Good morning everyone,
now our internship in Northern Ireland has finished. Since yesterday, we are back in Berlin. Now I want to review the whole internship. Have fun!
Yesterday at 6:20 pm, we landed in Berlin at Schoenefeld Airport. We arrived five minutes earlier. The flight was very uncomfortable, because I have very long legs and not much space for these. So the same like our first flight.
In Berlin, my family was very happy, that I am back after these long two months. In the evening, we barbecued. The weather is really nice in Berlin, better than in Belfast. In the night, I rode my bike, because it was very warm.
That’s it from yesterday. Now I want to summarize the time in Belfast.
The time in Belfast was nice. Sometimes a bit boring, but the most of the time, we had a lot of fun. Specially at the weekend.
My work was great. I had a very nice project (the kiosk). I love it to work with Linux, so this was awesome. Unfortunately, my supervisor was very busy. I hadn’t much chances to talk with him and I had to ask him very often about the documents which he had to fill in. The other colleagues were very nice. Maybe I mentioned in my articles before, but I was able to drink tea as much as I want. Everyone had the opportunity to take tea in the kitchen. By the way, you can get more information about my work in older articles.
The prices are so high. Almost everything was expensiver compared to Berlin. The groceries, bus tickets, alcohol … Just one thing was cheaper than in Berlin: The taxis.
I invested about 900€ in the whole time. I thought it was much more, but I calculated.
The nightlife in Belfast is veeeeeery boring. As I mentioned in this article, the pubs are closing at 1 am, at the weekend, as well. Not every shop is allowed to sell alcohol. In UK you need a special license to sell alcohol. The shops, were you can buy alcohol, are closing at 11 pm, so very early. In Berlin you can buy alcohol around the clock.
The public transportation, is very awful. As I mentioned in this article, the buses are almost every time too late. The whole system is very stupid. Every bus service will drive to the City Centre and from there to the final destinations. This take a lot of time, because you need to take two buses, at least.
Three weeks ago, I saw a doctor. You can read the whole story here! Ohh, I didn’t mentioned: On Monday, I received an UK „health card“ by post. I don’t know why, but I think I filled in some documents at the doctor. If I am leaving the UK for more than three months, I should sent this back. At the doctor I told, that I stay until 28/05/16. So I can’t understand this. Maybe I will sent the card back to UK.
The Irish people are very nice. If you do a mistake, they excused for my mistake. This completely different to Germany. The mentality is different too. They are calling with their forename. The Germans are more formal and calling with their surname. I prefer the Irish way.
I think everyone knows, in UK there is left side traffic. At the beginning, this was very strange, I think for everyone. In Germany you have to look; left, right, left. Logically in UK; right, left, right. Sometimes I forget this and thought: „No car is coming, so I can cross the street“. Marlon and Robert rescued me sometimes. 😀
Our agency (intern europe), was very nice to me. They’ve done a very good job. They responded very quickly. After one day, Marcel and I got new spoons, because we hadn’t anyone in our accommodation. They were very helpful, every time. You also have the opportunity to call them 24/7. They did a great job.
Now I’ll review the time in Belfast.
Irish things which are better than in Germany (Berlin):
- Irish mentality
- (nature)
- (cleanness at parks)
- (parks overall)
- speed of Internet
German things wich are better than in Ireland (Belfast):
- nightlife
- weather
- prices
- (public transportation)
Thing which I will miss from Ireland (Belfast):
- Pizza Co.
- Chips Co.
- Evenings with colleagues
- mentality of Irish peoples
Résumé:
Overall this was the greatest experience of my life. My English improved a lot. And I think I will be more independent as before. For the publicity: We don’t need to pay for the flight, accommodation, etc. This was a part of the Erasmus+ project.
Special thanks to Erasmus+, Intern europe, OSZ IMT, our instructors, my host company in Ireland and other partners.
Now I will enjoy the great weather in Berlin and will visit a hairdresser.
Over and out!