Things I miss about Germany/ Things I like about Ireland

Hey guys,

in this post I will talk about things I miss about Germany and about things I love about Ireland. Some of the things are food, but of course not everything. Have fun! :)

Things I miss about Germany:

- my short way to school
   In Germany I have to walk less than ten minutes to school and if I take the bike it takes three minutes. Here I have to walk 40 minutes and take the train for 20 minutes and that is one way. So I have to do that twice a day.
-german planning and organisation
  That sounds so rude oh my god. One example are the infos about the sleepover cause we got them one week beforehand and the note for our parents on the day before. Or our teacher told us the information about our portfolio we have to do for midterm one week beforehand as well.
- sparkling water
   I thought I would miss it more, but actually I don't. But from time to time it would be nice to drink a glass. Last weekend I drank sparkling water with another German friend of mine and we realised that it doesn't taste as good as we remebered it.
- a punctual bus
  The busses here arrive when they want to. And I am always afraid that the bus doesn't stop at my bus stop because they don't announce the name of the stations.
- cheap stationary
   My teachers wanted me to buy sooo many things! And everything is so expensive. For three copy books I paid 6€ or 7€.

Things I love about Ireland:

- Mince Pie
   These are small pies that are usually eaten on Christmas or Easter. They are filled with fruits and sooo tasty!
- Appletarte
  This is also pretty irish. Appletartes are small apple pies and the people usually eat them with fresh cream.
- Black tea with milk
  For me it was always so weird to put milk in tea,but now that I'm here I wanted to try it. And it is actually quite good.
- the landscape
  The landscape here is so pretty especially the hills and since I live close by the sea I can always see green hills to my right and the sea to my left as I walk to school. That's lovely!
- the people
  Everyone is so polite and kind and everyone greets everyone else on the street. And they apologize for literally everything and always they thank you. That is so amazing!

I hoped you liked this quite short post and had fun reading it.

See you!
Nici

 

--------------------------------------------

Hey Leute!

In diesem Post werde ich ueber Dinge reden, die ich an Deutschland vermisse und natuerlich auch ueber Dinge, die ich an Irland liebe. Manche Sachen habe ich hier neu probiert und es geht sowohl um Essen, als auch um Kultur etc. Have fun!

Dinge, die ich an Deutschland vermisse:

- meinen kurzen Schulweg
 In Deutschland setze ich mich 3 Minuten aufs Fahrrad und bin in der Schule und hier bin ich             insgesamt eine Stunde unterwegs. Pro Weg. Also jeden Tag zweimal.
- deutsche Planung/ Organisation
 So klischeehaft es auch klingen mag, aber in Deutschland ist es teilweise echt strukturierter. Naechste Woche haben wir ja die Uebernachtung in der Schule und in Deutschland haetten wir einen Elternbrief bekommen und so weiter. Hier wurde das mal flott 5 Tage vorher erklaert. Und den Elternbrief haben wir am Tag vorher bekommen.  Oder auch die Klausuren werden teilweise nur ein paar Tage vorher angekuendigt.
- Wasser mit Kohlensaeure
 Ich vermisse es nicht so stark, wie ich vorher dachte, aber manchmal waere so ein Glas Wasser mit Kohlensaeure doch ganz schoen. ;) Edit: ich hatte am Wochenende Wasser mit Kohlensäure und ich war überrascht wie schlecht das auf einmal schmeckt.
- Ein pünktlicher Bus
Busse kommen hier wann sie wollen. Und generell ist Busfahren total anders. Die Stationen werden nicht durchgesagt und ich habe immer Angst, dass der Bus nicht hält.
- günstige Schulsachen
Ich musste für meine Schule so viele Sachen kaufen und das ist hier alles soo teuer! Ein Pack mit 3 Heften hat 6€ oder 7€ gekostet...

Dinge, die ich an meinem Leben in Irland liebe/ Dinge, die ich in Irland zum ersten Mal probiert habe und liebe

-Mince Pie
Das ist eine irische Feiertagsspezialität, die man meistens zu Weihnachten oder Ostern isst. Mince Pies sind kleine Küchlein mit einer Fruchtfüllung und sie sind einfach so gut!

- schwarzer Tee mit Milch
  Für mich war es immer sehr befremdlich, wenn eins meiner deutschen Familienmitglieder Milch in seinen Tee gekippt hat. Aber hier musste ich auch mal probieren, weil es so typisch ist. Und inzwischen mag ich es auch ganz gerne.

