First Week of School

To say 'School in Ireland is different than it is in Austria' would be a huge understatement, because in some subjects, you really just can't compare it. Even the subjects here are completely different: Chinese Culture, Chinese Language (it seems to be kind of an obsession with China, and I already googled it but still don't know why), Public Speaking, Economics, Guidance and Workexperience. Of course there are also subjects like Mathematics, English and History, but they are quite similar. Except from the fact, that the main thing in maths is finding the area of all kinds of squares, what I already did about four years ago, but who cares. It's great to feel like a genius in maths just once in a lifetime.

The Irish girls are so nice and communicative, I really can't complain. It seems like they are really interested in where I am from and some of them seem really to care about me. They have a great community; maybe because of the fact that it's a girls school.

I'm in fourth year, which is called Transition Year. It's a Special year, focused on your personality development. My host mum says, it's really not a very academic year, and she's right. But I don't mind - because even though I'm not really challenged in the 'normal' subjects, it feels like I really gain experience in making my mind up about so many things. We talk about political affairs and global warming, and we are always expected to have our own mind about this topics, what I really like.

It would be a shame not showing you how beautiful a nun's oufit can look like, so I decided to upload a picture of it. Please don't judge.

The Theory of Everything

 

On Sunday, I went to the Cinema. My hostmum showed me the way to a big shoppingcenter called DunDrum, about 15 minutes away from our house. She gave me a lunch package, which also included a small package of Popcorn. In Ireland, people eat it all the time, and you can buy it everywhere - maybe it's just me, but normally I eat Popcorn only at the Cinema! Well, I don't mind. It could definitely be worse than having to eat Popcorn all the time.
We were a group of four Austrian girls and I guess we also behaved like it: Walking around, staring at everything and making pictures. We decided to watch 'The Theory of Everything' (which I can highly recommend!) and had still plenty of time left, so we went upstairs to a mobile phone shop to buy new SIM Cards. And honestly, this sounds much easier than it's done. I know this probably sounds stupid, but you don't get taught to buy a SIM card at school, or all this stuff which is useful when buying something (in a different language) in general.  The guy at the shop gave me a lot of instructions and literally praised every offer they had. I bought a SIM card with mobile data and unlimited texts for one month, which seemed as a good idea in my eyes (afterwards I had a lot of problems with my SIM card, but that's another story).
The movie was very touching and had a great soundtrack. When we went home by bus and sat down upstairs in front of the big window (I love the Dublin buses, even though they're very expensive, because they have two stages) and I suddenly felt a bit sad about returning to a home that wasn't really my home. I think, it's normal to feel like this on your second day.
At home, I prepared myself mentally for Monday, when I would have to go to School - I was nervous and excited, but in a good way.

My First Day and an unfamiliar Suitcase

When I left the gates behind me and passed the last security checks, I had a strange feeling - a mix of indepence, hapiness and also a little bit fear. Okay, it was probably a bit more than just a Little bit, but there wasn't enough time to even think about what I was feeling. My head was filled with questions like: Do you have your passport? Do you have your phone charger in your bag? Do you have your ticket?, and when I was sitting in the plane, I finally allowed myself to relax a bit. Luckily, I didn't have to travel alone, because one of my closest friends is doing the same trip as I am, and I already knew some of the other people from my agency, which made the plane a little bit smaller than it seemed first.

When we finally arrived to Dublin (as you can see in the picture), my first impression was: Green. Wet. Rainy. The last time I went by plane was in the summer holidays, and Santorini really had a completely different landscape! All of us went to get our luggage, and when we finally got our suitcases, we squeezed ourselves into a small bus. Our host families would pick us up in about one hour, and it was a strange feeling - knowing that the persons you would live with for the next five months would wait for you there, and I was really excited.

Two Ed Sheeran albums later, we finally arrived in Ballinteer, where a huge group of people was waiting for us. There was a woman standing next to the bus, and just when I thought 'I hope she's my hostmum' she introduced herself to me and we were shaking hands. She helped me getting my two, heavy suitcases into the car, and I was about to get in on the right side. 'Oh, do you wanna drive by yourself?', she laughed, and I reminded myself, that in Ireland people drive on the other side of the road. Well, it shouldn't be the only time for me to forget.

We didn't go home straight away, because my host mum wanted to show me around first. Llewellyn is a very nice place, honestly - but every street looks the same! I could already see myself, returning home from a trip to the Citycenter, standing in front of my house door - realising that it's not my house door. 'Don't worry, you'll get used to that.'

At home, my host mum introduced me to the rest of the Family. 'Your very welcome!'

I went upstairs, realising that I was really exhausted and that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. I looked at my suitcase. All I wanted was changing into more comfortable clothes and to unpack my things, so I opened my suitcase. Looked at the things inside of it. And knew: This skiing clothes are not mine.

Well, the next hours weren't very relaxed. All I could think about was my suitcase, alone, out there. I must have switched it up with someone else's from the Airport, who had a similar one.

 Even though my host mum probably got the first impression, that Austrians must be very chaotic and unorganised (sorry to all the tidy Austrians out there, it wasn't on purpose!), she tried to calm me down, gave me some pasta and went to a small shoppingcenter with me. That was really nice of her, and luckily, they found my suitcase later in the evening, so everything got sorted in the end. And I also learned my first lesson here: Next time at the Airport, I'll check my luggage twice.

Why?

It's true: Exchange semesters change people. Me, sitting in front of my laptop to create my own blog (!) is the living evidence. I would have never thought of myself as a person who likes to share their daily life with everyone on the Internet, except some posts on Instagram or Facebook. But this time, it's different: because right now, I'm on a journey, and I'd really like to share this experience with you. Because maybe, you also want to do an exchange, but you're scared of the unknown. Maybe reading this will help. Or maybe, you also did an exchange, and it will remind you of your own journey. Reading this will probably make you sentimental. Or maybe, you're just in a bad mood or unhappy right now. Hopefully, reading this will make you smile.

Well, now you know why I decided to become 'one of those persons'. And if you're interested in what already happened during my first month here and what my life here in Dublin is like, feel free and follow me on my trip.