Profile: Elizabeth Ng
LINC Dublin Blog
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| Elizabeth Ng, Business Administration |
Blog 5
March 25, 2009
After being home at ‘SC for three days, it gave me time to unpack, view the 400+ pictures I took, and just reflect on the trip. Thinking about it, traveling to Dublin with the Marshall School of Business was one of the best spring breaks I have had. The luck of the Irish must have been with us because it did not rain a single day we were there and Ireland won the Grand Slam rugby title after 61 years.
As the Trojan Family extends to all parts of the globe, we even ran into ‘SC students studying aboard in Amsterdam. With all the fun I had, I learned a lot too. As cliché as it sounds, the friendships and the memories I made are priceless. Earlier tonight, I had dinner with some of the good friends I made on the trip. We went on and on about all our inside jokes and all the laughter we shared. We talked about how we see so many of our classmates from the LINC trip around school, in the dorms and even in some of our classes. We now have a bunch of new friends with a common bond and the memories of some of the best times in Ireland that we will never forget.
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Blog 4
Sunday, March 22, 2009
It is 6:30 in the morning on Sunday and in approximately 2 hours we are - sadly - leaving for the Dublin International Airport, homeward bound. I am actually looking forward to the 11-hour plane ride home so I, as well as many of my classmates, can catch up on some much needed sleep. The past two days were long and busy, but definitely worth it.
With professional business clothes behind us, we dressed casually on Friday and traveled two hours into the countryside to tour the Kilkenny Castle. Built in the 13th century by Earl William Marshall, it was bought by the Butler family who occupied it until 1935. It had absolutely beautiful architecture. Although the majority of the castle had been restored, the outside made me feel like I went back in time to the medieval age. Even though it was the coldest day we experienced in Dublin, we still wandered around the grounds of the castle, mesmerized by the hills of green. We also had downtime to explore the village that surrounded the outside of the castle grounds. Our last tour was of the Rothe House. The Rothe House is one of the last original early 17th century merchant townhouses. The wealthy Rothe family, who were very influential in 17th century politics, owned the house. After our long bus ride back, it was time for a quick nap and then off to our farewell dinner. Our farewell dinner was at the Clarence Hotel, owned by U2.
Saturday, our last day in Dublin, was a free day. In the morning I caught up with some old family friends who I had not seen since I had moved from Ireland over ten years ago. I had the pleasure of visiting my old house and my old school. Not only did I have a lovely time catching up, but I also learned all the rules on how to play rugby. That day, Ireland was playing one of the biggest games in 61 years. They were on a quest to win the Grand Slam. Their rugby league consisted of five teams: Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England and France. They all play each other round robin style and whoever has the most points wins the Cup. Because Ireland was undefeated in its first four games, it had the opportunity to win the Grand Slam, which means you go undefeated the whole season. The last time Ireland won this title was 61 years ago. A bunch of friends and I found a small pub to watch the most anticipated game in Dublin. The whole country shut down to watch this game. Even though we didn’t quite understand all the rules, we were screaming and nervous with the rest of Ireland while watching a very close game. To top off a perfect week, Ireland won and the whole town exploded. To say they went crazy in celebration is an understatement. We stayed out the whole night celebrating with the rest of Dublin.
As much as I would like to stay in Ireland forever, it is time to get back to reality, back to dorm food at EVK, classes, papers, tests and projects. It is time to catch up on much-needed sleep.
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Blog 3
Thursday, March 19, 2009
With the week winding down toward the weekend, my experience in Dublin has been unlike any other. The past two days have been filled with suits, nametags and visits to four different companies. Not only did we learn more about the “Celtic Tiger” but also about each company, what they stand for and how they run their business.
Wednesday, in my opinion, was our longest day - especially after a fantastic, fun-filled St. Patty’s Day. Our first stop was eBay. We learned how much work is involved in managing the website and about their other acquisitions, like PayPal and Skype. It was a little disappointing to not get a tour of the offices. After lunch on the bus, our next stop was Microsoft. I rather enjoyed the Microsoft presentation. Not only did we view and learn about new upcoming products, but two of my classmates even received the unreleased Halo game for Xbox. Our last visit of the day was to Sun Microsystems. To be honest, I was quite disappointed with Sun. All we got was a presentation about the company and not too much else. I found it odd that they competed heavily with their San Francisco branch. For the evening activity, we watched and gambled on greyhound dog races. I have never been to a dog race before but it was entertaining and got competitive as we bet on dogs to win.