- Apfeltarte
  Kleine Apfelkuchen, die oft mit Sahne serviert werden. Auch ziemlich irisch und echt lecker.

- die Landschaft
   Die Landschaft hier ist einfach so wunderschön. Alles ist total grün und das sieht echt toll aus. Da ich ja auch am Meer lebe, ist das hier nochmal besonders schön. Denn der Kontrast zwischen grünem Hügel rechts und dem Meer links ist echt bezaubernd.
  
- Die Menschen
   Wenn man auf der Straße jemandem begegnet, wird man immer gegrüßt, die allermeisten Leute bedanken sich für alles und entschuldigen sich immer, wenn sie dich z. B. versehentlich anrempeln oder so.

Ich hoffe dieser eher kurze Post hat euch gefallen. :) Im Laufe des Tages kommt auch mein 2 Monate im Gastland Update.

Bis dann!

Nici

I am back... I guess

Hey lads!

You probably can’t believe you’re reading this and I can’t believe I am writing this. 6 months ago I published my last post and if I am right I was still in Ireland back then. Actually I wanted to keep you updated on my situation back at home and about my re-integration in Germany but it didn’t feel right at that time. But I guess now it feels right to post and that’s why I am doing this. This post is probably going to be pretty messed up because there are a few things I wanna talk about. Let’s get started!

First of all: I am going to create another blog. It is probably going to be about bullet journaling and art but I am also going to share my favorite recipes and maybe also post stuff related to traveling. As soon as it is out I am going to insert the link right here so if you’re interested in stuff like that go check it out.

The posts that I wanted to make about my exchange year will follow in the next 10-14 days.
(My uniform, I know, I promised this post in November, I am SO sorry!!; my favorite places and restaurants in Cork; advices on finding the right organization for your exchange year + review and honest opinion on Experiment e.V and EIL Ireland; advantages of an exchange year; my seminar I had in March; my Ireland/exchange year playlist  and last but not least some more impressions from my time abroad)

The next thing I wanna talk about is going back home. I want to be honest with you guys, getting back into my German life was so much harder than becoming acquainted with the Irish culture and Ireland in general! My last day in Ireland was horrible and I cried almost without any breaks.... Luckily I had my amazing friends with me and they really helped me through this day and especially night. Seeing my parents for the first time after such a long time was very overwhelming! On the day after I came home my friends had organized a surprise party for me which was amazing. (If anyone of you reads this, I love you <3) Fortunately I was allowed to stay home two more days so I had to go to school on the 30th of January. At first it was horrifying because it felt like before but everything was so different ( I am in senior cycle now which is pretty different from Junior Cycle) and so many people wanted to talk to me and all I actually wanted was being alone. All in all I was very overwhelmed during the first weeks. Somehow everything got back to normal and became routine again. From time to time there are days or a week where I feel really bad and sad and it feels like my heart is getting pulled out of my chest. Most of the exchange students will know this feeling. It is like being homesick but 1000 times worse...  But I guess that is the price you have to pay for all the amazing memories you make during your exchange time.

I am still in contact with most of my friends and my hostmum. If I am lucky we will go to Ireland next year!

I hope you enjoyed reading my post and are not too mad I hadn’t posted in 6 months because I promise I will post some more things soon!!

Nici

My travel bucket list/what I have actually seen

Hey guys,

this post is gonna be about my travel bucket list I’ve made in the beginning of my exchange year. You can see it in the picture below. All the places I’ve been to are marked with an x and Limerick is crossed out because I cancelled my wish of going there.

The places I’ve actually been to are:

Cobh

Cork

Middleton

Kinsale

Dublin

Killarney

Waterford

Galway

The cliffs of Moher
And a few places I don´t know the names of. Just a mountain and a forrest and some villages.

In the following I will talk a little bit about my trips there, my favorite places and of course I will add some pics. :)

Cork: my school was in Cork so I’ve been there literally every day. Cork is a beautiful city and I really enjoyed living so close to it. My favorite places are the asian restaurant “Ramen” and St. Patrick’s Street in general. Especially during the christmas time it looked awesome because of all the lights.

