Even if I am in TY, some teachers are just devils: They want us to write one assessment per term. We wrote an assessment in History, Maths and English. And because my History Essay about Alcock and Brown is too boring to publish here and I think you guys don’t want to see my Math test, I decided to post my Assessment in English from this term. We had to write a Personal Essay. Our teacher gave us seven topics and I chose to write an essay about “The people, the experiences and the places that formed you into the person that you are today”. I changed it a little bit but most it is the original Essay, I gave to my teacher.

Growing up b.G

I was born in 2003. In a time, I personally like to call b.G. Before Google. Well, technically, this isn’t correct. Google was founded in 1998, but the initial public offering took place in 2004. So, I grew up without having internet and without having Google. If I grew up about ten years later, I would be a completely different person. I had some as a child, some really creative ideas to spend my free time. Most of them were quite dangerous and I often fell off some tree but I had a happy childhood. Most of the time I used my imagination to create things that weren’t there. As Albert Einstein said:” Imagination is more powerful than knowledge. Because Imagination is unlimited while knowledge is limited.” As a child, this is absolutely true. You don’t know much but you are using your unlimited imagination

I spent most of my days playing football on a dirty little pitch. After the rain, it was really muddy there, but as a child, I didn’t care. I played with friends or my dad when there were no other people available.  Which was very often the case. I wanted to play soccer in a club as well but my parents didn’t want me to go there. I still don’t, why. Instead of playing soccer in a club, I started Judo at the age of five.

It was one of the best decisions my parents made for me. I didn’t know much about Judo; it was an unknown sport for the five-year-old me. As I first came in there, I was really scared because I was afraid that my mother couldn’t come with me. Luckily, my trainer is one of the friendliest people, I’ve ever met. I learned one of my most important skills in Judo. To fight. My trainer used to say, that 50% of a fight isn’t won by being stronger and faster. It is won by being smarter and having the will to win.

With my family, we were traveling a lot. My aunt and my uncle were living in Dubai and we used to visit them once a year for five years. I remember the house of my aunt, with a big pool, where my cousins and I used to swim. I remember the small boat on the pool. We often just stand on the boat and bet who will fall off first. To this day my cousins and me, despite that they are living in England, have a really good relationship.

I remember another trip with my family to Turkey very well. I was five years old, my sister was about two years and my mum was a little bit sick around this time. We stayed in a hotel near a beach. Because my mum was sick and my sister was really young they went to bed really early. On some days my dad and I went to the beach in the evening to watch the sunset. We walked on a wooden path beside our hotel, the lights were shining in a light yellow, we watched the little birds in the trees and the rabbit, which sat every evening at the same spot. After the sunset, we just stood there and my dad told me stories about his childhood. Maybe this is why I love books and stories so much.

The next year, I went to primary school. I knew one girl, who was with me in Kindergarten. We walked to school on our first school day holding hands. We stayed really good friends the whole time in primary school. But she wasn’t my only friend. I found a lot of other friends there. My two best friends I found around the second class. We all loved soccer, table tennis and walking through the forest imagining all the cool stories from the books we read happening to us. When we met, it was really different from meeting people today. In today’s world, you text them a couple of times and in the end, nothing’s working out. When I met my friends, I went to their house and rang the doorbell. The alternative was to ring them before. We all knew each other phone numbers. It was really simple and uncomplicated.

In the second class, I started to play the accordion. I still don’t know why I chose the Accordion, but for some reason, I had a passion for it. Six other kids started with me. Most of them gave up after a year or two. I wasn’t very talented but I was the only one, who didn’t give up after two years. My teacher told me, shortly before he was leaving that he thought, I would be the first to give up. Even if I struggled with a piece, I kept on playing until it worked out. It is so important to keep on going even it is hard. You’ll feel much better after it. 

In primary school, my family and I traveled to Bornholm for the first time, a small island near Denmark.  We stayed in a small house and did a lot of hiking, cycling and for me and my sister climbing on trees and rocks. Bornholm and a lot of walking with my parents in Italy and Austria made me an outdoor person. I still love walking in the mountains and climbing. Once, when I was in fifth grade my mum and I made a tour for two days in Austria. It is one of my favorite memories with my mum. At the end of the first day, shortly before we arrived at the cottage, I was so exhausted, I didn’t want to go on. But my mum stayed with me and motivated me to move on.

