In the ghetto, there is no law. People always have to watch their backs. It’s all about connections, and blood ties trump all. And the ghetto in Alexander started with the Irish.
“Dan got his bike stolen today from outside our dorm,” Conor McNally, an exchange student, said. “That’s what happens in the hood.”
The “Irish Ghetto” started as a Facebook group created because three Irish exchange students – McNally, Rory Heffernan and Dan Donovan – coincidentally live in adjacent rooms at the end of the second floor of Alexander, the international dorm on central campus.
“People who want to ease up meet up in the Irish Ghetto,” Heffernan said. “It’s an area where people can come and hang out.”
The guys in the group are jokers. Their group profile on Facebook.com includes, before any roles or offices, the definition: “Badonkadonk (butt) – adjective – a term used to describe buttocks of exceptional quality and bounce. USAGE: My girl needs to have a badonkadonk butt, fo’ shizzle!”
“[The living situation is] sweet, but I don’t actually mess around with the other two Irish next to me to be honest,” McNally said. “We’re not real buddy-buddy friends or nothing. They’re actually kind of dicks. I hate them — joke.”
According to McNally, Americans don’t receive his dry sarcastic wit as smoothly as people from his home country. The self-proclaimed “cheeky bastard” said he has unintentionally offended people who mistake him for an “asshole” when he’s just “taking the piss out of something.”
However, McNally said that while all three guys are friends, the Facebook group originally started simply because they all live in the same corner of the dorm.
According to Heffernan, that dorm life is a completely new experience. He said no one lives in dorms at his home university.
“It’s harder, living in a dorm,” Heffernan said. “There are so many people and so many distractions.”
McNally pointed out a few other differences he’s noticed during his stay at N.C. State.
“The weather is something that is quite obvious, but genuinely makes such a difference,” McNally said, “and the laws with the police are a lot stricter with drugs and drinking, etc. We never get IDed for anything in Ireland.”
He also said the educational experience is very different, because here his professors are more involved in aspects of classwork, while in Ireland that wasn’t the case.
The number of Irish students in Alexander extends beyond the Irish Ghetto, however.
Orla Hennessy echoed McNally when she pointed out the differences in higher education.
“Here, it’s more like secondary school. At home, you’re in college. It’s your own fault. It’s your problem if you miss. There’s not really homework every day. There aren’t as many midterms. There is no curving, and you get a month off before exams.”
Conor Dineen said he likes university better at home.
“The professor says go do it yourself. There’s no attendance. It gives you more freedom.”
Hennessy said she wanted to live in the U.S. when she was a little girl. She’s now working on her business degree at the University and visited the U.S. several times before coming to N.C. State as an exchange student.
While she does want to work for a while in the U.S. after graduating, she’s not sure anymore, for many reasons, if she wants to live in the States permanently.
“A lot of people can’t say my name. … The cars are bigger. The food is different — I hate the food. I hate all the chains. It’s the same crap in all of them,” she said. “But the weather is better here. Right now it’s just lashing rain at home.”
The style of living in the U.S., Dineen said, is very different.
“Malls are new. At home, there are only 10 malls in the whole country. There are shops and markets in town centers,” he said. “Charleston [South Carolina] is more like home.”
While there may be many differences between countries as far as university life goes, students can still find common ground. And apparently, ACC basketball transcends all cultural divides.
“I wanted to go to UNC just because they’re so famous — even in Ireland — if you know anything about basketball,” McNally said.
McNally said he originally thought he would be attending UNC-Chapel Hill, and only found out about a month before leaving that he would be studying at N.C. State. He said he was pretty happy with the way it turned out though.
“I have to admit that if I had to choose between UNC and N.C. State, I’d definitely choose UNC,” he said. “But now that I’ve made all my mates and all, I’m happy here.”