Bittersweet Return: Senior Poppy Billingsley reflects on her semester in Ireland

As senior Poppy Billingsley stepped off the plane back into KCI airport to be greeted by her real family, she was excited to be back in her hometown and spend the holidays with them, but was already missing her teenage dream experience and the friends she’d made on her exchange semester in New Bliss, Ireland.

Though her plane didn’t catch on fire this time, she did have many distinct experiences in New Bliss compared to Prairie Village.

From the moment she arrived she was bonding with her fellow exchange students in the CIEE program by exploring the unfamiliar country. The exchange students also hung out during Irish language class, a class that they were exempt from.  

“We had all just met each other and we were all sleep deprived,” Billingsley said. “We weren’t allowed to sleep because they didn’t want us to ruin our sleep schedule so we walked around Dublin and sight saw.”

Billingsley quickly made friends with Ireland natives and other foreign exchange students in the program. Her friends would do things to bond closer in this new country like shop and get lunch.

“I would take the bus at 12:24 p.m. and go ride into town with my friend that lived in New Bliss village with me,” Billinsley said. “We would run around the town and get lunch. The next bus came in four hours so we would go shopping and walk around.”

Even though Poppy took a 10-hour plane ride away from Kansas, she still saw a glimpse of home in Ireland as her school was located in the middle of a farm.

 “Every day there would be horses out in front and sometimes my American friends and I would go walk to school and skip the bus so that we could go to the food hall,” Billingsley said. “It’s a 40-minute walk, but we would always stop and pet the horses for 20 minutes [before school].”

Though Billingsley lived out her teenage dream by studying abroad, she was excited to see her friends here. She knows that one day she’ll reconnect those friendships she made back in New Bliss.

“I almost talk to all of them on the phone every single day,” Billingsley said. “I want to go back at some point and visit the school so I can see all my friends.”