The Dundalk Institute of Technology.
I remeber my first day at the DKIT. I got lost and could hardly find my way back to the main entrance. It is almost 4months ago and it is hard to remember what else was difficult for me. Oh, yes I do remember: To find a timetable!
The system in DKIT is completly different to the system in my home college. In the end of every semester we get a big book with all classes, which will be offered in the next semester. Then I start to go over it and pick the classes, which fit to my main and minor subjects and which I think could be interesting for me. At DKIT you normally don´t have a choise. You stay all the time with the same people in one class and you get your timetable for your study at the first day the college starts.
So I tried to get a few timetables, to find subjects which fit to my study in Germany or which could be interesting for me to study. By accident we got to konw, that the most timetables are available in the internet. Some weren´t, but in the end of the first week of the semester I think I had all and had big fun to create my own timetable. There were many clashes but at least I had one. And how the irish would say: It was not to bad! :)
Something I really miss in the classes at DKIT are discussions. In Germany we mostly have to prepare a class in reading a few pages and then you discuss them in the class. At DKIT the lecturer stands in front of the class and addresses the students from there.
What I like in the DKIT classes is the combination of lecture and tutorials. But maybe the tutorials could focus more on the opions the students have to get them thinking about the topics on their own.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Hillwalking - Crowne Plaza - Giants Causeway
It was a busy weekend but one I won´t forget so fast.
It started with beautiful sunshine and we went with the Hillwalking society to carlingford. We were around 10 participants and had a graet day above Carlingford. Almost all the way we had a view of the sea and the peninsula. It started to rain a few times, but then it stopped and we could have stayed dry, if the ground wouldn´t have been so wet!
On our way down the mountain we walked sometimes on four feet :), because it was really steep and slippery.
After the trip I had my first real working day at the Crowne Plaza. I work there for a few Christmas Partys, serve the food and drinks and polishing the crockery(That really makes no fun!) .. The stuff is really nice there and I take it as one of my expierences in Ireland and I earn some money, too!
On Sunday we went to the giants causeway. That was one of the last things a wanted to visit in the last less than 3weeks here in Ireland. It was a beautiful landscape and special stones of course! And you would like to believe the legend about the giant who tried to build a bridge to his love in Scottland. :)
It started with beautiful sunshine and we went with the Hillwalking society to carlingford. We were around 10 participants and had a graet day above Carlingford. Almost all the way we had a view of the sea and the peninsula. It started to rain a few times, but then it stopped and we could have stayed dry, if the ground wouldn´t have been so wet!
On our way down the mountain we walked sometimes on four feet :), because it was really steep and slippery.
After the trip I had my first real working day at the Crowne Plaza. I work there for a few Christmas Partys, serve the food and drinks and polishing the crockery(That really makes no fun!) .. The stuff is really nice there and I take it as one of my expierences in Ireland and I earn some money, too!On Sunday we went to the giants causeway. That was one of the last things a wanted to visit in the last less than 3weeks here in Ireland. It was a beautiful landscape and special stones of course! And you would like to believe the legend about the giant who tried to build a bridge to his love in Scottland. :)
google analytics
Hey folks,
a few days ago I searched for a counter and found the google analytics.
For all of you, who have an own blog it is really usefull and intersting.
It is really easy to install and than you get many informations about the users of your block. How they came to your side, how long they spend on each entry and so on.
a few days ago I searched for a counter and found the google analytics.
For all of you, who have an own blog it is really usefull and intersting.
It is really easy to install and than you get many informations about the users of your block. How they came to your side, how long they spend on each entry and so on.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
24hours shopping
Tesco in Dundalk -opening hours from 9.00-9.00.
When I came to Dundalk I got to know, that Tesco is open 24hours daily. In Germany the shopping hours have been increased but it is still not allowed for shops to be open in the night. Shops are also not allowed to be open on Sundays. Only kioks are allowed to be open after 11pm and on Sunday.
There was and I think, there still is a debate in Germany, if they should handle the opening hours by law or if they should leave the shop owners decide.
I don´t really know the answer. From my point of view there are of course many advantages to have a shop open for 24 hours, but for the employees it might have also disadvantages. It can create new jobs and people could earn more money, but the employees could be forced to work in the night although they have family.
Onother point is, that I don´t know, if it is raelly cost-effective to have for example Tesco open in the night. I remember the few times when I was shopping there in the night: There were nobody else in there. Maybe the stuff uses the time to arrange the items and fill up the shelves but after that is done there are a few peole standing arround and have nothing to do. One time I went there after the amber to do my shopping for the next days but the other few times, we went there in the night only to buy some biscuits and kindereggs and sat infront of the entrance to eat them. :)
I could imagine, that the 24hours opening is more a service for the custumers than cost effective. You don´t have to think about that Tesco might be closed or not, you can go there everytime and it will be open.
Since Lidl is next to Tesco that could be a reason for people to go to Tesco, because they are used not to think about the opening hours.
