Exploring Dublin with friends

At the weekends, I often meet some of the other exchange students I am friends with and who I got to know at the quarantine camp.

We talk about the things that happened during the last weeks and about our experiences with getting new friends which is kind of difficult at the beginning because people need to get to know you but everything is new and exciting. Before the new lockdown that we got in October, we went to Dublin center exploring the little shops and restaurants that are really pretty.

The last weekend before lockdown, some German friends and I went on a hiking trip all around Howth. Howth (still County Dublin) is a small sea-side village and part of the peninsula Howth Head. It has a beautiful cliff-walk and a pretty fish port with loads of little shops where you can buy seafood.

After a couple of weeks, I became friends with some Irish people too who are all very lovely and we went to some vintage shops in town, drank Bubble Tea and went for a few walks.

Since I have arrived in Ireland, I have never been homesick!

There were definitely some moments and days where I missed my friends and family in Germany but I know that I will see them again when I come home in May and I can always phone them, if I have a problem.

I also talked to some other exchange students about getting homesick and we agreed that the only thing we miss is the feeling of being understood and loved all the time.

I know my German friends for a very long time now and I know that they accept me as I am but it takes some time to figure out how new people react in some situations when you talk to them, what they think about the things you say and how they feel about you.

On the last day before mid-term break, we celebrated Halloween at my school.

The first time in over 20 years, everyone was allowed to dress up in Halloween costumes and the whole school was decorated with loads of bats, ghosts and pumpkins. It was really funny to see students wearing something different than their school uniforms and the atmosphere was more relaxed than on normal school days.

Everyone was in a good mood and even the teachers were dressed up. It was nice to see people having fun and although they had to wear masks and had to pay attention on social distancing. In the last class, we were carving pumpkins and were drinking tea which was a really nice end of the day.

Unfortunately, Ireland is now in level 5 of restrictions again what means that we are not allowed to go further away than 5 km from your house.

I actually wanted to meet some of my German friends who live near Galway in the mid-term break but that is not possible anymore and all the sports halls are closed too.

Although I would have loved to see them, I think I will definitely have something to do during the break for example meeting people who live near my place or just sleeping and relaxing.

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