Dublin

Dia dhaoibh (Grüß Gott), 

how are you? I'd like to tell you just a bit more about my trips to Dublin. 

The first week of October we had a meeting in Dublin with all the other assistants on Thursday and Friday. (Just a little excursion: My school wouldn't pay me unless I have an Irish bank account, in order to open a bank account I needed a PPS number, which is basically a social insurance number. The office for the PPS number is in Tralee) Soooo I went to Tralee to get this number on Wednesday and took the train to Dublin from there. The meeting on Thursday and Friday was okay, but it was mostly for getting to know all the other 30 German, 60 French, 12 Italian and 9 Spanish assistants from all over Ireland. During the day we walked around and we went out at night to listen to great live music. On Saturday I biked through Phoenix Park which is just huge! And on Sunday I took the train home. It was very relaxing because I was under no pressure to do sightseeing because..........


The next week the TYs (Transition Year, 4th grade) went on a trip to Dublin and I was allowed to come along! The itinerary (one of many new fancy words I learned) was more than full! We saw the Dáil Éireann, the Book of Kells, many museums, Croke Park, the Glasnevin cemetery, the zoo and of course the Guiness Store House (which is really worth seeing if anyone hasn't been there yet)! :) And we went to the musical "The Commitments" based on an old movie. I really liked it! Lots of soul music... It was great to see all these things and nice to get to know the students! I can't wait for the next trip I may go to!

So here are just a few more pictures:

again lots of colorful doors :D

A bit of Dublin's architecture

Temple Bar 

The Library in Trinity College. Apparently some scenes of Harry Potter were filmed here! It's quite impressive!

Some of the other German assistants (Next week I will travel around with the second one on the left, Lena)

Dublin City Center -> Molly Malone: Apparently you have to touch her breasts for good luck ;)

These guys were sitting all over town. A bit creepy but cool! Better than guys in clown's masks

Live music on the streets! So cool :) 

Phoenix Park right outside the city center. That's also where the zoo is

They actually bite you (not me but so I've been told...)

All the sightseeing buses go through there as well

So cool to have your own seats!!!! 

That's it for now. Dublin is nice and there's lots to do but I am also very happy to live down here :)

Talk to you soon!

The school

Dia Dhuit, 

My school is called "Coláiste na Sceilge". Their homepage is: http://colaistenasceilge.ie.
Kathleen, the German teacher, is my mentor and she is amazing! Very lively and open-minded. It is fun working with her (at least so far because I have only been there for a few days) and it seems like I'll be in class for some lessons and have an own small group for other lessons. We'll see about that. Actually, next to writing this post I am preparing a presentation about the months of the year.

This school is luckily an Englisch speaking school (compared to a few ones where Irish is the main language for teaching). Everyone has been so welcoming and helpful! By now (after 5 days of school) I know about one third of the teacher's names... Interestingly, there are many young teachers. The youngest is I think 23 and one of the teachers started teaching with 21 (he's 30 now). 

The students are lovely. It is an overall very respectful atmosphere and I am looking forward to getting to know them better and working with them. It is adorable that they call their teachers "Miss" and "Sir" :) 

In difference to Germany, secondary school is from 1st year up to 6th year. When students finish school they are around 18 years old. There is a Junior and a Senior Cycle. So after grade three they have a Junior Cert(ificate), like the ZP10 in Germany, grade four is an optional Transitions Year (TY), which is filled with tons of projects and class trips. If I am not mistaken the students have to pay around 800€ for the whole year which includes nearly all expenses. In general, they are out one day a week to see shows, visit museums and colleges, hear talks, go hiking, etc. Basically everything. When I think back to grade 11, which is supposed to give students a chance to go abroad without missing too much at school, we did not have that many activities unfortunately. After that there are two more years preparing for the Leaving Cert, which is like the Abitur in Germany. The German level however, is farely low though. It is mostly about learning by heart and reproducing sentences. The way to give grades are different as well but this is another story. The best news I got on my first day was that I am allowed to accompany the TYs on their class trip to Dublin!!! The trip was from Wednesday to Friday and it was amazing! Here are some impressions of Dublin and our touring around: 

Irish live music is awesome!!!

Colorful Dublin doors

Trinity Library

Croke Park has so much history to it and the tour guide was fabulous! 

Part of the advertisement section in the Guiness Storehouse! :D

Trip to the zoo

Amur Tigers are huge!

Amazing blue sea the day after we've returned!

It was also a great chance to get to know my colleagues better. Paul, 28, a history and Irish teacher who was born here, Jean, 23, a new teacher for English and German, although she ist not teaching any German this year and Shane, 30, year head of the TYs and teacher for computers, wood work and something else. And although there was the usual teenie trouble, the students were really good and it was nice to get to know them apart from school. Unfortunately none of them do German :( But at the end they asked me if I will be joining them on more trips and I am hoping to do so! So after three days of running around Dublin and little sleep the bus was very quiet for most if the drive back. In the last 40 minutes though, the students started singing and were going completely crazy singing "Shane O.'s on fire...." and different variations for the other teachers. I got "Germans on fire" and "Sweet Caroline" :) 

I know that the musical "Grease" performed by students in December and I might give the responsible teacher a hand. Maybe I'm allowed to use a school guitar after lessons to practice a bit or use the gym in the school. Apparently you can do different sports around here as well, but mostly GAA Football, Rugby, Hurling or Camogie. There is loads of things that I could do so I guess, that in a few weeks time, I'll have my free time filled a bit more.

That's it for now. Let me know if you have any questions :)  

Revival

Hey everyone,

it's been forever since I wrote something...
So my stay in Ireland is a good opportunity to revive the and fill it with more pictures, stories and impressions.
Actually, when I updated it a bit I went through all the entries about Canada and it felt as if I was back there with everyone. I won't ever forget that time! At the same time it seems so far away ...

I've been here since September 28th and already have so much to tell you....

First of all, though, what am I doing here?
I am a German language assistant at a secondary school in the southwest of Kerry. Meaning that, for the school year, I am going to assist the German teacher, trying to motivate the students, giving them a bit of insight into German stuff and getting some teaching experience.

I am living very close to the school in a house with two other teachers and the view from here is simply amazing! 

To be honest, I probably couldn't have been more lucky regarding the weather when I arrived. There were almost four straight days of sunshine and I got to see some nice places here in Cahersiveen :) Most of all I am impressed by the breathtaking landscape!



So that's it for the start.

Sláinte (Cheers)