Middleton:

I’ve been to Middleton with Paulina during the christmas break. It is only a twenty minute train ride away from Cork but honestly you don’t miss anything if you don’t go there. It is just a small town. But they have a beautiful cathedral which I would consider to be my favorite place… 

Kinsale:

My hostmum took me to the Old head of Kinsale in the very beginning of my time here and it is more or less a smaller version of the cliffs of moher. Last sunday (20th of January), I went there again with two friends and we walked from Kinsale almost down to the Old Head. We had amazing weather and could really enjoy the cliffs and of course Ireland’s stunning green hills.

Dublin:
Apart from the orientation which was actually not really in Dublin I have been to Dublin only once. It was a day trip with Paulina on the 12th of January. I love the city and especially Grafton Street amazed me! It kinda reminds me of the German city Münster. I saw lots of beautiful places and honestly I don´t know which is my favourite. Probably the librabry of the Trinity college.

Killarney:
The first time I went there was with my hostfamily. We didn´t go to the actual town only to the national park. I highly recommend going there, it is an amazing place to go hiking. During the christmas break I went there a second time with Fiona. Together we went to an american diner and it was sooo good! And we also went to the national park.

Waterford:
Another trip I went on with Paulina was our trip to Waterford. My hostmum said she really likes Waterford but we didn´t like it that much. But we discovered a very cute cafe where we had amazing apple tarte. 

Galway:
That was Paulina´s and my first bigger trip. Galway was probably my favourite City in Ireland even though I´ve only been there for a couple Hours. Galway has loads of gorgeous churches and small lanes. Very cute City!

The cliffs of Moher:
Fiona, Jenna and I went there in october and I have to say it was AMAZING! The weather was literally perfect and we took many beautiful pictures. The cliffs are stunning and I beg y´all to go there when you visit Ireland.

I hope you´ve enjoyed the post!

Nici

Things every exchange student knows ;)

Hey guys,

today’s post is gonna be about things (almost) every exchange student knows. Obviously I can’t speak for everyone out there but I talked to other exchange students as well and this is the list we created together. It is just for entertaining purposes and not to offend anyone. Enjoy lads!

1. Talking about your new teachers etc with other exchange students in your language. And you’ll always have a secret language also when you are talking to someone on the phone.
2. People ask you to teach them swearing words in your native language. Yup, this happens way too often.😂
3. People will always know someone who knows someone who has a friend who has a cousin who has a girlfriend who has a sister that has been to your home country.
4. This point is just about Ireland and Germany but so many people here actually know some german. Once I had a conversation with a friend in the supermarket and suddenly someone turned around to ask us what language we were speaking. When we told him we spoke german he said goodbye to us in German when he left.😂🤨
5. You will helplessly fall in love with something that you can only have in your host country. For example a certain restaurant, a sport, a dish whatever.
6. We all start randomly speaking to the wrong person in the wrong language and start texting your friends in english or whatever language by accident.
7. When talking to a person in one language we try to use idioms and sayings etc. from the other language.
8. Sometimes we just speak a weird mixture of languages. (Kurze Anekdote für die deutschsprachigen Leser: ich habe einmal mit einer Freundin geskypet und währenddessen gegessen. Irgendwann sagte ich ihr, dass ich kurz meine Platte wegbringen gehe. Jap, ich habe statt Teller Platte gesagt, da es im Englischen ja plate heißt...😂🤦🏼‍♀️)
9. The friendships made in the host country feel like yearlong friendships even though I know the people for just a couple months. Especially the friendships I developed with the other exchange students throughout the times are amazing and very deep.
       10. Last but not least: The time abroad feels like a few days only but on the other hand like years.

I hoped you liked this post. The german translation will follow in one or two days I am just too lazy.

See you
Nici

Typical irish words/phrases

Hey guys,

before I start writing the actual post I would ask you to write me any questions you have about my exchange year or Ireland either in the comments or if you have my number on WhatsApp. I am planning on doing a post about funny things I've been asked so far so I would combine it with a Q&A if anyone has any questions. :)
This post will be about words and phrases that are typical for irish english and some of them are typical for Cork-accent in particular. Enjoy it. :)