All these happy experiences during my primary school time had the negative side effect that I was very naive. Secondary school was a reality shock for me.

When I came to secondary school, I really had a problem that all my friends went to a different school than me or a different class in my school. All the people I didn’t like came with me to a class. I lost my two best friends from primary school and had a pretty tough time in the first two years in secondary school. Then in sixth grade, my accordion teacher told me that he had to change his job and couldn’t teach me anymore. This was one of the moments, my world crashed. I really admired him. He had unlimited patience with me even if I wasn’t talented. He was the best accordion teacher I’ve ever had and I learned a lot from him.

In seventh grade, I found friends and slowly started to have more confidence again. My family and I often went to a lake or some small rivers with a canoe. I was pretty confident about most outside activities and often thought I knew everything. A lesson a few later taught me that I didn’t know everything.

It was in May 2018, when I went with the scouts for two weeks to Sweden. We went there without any technology and some of us asked ourselves if we would survive. To be fair, we all came back alive. We spent most of the two weeks on a small island on a lake. On the third day, we went for a six-day tour with canoes. Most of the lakes in Sweden are connected and you can paddle a few weeks on them without seeing anybody. The first day was really nice. The sun was shining, everybody was in a good mood and we did about 25km. I felt pretty confident because I did far better than most of the others. That wasn’t a big surprise because I paddled a couple of times before. However, I became a little bit arrogant. A big mistake. I had to find out the next evening. But before the story, you need a little bit of background information: We had aluminum canoes, which weigh about 40kg and are quite difficult to drive on your own. The second thing is that we always needed clean water for the dishes and we used 20l canisters. Every evening someone had to go out on the lake and get some clear water. And this specific evening it was my turn to go. A friend offered to come with me, but because I felt so confident, I said that I’ll be fine on my own. So, I went out and this beautiful evening. It was warm, a beautiful sunset and I was alone in my canoe on this lake. It was absolutely amazing. We had a great day, where we did about 20km and the weather was absolutely brilliant. What could possibly go wrong? Well, one of possibilities is, that the wind could turn and become stronger. Of course, it happened. It happened slowly and I didn’t notice it because I was too busy to looking at the sunset.

After a couple of minutes, I wanted to go back to the island we were staying on. Normally, this is no big deal, especially for me, who thought, is experienced in paddling. This was my thought at the moment. But as I wanted to turn my canoe, I noticed, I couldn’t. Slowly, I realized that the wind had turned and become stronger. I really tried my best to turn the boat, while the other scouts on the island were wondering what idiot is on the lake despite the strong wind. Luckily, three lads came to save me. This incident taught me a lesson. You can be really good at something, you can be pretty confident about that but never ever underestimate the power of nature.

In August 2019, I went to Ireland for seven months. It is an adventure. I met many new people and made new friends. But it wasn’t easy at the beginning, because I am an introvert. All my confidence was gone in the first few weeks. I barely spoke to people. But then I thought:” If you stay in this stage, the exchange year is a waste. You are here to meet new people, to make new experiences. Use your chance.” I started to talk more, I tried to be more open. And with time, I started to make friends. I learned, that sometimes the best thing you can do is just be part of the group and be opened.

The exchange year was and still is a rollercoaster. I have only three weeks left before I have to go back to Germany. So, to my friends and my family in Germany: Enjoy the rest of your time without me. I’ll be back soon.

In my opinion, the most important things in life are an open heart and a circle of people, who like you as you are.   

This Monday our TY trip to Dublin started. The bus left at school at 8:00 a.m and it was actually the first time in my time in Ireland that the bus left on time. We drove about 3 hours before the first stop somewhere between Galway and Dublin. After two more hours of driving we reached Dublin.

