I am here, safe and sound ... in one piece and all that jazz! There are some great interns here...I predict fun times ahead. Zurich seems like a really great place to live..if not a little sedate ;) Proper update when I have things to report...for now I am just enjoying the sunshine and getting used to the city.

Oh...although I missed Annika in Schipol...I did have coffee and chattage with the charmed, or should I say charming, one ;)

I love my Genevievie baby...They say you are lucky to have 5 truly great friends...to be honest, I'd have been lucky if I never had anymore than her!

If I had to chose one thing that characterised my time at uni, I would say it was meeting Ms Genevieve Dwyer. It is difficult to explain just how much of an impact this girl has had on my life! I mean for one I may never have joined AIESEC without her! ( I know shock horror!)

She has been with me through thick and thin, always ready with those comforting words (and a mug of tea...more often than not teamed with a big bowl of popcorn mixed together with minstrels) Whether it was dinner at Chez Dwyer, mooching about the shops while having those life altering conversations about, well about boys or making my ass feel guilty about not spending enough (if any in the library) Eves was there. Many a time has she called me a muppet when my judgment got the better of me but more often than not she told me I was dead right (even if we both knew I wasn't!)

So Eves...here is to many more nights on the beer, to dancing and movies and to me spending more time in the Winnie the Pooh room :) to high fives and booing, to sharing secrets and most importantly of all, Genevieve...here is to friendship, that being ours.....muppet!

PS...I stole the photo from Dave ;) I suppose you might call him your other big fan :)

As a transition treat Aisling, Maria, Prue and I headed off to see Riverdance at the Gaiety. The show that has stunned and captivated audiences the world over hit a very special note with me too. Hypnotized by the rhythmic beat of a bodhran that echoed the thunderous roar of a chorus of hard shoe wearing dancers, I was reminded of my Leaving Certificate English Paper 1. A dozen essay titles lay before me; the varied in topic and desired style. I chose "The shoes of Irishness fit me well". Last night made me think in those terms again.

I've spent the last two years exporting Irishness; I was recently told that I branded @IE quite well this year - if that is a general perception then i am proud of that. But more than in AIESEC terms...how good an ambassador am I really for my country? It will once more play a part in my role over the next year. As an Exchange Participant I am supposed to represent my country, but where do I begin?

Being Irish is more than coming from the Republic; indeed it is more than the 32 counties. To be Irish is to belong to a diaspora that numbers many times the population of this little green island on the edge of Europe.

For some the land of saints and scholars, for others the domain of fairies! To know how to represent my culture honestly and authentically I need only look to my childhood. I need only remember feiseanna and Irish dancing, camogie and tin whistle lessons. Learning verses of Seamus Heaney and seanfhocals by heart. I need look no further than the community productions of John B Keane plays. To Irish history lessons and learning songs like Boolavogue.

Mo theanga fein - ag foghlaim Amhran na bhfian agus Stair an tíre, ó Cúchulainn go dtí Mícheál Ó Coileáin agus gach rud idir na bheirt acu.

And when I have finished explaining our past, I can start on the present - the plethora of movies, actors, musicians, contemporary writers, politicians - for a small country we make our presence felt on the world stage...long may that last!

Applications frequently ask you to describe yourself in three words...ridiculous really, how can anyone be summed up in three words?! What I can do in three words is describe how I feel today...Content, happy and proud.

Nothing superfluous, nothing grandiose...but it is real. It is authentic. MC 06-07 has had some ups and downs and yet we have still triumphed. We have still taken AIESEC in Ireland forward. Indeed to champagne worthy heights :)