On Wednesday we again went to the language school. It was pretty interesting as we talked about regular illnesses and what you can do against them. Also we’ve been taught how to express emotions in sentences and had several talks with different people. After the school we’ve had 1 hour free time where we took our lunch and prepared for the walk to the „Crumlin Road Gaol“. Our walk started at the international house in the University Street and took about 30 minutes. It was quite interesting to see the other parts of the city, which I haven’t explored yet. We arrived around 2.30pm and the group consisted of several students from Spain, Germany and some locals which took also part of the tour. It took a few minutes and we were introduced to the history of the prison. The prison itself was a big complex where up to about 1.400 people were held in custody. Today the locals say it’s haunted and it is an akward feeling to access the ground floors after 0am. The guide was very kind and told us many facts about the past time. We also where shown photos of arrested persons. After one and a half hour the tour ended and we were taken to the entry again where our group split up. After a little walk to the city center we entered TK-Maxx which is a company where you can buy expensive clothing for reduced prices. I buyed some clothes and when we were finished we went to few another shops and strolled around the city. Around 5 o’clock we went back to our homes and enjoyed the evening.
Tag: 8. Mai 2014
First few days
On Saturday the 3th May at 12.00am MESZ our plane lifted off from the german ground and headed towards Dublin Airport. The flight took about 2 hours and I spend the most time sleeping in a comfortable seat. Around 1pm we arrived at the airport and after picking up the luggage we went to the bus stop. The bus to Belfast departed a few minutes before we got there so we had to wait about 1 hour for the next one. The view on the bus ride was awesome and it was a nice example for the rich countryside the Island of Ireland has to offer.
When we arrived on the bus stop we called Colin from Intern Europe to announce that we are now in Belfast. After a little talk with Ruth Baxter from Intern Europe we were told where to head and we took cabs to our apartments in the University Street. The land lord already awaited us and we were shown our flats. They are pretty new and well equipped.
We took a walk to TESCO and bought the most important stuff. On Tuesday we had our first day in the international house which is a language school for persons from different countries to improve their english skills. They offer courses for each skill level and prepare for language examinations as well.
At first we had to take a skill assessment including a little talk to rate our current level of english and on the second half of the day we went to our classes. We introduced ourselves to our teacher and were taught a few things about common english usage. When the school was over we went back to our apartments and had lunch. On 2pm we met our coordinator for the school and she offered us a few events which we could participate in the next few weeks. After signing in for some of those activities we went for a walk through Belfast where we were shown a few great places to go and sights that are worth a visit. Later that day we met again at the Intern Europe building and had a talk with a few associates to exchange our first experiences. We also spoke about the next days and our work placements, the people were very nice and offered us their help on any kind of problems that may occur. After all I could already feel that I will enjoy the next two months in Belfast a lot.
The Prison in Belfast
Hello everyone,
now it`s time to write a post.
We arrived in Belfast at Saturday and it starts to rain and the weather doesn`t change the whole time. It rains 8 times a day and it’s very rare to see the sun.
The food is very expensive here and it’s incomparable to Germany.
The apartment is very good and we have everything that we need.
Yesterday we visit a prison and it was very interesting. The tour guide told us there was a time when 30 people need to share one single cell and they show us how they got killed.
It’s stated that the prison is a hotspot for paranormal activitiy.
The prisoners got a rope on their neck and then a trapdoor has open but the keeper which stand beside the prisoner must then hold on a rope so that they don`t fall too.
Dublin Bus
For me it looks like the best way to get where you want is the Dublin bus. Taking the bus in Dublin is very expensive but fast. When i take the bus to the language and back I’ll pay 5,20€, 2,60€ each. But its getting really expensive if you have to change the busses because you have to pay for each access. So keep in mind the best route to your location is the one with the least changeovers.
Midweek Mashup
A mashup in a way, because I need to tell you about the last couple of days and I’m going to cram as much of it in here as possible. And also because I’m quite artistic and I enjoy writing in a rather uncommon fashion.
So let’s see… there once was a day called Sunnandæg in Old English which soon turned into sunedai and is known to us simply as Sunday. Now, as legend has it, there was this young man who was sent to Ireland to hone his skills and experience the beauty of this not so far away country… far away country… ar away country… way country… ountry…
I woke up quite early which was for one, because of the alcohol I had consumed the night before and secondly, because I was ahead of everybody else by one hour. So after washing up, recapturing the day before and coming to terms with the fact that I had just spent my first night in Ireland, I went into the kitchen to eat breakfast. After breakfast I tried reaching George, answered a couple of the other messages I had received during the night and… bravely sat around while the world turned without my help.