When I came to Dundalk I got to know, that Tesco is open 24hours daily. In Germany the shopping hours have been increased but it is still not allowed for shops to be open in the night. Shops are also not allowed to be open on Sundays. Only kioks are allowed to be open after 11pm and on Sunday.
There was and I think, there still is a debate in Germany, if they should handle the opening hours by law or if they should leave the shop owners decide.
I don´t really know the answer. From my point of view there are of course many advantages to have a shop open for 24 hours, but for the employees it might have also disadvantages. It can create new jobs and people could earn more money, but the employees could be forced to work in the night although they have family.
Onother point is, that I don´t know, if it is raelly cost-effective to have for example Tesco open in the night. I remember the few times when I was shopping there in the night: There were nobody else in there. Maybe the stuff uses the time to arrange the items and fill up the shelves but after that is done there are a few peole standing arround and have nothing to do. One time I went there after the amber to do my shopping for the next days but the other few times, we went there in the night only to buy some biscuits and kindereggs and sat infront of the entrance to eat them. :)
I could imagine, that the 24hours opening is more a service for the custumers than cost effective. You don´t have to think about that Tesco might be closed or not, you can go there everytime and it will be open.
Since Lidl is next to Tesco that could be a reason for people to go to Tesco, because they are used not to think about the opening hours.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Pennys
I will miss it! Pennys is great.
When I was there the first time I bought 6 items for 7 Euro! A good bargain, aren't it?
The first of us who discovered Pennys where some Spanish and I think they spent 200 euro there the fist time. I really would like to know, how they carried, all the things you can buy there for 200 euro, at home.
I thing for all Erasmus Pennys is the most visited shop in Ireland, maybe after Lidl! Ok, it could be that there are a few, who don't like it because there is sometimes a lot of crush and because they don't like the cloths. I also don't really know about the quality of the stuff you can buy there, but seriously, who cares if you sometimes pays 1 euro for a top!
The special offers are great. Every time if you go there there are two or more hall stands where they offer cloths for 1-4 euro each. And you start your bargain hunting.
They are not only selling cloths, they offer toothbrushes, shampoo, body lotion, towels, bedclothes and many kinds of decoration stuff. You can also buy shoes for around 3 euro.
In Germany we have H&M and it's similar to Pennys. Almost everybody, who is my age or younger, buys there. They also offer cheap and trendy cloths and often have this special offers like Pennys. But it's not the same! Normally you can't find tops for 1 euor only.
So I hope there will open the first Pennys in Germany soon! And I advice all of you: If you are in Ireland one time, have a look and enter the first Pennys you see!
When I was there the first time I bought 6 items for 7 Euro! A good bargain, aren't it?
The first of us who discovered Pennys where some Spanish and I think they spent 200 euro there the fist time. I really would like to know, how they carried, all the things you can buy there for 200 euro, at home.
I thing for all Erasmus Pennys is the most visited shop in Ireland, maybe after Lidl! Ok, it could be that there are a few, who don't like it because there is sometimes a lot of crush and because they don't like the cloths. I also don't really know about the quality of the stuff you can buy there, but seriously, who cares if you sometimes pays 1 euro for a top!
The special offers are great. Every time if you go there there are two or more hall stands where they offer cloths for 1-4 euro each. And you start your bargain hunting.
They are not only selling cloths, they offer toothbrushes, shampoo, body lotion, towels, bedclothes and many kinds of decoration stuff. You can also buy shoes for around 3 euro.
In Germany we have H&M and it's similar to Pennys. Almost everybody, who is my age or younger, buys there. They also offer cheap and trendy cloths and often have this special offers like Pennys. But it's not the same! Normally you can't find tops for 1 euor only.
So I hope there will open the first Pennys in Germany soon! And I advice all of you: If you are in Ireland one time, have a look and enter the first Pennys you see!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Belfast
Saturday we went to Belfast. When I searched in the internet, I found differnt companys going from Dundalk to Belfast. At least I found Aircoach, Eireann and Goldline and I thought all are leaving at the main busstation in Dundalk, the long walk. But I was wrong. When we arived there at 10am, the man behind the information desk told us, that there is no bus leaving before 11.30am. Airchoach, he told us, has their busstation "at the motorway". Later in Belfast we found out that Aircoach actually stops infront of Mc.Donalds in Dundalk, so that we could have reached it if we would have got the right information. But so we decided to have a coffee till we saw that there is another bus leaving to Newry.
We thought it would be nice to spend maybe one hour in Newry instead of Dundalk and we went back to the man at the information desk to ask if we have to pay twice when we take a bus to Newry first and than from there to Belfast. He told us, that that won't be a probleme and that there is a bus leaving from Newry to Belfast every 20min and we wondered a little bit why he didn't suggest us this opportunity before.