1. Lads- that means the same thing as guys and is usually used when talking to a group of people in the same way as guys.
Das hat die gleiche Bedeutung wie "guys" und wird für gewöhnlich benutzt, wenn man eine Gruppe von Leuten anredet.
2. Folks- same thing as lads.
Bedeutet das Gleiche wie "lads".
3. Thanks a million- that means obviously thank you.
Eine Art "thank you" zu sagen.
4. Thanks very much- something I find very funny actually since it combines thanks and thank you very  much.
Ich finde es amüsant, dass die Iren viel diese Kombi aus "Thanks" und "Thank you very much" benutzen.
5. Like- people here use the word like so often and it is a very common way to start a sentence
Warum auch immer benutzen die Leute hier unwahrscheinlich gerne das Wort "like", auch um Sätze anzufangen.
6. You know the way (like)- when people explain something they usually use this phrase to start off with their explanation.
Dieser Satz wird für gewöhnlich genutzt, um eine Erklärung anzufangen.
7. And stuff- when listing things "and stuff" is used to finish off the list.
Das ist eine andere Version für "etc" und wird am Ende von Aufzählungen verwendet.
8. Grand- another word for great.
Ein anderes Wort für "great".
9. Lovely- pretty or good
Bedeutet so viel wie "schön" oder "gut"
10. Fair enough- I would explain this as a different way of saying something is okay or not too bad. But correct me if that is not right. :)
Ich würde es deuten als eine Art auszudrücken, dass etwas nicht zu schlecht oder okay ist. Aber wenn ich da falsch liege, korrigiert mich!
11. What's the story?- that means the same thing as "what happens/happened".
Das bedeutet so viel wie "was ist passiert oder was ist los".
12. How are you? -I am good.- I dunno if that is typical for irish english but I've never heard of "I am good" as a response of the question "How are you". I just knew "I am fine".
Ich hatte noch nie vorher "I'm good" gehört, immer nur "I'm fine".

That is everything that came to my mind. I hope you liked this post. Take care!

Bye <3

Translation Introduction:
Ich würde alle Leser bitten, mir, wenn ihr Fragen habt, die entweder über WhatsApp oder in der Kommentarsektion meines Blogs zu stellen. Denn ich plane einen Post über lustige Dinge, die ich schonmal gefragt worden bin, zu machen; wenn Fragen vorhanden sind, würde ich den Post dann mit einem kleinen Q&A verbinden. :)

Impressions Ireland 2018/19 #2

Weihnachtsstimmung in Cobh.

Christmas mood in Cobh.

Der Blick auf meinem Weg zum Bahnhof.

The view on the way to the train station.

Weihnachtsdeko in Cork.

Christmas decoration in Cork.

Und nochmal Weihnachtslichter in Cork.

And again christmas lights in Cork.

Die wunderschöne Gasse mit dem besten Restaurant der Welt (Wenn ihr in Cork seid, geht zu Ramen essen!)

The beautiful lane with the world's best restaurant. (If you are in Cork I highly recommend eating at Ramen!)

Lagerfeuer am Strand.

Our bonfire at the beach.

Der Blick vom Riesenrad in Cork.

The view down from the ferris wheel in Cork.

3 months in Ireland (German and English)

Hey guys,

happy 3 months anniversary. Today 3 months ago I came to Ireland. It's unbelievable how fast time passed!

This is my notorious monthly update. Have fun reading it! ;)

Wie geht es mir momentan?
Mir geht es ziemlich gut, mit meiner Gastfamilie läuft es immer noch super, die Schule macht mir ziemlich viel Spaß und ich habe eine gute Zeit. Aaaber bei uns in der Schule ist die Heizung kaputt und es hat deshalb ca. 5 Grad Celsius im Klassenraum.

How am I feeling at the moment?
I'm good, my hostfamily is amazing and we are still getting along with each other very well
I still like the school and I have a good time. But the heating in school doesn't work so it's approximately 5° Celsius in our rooms.

Heimweh?
Diesen Monat hatte ich quasi kein Heimweh. Klar, manchmal vermisse ich meine Freunde und vorallem Essen, aber so gut wie gar nicht. Okay doch, ich vermisse Brötchen mega. Ernsthaft, das ist schrecklich.😂 First world problems lassen grüßen, wenn man keine Probleme hat, macht man sich welche. 😂

Am/was I homesick?
This month I was almost not homesick at all. Of course, from time to time I really miss my friends and Brötchen but not that often. Okay, I really miss Brötchen but that is a true first world problem.😂

Schule?
Ich mag die Schule immer noch gerne, vorallem Buchhaltung ist toll. Das werde ich echt vermissen!

How do I like the school?
I still like school especially Accounting. I am really gonna miss that!

Freunde?
Diesen Monat habe ich mich vorallem mit den Deutschen in meiner Stufe mega gut angefreundet. Hier am Ort habe ich meine wundervollen Freunde (Austauschschüler), mit denen ich auch viel unternehme. Manchmal sind dann da auch ein paar Iren dabei, wenn wir z.B. im Coffeeshop sind.