We were supposed to visit the Kilmainham Jail at 1:00 p.m. Because we were early we vistited a park with a memorial for the irish soldiers that fought in WorldWar I by the side of the british soldiers. Ireland sent 300,000 soldiers to fight with the Britains of which 49,900 didn’t return. Until 2011 when Queen Elizabeth visited the Memorial, Britain denied the sacrifice of the irish soldiers.

After twenty minutes we went back to Kilmainham Jail. Most of the leaders of the irish revolution in 1916 were locked and killed there. Some famous names are Patrick Pearse, William Pearse, James Connolly and John MacBride. The jail is not only known for his prisoners. Because it was very close to the sea, the irish government decided to keep prisoners there who were later brought to Australia or other penalty colonies. It was closed in 1924 after Ireland was independent from Great Britain. It was probably the most “boring” station on our trip.

After the jail, we went to the Wax museum in Dublin. It is smaller than Madame Tussaud’s in London but still interesting. We walked through a mirror maze, which was good fun because most of us crashed into a mirror after a few steps. It was funny to watch but not so funny when I ran into the mirrors. I met a lot of famous people like Albert Einstein, St. Patrick, Van Morrison, and Phyl Lynott. A lot of fictional characters like Yoda, Gollum, Mad-Eye-Moody, and Qui-Gon-Jinn were there as well.

For dinner we drove to Slane, a small village near Dublin. Because we were early, most of us went to the local grocery store to buy tons of crisps and sweets.

I had Fish’n’Chips for dinner but the portions weren’t that big. Luckily, I sat with all the “picky eaters” on one table, so I ate most of the vegetables on our table and two more plates with chicken and potatoes. For dessert, I had an apple tarte.

A five minute drive from the main village was the hostel, we stayed for two nights. It is called “Slane Farm”. I was in a room with eleven lads, so I knew that I won’t get much sleep. The boys brought an X-Box and in the Community Room was a big TV so it was quiet in our sleeping room until 11:00 p.m. We had to be in our rooms at this time but no one said that we have to sleep. One lad brought a shaver and four of the boys got a new haircut. I was asleep at around half eleven and they tried to wake me up. I was told that they literally jumped on me to wake me up. They woke me up in the end. It was two o’clock in the night, and obviously I wasn’t in a very good mood. But at least I saw the most terrible haircuts, I ever saw in my life. One lad got bold, one other shaved his sides and left the hair on the top and the back of his head. They offered me a haircut as well and even I need one, I rejected their offer.

The next day, we had breakfast at 8:00 a.m. We left at nine o’clock and drove to a place called Newgrange. It is a prehistoric monument, built in the neolithic periode around 3200 BC. It is older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Gizeh.

On the picture, you can see that the entrance has a lower entrance and a higher opening. The lower entrance is for walking into the small chamber inside. It is really narrow and I had difficulties to walk into it. At least I am not a claustrophobic person. In the chamber, itself are three large stone bowls. Archeologists discovered burnt and unburnt human bones in there. The higher opening was built for a much more interesting purpose. On the 21st of December, the shortest day of the year, the sun shines through the opening filling the whole chamber with light. The ground of the chamber is exactly the same height as the higher entrance.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0p01fZiaNcG5taEq-gZTYMlnw

Many myths and legends are told about Newgrange. For example is told that the legendary irish Warrior Cu Chulainn, also known as the “Hound of Ulster”, was born in Newgrange.

After Newgrange we went to a second place, called Knowth. It consists of nine hills and is very well-known.

We stayed there for over two hours and went back at 2:00p.m.

For the second activity, we went to “The Zone”. It is like an Arcade Hall with Bowling, Lasertag, GoKart and VR. It was really good craig there. The best thing was definitily GoKart. I only crashed once into the wall and came third place at the end.

For dinner, I had Chicken Curry and cleaned all the plates at our table, so we had no leftovers. For dessert, I had Apple and Berry Crumble.

The second night at Slane Farm wasn’t better than the first one. We didn’t get much sleep but at least no one got a haircut. We left at quarter to nine and drove ten minutes to Slane Castle.

