The week before the trip, I wasn’t feeling nervous at all. But on the day we were leaving, I felt that this is it; I’m finally going to Ireland, a country I have been planning on going to for a long time. The language, the culture, the nature, everything I knew about Ireland interested me.
The plane left very early from Tromsø, but I managed to sleep a little before we arrived at the Dublin airport, only six hours later. The heat stunned me. We Norwegians had to change to lighter clothes behind the bus because it was too hot for us. The Irish said it was cold though.
It took a while before the bus ride started to where we were supposed to have lunch. It was fascinating to sit in a bus that drove on the left side of the road. After a week in Ireland, I got used to it though! After lunch we went to where the hobbits and Bilbo Baggins live. Well, it wasn’t exactly like that, but the buildings were very similar to the hobbit houses!
After picking up the Bulgarians, we went to eat dinner just outside Dublin. I ordered a very funny dessert: ice cream with jelly. The taste was normal, but the jelly was kind of strange.
After a long day driving around in many directions, I was pleased to arrive at the hotel in Kilkenny. It was a really good night’s sleep, and eating hotel breakfast in the morning made it even better.
I must say: Ireland has a lot of churches! I think I saw five in Kilkenny, and I bet there were several others there that we didn’t get to see. The Kilkenny castle was beautiful! The great hall with all those paintings! Too bad we weren’t allowed to take any pictures, because then I would have taken many.
In the evening we went with the bus to the school where the parents were to pick us up. Simona and I were to stay at Brianne’s place, and I am really glad that I got the opportunity to stay there! I learned so much about everything, and the family was wonderful! They just gave and gave, and I felt that the only thing that I gave back was a little bit of dried reindeer meat. Now I have memories for the rest of my life (and the school’s sweater that I have already used a lot!) J Thank you so much!
The next day (Saturday) we went to Lismore and Ardmore, two towns that weren’t far away from Ring. In Lismore we saw a historic film about Ireland, and learned a lot. I still remember that the famous Robert Boyle once lived in Lismore’s beautiful castle.
In Ardmore we learned more history, and the man who told us the history made it sound so interesting. The scenery in Ardmore was so wonderful. Here they also have Rapunzel’s tower (from the fairy tale Rapunzel by the Brothers Grimm). People must have been in Ireland when they wrote all those stories.
In the evening we went to the school to eat dinner and dessert. We also learned how to dance some Celtic dances, which were really fun to learn. In the end I was really exhausted, but I had a great time with everyone. I also got the chance to listen to Irish music live, and I love Irish music!
On Sunday Simona, Brianne and I went for a walk. Well, I would rather say that we climbed a mountain because that hill was really something! But when we got to the top, the view was stunning. We could see Dungarvan and the sea and tiny houses many kilometers away. Why do people say Ireland is flat!? It’s a lie!
Afterwards we learned how to play hurling with the rest of the group. Our team won! We also played something similar to baseball, which was fun too.
In the evening we went to the cinema to watch Johnny English: Reborn. The Irish don’t like the man who plays Johnny English (also known as Mr. Bean). Maybe it is because he’s English, because the Irish do NOT like the English. Ha-ha.
On the final day in Ireland we had a real Irish school day or something like that. Every morning they have to stand up in lines before they go to their classes. We don’t do that at all in Norway.
The first two hours or so we made soup and Irish bread. We got to taste it later and it tasted good, especially the bread!
After the cooking we had lunch and then our presentation. I really hope people understood everything and learned something! The other presentations were really good.
What I noticed when I was Ireland, was that the Irish are really kind! They made and decorated a birthday cake for Kim AND sang a birthday song for him. That is really generous because we Norwegians would maybe, and I say maybe, have sung a birthday song for the person who had his birthday. We all got a present from the school: a diploma and a flute.
After the presentation, we had the chance to learn some more Irish history in Brianne’s history class, and Irish in the Irish class. The Irish Á is pronounced the same as the Norwegian Å.
We had a music class after the Irish class where we learned how to play some kind of Irish drum. It was interesting and it was really a look-alike to the Sami shaman drum.
The school lasted until half-three (15.30), and then we went home for dinner. While we were eating dessert, some of the others from the Comenius group came over to our place to watch a film. We saw Step Up 2 and it seemed like everyone had a really good time and people didn’t leave before after twelve. I hadn’t started packing my bag yet, so I was kind of nervous. In Kilkenny we had discovered Dunne’s Store. Seriously, that store has everything! I bought so much there that if I had bought one more thing, I would have had to leave it in Ireland. I bought shoes there for 3 euro, and that is how much a 200 g chocolate bar costs in Norway.
The good byes the next morning were tough. Would we ever meet again? Hopefully, we will. I felt that going back to Norway wasn’t that tempting. School… Well, if it wasn’t for the school and the Comenius project, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go to Ireland. So thank you so much for giving me memories for life!
<3
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