What about friends?
This month I became closer with the other Germans in my grade. Here in my town live many other exchange students (my lovely friends) and we also hang around very often. From time to time some irish people are with us as well.

Highlights this month:
- going to "Ramen" with my friends
- watching "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the cinema (I am so glad I could watch it in English!)

I hope you enjoyed my post.

See you!
Nici

Irish names (English and German)

Hey guys,

this post will be about irish names. I will talk about typical irish first names, common first names here and common surnames. Of course can I only speak about my experiences. Have fun and maybe you'll fall in love with irish names as much as I did! :)

Typical irish names I face in my everyday life:

1. Aoibh (Eve)
2. Aoife (Eva)
3. Méabh/Maeve/ Meadhbh (Maef)
4. Caiomhe (Quee-va)
5. Cian (Ki-an)
6. Sinéad (shi-nade)
7. Saoirse (sir-sha)
8. Blathnaid (Blaw-nid)
9. Ciara (Ki-ra)
10. Kaitlin/Caitlyn/Kathlin/Kathleen (Kate-lin)

After I talked to one of my irish friends about irish name she told me lots of more irish names and I am going to list a few of them here as well even though I know noone named like that. :)

1. Siobhán (Shi-van)
2. Muire (Ma-ry)
3. Eimear (Ee-mer)
4. Roisin (Ro-sheen)
5. Niamh (Nee-of)
6. Gráinne (Grawn-ya)
7. Kayleigh (Kay- lee)
8. Ruarí (Ro-ry)
9. Diarmuid (Deer-mid)
10. Séan (Shawn)

First names that are very common here:
1. Sarah (oh lord, I know 4 or 5 Sarahs...😂)
2. Shannon/ Shannen
3. Katie
4. Kellie
5. Abby
6. Ann/ Anna
7. Mary

Common surnames:
1. McCarthy
2. Murphy
3. O Mahony
4. Kelleher
5. Twomey
6. O Sullivan
7. O Connell

These are the names that came to my mind spontaneously but as I said they are based on my experiences. :)

Hope you liked this post.

See you!

Nici

---------------TRANSLATION----------------

Hey Leute,

dieser Post wird von irischen Namen handeln. Zuerst von typisch irischen Vornamen und deren interessanten Schreibweise, dann häufig vertretenen Vor- und Nachnamen. Alles basiert natürlich auf meinen Erfahrungen. Habt Spaß mit dem Post und vielleicht verliebt ihr euch ja auch so in irische Namen wie ich. ;)

Irische Namen, die mir mehr oder weniger jeden Tag begegnen:

1. Aiobh (If)
2. Aoife (Ifa)
3. Méabh/Maeve/ Meadhbh (Maef)
4. Caiomhe (Quee-va)
5. Cian (Ki-an)
6. Sinéad (sche-näid)
7. Saoirse (sir-sha)
8. Blathnaid (Blo-nid)
9. Ciara (Ki-ra)
10. Kaitlin/Caitlyn/Kathlin/Kathleen (Käit-lin)

Das sind noch ein paar weitere irische Namen, die mir eine irische Freundin gezeigt hat, zu denen ich aber keinen Träger kenne:

1. Siobhán (Schi-won)
2. Muire (Mä-ry)
3. Eimear (Ih-mer)
4. Roisin (Ro-schien)
5. Niamh (Nie-of)
6. Gráinne (Gron-ja)
7. Kayleigh (Käi-lie)
8. Ruarí (Ro-ry)
9. Diarmuid (Dir-mid)
10. Séan (Schon)

Sehr populäre Vornamen hier:

1. Sarah (oh lord, ich kenne 4 or 5 Sarahs...😂)
2. Shannon/ Shannen
3. Katie
4. Kellie
5. Abby oder Abigail
6. Ann/ Anna
7. Mary

Verbreitete Nachnamen:
1. McCarthy
2. Murphy
3. O Mahony
4. Kelleher
5. Twomey
6. O Sullivan
7. O Connell

Ich hoffe, euch hat dieser Post gefallen und ihr seid nun auch den irischen Namen so sehr verfallen wie ich...😂

Bis bald

Nici

Thoughts in the night

Hey lads!