Slane Castle is known for its big concerts. A lot of famous bands like the Rolling Stone, Metallica, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, U2, Thin Lizzy and Eminem performed there. The castle was built in 1785 and after a fire in 1991 did a lot of damage, it was reopened in 2001. The last concert so far was in 2019. The band Metallica played for the first time since 10 years in Ireland.

The last stop was at Maynooth College, where we got a campus tour. We also had lunch there.

We were back in Clifden on Wednesday at 5p.m. It was a great trip, I really enjoyed. As irish people would say: Great craig!

Oh, and I thanks to Saibh, who told me on the last evening to write a post about our trip.

My day usually begins around 6.30 a.m, when my alarm rings. Until then it takes me about fifteen minutes to wake up, to figure out who and where I am and to get up. Since Sunday I take care of the ponies on our farm. They must be feed in the morning and the evening. After I got up, I go out and feed them. I didn’t give them names until now, maybe you want to give some recommendations down in the comments below.

It’s then about 7:15 a.m and time for my breakfast. I eat some porridge or ham and cheese sandwich and drink the first cup of tea. My school bus arrives officially about 8:05 a.m but it varieties most of the time. Normally the bus comes about ten past eight. The distance between my house and Clifden Community School is 12km and we usually arrive at 8:20 a.m.

Like in every school in Ireland and the UK we have to wear a school uniform. It consists of a pair of black trousers, a white shirt and a grey school jumper, which is not necessary but most of the students wear them.

The school starts around 9 a.m. We have our first class from 9 a.m to 9:40 a.m, the second class from 9:40 a.m to 10:20 a.m and the third class from 10:20 a.m to 11 a.m. At eleven o’clock there is a twenty-minute break where we can eat some small rolls with chicken, cheese or ham. Also, the school offers free fruit. After another three classes, there is a longer break for 35 minutes. The school cantine cooks lunch which we can for 2€ per portion. They offer Chicken Curry, Wraps with Chicken and Cheese, Chicken Tikka, Pasta, and big Chicken rolls.

After lunchbreak, we have another three classes in hell before we can go home. We barely get homework so I can relax when I am home, practise accordion or study for school in Germany.

The Irish school system is slightly different to the German system. The school starts at 9 a.m instead of 7:45 a.m. But we have every day a long day except Friday where school ends at 1:20 p.m. The primary school in Ireland is two years longer than in Germany. The kids stay there for six years. the secondary school is only six years as well. They do there Junior Certificate in 3rd year. The 4th year is called Transition Year (TY). It is basically a year without real classes. We’ve done two work experiences so far (one in October and one in February) and there is another one in May. A lot of speakers came to our school to talk about first aid, road, and car safety and many other topics. The best speaker so far was a poetry slamer called Stephen Murray. We had three classes with him and he was absolutley hilarious. He founded a website called “Inspireland” where he publishes the poems from the school he goes to. I put a link to his website down below.

(https://inspireland.ie/2020/02/01/clifden-community-school-clifden-co-galway/)

But the most significant difference is the subjects. In Germany, they are teaching only the basic subjects like Maths, German, English, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Science, Biology, French, Latin and Art. In the Irish schools, they teach many more subjects like Psychology, Accounting (which is quite useful for the real world), Business, Home Economics, Agriculture Science and Woodwork. We also have at least five classes of computer lessons a week.

The only thing, I don’t like about the Irish school system is that the school ends so late. I noticed that I can’t focus properly after 2 o’clock. It is really difficult to teach because everyone, even the teachers are getting tired. But I think that German schools should really teach more practical subjects like Irish schools do. The TY is really good as well. It is a chance to go outside of school and do something that you normally won’t do. I think we should have a TY between 10th and 12th grade as well.

Winter in Ireland isn’t nice. Every morning I’m walking as fast as possible to the bus to not die because of cold. Ok, I just made that up. But you get the idea. It is freakin’ cold. Well, to be fair the temperatures aren’t that low. But I am living beside the sea and the wind is really strong. Last Monday, the school was closed because the busses weren’t allowed to drive. Last Saturday, I went to Galway with friends. The roads were frozen. My hostdad, who is normally a really fast driver (the speed limit on the road to Clifden is 80km/h and he drives about 120 km/h), drove slower than the speed limit.

