To sum that up again:
I've been to London and met some amazing people with whom I'm still talking.
I flew from London to Dublin all by myself.
I met my host family and started my new life.
I've started my new school and the adventure of finding friends.
That's a lot to progress and I haven't had a free minute since I've been here. But that's not something to worry about. I think if I would sit at home all the time I would get homesick and that's not what I want at all. It's true when the Returnees said that you'll be busy the whole time. I mean, you have to get used to everything and start a "new life".
I think my family and my friends at home have it more difficult because they have to live their lifes like alaways. Just without me. And for me, I have a new family, new friends and everything. Everything's still new and there is nothing missing from this life. Of course I miss them, but I can't sit in my room all the time and dwell over the memories. I have to distract myself if I start to get sad.
But my friends and family gave me a memory book and beautiful letters so every time I feel alone I can look at them and remember the happy times I had with them.
The Returnees told us that it's like a curve. The first few weeks are the worst until you've settled in, then it's going to be amazing but at the time of Christmas, it's going to be worse again. For me, there wasn't really a curve until now. I felt at home the second I came here. But I think there was one day where I've been down. It was a day, where me and my friends went to town and because I was shy, I couldn't talk that much so when we got home I was frustrated with myself because I couldn't open my mouth. That was the only hurdle I've had until now.
Well let's not talk about depressing stuff anymore.
On saturday, Sofie, Anna, Gergely, Wiktor and I went to Dublin by bus. The weather was rainy, of course, but we still enjoyed every second of it.
On the bus, there was an old lady sitting next to me and she started talking to me and we had a conversation during the whole drive. Everyone here in Ireland is so polite and nice.
In Dublin we saw a demonstartion, that abortions should be legal. There were so many people there.
Because the weather was bad we couldn't go sightseeing but we said we'd do that the next time we're there. So we went shopping. There were many shopping centers so we never got bored. It was incredibly funny and I quite like Dublin and I'm looking forward to going there again.
On Saturday we went to Galway. Anna, Sofie, Wiktor, Gergely and Jorge. Galway is a beautiful place, I like it better than Dublin because the people there are more energetic and enjoy life very much. We went to a street with many shops and we saw many people playing instruments, dancing and a lot more. There was a sweets shop and it was amazing. It had Wonka chocolate, butter beer, drumsticks, marshmallow fluff and much more.
But before that we went to the Aquarium and it was really funny. We could touch the starfishes and crabs. The stafish wrapped itself around my finger and it was a really weird feeling.
After that we went to the seaside and made some pictures (of course)
Next
Saturday, I'm going to go horse riding. And I can go for free! There's
that guy and Roisin went horse riding with him as well so Bernie already
knew him so she trusted him. I'm looking forward to it. There are two
other girls and one of them is going to the same school as I am so maybe
I can be friends with her. Her name is Ailbhe.
Now that I'm
talking about my hobbies, I joined the gym last week. It's 99 Euros for
three months and I can even go swimming. It's amazing and I'm starting
to like training. I even met a Spanish girl (Lola) and she's really nice. She's
going to my school as well, but she's in TY. On my bus there are some people and I've started talking to them. One boy is in my maths class and all of them are very nice. They're called Marko, Dylan, James, Michael and Nathalia. And then there's another guy in my english class that's very nice and he always helps me with my lock because somehow it always breaks. His name is Dilans.
There are many things happening and I'm still not used to the Irish culture and the thinking of the people but I think I'm on a good way.
Lots of love
Shannon
PS: I've learned some sentences in Irish like: Go raibh mìle maith agat
It means "Thanks a million"
PPS:
This is a typical Irish dinner on a Sunday:
Mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and meat with sauce. I actually really like it it's nice.
And this is my school:
Athlone Community College
