Norway in Ireland!

Hi, this is Maria from Norway.
I had a really good time in Ireland and I miss you all!
I found Ireland very interesting, because of the history and the culture.
I hope I can go back to Ireland one day, or even study there :)

I enjoyd staying with the family and the irish dancing made my heart warm because of all the joy.

With love ~ Maria Ellen Lyngmo Seppälä!

The trip to Ireland :)

When we came to Ireland, the weather was great and warm. We went on a trip to Knowth with the Spanish people. The trip itself wasn’t so very interesting, but the buildings there were extraordinary. Later that day, when we had picked up the Bulgarian people, we went to eat dinner. We got to know each other a bit better, which was fun! The day in Kilkenny was long and filled with a lot of history and many churches to see, but the town was nice, and I liked.... and I liked the free time where we got to shop and go to a café.

Grace’s family was really nice, and I really enjoyed the time with them. Grace and Emma (the Spanish girl that also stayed at Grace’s place) and I went on a walk to a “secret beach” which was very nice. We also got to see all of their animals; ducks, horses, donkeys and dogs.

Saturday was time for some more history lessons, this time in Ardmore and Lismore. When we came back, we stopped at the Irish language center for an half an hour, before we went to the school to eat dinner, dance and hear some really great Irish singing and music. The Celtic dancing was such a blast; we laughed, stamped on each other’s feet and tried our best, and in the end we felt like we managed it pretty well.

I really enjoyed my time in Ireland, and I hope to come back someday to meet all our new Irish friends J

- Kisses and hugs from Elisabet!

Kim's trip to Ireland

The trip to Ireland was really exiting. All the places we visited and the people we met were so nice and I felt really welcome over there. Also to be able to celebrate my birthday in Ireland were also really exiting. We ate much cake and sweets at the school, and home where I lived during the trip.

The things I will miss the most during the trip will be without doubt the people we met, especially the family whom I lived with. They took me into the family with open arms. I would never be hungry during the trip, because they always offered food, but I’d like to try all kinds of different food.

The trip was fun, and was a big success. I really want to travel back to Ireland and meet the family who took good care of me.

IRELAND 2011

My name is Jaume Lladó and I'm one of the Catalan students who take part in the Comenius Project and one of those students who went to Ireland.

 

On Thursday the 13th October we met at Vilassar de Mar's train station at 7:45am and went to the airport.

Our plane left at 10:30am, and when we arrived at Dublin's airport we met the Norwegian and three of the Irish students.

 

After that, we went to have lunch and to Knowth, an ancient monument.

Then, we went back to Dublin's airport to pick up the Bulgarian students, and we went all together to the hotel in Kilkenny where we slept the first night.

 

On Friday morning we went for a walking tour around Kilkenny, and we visited Kilkenny's Castle and Rothe House, a historic house, and then we had some free time until we went to Ring and there we met the families.

 

On Saturday, we went to visit Lismore Castle's garden, and we also went to a church where we saw some people preparing for a Harvest Festival.

Later, we went to Ardmore, a fishing village where we had a tour in which we were told about that village's historical facts.

That night, we went to the Irish school to have dinner and after that we practiced some typical irish dances.

 

Saturday was a quite different and funnier day. We woke up late and we went to play hurling all together. I found it really interesting, but, unfortunately, we had only one hour to play it.

After that, Rosen and I went to see a hurling match with Eoin, which was great.

Later, we all met in Dungarvan's cinema and went to see Jhonny English, a really funny movie.

 

On Monday, we woke up early and went to the school, where we had some cooking class, we made our presentations and then we went to History and Irish class.

When school finished we went shopping at Dungarvan's shopping centre.

After that, Eoin, Rosen and I went home and played cards with Júlia, Andrea, Lise, Muireann, Maria and Ríoghnach.

 

I was kind of sad on Tuesday because it was my last day in Ireland and it went all worse when the bus broke down and we had to say goodbye to everyone earlier than what we had planned.

The day didn't really get better, because we had to stay for a long time in Dublin's airport before we could come back to Spain, and when we were able to, I was really tired.

 

I really think this has been one of best experience I've ever had, Ireland is a precious country, even knowing that I've seen just a little part of it, and that's one of the reasons why I'd really like to go there again.

Mi Irish experience

Hi, I'm Júlia and I'm one of the Catalan group's girls who went to Ireland. First I was worried about losing the subjects while I was in Ireland but when I arrived there all my fears were forgotten and I enjoyed a lot.

Our plane to Ireland was at 10:30, so we had to meet at 7:45 to go to the airport. The flight was really well and we arrived there at 12:30 (Irish hour, which is one hour before). While we were waiting for the Bulgarian group, we visited the Knowth ruins and then (with the Bulgarian group, too) we went to have dinner and to the hotel.

I especially remember the moment when Andrea (another girl of the Catalan group) played the piano in the hall of the hotel. It was amazing!

On Friday, we went to the Kilkenny's castle and I really enjoyed the tour because it was all furnished with traditional things and pictures and it made you feel like a queen. At night we arrived at our host families' house.

On Saturday we visited Lismore, where we went to a garden's famous castle but we didn't go in because it was for hosting rich people and not for visits. In the afternoon we visited Ardmore and then, we went to the host's house. My host, my Norwegian house mate and me went to Eoin's house (who is the cousin of Muireann, my host, and Jaume's host) to play cards. It was really fun.

On Sunday we played hurling, the typical Irish game and then, we played baseball, too. After all the sport, we went shopping and we went to the cinema to see "Johnny English 2".

