Well, well. It has been a while again.
I finished my second week of Work Experience and it was simply amazing. I really enjoyed working with MLI and getting to know new people and fulfill various tasks. These two weeks have given me a good insight on how it feels to work and the differences between a job and school. I also realized how much I actually want to travel and see the world, experience new things and new countries. I almost pulled an all-niter this week, planning future travels and my summer break.
Last week on Friday, Laura invited me to a special fireworks show at Trinity College to celebrate the 10th birthday of the Science Gallery Dublin. Here is a link to a short video of the show, since my phone couldn't capture the sheer beauty of it: https://youtu.be/F1oCNulBZVg
Though it was super cool and enjoyable, they took longer to put it all together, resulting in us waiting more than 1 1/2 hours in the cold night. I think it was still worth it.
On Tuesday then I met up with two of my friends from Austria who were visiting Dublin for a week. I showed them around and took them to one of my favourite restaurants here. It was weird, seeing someone from "my old life" present here and it came with a feeling of distance, as if Vienna wasn't my primary home any more. In moments like that, I truly recognize how much of a home Dublin became and how much of a local I got, even after "only" around six months. I would love to live in a lot of cities, build myself a lot of homes, because I would prefer the feeling of belonging and knowing the place to passing through as a regular tourist. I've come to really love Ireland, even the weather here (though, I am not saying I prefer it).
Wednesday morning I took a bus down to Cork to visit Antonia, a friend of mine. I stayed with her until Friday and we had a real blast. She showed me around Cork city the first day and then we went home and made cheesecake brownies (they turned out to be muffins, since we didn't have a proper tray) which were simply delicious. Day two we took the ferry over to Cobh, a beautiful town and also the last place the Titanic took passengers on board. We went to the Titanic museum there, getting a ticket with a person's name who actually boarded that ship. At the end you could look it up if you (or the person on your ticket) had survived the tragedy. The museum equal parts fun, interactive and informative and I would totally recommend it to anybody who has the chance to go there. In the evening we went to one of Antonia's friends to play Dungeons and Dragons. Though I, as a more or less experienced player, could feel that the others lacked any pen and paper experience, it didn't make it less fun or enjoyable. In fact, I started missing playing with my friends back home so we arranged a round of Pathfinder in two weeks, with me being the game master over Skype. God I love technology.
Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Cork, the landscape is just mesmerizing and somehow so different from Dubin (County). Though I have to admit that I am super happy to have chosen Dublin over both Cork and Kerry, since in the latter, I would definitely have gotten into a very rural area and my trip just confirmed that I couldn't bear to live in the countryside for long. Funnily enough, I longed to be back in Dublin, to have the reliable public transport (haha) and be close to the city (the joke here is that, compared to Vienna's public transport system and city size, Dublin is small and difficult to travel through with public transport).
I also found out that my Spanish host sister won't be coming back after midterm break. She changed families for whatever reasons. I did realize though that she really closed up when it got to giving in to the experience. It really seemed like she (or her parents) just wanted to have it done so that she could write it in her CV later on. In my eyes, it's just a huge waste of money, if you don't put in the effort to integrate. I guess she just didn't fit in with my family. After all, it was a perfect match for me. I couldn't have imagined to get a better family to stay with and I am sure that I will miss living with them once I am back.
If anything, this just shows how important your attitude is when you are abroad. Try to connect, be open minded and make the most of it. If you greet others openly and show interest in being part of this life abroad, you will be rewarded with lifelong friends, a second family and so many good memories.
The good thing is, that we'll maybe get new students in for a couple of days at once (they are doing language trips with their classes) and I get to (hopefully) meet new people coming from all around Europe (I would also get a new, probably larger bed so yay to that).
I hope you enjoyed this update from me. I am currently loaded with stuff to do and it didn't help that I was procrastinating until two days before heading back to school (in fact, I am writing this to avoid doing said stuff). Anyways, I hope my ramblings and stories made you smile or think or made you wanting to travel. Have a nice weekend!
Evelin
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