This post won't have a real sense I just wanna talk about my current thoughts. At the moment I'm sitting at the beach with my hostfamily and a few friends,we have a fire and I'm feeling hust fine. Well, it's a bit cold since it's November already and half 8 pm. Yep it's November already. I am only here for less than three more months and I really don't wanna leave yet. Next week half of my time will be over and I just can't believe it. 2,5 months passed like the blink of an eye. In three months, I will be back in Germany. Back in my old grade. Back with my friends. But then I will have to leave so many awesome people behind and I don't wanna think about it. I will leave a part of me in Ireland. I think this time changes me a lot. Maybe not in a way visible for others, but my thinking and my feelings definitely change. I feel like these 2 months here already changed me. And there are almost 3 more following. I feel like the time here made me stronger but on the other handside it feels like I'm much more vulnerable now. It feels so weird to write this because it is so private and kinda intimate. But my blog is about me (let's be selfish!) so I will talk about myself. Before I came here I hated the typical exchange year quote "exchange isn't a year in a life, it's a life in a year". But now I can understand it and really relate to it. It is true. I won't ever be in the same situation again, I won't ever be with the same people again and I won't ever be the same me again. Oh man, deep shit hahaha! I won't translate it to german this time, I'm sorry guys <3. A translation would be weird for me since I think in english while writing this. It just wouldn't be as honest and as pure as the english text.

See you

Nici

Impressions Ireland 2018/19

Ein Kleeblatt, was ich im Wald gefunden habe.
Clover I found in a forest.

Die Cliffs of Moher.

The cliffs of moher.

Mehr Cliffs of Moher.

More impressions of the cliffs of moher.

Andere Seite der Klippen.

The other side of the cliffs of moher.

Schafe, extra für Annika.😂❤

Sheep, just for Annika.

Sonnenuntergang in Cobh.

Sunset in Cobh.

Cobh.

Sonnenaufgang über Cork. 

Sunrise in Cork.

Sonnenaufgang in Littleisland.

Sunrise in Littleisland.

Sushi, den wir gestern in Japanisch gemacht haben. 

Sushi we made yesterday in our japanese class.

2 months in Ireland (German and English)

Hey guys,

this post is an update because I am in Ireland for two months now. Have fun reading it! ;)

Wie geht es mir momentan?
Mir geht es ziemlich gut, mit meiner Gastfamilie läuft es immer noch super, die Schule macht mir ziemlich viel Spaß, auch wenn es echt anstrengend ist und ich dauernd Klausuren und Tests und was nicht noch alles hatte.

How am I feeling at the moment?
I'm good, my hostfamily is amazing and we are still getting along with each other very well, I like the school even though it is stressful because we have tests etc very often.

Heimweh?
Die erste Woche dieses Monats war echt nicht gut. In der Schule habe ich mich total einsam gefühlt, kaum geredet und wollte einfach nur nach Deutschland. Aber am Wochenende habe ich mir gesagt, dass die nächste Woche besser wird und so war es auch! Inzwischen fühle ich mich total wohl in der Schule und baue auch langsam Freundschaften auf. Während einer non-Irish Stunde, in der wir unsere selbstgeschriebenen Gedichte vorgetragen haben, hatte ich dann nochmal ziemlich Heimweh. Denn eine der deutschen Austauschschülerinnen hat ein wunderschönes Gedicht geschrieben über den Abschied und auch über Heimweh. Aber seitdem hatte ich kein Heimweh mehr.

Am/was I homesick?
In the first week of the second month here I wasn't feeling well and I felt very alone in school. I just wanted to go back to Germany. But on the weekend I told myself that the next week will be better and of course it was! Now I really like school and I start having friends.
In a non-irish lesson we had to present poems we wrote by ourselves and one german girl wrote a beautiful poem about homesickness and that was very touching and made me homesick. But since that day I wasn't homesick anymore.

Schule?
Ich mag die Schule immer noch gerne, vorallem jetzt wo ich in Erdkunde statt Wirtschaft bin. Aber es ist echt anstrengend und ich habe viele Tests bzw Klausuren.

How do I like the school?
I still like school especially since I changed from Economics to Geography. But it is quite exhausting and I have many tests.

Freunde?
Ich bin super happy in meinem Ort die Austauschschüler wohnen zu haben und ich verstehe mich immer noch sehr gut mit den Zugleuten. Auch mit den deutschen Mädels in meiner Stufe verstehe ich mich sehr gut und wir haben immer viel Spaß. Mit den Irinnen wird es auch immer besser und ich habe inzwischen einige Leute gefunden, mit denen ich mich richtig gut verstehe.

