Sé: Four months in Ireland

hey everyone,

I've now been here in Ireland for four weeks. Which is crazy because in just 11 days my flight to Ireland will be further away than my flight back to Germany.
But honestly I don't know whether time went by fast or slow.

So here's what happened this month:

the first week

This month started with our work experience. So everyone in TY was out of school for a week and got some experience with a company.
I did my workexperience online, so I mostly stayed home that week.
I also used these couple of days to prepare some stuff for our Trade Fair. So I got quite a lot done. Even if I didn't do as much work for my work experience as I could have done.

And while I enjoyed not going to school and to have a few days off I also was quite happy once I could go back.

I had a sleepover with one of my friends here which was nice. Because we got to spend more than just the school breaks togetehr for once.
But besides this there wasn't a lot happening in the first week.

the second week

This was also the last complete week before our christmas holidays. We only had lessons the first two days and we also got our christmas exams results on those days and I am quite proud of my results.

On the wednesday this week the TY students got the entire day to prepare everything for the Trade Fair that took place on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday and Friday were really fun days. But also exhausting. We had our Trade Fair both days so we were mostly just sitting around, drinking hot chocolate, spending far too much money on others products and sometimes we even sold some of our own.
In the end our mini company sold every single one of our boxes which was good.

We listened to christmas music the entire time we had our trade fair which got you into the christmas spirit.

I did some christmas shopping on the weekend and also hung out with two of the other exchange students. It's always nice to meet up with the two of them and we always have so much fun.

the third week

The first two days in this week were the last ones before the christmas holidays. There wasn't really anything happening on these days but they were still quite fun.

Christmas was this week. On the 24th, which is the day my family normally celebrates christmas, I had a zoom meeting with my family which was quite nice, to have at least a little form of celebration with them.

In the morning of the 25th I went to church together with my host family and after that we had breakfast and then we opened our presents.

The christmas presents my family sent me sadly never arrived before christmas, they still haven't arrived when I'm writing this but hopefully they will come soon.

We ate a traditional christmas dinner, which was super nice and after that we just sat together and dindn't do too much.

the last week

The christmas holidays really weren't that interesting. I didn't do much. I sometimes went outside to get some fresh air but other than that it was just being at home and enjoying the time off of school. I actually miss school a little, not because I like going to school that much but because I miss seeing other people.

It sometimes gets really boring living without anyone closer to my age.

Then over the last few days of 2020 I started reflecting on 2020 and how this year had been. It's been quite an interesting but also quite exhausting year.
New Years eve also wasn't exactly special. Fireworks are actually illegal in Ireland so most people don't really celebrate it that big. My host family didn't celebrate it at all, my host dad had to work that day and my host mum didn't stay awake until midnight so I celebrated it on my own. I can't say I like that but there's nothing I could have changed.

With the start of the new year, the government announced that Ireland will be going into another hard lockdown and now they think schools should be closed until the end of January. It's not decided yet but it looks like this is what will happen.

I met up with the other exchange students again, because one of them went home yesterday. Now that the first one of us went home I realised how much time has gone by.

in conclusion

The last month was quite an interesting one. I wouldn't say it was as challenging as the one before, but it still wasn't easy.

It still sucks, that Covid is such a huge part of this exchange but I can't really change that, can I?

I am everything but exited that schools might stay closed, because I really need to see other people again.

An even thought the things I'm talking about often don't seem positive, I'm still so grateful for this experience. I learned a lot already and I also feel like I've grown as a person. Covid might make this year a lot harder, but even back at home it would have had a big impact on my life.

I'm just hoping I will find a way to see other people even with this lockdown and maybe at some point we will get the chance to do something fun again.

Until next time,

Slán,

•Anneli•