11 days left. Eleven. I can remember as if it was yesterday where I updated a new entry with the exact same title. Eleven days until my adventure in Ireland begins, eleven days until it's time to board the plane and fly back home. This year passed by so quickly, and yet I learned more, experienced more, and grew more as a person that I have ever before. This post will contain a short summary of the days since my last entry and a reflection of my time here this far.
Right now, I am sitting in our garden, Harley in my lap, trying to get the most out of the good weather. Honestly, you have no idea how much I missed summer and good weather. But I think Ireland also made me appreciate sunny days more, as it is rare and thus a treasured experience.
The week I was in Edinburgh continued to be just as adventurous. After arriving late at night on Wednesday, I still had to finish some homework for the next day and I was pretty tired the next day in school. Luckily we had a long weekend incoming, meaning that we had no school on Friday, but as I realized, that didn't mean that I could sleep in. On Friday, I went on an organised day long tour to the Giant's Causeway and Belfast with Theresa. After being at the Cliffs of Moher two weeks ago we wanted to explore the North of Ireland as well. We had to get up very early to get a taxi to the train station and then get the first train into town to the meeting point for the tour bus. In Belfast we could chose between going to the Titanic Museum and doing a political black taxi tour. We decided on the latter. I was very intrigued by Belfast's history and The Troubles. The taxi tour was basically a taxi driver who lived through those times and brought us around the city and stopped at important places, got out and told us a bit more about the history and his personal experiences. It was really grounding to hear from somebody lived through The Troubles. It was shocking how brutal and overlooked that part of Irish history is, as I have learned little to nothing about the conflict in school (neither in Austria nor in Ireland).It was a very sobering experience and gave me a lot to think about. If you ever get to Belfast, I highly recommend doing that tour.
Continuing our journey, we ventured even more North, up to Donegal and the Giant's Causeway. Ireland has really beautiful scenery. It was so different to the West coast, where I have been on the last trip. Honestly, I didn't think that Ireland had so many different sides and I wasn't sure I would get to see all of them but now I can say proudly that I have been able to experience most of them.
The Giant's Causeway was really something special. It looked so man-made, I couldn't believe it was a natural phenomenon. We had great weather that day and overall it was a very enjoyable trip.
That weekend I finally completed my open water dives and thus officially got my divers licence. I went up to Howth to complete the first three dives on Saturday and it was honestly such a good experience. After assembling our gear we took the boat over to Ireland's Eye where we completed the dives. To my surprise we spent most of the time just practicing the skills and did less of actually diving around. The water was icy and the visibility was very poor. I did enjoy it, though. Of course, I needed some time to get comfortable in and under the water and calm down. On Sunday we only had one dive left which was super cool since we have completed almost all of the skills the day before so we could really focus on actually diving around. Unfortunately, the conditions didn't improve, but I noticed that I was calmer underwater and thus enjoyed it more. Apparently we were even followed by a seal during our dive and I saw various types of crabs, seaweed and mussels on the seafloor.
I took Monday as my day off to relax and work on my portfolio. It was a long needed and well deserved rest.
The following week was quite uneventful, I worked a lot on my portfolio since it was due last Friday, I read two books and did some school work. On the weekend I was very productive and started planning my summer and I booked the flights to Barcelona to visit Laura in July. Sunday I went to town, possibly for the last time, with Theresa and Laura and we did some shopping. I got a present for my brother and bought a small Irish flag for my friends and host family to sign.
Now this week this far has been super chill. We had our last two days of school and I felt really stress free and just happy. I started working on redesigning my blog and website and I am quite satisfied with the results.
Tomorrow, on Wednesday, I will have a short interview based on my TY portfolio about fourth year. I am also getting back my work. Thursday and Friday are our summer exam days. Normally, there would be four exams, but since I am doing neither Irish nor another foreign language I only have two, Maths and English. I am not at all worried since we got told exactly what the exam is going to be about and it is pretty easy stuff. Friday evening we plan to go out and celebrate, but also say goodbye.
I think I am really getting the most out of my last days here and I'll keep you updated.
As for my reflection, I think it is appropriate to show you what I have written in my Transition Year portfolio:
"Looking back at this year I can easily say that it has been one of the best experiences in my life so far. Transition Year, of course, was part of why this time had been so amazing but that wouldn’t even have been possible if I hadn’t come to Ireland. As mentioned before, when given the choice, I chose fourth year because, in my eyes and now even my experience, you get to do so much more in TY. I loved getting involved and trying out things I normally wouldn’t have. I have overcome so many fears and not only stepped, but lived far outside my comfort zone. TY helped me get a better and broader insight into life in Ireland, but it also opened me up more to the world around me. I gained confidence in myself and my abilities. I made good friends and memories I will cherish forever. I did things that surprised even me where I didn’t know I was capable of before. All thanks to a mixture of Transition Year and the fact that I am abroad in Ireland. I must say part of me wasn’t a fan of a non-academic year as I sometimes felt like I was just wasting my time doing nothing but then I look back onto my portfolio, my bullet journal or my photo gallery and I get a good reminder of how much I have actually achieved. After all, I am forever grateful that I had the chance to do something like TY, to do something different, something that is challenging in another way. I don’t have any regrets regarding this year. I really feel like I got the most out of my time here in Ireland. I loved it, that I can say honestly. I will miss Ireland, miss my friends, miss the sea. I am eternally thankful for this year as it has shaped me much as a person and really pushed me to my limits. What an amazing and wonderful experience this was. If someone would ask me if I wanted to do it again my answer would be to a hundred percent yes."
Additionally, I want to say that there are ups and downs when you are abroad for a year, but I think that applies to life in general. I think I sometimes used this blog for venting, writing down everything that bothered me and focused on the negative. I will leave it up like that since it is an accurate description of that exact moment but I want everyone to know that the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.
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