The only way to survive in this cold, is to drink a lot of hot drinks and to wear a hat. When I went to Galway last Saturday with friends, one of them forgot to bring his jacket. I still don’t know how he survived this day. Maybe irish people are used to this cold and it doesn’t bother them.

However, I’m doing my best not to die here. Maybe I’ll arrive as an icicle in Germany. Maybe I’ll just spend the rest of my time near our fireplace. I think, I’ll find a way to survive.

My year 2019 started with the intent to play more sport. My dad had the same idea, so I started at the beginning of the year and took up running. A few days later, all of my family went ice-skating. So far, so good. We did this a couple of times before, so no big deal. It was good fun, until the end. My dad fell and hurt his elbow. It wasn’t that bad so we kept skating, but after a while it began to hurt. My mum and my dad went the same evening to the hospital, they took an X-Ray of the arm and saw that the bone was broken. Not an optimal start to the year, especially because our winter holidays were only seven weeks away and my dad and I wanted to go skiing together in Bavaria. The chances weren’t great but luckily the elbow healed quite fast. In the first week of March, a day after my birthday, we drove to Bavaria.

We had lots of snow so it was good fun. Even if we needed a few minutes, especially me, to get into the technique again.

We did some great tours, one over 20km. But at maybe half of the way, there was a hill, which is normally no big deal. It was a little bit icy but we are both good skiers so we went downhill. When we were nearly at the end, I saw my dad falling. Nothing special and I wasn’t worried, until he didn’t stand up for a while. I went to him, helped him up and looked at him but couldn’t find anything that seemed unusual. We decided to go on and to finish our tour. Luckily, the rest of it went really well and no one fell. We arrived at the hut around midday. Suddenly, after my dad took a tissue and cleaned his nose, I realised, that his left eye was really swollen. He went to the doctor the same evening, they couldn’t find the issue, so he went to the hospital after that, they did an X-Ray and found out, that the bone under his eye is broken. We drove home and the operation was a few weeks later. All in all, not a great start.

A week after our holidays, I received a call from Stepin. They told me, a host family for my exchange year in Ireland was found. I was really excited and realized that the exchange year wasn’t a dream anymore, it became real.

At the end of March, we went to the “Akkordeonale 2019”. I met the organizer the year before at a workshop. I did know that he composed a new song at the time, I met him but what I didn’t expect was, that he played this song for me on stage. I was really shocked and surprised.

At the beginning of April my best friend came back from his six months trip in the Caribbean. I was really glad, that he is back. I missed him.

In the Easter-Holidays, my family and I went to England to visit my Aunt, Uncle and my two cousins. We went into London for a day to see the musical “Motown” and to the Enigma machine, which decoded the transmissions of the Germans in World War II.

At Whitsun, I went with the Royal Rangers to Slovenia for a week. We spent the week on a camp site near a river, which had a shower and it only had six degrees. I had an amazing time in Slovenia. We went Canyoning, on one day we woke up at 4 o’clock in the morning and did a trail the whole day until 8 o’clock in the evening. Most of us went to our limits and beyond at this day. We went to the beach in Italy and had a really good time there. I learnt a lot at this time, made new experiences, found new friends and got closer to friends I already had.

My exchange year came closer and closer, but I didn’t realise that I would actually go to Ireland in a few weeks

I had between Whitsun and the summer holidays a really good time in school, spent a lot of time with my friends and started to play Volleyball in a club.

Two weeks before the school ended, we had my farewell party at our house. Most of you were there, so I don’t have tell you what happened. I really enjoyed it and it was so nice to see all of my friends again.

At the last school day our principal told us, that our class will be split the next year. That took all the joy. Normally at the last school day, everyone is happy and so relaxed because we know, there’ll be six weeks without any worries and we can just relax. But not this time. We all knew that it is possible that our class will be split the next year, it was really shocking to hear this. I was lucky, because I stayed in one class with all of my friends.