We took the bus to Newry, paid the 20 Euro for a two ways ticket and wondered again, because one of us had paid only 16euro when he was there a few weeks ago. But that let me come to another question: Since I'm here nobody can tell me why you have to pay sometimes 7 sometimes 5 Euro to go to Dublin. And why there is a differnece between "drop out" and "pick up" stops. If somebody has discovered this please let me know!
But back to Belfast. After a short stop in Newry, we arrived in Belfast and went directly to the big international Christmas market infront of the City Hall. We had really fun to see Bratwurst and Schwenkgrill boths from Germany, french, spanish and other international boths.
We ate Tartifette, which is a traditional meal in France. It consists of potatos, onions, bacon and cream.
I think you should have seen the Eyes of our frensh friend, when he saw the both. He had some kind of home feelings in seeing and eating it.
After our french meal we decided to make the Busguiding tour through Belfast for 9pounds. I think this is expensive and normally I would prefer discovering a city on foot and on my own, but it wasn´t really good weather and we only had a few hours till it would become dark.
We saw the port where the titanic was built, the painted walls in the west of Belfast and of course the towncenter. The trip took around 1,5hours and then we went shopping and after this in a pub. By the way the booze is really cheap in Northern Ireland! So we had a few bottles with us when we left home at around 10.
On our way back we shared opinion about the conflict. And we wondered how the conflict was being ended. When I was at home I searched for some expalantion in the internet and found very interesting facts at Wikipedia.
For example I got to know, that only on the night from the 30th to the 31 of july 2007, that means 15 days before I arrived in Ireland, the british armee had ended their deployment in Northen Ireland after 38 years.
There are a few more interesting facts about the conflict on these sites:
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles
or
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Belfast
We thought it would be nice to spend maybe one hour in Newry instead of Dundalk and we went back to the man at the information desk to ask if we have to pay twice when we take a bus to Newry first and than from there to Belfast. He told us, that that won't be a probleme and that there is a bus leaving from Newry to Belfast every 20min and we wondered a little bit why he didn't suggest us this opportunity before.
We took the bus to Newry, paid the 20 Euro for a two ways ticket and wondered again, because one of us had paid only 16euro when he was there a few weeks ago. But that let me come to another question: Since I'm here nobody can tell me why you have to pay sometimes 7 sometimes 5 Euro to go to Dublin. And why there is a differnece between "drop out" and "pick up" stops. If somebody has discovered this please let me know!
But back to Belfast. After a short stop in Newry, we arrived in Belfast and went directly to the big international Christmas market infront of the City Hall. We had really fun to see Bratwurst and Schwenkgrill boths from Germany, french, spanish and other international boths.
We ate Tartifette, which is a traditional meal in France. It consists of potatos, onions, bacon and cream.
I think you should have seen the Eyes of our frensh friend, when he saw the both. He had some kind of home feelings in seeing and eating it.
After our french meal we decided to make the Busguiding tour through Belfast for 9pounds. I think this is expensive and normally I would prefer discovering a city on foot and on my own, but it wasn´t really good weather and we only had a few hours till it would become dark.
We saw the port where the titanic was built, the painted walls in the west of Belfast and of course the towncenter. The trip took around 1,5hours and then we went shopping and after this in a pub. By the way the booze is really cheap in Northern Ireland! So we had a few bottles with us when we left home at around 10.
On our way back we shared opinion about the conflict. And we wondered how the conflict was being ended. When I was at home I searched for some expalantion in the internet and found very interesting facts at Wikipedia.
For example I got to know, that only on the night from the 30th to the 31 of july 2007, that means 15 days before I arrived in Ireland, the british armee had ended their deployment in Northen Ireland after 38 years.
There are a few more interesting facts about the conflict on these sites:
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles
or
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Belfast
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Anaverna Mountain and the Magic Hill
15 min away from Dundalk there is the Anaverna Mountain. You have a really nice view from there.
By car you can almost go up the mountain and then you´ll find the way.
A few minutes on foot and you see a real Dolmen and a kind of stonehanch.
But much more intersting is the magic hill. I think you won´t believe it, but near to the Anaverna mountain there you go on a street and if you switch off your car you will although go up a hill.
You will ask why, but I think nobody knows exactly. maybe there are a few explanations but I think nobody really has discovered it yet.
My landlord told me, that there were a few TV shows about it and that there is another magic hill near cork, too.
Unfortunately there is no sign or anything else to find the magic hill, so that you only can experience it if you are with somebody who knows where exactly it is.
By car you can almost go up the mountain and then you´ll find the way.
A few minutes on foot and you see a real Dolmen and a kind of stonehanch.
But much more intersting is the magic hill. I think you won´t believe it, but near to the Anaverna mountain there you go on a street and if you switch off your car you will although go up a hill.
You will ask why, but I think nobody knows exactly. maybe there are a few explanations but I think nobody really has discovered it yet.
My landlord told me, that there were a few TV shows about it and that there is another magic hill near cork, too.
Unfortunately there is no sign or anything else to find the magic hill, so that you only can experience it if you are with somebody who knows where exactly it is.
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