever work is, and a 2nd home on the beach somewhere (mountains are fine too), make occasional trips to the Caribbean and/or Europe, and every 5 years have a specific "voyage" where i tread less traveled paths
-- i keep my hair and those creeping 20 excess lbs at bay well into my 30s
-- go into semi-retirement as an adjunct professor of media studies
-- finally publish that novel
-- friend to dogs everywhere

had i not been where i am now:
-- probably would have gone to law school (after dropping out of my PhD program in American Studies after getting a Master's)
-- done the corporate law thing, freaked out, done the peace corps for 2 years, then come back and had a go at something a little more do-gooder-ish
-- lots of writing on the side, try in vain to get a novel or screenplay published and drive my book club crazy with my book selections
-- married with two kids, have the house and then the summer rental place, one good trip a year
-- friend to dogs everywhere

 

[BonosSaint]

Those were wonderful. I was laughing at the subtle changes between them.