In the summer holidays, I met my friends, we played Volleyball, went climbing and a good friend and I tried to cook an Indian meal. It wasn’t too bad and we had a great weekend. On the Monday, before I left, I visited a few houses to say goodbye again. I was so happy to see you again and I miss you all so much. And I mean all of my friends.

My last day wasn’t that difficult for me as I thought it would be. I just didn’t realize that I’d be leaving the next day and be gone for seven months. In the evening, I sat there with my dad in our sitting room and we drank a beer together and just talked. When I look back, that is the feeling of being home. When you know that there are people who love and support you in every situation of your life. It is such a nice feeling. And my mum and my dad are really important people in my life and sometimes you have to go to realize how good it is to be at home.

The next day, I was so excited that I could barely eat, and you know me, that this is really rare. At the airport, I met three girls, who flew with me. We talked a little bit and then we had to say goodbye to our families.

It was so hard and I don’t know how I walked beyond the security check. But I think you guys know most of the beginning, about the three days in Dublin, my host family and my life here.

I’d like to tell you a little bit more about my Christmas time here. On Christmas Eve, my host dad Bartley and me brought the cows home and cleaned up the shed. We filled up the road as well and now that the tractor is fixed, it is much easier and faster.

On Christmas day we had thirteen people for dinner. Most of Jill’s and Bartley’s family were there. We had the traditional Irish Christmas dinner: Turkey, Ham, Potatoes and Carrots. It was an excellent dinner and I was so full after it. The kids went absolutely crazy because of all their new toys. My little host sister Emma got a Hoverboard and nearly killed the dog while driving on it. My seven-year old host brother Jason got a robot, which can dance and do some crazy stuff. The kids are still busy with all their new toys. But they got so much sweets. I’m wondering how long it’ll take to eat them all.

The next days we cleaned the house up, ate the rest of the 8.6-kilo turkey and relaxed. The last two or three days, Bartley and me cleaned up the whole area around the shed, because we are moving the gym. Tomorrow we’ll start painting.

I don’t know, if there is a special tradition on New-Years-Eve in Ireland. If yes, I’ll let you know.

When I look back at this year, I would say it was the best year of my entire life. I met new people, made new friends, new experiences and most important: my exchange year. It let me face new challenges and new experiences. I had to go out of my comfort zone and grow.

That was my year 2019. I wish you all a very happy new year 2020. A huge thank you to all the people, who supported me in 2019 and before. Who were always at my side no matter what I did and always believed in me. Thank you to all the people I met new this year. It is always a great pleasure to meet new people, especially when they stay with you.

This weekend, I was near Dublin in Mullingar to visit a friend, who I met at the Arrival Camp. Her name is Alina. I arrived Friday evening at half eight there and was a little bit stressed because I spent all my day in school and nearly four hours in the bus. And I nearly missed my bus in Galway. Alina picked me up at a bus stop somewhere in nowhere and we walked together to her house, which is even more secluded than where I live. I didn’t think that this is possible.

We had a very nive time together at Friday evening. The next day we took the bus to Dublin. It was my first time in Dublin since the Arrival camp so I was very excited. We walked through the shopping street and a park, I bought a new phonecase and an irish SIM-card. For lunch we went to a korean restaurant with some of Alina’s friends, who were in Dublin as well. It was very good.

We walked on and found a kind of a market with very interesting shops, like a K-Pop Fan shop (which wasn’t that interesting for me) with all the merchandise from the bands and a very interesting bookstore. After the market we went the big shopping centre. Everything is full with christmas decorations and even at the streets there are christmas lights. It is still too early for christmas time.

Because Alina is a very big Comic-Fan we visited lots of comic and gaming stores. In one I saw a niffler as a money box. But all in all I can honestly say that Dublin isn’t that nice as Galway. It is too big and way too expensive.

We spent the Sunday together at the house and didn’t do anything except a lot of talking and watching a movie. My bus left at the midday so there wasn’t much time to do something.

I really enjoyed my time with you, Alina. Thanks that I was allowed to come and for the great time we had together. I miss you<3.