Today, Thursday, was by far the best day for company visits. In the morning we visited Google. We had to sign confidentiality forms to make sure we did not share any Google secrets. Google was my favorite company to visit. The office has such a relaxed atmosphere; it seemed like a super fun place to work in. Our host for the day, Alex, actually attended USC for a semester as part of his study aboard program. After Google, we visited the Guinness Storehouse. Unlike the other company visits, we just had the regular tour that the rest of the regular visitors receive. What I thought was super awesome that didn’t exist ten years ago when I was there, was the Gravity Bar. It is this room on the seventh floor with ceiling to floor windows all the way around. We had a 360° view of Dublin and beyond, along with a complementary pint of Guinness. The self-guided tour was interesting because we learned about each ingredient that goes into the beer, how it is brewed, transported, and advertised. We ever learned how to pour the perfect pint.
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Blog 2
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the land of the Irish! We have been in Dublin for just over 24 hours and so far it has been a blast. We have seen and done so much in the past day. A group of us just came back from the St. Patrick’s Day parade on O’Connell St. for naptime and I figured it would be the perfect time to blog about the past couple of days.
Let’s rewind to Saturday. We leave USC at 3:30 p.m. and after a 10-hour plane ride to London, a 6-hour layover in Heathrow International Airport, and a quick 1-hour plane ride to Dublin International Airport, we finally arrive at the Ballsbridge Court Hotel around 10 p.m. Ireland time on Sunday. Our hotel is located in the D4 area, which is one of the most expensive and most desired places to live in Dublin. It is located only less then a mile from the city center, about a 20 minute walk away. Exhausted from all that traveling, I decided to turn in early, filled with excitement about what Dublin had in store for me.
Fighting jetlag paired with excitement about the Dublin trip finally beginning, I was already awake before the morning wake up call Monday morning. We started the day off with an Irish breakfast filled with ham, scrambled eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, toast, cereal and, of course, tea or coffee. We listened to a presentation by a representative of the American Chamber of Commerce. He gave us a general overview of how the business world works in Ireland, including why, how, and which American companies came to set up offices here. After his presentation we headed down to the Silver Tassie Tavern for a good ol’ Irish lunch, complete with three different kinds of potatoes.
The afternoon was filled with our first company visit to Covidien. Covidien is one of the leading worldwide direct pharmaceutical and medical suppliers for hospitals and other health care facilities. The offices were spacious with lots of natural lighting and even mood lights that changed colors about every half hour. It was interesting to visit a company in Ireland; I never had really seen the inside of any company besides my dad’s.
The night began with a Literary Tour of Dublin. Two actors took us on a walking tour throughout the city, including Trinity College, reciting monologues from famous Irish writers while stopping in pubs along the way. Our tour ended at the Temple Bar district, which is where all the popular pubs are located and is the central social hub of the city. This is where we were let loose to roam around free. It was super crowded, full of tourists and locals excited about the festivities of the following day.
Since today, Tuesday, is St. Patrick’s Day, we had a free day to explore the city, immerse ourselves in the Irish culture and become friends with the leprechauns. We got up relatively early and took the Dart down to O’Connell St. where the parade was held. We quickly discovered we were not the only foreigners. A lot of the people we met were from other countries visiting specifically for St. Patrick’s Day. But with everyone submersed in the color green, who cares where you’re from? What sparked my interest was how popular President Barack Obama was. His grandmother was Irish and there were shirts all over the place with Obama’s face on them.
Well, time for a nap before the night festivities begin.
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Blog 1
March 5, 2009
Amidst the long, endless tunnel (or so it seems) of midterms, papers, and projects, there is one ray of light pulling me through: Ireland. In approximately eight days, my classmates and I will be on a plane to Dublin. After pulling an all-nighter last night to study for a marketing midterm, eight days seems like an eternity. But in this relatively short time, my days will be filled with - besides schoolwork of course - finding professional business clothes, outlet converters, something green, rain gear and the usual packing necessities.
Originally, Ireland was not our destination. Initially, we were scheduled to visit Mumbai, India. But unfortunately because of the recent terrorist attacks, our trip was rescheduled to Ireland for security reasons.
Even though I lived in Ireland when I was much younger, this will be my first time for company business visits and learning about international commerce. It will be exciting to see if St. Patrick’s Day, which falls on the Tuesday we are there, is as hyped up and as patriotic as I remembered it to be. We get the whole day to explore, indulge in the culture and mingle with the locals. I’m looking forward to shopping on Grafton Street and visiting Trinity College. I’ll also have the pleasure to visit some family friends during some down time.
With the economy spiraling downwards, it will be interesting to see how the recession took a turn on the “Celtic Tiger”. We have the opportunity to visit a number of companies including Google, Guinness Brewery, and Waterford Crystal. We’ll get to explore all of Dublin and our hotel is walking distance from the heart of the city. I really hope we’ll get the opportunity to see some Irish dancing. I used to compete when I was living there and I definitely miss those good times. And of course, how could I not miss the potatoes and the rain.
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