On Monday we went to school and we cooked some brown bread and a vegetables soup; I didn't know cooking but I learned there and it was interesting. After cooking, we had lunch and we did our presentations. I was really nervous because of that because there was the TV and unknown people. When we finished the presentations, we did some classes: I did art (I'm really bad at drawing) and Irish class, I learned how is "goodnight" ("Oíche Mhaith"). After this two classes, all of us learned how to play the bodhrán (a typical Irish drum). When we finished the music class, we went shopping and we went to a youth hall which had computers, Wii, and some other cool things. At night, we went to Eoin's house to spend the last night and we played some cards games.

On Tuesday we got up at 6:30 and we said goodbye to our host's families. They are so nice and I was really fine in their house. We were supposed to go to Dublin by bus, but it was damaged and the Bulgarian and Norwegian groups had to go to the airport by bus because their flight was at 12 and 12:30. It was a pity because we wanted to spend the last hours of the trip together, but I hope we can keep the contact.

Well, we had to wait for another bus because we had time (our flight was at 18:30) and when we arrived at the airport, we waited there until the flight arrived. While we were waiting, we went shopping in the airport.

The flight was nice and we arrived at Spain at 22:00.

All the trip was really great and I hope we can meet all of us another time because I enjoyed all those days!

Julia Suriol (Spain)

Ireland 2011

If i had to explain my trip in one word, i wouldn't know what word i should choose.

Our ways had met in Kilkenis' hotel. Maybe the luck wants we to met.
I was on the livingroom, with bulgarian, spanish, and irish people, talking and laughing; we knew them since 2 days, but it looked like we know eachother since a lot of time.

Suddenly, i heard the grand piano, a beautiful, and wonderful one. I began to listen some notes of a song, very slowly, a song which i knew a lot..."Fur Elise".
I thought i should go there to see who was playing it, but I didn't move.. in a few minutes later, i woke up to see who was playing, but the music stopped and the man who was playing leave the room. I walked fast, i sat on the piano's chair, and I began to play the same song, and I put all my feelings on it.

He came back and he was listening to me. I finished, and i looked at him; he was a gentleman.An old and elegant man. We were talking, he explained me he had lerned by ear. He was with her wife, she was very refined.

I realized that music can join different souls, it doesn't matter the ages, the race or the gender.

I felt happiness.

I'm very glad to have travelled there, Ireland is a magic country.

Andrea Mayordomo (Spain)

My trip to Ireland

Hi, I'm Petya from Bulgaria. Our trip to Ireland started on 13^th of October. We flew from Sofia to Frankfurt and then to Dublin. Áine, the principal of Irish school, and the teachers from Spine and Norway were waiting for us at the airport. We were the last arriving group. I was nervous because the other students had a chance to know each other. Our first night in Ireland was in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny. I stayed with Lisa, norwegian student, in a room. Our tour started of Shee Alm House. Now the house is used as a tourist information center. We looked at sites like Grace's Castle, Black Abbey, Rothe House. We also visited the castle in Kilkenny.  The beauty of the castle and garden thereto impressed us greatly. We had extra free time for walks and shopping after the tour of the town. We took a lot of pictures together. And we slowly got to know each other.

We were in Dungarvan at the end of our first day in Ireland. We arrived at school’s ground. There I met the girl I stayed in- Cherene. Her family was really nice to me. They were amazing. On our second day we visited two villages which were near to Dungarvan- Lismore and Ardmore. We visited St. Carthage’s Cathedral, we experienced “The Lismore Experience”, and we went to Lismore castle. We didn’t have a chance to go inside the castle, because it was a private property. We had a long walk in the village of Ardmore. Our guide told us about St. Declan. We visited St Declan's church, a round tower and the grave of St. Declan. We walked coastwise and climbed on cliffs. We saw a lot of breathtaking views.

Then the bus took us to the school. There we had a dinner. I happened to be with the Spanish group on one table. After that we danced Irish dances and listened Irish music. The Irish dances look easy to dance, but they are not. They are full of passion and rhythm.

On Sunday we we went to the football field. There we were taught how to play Hurling. Students from the school were our teachers. There were and teachers too. They explained us the rules. They also taught us how to hold the stick, called camán. They showed us how to strike the ball, called sliotar. Then we played a game similar to baseball. We played it with tennis racket instead of bat.

When we end the game Cherene’s mother came to take us. The whole family took me to a lighthouse. There we met Ian, his mother and Kim, a norwegian student. The keeper of the lighthouse knew Cherene’s father, so we had a chance to go inside the lighthouse. We were at the height of 87 meters above the see level. Me and Cherene walked around the near forest. Then we went to the cinema. Everybody were there.

On Monday we went to school with the Irish students. First we had a cooking classes. We cooked traditional Irish bread and Irish soup with vegetables. Then we had Music, Art and Irish classes. We learned how to play Bodhran, a celtic drums, during the Music class. And we learned few words and phrases in Irish language. We done our project work, of course.

Kim had a birthday on that day. So we gather together in Briane’s house at Monday night. Not everyone were there. But we were from all nations- Norwegians, Irish, Spanish and Bulgarian. We watched a movie and we talked till late at night. There were no borders between us. We were just students at the same age.

On the next morning we left. It was really difficult to say goodbye. I become attached to everyone. I miss all of them.

We flew back to Frankfurt and then to Sofia. There Hristo’s and Rosen’s parents were waiting for us.

 I’m thankful that I had a chance to meet so many great people and to feel Ireland and Irish history for real. Thank you!