What about friends?
I have a few amazing girls that are on my school and exchange students as well who I really like. They also live in my town and we take the train together. Also the german girls in my grade are super nice and we are getting along very well. I also found irish girls I really enjoy spending time with.

Highlights this month:
My trip to the cliffs of moher with Fiona and Jenna and the sleepover in school. :)

Ich kann gar nicht glauben, dass ich seit zwei Monaten hier bin... es fühlt sich eher an wie zwei Wochen, die Zeit vergeht so schnell!

I can't believe at all, that I am here for two months already; it felt more like two weeks!

I hope you enjoyed my post.

See you!
Nici

The irish school system (English and German)

Hey people!

In this post I'd like to tell you about the irish school system in general and of course a bit more details about my school.

The irish usually start pre-school in the age of 4, but it is not obligatory. They start attending primary school in the age of 6. Primary school includes the first until the sixth class. Afterwards they go to the secondary school. The change usually occurs in the age of 12. The fist three years of secondary school make up the junior cycle and with finishing 3rd class, they get their junior certificate. 4th class is the optional transition year. It can be taken, if not, students directly attend senior cycle. Senior cycle (5th and 6th year) prepares them for and leads them to the leaving certificate. Irish is an obligatory subject for every child that is born in Ireland, but in special cases exceptions are made.

I attend transition year. But what is transition year?

Transition year takes place during the 4th year of secondary school and is optional. In many schools the students have the opportunity to try different subjects to find out what they like and what they want to take for their leaving cert. (So during 5th and 6th year) Other schools let the students choose their subjects for senior cycle in the beginning of TY, so does my school. Furthermore the students can experience different modules, go on trips and do other activities. For example my school does a sleepover in school in TY which I will have soon. And of course work experience is an important part of TY.

Since I don't know what other schools are doing in particular I will now talk about my school.

I had the choice of three subjects, one out of each category:

Biology- Accounting- Business
Bioloy- Business-Chemistry
Home Economics- Economics- Geography

I went for Biology because I wanted to stuck to one of my important german subjects, Accounting to try something new and Economics because I thought that could be interesting. Unfortunately I didn't like Economics and to be honest I didn't really get it, so I changed to Geography instead. During 3/4 Irish classes I have special english classes with the other internationals. The other obligatory subjects are Maths, English, PE and French.

In my school we have a few so called modules which are basically subjects, but are only tought in TY. In the following I will talk about a few of them.

Mini Company: In this class we have to set up our own business and really sell our own product. We learn what it needs to be a good interpreneur and we want to take part in competitions.
Y.S.I (Young social innovators): This is a competition in which we have to plan our own project/camapgne on a social issue we are concerned about. If youxare interested in it, just search it on YouTube to get a better idea of what it is.

Gaísce: This is the so called president award. During one year you have to fulfill four exercises and in the end you get the bronze gaísce award.
The tasks are:
-Do something social/ community work for one hour a week
- Do physical activity for one hour a week
-Personal skill; learn a music instrument or driving etc.
-go on an adventure; e.g. a hiking group trip
We either have gaísce or Y.S.I., I am in Y.S.I. so I don't know what they are doing during their classes.

Japanese/Chinese/ Drama: Each of the three modules is tought for about 10 weeks and they are all obligatory.

We have a few more subjects/modules, but these are the most interesting ones and I think this should be enough.

See you!

Nici

--------------------------------------------
Hey Leute,

in diesem Post wird es um das irische Schulsystem genere und auch um Besonderheiten meiner Schule gehen.

Die Iren fangen an die Vorschule zu besuchen, wenn sie vier Jahre alt sind. Diese Vorschule ist nicht obligatorisch, Schulpflicht besteht erst ab dem 6. Lebensjahr. Die Grundschule beginnt im Alter von normalerweise sechs Jahren und umfasst 6 Jahre. Nach der sechsten Klasse wechseln die Iren (normalerweise im Alter von 12 Jahren) auf die weiterführende Schule, die fünf oder sechs Jahre dauert. Man beginnt wieder von vorne zu zählen, ergo das, was in Deutschland 7. Klasse heißt, heißt hier wieder 1. Klasse (First year). Die ersten drei Jahre der Secondary school (weiterführende Schule) sind der so genannte Junior Cycle. Mit dem Vollenden des third years (=9. Klasse) erreichen die Iren ihr Junio Cert, was mit dem deutschen Realschulabschluss vergleichbar. Nach dem Junior Cycle wird entweder das Transition year (fourth year= 10. Klasse) besucht oder direkt der Senior Cycle (fifth und sixth year= 11. und 12. Klasse) Im Senior Cycle wird auf das Leaving Cert (= Abitur) hingearbeiet, das am Ende des sixth years erreicht wird. Irisch ist hier ein Pflichfach für alle in Irland geborenen Kinder, vom Anfang der Grundschule an. Ausnahmen werden in seltenen Fällen gemacht.

