When we arrived at Dublin airport a friendly woman called Loraine had already been waiting for us. A bus brought us to Malahide where we first met our host families. Luckily, most of us made some great experiences with them.

We went to ICE, the Irish College of English, three days a week and were able to improve our English skills in the best possible way. In class we discussed lots of different topics like Irish history, drug abuse and of course “Gaelige”, the Irish language.

On Tuesday afternoon we went on a tour through Dublin with a friendly tour guide, called Patrick. He gave us a lot of information about Irish history and showed us the truly special Trinity College. He also explained “The Spire” or “Monument of Light" to us, which is actually pretty useless. The Irish government is still spending lots of money on it although it doesn't even look that good.
On Wednesday afternoon we had a 'Treasure Hunt' through Malahide. Although we never received our “treasure”, we still had fun asking random people if they could help us to answer the questions because there were just too many of them to deal with on our own. The people were actually really friendly, though. Generally speaking, the Irish are the nicest and politest people ever.

On Thursday we didn't have lessons and so we explored Glendalough (Irish for 'The Valley of the Two Lakes'), all day. It was a breath-taking experience to see more of the Irish countryside, which is cold and windy, yet really beautiful. Moreover, we even got to see some cute sheep on wide fields, definitely a picture post card impression.

In the evening we had an Irish dancing lesson, which was more exhausting than we had thought. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun, especially because our teachers (Ms “Words” and Ms Beer) joined us, even though the week had been very exhausting for them. On Friday we had an afternoon off in Dublin, which we mostly used for shopping.
And then Saturday, our last day in Malahide, came. We said our good-byes to our host families and the village.

Sadly, eight of us got sick during the week but our teachers took good care of them. However, I think they lost sight of their own needs, like sleep, at least a little bit. Luckily, our autumn break started immediately after our Ireland week!

All in all, we had a great week on the Green Island. We had lots of fun and enjoyed the stay with our host families. I definitely want to visit this magical country again!
-Elisabeth Höller 3AHW