IRELAND - DUBLIN

A month ago I came to Dublin for my semester abroad at UCD.
At first I was very overwhelmed. Arriving at the huge airport, where you first have to walk for 10 minutes before arriving at the baggage carousel and then standing at the bus stop to take the AirCoach to the university campus. Also during the bus journey when we travelled through Dublin. Lots of new impressions, lots of different streets, parks and people. I didn't know where to start processing everything and I didn't know how I was ever going to know my way around Dublin and get to know people. But that's easy. On campus, which is admittedly huge. It takes me 30 minutes to get from my student residence to the architecture campus. Various buses leave from the campus. The S6 bus is the main bus that leaves from campus. It takes you to the Blackrock Centre, which houses the Aldi supermarket. There is also the Dart station, the train that runs along the east coast. The same bus also takes you to the City Centre. This is where you will find the shops and the city Centre on the "Liffey". Dublin is quite simply organized and you know your way around after 4 weeks. An important part of University College Dublin is sport and socializing. You get to know most people through these activities. Sports clubs organize training sessions, trips but also evenings in the pub and other activities. Societies often organize events where there is always something to eat and drink. Every club and society require a membership at the beginning, but this pays off with the drinks, food and training sessions, and I myself have joined 2 sports clubs, tennis and windsurfing. I am also currently a member of the Italian and Food Societies.
But it's not just at UCD that people are pretty sports mad. All over Ireland, people love sport. The Six Nations is currently taking place in rugby, where Ireland is playing. Also football or Gaelic football. As soon as you go into a pub, there's always a sport on. The Irish are always in a pub in the evening. Live music is often played or quiz nights are organized. Anyone from the pub can play in groups. The winning team gets a bottle of wine. If you walk through the city during the day, there is usually always a band playing Irish folk music somewhere. This is part of the evening program here. Events organized by societies or sports clubs are usually held in pubs. We went to the public viewing of the Six Nations game between Ireland and France. You won't find an atmosphere like that anywhere else. At first it was a bit unusual how often you're out and about in the evening and that there's always something going on somewhere. But after a while you get used to it. In Germany, you sometimes go out in the evening, but not as intensively. Sport is also very popular in Germany. Football, for example, but there aren't public viewings for every game.
Ireland is also a very beautiful country in terms of scenery. We were south of Dublin in a small village called Bray, which had a beautiful local mountain from where you can see from Dublin across the sea to the Wicklow Mountains. On the beach there were stones and shells in all colours. Most of the shells look like little hats. These can be found in all colours of green, red, blue and yellow and many more. Of course, you can also find other types of shells. On a beach on the west coast of Ireland, I found several starfish, some of which were unfortunately dead. With the cliffs by the sea, the eternal meadows in all shades of green, brown and yellow and the hills, it is wonderful to go hiking and discover Ireland.
At the beginning, when I came to Ireland, the weather was mostly bad, it was windy, raining and cold. The first weekend I was in Dublin there was an orange weather warning with winds of up to 120km/h. But you can tell its spring. But you can tell its spring. Although it's mostly overcast, the sun is coming out more and more and the temperatures are getting warmer. However, in my opinion, the best weather to discover Ireland is a cloudy sky with warm temperatures. Cloudy skies bring out the colours of the landscape much better than when it's sunny.
Finally, I'm a big fan of the Irish culture. Some things, like the Irish not planning anything, are difficult for Germans, because we come from a culture where everything is planned and here you are told at university that you are doing a site visit the next day. But apart from that, the people are very accommodating and friendly. I immediately felt very comfortable in the university, culture and was able to make friends. People also look after each other, even if you're walking around Dublin alone at night, taxi drivers will ask you if they can help or if you meet another woman, have a chat with her and end up with a "stay safe".