A little later I was on my way to George who had gotten back to me and agreed to venture into the city. The sky, though cloudy and ripe with rain, looked amazing. One would think that the sky looks the same everywhere but I now believe that is not the case.
George and I went to the nearest Spar-shop, which his host dad had kindly pointed us in the direction of, and bought two leap cards for the bus. We each topped off the cards with 15€ and went to the nearest station. After asking a young woman, who tried her best to ignore the persistent bastard I am, we found out that every bus would go to the city centre from this point so we took the next bus and got off at O’Connell Street.
After walking around the city centre, eating lunch and buying our O2 SIMs, we met up with Toni and headed to the Temple Bar to get a few drinks. As it turns out, Temple Bar is a major rip-off (/salute Major Rip-Off) as we paid almost 6€ for a pint of Guinness/Kilkenny and another 6,30€ for a shot of Jameson. It was a nice experience though and at least we get to brag with having had a drink there. We went home after that and I had dinner and went to bed.
Monday was a bank holiday in all of Ireland and I tried sleeping in, which did not work at all. I was up at around 7am, got dressed, had breakfast and then went back to my room and onto my bed to write another blog entry and a few postcards. I watched a movie, enjoyed a couple of YouTube videos and took a nap. It was quite the lazy day until George picked me up at around 16:30 and we went to see what Tesco had to offer and how Lidl would try to compete. I bought my favorite brand of facial tissue because I felt a cold crawling its way into my life here. The day ended as boring as it had started and so after having dinner, I went to bed.
We had our first day of school on Tuesday and it was… okay. I know most of the things our teacher is teaching and the rest I don’t care about. It’s not boring per se but it’s also not a lot of fun. I try and help the other students as much as possible and give explanations where they are needed. Since Monday was off, we had an afternoon-session which ended at 5pm. For lunch, Toni, George and I had a Burrito right around the corner from school and were granted a discount of 1€ with the ISIC.
Later that day I bought flip-flops and a pair of sweatpants at Penneys because I didn’t bring any, not seeing the need that was now painfully clear to me. Dinner consisted of a Quiche and a nice, hot soup. My cold was in full swing and the night was terrible but at least I had Vaseline to keep my lips and nose smooth and keep the irritation at bay.
You, who so bravely read every word and giggled over every little joke, probably want to know how this story continues… Well, you’ll just have to tune in again on Sunday. 😉
Belfast’s different
Hi there!
I guess if someone travels to an other country, it’s impossible to not compare the surroundings to your home country. That’s why I can say: Belfast is definitely different than Berlin. The left-hand driving aside, the first things I’ve noticed were some differences related to the traffic here in Belfast. First of all, the traffic lights here have 3 phases, one phase for each direction of motorized traffic and one phase whereby all pedestrian lights are green. I haven’t decided yet, if that’s a benefit, or not. Then, the most crossroads here have an extra area for bicyles, so if the green light goes on, the cyclists can start at first.
The next thing I’ve noticed were these kerbstones. Thanks to the high number of openings the possibility of a clogged drain is much lower. I think thats brilliant.
At the end one picture I made yesterday. „The irish weather is coming.“ And yes, it CAME! 🙁
Crumlin Road Gaol
Yesterday, after we finished school we went to a local prison called „Crumlin Road Gaol“ which is closed since 1996.Our tour started in front of our language school we walked for about 30-40 minutes through belfast before we reached the prison itself. Jane who is responsible for the social actitivies at our school organized this trip and also showed us the way to the prison.
After we arrived at the prison each of us bought a ticket (7£ each students price) and waited for our tour guide.
The tour started at the entrance where every prisoner arrives, afterwards we walked halfway trough the tunnel, that connects the prison with the old court house sadly we weren’t able to go in the old court house due to its bad conditions. We continued our journey at the main entrance that connects all 4 cell blocks, which were able to hold 500 prisoners, at peak there were 1400 prisoners in the prison. We moved on through cell block C where we could see all different kinds of cells starting at a normal cell that was designed for one prisoner(Child/Adult) (Yeah they also put childs in the prison, the youngest kid was about 7). In 1860 they introduced a new law preventing prisoners under 14 to serve their full sentence in a adult prison, but childs could still be sent to the prison for a short amout of time to ’scare them straight‘. Our second to last stop was the condemned cell where the condemned lived together with 2 guards 24/7. He also lived right next to the execution room but he was totally unaware of it since he was 24/7 in his cell. If you’re sentenced to death it happened by hanging. The procedure wasn’t longer than 3 minutes but the body remained there for 45-60 minutes before they pulled it down and put it into a coffin. The bodys (17 in total) were buried in a unmarked grave within the prison walls. Our last stop was the prison wall the place where they buried all the bodys you’re still able to see 2 stones engraved with the initials of two prisoners that were hanged.