In the first week when I arrived in school, I noticed that most of the boys in school are playing the most traditional irish sport: Rugby. And I knew that sport is very good way to get in contact with people. But I didn’t start Rugby, because I am living a very nice life and don’t want to go to the hospital because of broken bones.

But I was very bored, had nothing to do and my host dad Bartley is the trainer of the team, so we had a talk, because he noticed that I need something to do. Somehow, he convinced me to start Rugby.

When I first came to training last week on Tuesday, I saw the guys, who are playing Rugby and wanted to go. These guys are huge. They are smaller than me (which isn’t difficult) but weigh more than me. If you ever watched a Rugbymatch on TV you know it is a tough sport.

But you don’t know how tough it is until you really played it. The warm-up was not too hard but than we started to train the tackling. We ran against pads, which were hold by one player and we had to push the player back.

After that I was nearly dead, because I was the one who had the pad but the guys invitited me to play in the match at the end. For some reason I said yes. I still don’t know why.

In the match, I had the ball two times and both times it was gone immediatly. I didn’t have time to realise that I have the ball because as soon I hold it in my hands two or more players layed on me and the ball was gone.

Today I was at the training again and it was better. I caught my first ball and did better tacklings than the week before, but it is still very tough and physical.

I think, I ‘ll keep on playing.

At the 16th of November all the exchange students from county Galway went with our LSC (Local Support Coordinator) to Galway for the monthly trip. We went to an escape room and for those of you who don’t know what an Escape Room is: You get locked up in a room with a riddle and you have to solve it in under 60 minutes to get out. Sometimes the room has a special theme, like in our case a Bankrobery. We were eleven people in a very small room and nine of us came from Italy so you can maybe imagine that it was quite difficult to solve the riddle while nine persons were speaking in Italian. Surprisingly, we did very well and came out in 53 minutes.

After a small luch in Galway a walked through the city with a girl I met and we noticed that they started to built a christmas market. We walked on to the old bookstore and to the market in Galway and went later into a Caffee. After we drank our caffee, we walked around a corner and, no kidding, I thought we made a time jump from the 16th of November to the 16th of December.

Everyone was in christmas mood, everywhere were christmas and in the air was the characteristic smell of mulled wine. And they copied even the prices from the german Christmas Markets. You can buy as a “special offer” a sausage with mulled wine for 8€. For me it is far too early for christmas time. I even heard the song “Last Christmas” a few times.

On Sunday was a Craftfair&Raffle, organized from our school. We sold old stuff to collect money for our trip in March to Dublin. It was very nice and lots of people were there. At the end we collected over 1,200€.

It was a warm day and I decided to go for a walk at our beach. To go for the walk was the best decision I made in the last few weeks. I had a lot of stuff going through my mind, I missed my home and friends a little bit because it wasn’t always easy in school and I made myself a lot of pressure.

So, I walked along the beach and listened to my favourite music and just relaxed. And as I came back, I felt like I left all the pressure and negative self-talk at the beach. It was a really good feeling.

But yes, I am still alive. My year abroad becomes more and more enjoyable. Galway is a lovely city. It is full of life, energy and music. I visited it twice in two weeks. The first time with three friends, who I met at the Arrival Camp in Dublin. One of them stayed over night at my house and we spent the following day together walking along the coast and through Clifden. It was a very nice time.

The second I went to Galway, was last weekend. I met my aunt, uncle and two cousins there. They came from England the whole way to visit me in Clifden. We spent the Saturday in Galway and walked through the harbour and the streets. We visited the market and the old bookstore, which are very hidden and had a good time together.

On Sunday we went to Kylemore Abbey. It was a monastry, school and a place to work for hundreds of people during the famine in the 19th century. Now it is a place, which is visited by tenthousands of people every year. The Abbey has beautiful gardens, you can visit a gothic church and a mausoleum, which was built for one of the owners.

After our visit at Kylemore Abbey, we drove through Connemara and stopped at two beautiful beaches where we spent a lot of time.

I am still walking very much at our beach and the lake near our house. But it’s getting colder and can’t go to the beach very often any more. So, I enjoy it as long as I can.