DKIT

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.

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. :)

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

Fairy tales

Yesterday I made a fairy tale party to celebrate in my birthday. I think it's an habit of Erasmus students to celebrate topic partys and so I chose also one: fairy tales. Recent topics were for example: bad taste, punk/gothic, Halloween of course and traffic light. What traffic light means? People have to dress in green, yellow or red and the colours show, if you are spoken for somebody, if you don't know or if you are free. When I heart it the first time it sounds stupid but it was a nice party!
But back to the party yesterday. We had Peter Pan, Puss in Boots, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, a dwarf, an elf, a pirate and so on but the best costume was the Pied Piper of Hamelin. One of the two irish, which were on my party, came with a walking frame and went for around 10min to "dress up". When he came back, he had put a few balloons on a string and fixed it on one feet. During he was walking he was drawing the string with the balloon with his feet and used the walking frame as if he would play an instrument. I think i have to add the fairy tale to let you understand what he showed us:

"Once upon a time . . . on the banks of a great river in the north of Germany lay a town called Hamelin. The citizens of Hamelin were honest folk who lived contentedly in their grey stone houses. The years went by, and the town grew very rich. Then one day, an extraordinary thing happened to disturb the peace. Hamelin had always had rats, and a lot too. But they had never been a danger, for the cats had always solved the rat problem in the usual way - by killing them. All at once, however, the rats began to multiply. In the end, a black sea of rats swarmed over the whole town. First, they attacked the barns and storehouses, then, for lack of anything better, they gnawed the wood, cloth or anything at all. The one thing they didn't eat was metal. The terrified citizens flocked to plead with the town councillors to free them from the plague of rats. But the council had, for a long time, been sitting in the Mayor's room, trying to think of a plan. "What we need is an army of cats!" But all the cats were dead. "We'll put down poisoned food then . . ." But most of the food was already gone and even poison did not stop the rats. "It just can't be done without help!" said the Mayor sadly. Just then, while the citizens milled around outside, there was a loud knock at the door. "Who can that be?" the city fathers wondered uneasily, mindful of the angry crowds. They gingerly opened the door. And to their surprise, there stood a tall thin man dressed in brightly coloured clothes, with a long feather in his hat, and waving a gold pipe at them. "I've freed other towns of beetles and bats," the stranger announced, "and for a thousand florins, I'll rid you of your rats!" "A thousand florins!" exclaimed the Mayor. "We'll give you fifty thousand if you succeed!" At once the stranger hurried away, saying: "It's late now, but at dawn tomorrow, there won't be a rat left in Hamelin!" The sun was still below the horizon, when the sound of a pipe wafted through the streets of Hamelin. The pied piper slowly made his way through the houses and behind him flocked the rats. Out they scampered from doors, windows and gutters, rats of every size, all after the piper. And as he played, the stranger marched down to the river and straight into the water, up to his middle. Behind him swarmed the rats and every one was drowned and swept away by the current. By the time the sun was high in the sky, there was not a single rat in the town. There was even greater delight at the town hall, until the piper tried to claim his payment. "Fifty thousand florins?" exclaimed the councillors, "Never..." " A thousand florins at least!" cried the pied piper angrily. But the Mayor broke in. "The rats are all dead now and they can never come back. So be grateful for fifty florins, or you'll not get even that . . ." His eyes flashing with rage, the pied piper pointed a threatening finger at the Mayor. "You'll bitterly regret ever breaking your promise," he said, and vanished. A shiver of fear ran through the councillors, but the Mayor shrugged and said excitedly: "We've saved fifty thousand florins!" That night, freed from the nightmare of the rats, the citizens of Hamelin slept more soundly than ever. And when the strange sound of piping wafted through the streets at dawn, only the children heard it. Drawn as by magic, they hurried out of their homes. Again, the pied piper paced through the town, this time, it was children of all sizes that flocked at his heels to the sound of his strange piping. The long procession soon left the town and made its way through the wood and across the forest till it reached the foot of a huge mountain. When the piper came to the dark rock, he played his pipe even louder still and a great door creaked open. Beyond lay a cave. In trooped the children behind the pied piper, and when the last child had gone into the darkness, the door reaked shut. A great landslide came down the mountain blocking the entrance to the cave forever. Only one little lame boy escaped this fate. It was he who told the anxious citizens, searching for their children, what had happened. And no matter what people did, the mountain never gave up its victims. Many years were to pass before the merry voices of other children would ring through the streets of Hamelin but the memory of the harsh lesson lingered in everyone's heart and was passed down from father to son through the centuries.




Here you can see how it looked like! :)


At least it was a funny party and an interesting topic because we found some cultural differences in fairy tales. There are of course the well known fairy tales but also many which are only known in one country or maybe one region. The fairy tale which is told above is only known in Germany.
That becomes very interesting when: french, finnish, portugese, irish, polish and german people celebrate together!

The Spirit Store

Yesterday I spent a really good evening in a nice pub.
One girl from my homecollge, who was in Dundalk the last winter Semester for an exchange told me that I have to go to the Spiritstore. Since about 3months I haven't tried it. But now, because the time becomes less and less till I'll go back, I went there for an irish music session. It was great! We were sitting in a small room and there were at first only a few people playing music.

Bit by bit there came more and more people, at least there were four violines, many kinds of flutes, guitars, banjos, an accordion and I'm sure that I forgot something. We were in high spirits and had great 3 hours with the music and all of us said, that we will be there all the following sundays too.

The Spiritstore is direct at the port of Dundalk. It's an industrial port, but very little. It is really nice, to stand infront of the pub and see the two old and left boats and have a look at the sea. I think the Pub opens at noon and I can imagine that it will be gerat to sit in front of it and have a tea. When we were talking to an old man sitting in the pub, he told us, that it is one of the oldest pubs in dundalk.
And all the week there are bands, giving concerts.
So, I'll go there again as soon as possible!

And it's a good tip for all who want to spend a grat evening in Dundalk!

Christine

Hey folks,

actually this is my first real blog entry.
My blog will tell you about my experiences in Ireland. I went to Ireland three months ago to study at the Dundalk Institute of Technology click here to have a look at the homepage.

I want to tell you, what was or is difficult, what I would have expected differnt and of course what I'm doing here.

I hope you will enjoy my blog and I'm looking forward to share opinions about an exchange in Ireland, an exchange in any other country or how you think about the erasmus students coming over for a few months to your country.

Christine

First Blogday

Good morning! It is 9.30am and the first task for the day was to create a blog for onlinePR class.