Bye Germany → Hello Ireland! 🍀

Sunny greetings from Ireland!

Yes, the sun is actually shining here. I have been living here for almost a week now and it hasn't rained yet!

My new home is located in Shankill (Irish: Seanchill – old church), a village situated in the southwest of County Dublin.

- My new home for the next 10 months.

However, I prefer to start from the beginning ... The adventure Ireland did not only start on Sunday, the day of my arrival, but weeks before in Germany. And those who are close to me also know what I'm talking about. The closer the time of departure came, the more realistic my upcoming stay abroad became and the more I realized the decision I had actually made. Especially in the last week before my departure, when I said goodbye to so many people who are important to me, I felt both joy and fear of what is to come, as well as sadness because I would really be spending 10 months alone, away from everyone who is important to me.

I had skyped with the future family twice before, but had not really had regular contact with them, so I was also worried before meeting them and constantly wondered if they would like me.

When the day of departure came, I would have liked to undo my decision and go back to Cottbus with my family. But now I'm glad to have taken the opportunity to live in Ireland for 10 months.

When I arrived at Dublin Airport with all my luggage, I expected to see my host parents with a sign with my name. However, that was not the case and I immediately became worried if I was waiting in the wrong place, was forgotten or had ended up with an unreliable family. Fortunately, my host mother came to me shortly afterwards and greeted me warmly. She had just grabbed a coffee as the waiting time at baggage claim was quite long.

The drive to Shankill took about half an hour and even in this short time I collected incredibly many impressions. It feels really strange not to sit behind the wheel in the car on the left side in the front, to drive in the roundabout clockwise or to overtake other cars from the right side on the highway.

When we arrived in Shankill, I was greeted very kindly by the rest of the family.

There are 3 children and the family also has a cute little dog named Timmy, who actually counts as the sixth family member.

On the same afternoon, both parents (independently of each other) asked me about my opinion on Brexit, Donald Trump and Angela Merkel, both in general and specifically from a German perspective. Both hope that Brexit will not happen, as this would have very negative consequences for Ireland.

After resting a bit and setting up my room, we had salad, chicken, lamb and baked potatoes for dinner. - I'm delighted that they cook with a lot of garlic here. After that, I quickly went to bed and just fell asleep.

On Monday and Tuesday, my host mother only worked half days and introduced me to my tasks.

My daily routine looks like this:

7:45 am: appear in the kitchen and keep my host child company until he leaves for school at 8:20 am; check that he has packed his lunchbox, water bottle and medication; load and unload the dishwasher; tidy up the kitchen

until 2:40 pm I have free time and take the dog for a walk (and probably soon go to the gym too)

2:40 pm: My host child comes home: I check that he completes his homework, practices the piano and then doesn't play games for too long; wash, hang up, iron and put away the children's laundry

since the children attend a private school, they wear uniforms (trousers even with creases) and even need a specific outfit for different sports (football, rugby, basketball and hockey)

Twice a week, I will attend the language school in Dun Laoghaire from 7 to 10 pm, where I will also get to know the other au pairs.

In my free time, I will probably walk to the beach more often, as it is only about a 30-minute walk from the house. It's really beautiful there and I find it very relaxing to simply walk along the sea. - Preferably with Timmy, who gets extremely excited every time I take his leash out of the closet.

There aren't many people on the beach and most of the ones I've encountered so far have smiled at me friendly and openly (in general too), which I'm not used to in Germany. But it's a very nice feeling, especially since it costs nothing to look at other people friendly.

So, the friendliness of the Irish has already been confirmed, as well as the fact that they are very religious. Children must be Catholic before they can be admitted to a primary school (which is heavily influenced by the Catholic Church). And at secondary schools, children who are not Catholic have disadvantages in getting a place. When my host parents found out that I am not religious, Susanne looked at me somewhat surprised and then advised me never to mention it to her mother if I ever met her. And Garrett's father would have probably sent me to a priest if he were still alive. :D

Even though I still miss my home very much and constantly think about it, I am already feeling better than in the first two days here and slowly the everyday life is settling in.

I hope the text is somewhat clear!

See you soon,

Your Hanna

With Timmy at the beach

Wild blackberries growing :)