Ich bin im Transition Year. Aber was genau ist das?

Das TY findet im fourth year (=10. Klasse) statt und ist optional. In vielen Schulen können die Schüler in dem Jahr die verschiedenen Fächer ausprobieren, um zu wissen was ihnen liegt und Spaß macht. So können sie für ihr Leaving Cert bzw. den Senior Cycle die Fächer vor der wichtigen und entscheidenden Wahl erst ausprobieren ohne wichtige Klausuren zu haben. In meiner Schule ist das nicht so. Hier wählen die Schüler schon am Beginn des TY die endgültigen Fächer für ihr Leaving Cert bzw den Senior Cycle. Aber es kann natürlich noch gewechselt werden. Desweiteren geht es im TY auch um Praktika und viele andere Aktivitäten und Ausflüge werden durchgeführt. Ich habe zum Beispiel bald eine Übernachtung in der Schule.

Natürlich kenne ich nicht das Programm von anderen Schulen und kann so nur über meine Fächer und Module reden.

Ich konnte drei Fächer wählen, eins aus jeder Kategorie.

Biologie- Business- Buchhaltung
Biologie- Business- Chemie
Hauswirtschaft- Wirtschaft- Erdkunde

Ich habe Bio, weil ich das in Deuschland brauche, Buchhaltung, weil ich was Neues probieren wollte und Wirtschaft, weil ich dachte, dass es interessant ist, gewählt. Spoiler; ich habe in Wirtschaft nichts verstanden und langweilig war es obendrein, deshalb habe ich umgewählt und habe jetzt Erdkunde. Wenn die Iren Irisch haben, habe ich spezielle Englischstunden mit den anderen Austauschschülern. Meine restlichen Pflichtfächer sind Englisch, Mathe, Sport und Französisch.

In meiner Schule gibt es ein paar Module. Module unterscheiden sich in sofern von normalen Schulfächern, dass es sie nur im TY gibt.

Mini Company: In diesem Fach müssen wir unser eigenes Business aufbauen und eine eigene Geschäftsidee ins Rollen bringen. Mit diesen Projekten müssen wir dann Geld verdienen und später auch in Wettbewerben antreten.

Y.S.I.: Dieses Fach beschäftigt sich mit der Gesellschaft. Wir spezialisieren uns auf ein gesellschaftliches Problem, was uns interessiert und arbeiten dann ein Projekt bzw eine Kampagne zu dem Thema aus. Das Ganze ist ein Wettbewerb, gebt es doch einfach mal bei YouTube ein, wenn es euch interessiert.

Gaísce: Oder auch der President Award. Um besagten Award zu bekommen, müssen in einem Jahr folgende Kriterien/ Aufgaben erfüllt werden:
- Man muss eine Stunde die Woche etwas für die Gesellschaft tun
- Man muss sich eine Stunde die Woche sportlich betätigen
-Man muss eine persönliche Fähigkeit entwickeln, z. B. das Erlernen eines Musikinstruments
- Man muss an einem Abenteuer teilhaben, beispielsweise an einer Gruppenwanderung
Da wir entweder YSI oder Gaísce haben und ich in YSI bin, weiß ich nicht, was während der Gaísce Stunden gemacht wird.

Japanisch/ Chinesisch/Drama:
Alle drei Fächer müssen während des Schuljahres gemacht werden und werden jeweils ca. 10 Wochen lang unterrichtet.

Wir haben noch ein paar mehr Fächer bzw Module, aber das sind die spannendsten.

Bis bald

Nici

P.s: Im Laufe der nächsten Woche werde ich zum Thema "Unterschiede Irland-Deutschland; was vermisse ich und was habe ich schon lieben gelernt/ Neue Sachen ausprobieren" bloggen. Bis dahin bleibt gesund und habt ne gute Zeit. Und die Leute in NRW; schöne Ferien!