Our trip to the "Emerald Isle"

Together with Frau Prof. Klima, Frau Prof. Hammerschmid, Frau Prof. Curdt and Herrn Prof. Höger, 53 students of the 11^th grade started their language study trip to Ireland at the end of September.

After a two-and-a-half-hour-long flight, we arrived at Dublin International Airport. We received our luggage and then we went to the Dublin city centre by coach. We had three hours to experience the great, beautiful and architectural breathtaking capital of the Republic of Ireland. Then we crossed the entire island to get to the place of our language school: The 27.923-inhabitant town of Ennis.

After our arrival, the host families picked us up and brought us to our new homes. The quality of these were different, but together with Lukas and Valentin, I was happy to get a great host mother, the wonderful Barbara Henry. We were 20 minutes away from the language school (by car), but we had a big garden, chickens, rabbits, a dog named ,,Biscuit” and a very cosy, clean and nice house. Barbara Henry was a perfect and great cook and supplied us with tasty and diverse food.

One of the main parts of our stay in Ennis were the classes in the language school. We talked about "The Troubles", the consumption of alcohol in Ireland and Austria, our favourite music and geography. It wasn’t bad, but I prefer the English lessons of Frau Prof. Klima, Frau Prof. Hammerschmid and Herrn Prof. Höger. There were also some workshops we could choose to participate. For example Irish sports, jewellery or drama.

Apart from Ennis, we also visited other remarkable places of the country. The Cliffs of Moher were very impressive, although it was raining and quite windy on that day. I bought the best souvenir there, an Irish tweed cap. On the last day, we went to Galway, a famous city with a big port. We walked through the crowded and old-fashioned streets, and I ate an Irish delicacy: Beef and Guiness stew.

We also experienced some Irish culture. One evening we went "Irish dancing" which was a lot of fun and very entertaining, and I’m saying this, although my dancing skills aren’t that great. We also sang Irish songs and went bowling one time. But one aspect of Irish culture, I wasn’t able to experience. For me, it was illegal to buy alcohol-free Guinness. It stood outside the marked alcohol area, in a shelf on which was written in big red letters, “No alcohol”. But still the cashier didn’t let me pay for it. What a pity!

In general, our language trip was a great experience, and I think we all learned a lot, and had a wonderful fun time.

Thomas H. P. Prokopp (7CG)