Shannon on the Shannon: Welcome to Campus

As soon as I got off the bus at the University of Limerick I fell in love with campus. The main road leading into the University is sheltered by a tree canopy of draping branches. Without the sounds of cars and my awkwardly rolling suitcases, I might not have known that a large bustling University was down the street. The peacefulness of it appealed to my country up-bringing. Plus have I mentioned everything is really green??

The 2012/13 school year marks the University's 40th anniversary, so it is still relatively young. There is a population of approximately 12 000 students, many of whom are housed in the five student accommodation villages. There are over 900 international students, which includes exchange students, part-time students and 470 full time students. UL has a reputation for being a sporting campus with state-of-art facilities, including an Olympic size swimming pool, indoor running track and gym, outdoor sports fields and tennis courts.

The campus is 133 hectares in size, meaning there is lots of green space and trees. It takes me about 10 minutes to walk from my residence to the center of campus, but it is an enjoyable walk. Campus is divided by the Shannon river. I live in Thomond residence on the North side of the river, so technically I am living in County Clare, not County Limerick. Here is a view of my residence from a walking path across the Shannon:

The Shannon supports lots of wildlife including many ducks and swans, and is the spawning ground for Salmon from the sea. Interestingly Salmon will likely only return to the Shannon once to spawn; the few fish that return multiple times are referred to as Kelts. Not so interestingly it is also the spawning ground for Sea Lamprey. These eel-like creatures are jawless and slowly feed on fish by suctioning to their side. Yuck.

Along the river there are the most amazing walking/biking paths. You can go all the way to Limerick City Center if you desire. On one path I discovered an old stone tower in ruins, which according to the residence staff was used as a watch tower in the past for boats which traveled down the Shannon on their way to Limerick.

Although the UL campus emphasizes nature, it is also a great example of a variety of modern architectural styles. The "Living Bridge" connects the Music and Health buildings to main campus. I was unsure of the origin of its name, until I walked across and found it slightly bounces as you walk, plus its metal clangs a lot. I suppose that makes it living.

Some buildings are really, really unique. Take for instance the health building which is right beside the music academy.

I have met a ridiculous amount of Canadians and they are almost all in medicine. They are also almost all from Toronto or Vancouver. Today I met one Canadian Med student who was from Sudbury. He didn't know of Fort Frances, but he knew where Dryden was so that's close enough... kind of. Apparently the first year medicine class is just over 100 students and 30 of them are from Canada.

My favourite building is of course the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (translation: music school). It is another young gem on campus, being only two years old.

The gold cylinder in the center is one of two theatres in the building. The ceiling is three storeys high and has a sky-light at the top. The theatre features lime green chairs and these cloud-like fixtures hanging above:

But by far the most incredible part of the Academy is the massive mosaic mural in the entrance way. I feel inspired and creative just looking at it.

For my music acquaintances in the crowd: practice rooms are much larger than in Brandon to accommodate interactive traditional music rehearsals and come equipped with windows, outlets and even internet plugs. The ceilings are about 10 feet high for good acoustics and there are swinging doors on the walls to prevent echoing. The only down-side I saw was minimal grand pianos available in the practice rooms.

Without too much more explanation I would like to share a few more pictures:

The Schumann Building, which houses computer science, information systems and education faculties.

Part of the main campus courtyard as viewed from the Library. The building on the left is the Foundation building which holds the 1000 seat University Concert Hall.