Alisa's Experience Report:
After arriving in Ireland, in the town of Athlone, we were picked up by our host families at the bus stop. I lived with my host family for the entire 4 weeks. My host family was a single, 64-year-old woman named Joan. Joan's house was very centrally located, which is why I didn't have to use a bus or a taxi. In Athlone, almost everything was within walking distance for me. My host family adjusted very well to my insecure English and also corrected my mistakes. This way, I became more and more confident from week to week and also dared to engage in complicated conversations. The next day, we had English lessons first. Here, we were reintroduced to the basics of speaking English. Due to renovation work at the school, the lessons shifted to different locations. Thus, we had lessons in a meeting room of a hotel, for example, or in a clubhouse of the GAA Sports Club of Athlone. In total, we had lessons for 3 full days as well as 4 times of evening school.
My company in Ireland was the Café Poppy Fields in Athlone. Here, I was allowed to take over various service tasks. A few examples of my activities include refilling ketchup and mayonnaise at the tables, clearing and wiping down tables, cleaning the sales area, washing dishes, as well as taking customer orders and serving them to the table. In addition, I was also allowed to take on classic kitchen tasks. These included, for example, peeling carrots, potatoes, and apples. The tasks were very diverse, and I was received very well. Working at Poppy Fields was a lot of fun because my colleagues were very friendly and helpful to me.
In my free time, I was out and about in Athlone a lot. There were many different bars here, and as a highlight, we ordered a drink in the oldest bar in the world, Sean's Bar. Additionally, we went e-karting and played laser tag in Athlone. Furthermore, we took a weekend trip with 2 overnight stays to Galway. In Galway, the traditional Christmas market had started that weekend. The other day, we visited the Cliffs of Moher. Here, a live guide told us everything about the "Cliffs".
We made another excursion with the group to Dublin. Here, we first looked at the city of Dublin itself. After that, we visited many traditional taverns and highlights. These included the Guinness Storehouse, Phoenix Park, the Temple Bar, as well as Trinity College in Dublin.
Our last excursion destination before going back to Germany was Howth – a fishing town. There, we looked at a viewpoint on the coast. From there, we drove to the fishing port and looked at the fish market there.
I liked the time in Ireland very much. The culture and hospitality in Ireland cannot be compared to us in Germany. I recommend it to everyone who has the chance to participate in the Erasmus project, as it was a great experience and we were able to improve our English.
