My last week :(

Hey there,

so the updating you before going home didn't work out. But I had a great last few days. 

So Friday was pretty much the same as the other days before. I helped the customers, cleaned out some phones and just had a nice day at work. After work I walked home to get a ticket for the citylink bus to Clifden for Saturday. When I came to Ireland I had my mind set on going on a horse trip. And that is exactly what I did on Saturday. I found The Point Pony Trekking and Horse Riding Centre (http://www.thepointponytrekkingcentre.com) online and booked an one hour ride with them. They are located about 15 km away from Clifden so I had to go there.

On Saturday I packed all my clothes for the horse trip and then got on the bus to Clifden. The ride was nice enough and on arrival at 11:30 I first walked around the city centre and bought a pouch that I could take on the ride as well. After that I got some lunch (Irish stew) and enjoyed the very sunny weather. Since the trip was at half two (14:30) and I was told to be there 15 minutes before And I new it would take the taxi about 25 minutes to go there I tried getting a taxi at about half one. I needed a taxi because there is no public service going there. And let me tell you getting a taxi in an very small town (2.500 people) isn't quite easy. I ended up calling 5 different numbers before someone picked up. The cab picked me up and I told the driver where exactly I want to go. Also while doing so someone asked if we were going to Ballyconneely. Since the driver knew by then he said yes and the guy asked if it where okay if we shared. So that is how it came that I shared a cab with a complete stranger for the first time. On arrival which was just in time I had to change and fill out a form on my experience with riding. After that I got pointed to a horse. He was named Joey and he was really cute

Joey on the right

my group 

view on the trip

Afterwards one woman was nice enough to take me back to Clifden. But while driving I realized that one of my rings was missing. So she drove me back there and left while I searched for my ring since I had a rough idea where I lost it. Unfortunately I didn't find it. So Anne, the tour guide drove me back to Clifden since she had to pick up her grandson there. I still had sometime until my bus left, so I got some shortbread in a bakery and waited for my bus, enjoying the view of the Twelve Bens. 

parts of the Twelve Bens in the background

On arrival in Galway I met Maxines mom. They had arrived back in Galway earlier that day and would leave the next day to go back to the States. We cleaned up the apartment some more and then Maxine, Mackenzie and me just talked and just talked about anything and everything before heading to bed at some early hour of the morning.

On Sunday I went to the little Street Market next St. Nicholas Church with Mackenzie because I wanted to get a new ring. I didn't find one there so we went to different stores on Shop Street until I found one. After that she asked me if I would come with her to the Black Rock, a diving tower at Salthill, because she wanted to jumped down but needed someone to film it. Our next destination was home and then the Black Rock. 

Source: http://www.aledowenthomas.com/index.php/blackrock-diving-platform-salthill/#lightbox[group]/2/

First we were both worried a bit about the tide but we figured it should be because high tide was only about 45 minutes away and also some else jumped in and some locals assured us that it would be fine. So she jumped in and after coming out of the water she said that the cool water was quite nice and whatever possessed me, made me say I would do it as well. So that is the story of how I jumped from a diving tower in Galway straight into the Atlantic ocean. Guess I could have done worse, but it was quite daring since yes people jumped in from there but you never know how deep you go and if there is a stone because of some weird reason. But Mackenzie was right. It was really nice to feel the cool water because it was about 25 degrees Celsius. we then hurried back home because I had a Skype date waiting with my parents and my brother  before also skyping my boyfriend. 

And then on Monday my last week at work had started. I again helped John wherever I could, served the customers, cleaned out phones but also started testing phones that came in to be sold. Also I did take the second language test required by Erasmus. When I came home I wanted to get a head start on packing but this plan was cancelled as Mackenzie asked me to come out with here. First we went to An Pucan, the supposedly first pub of Galway, and then we went to the Quay's to watch the band playing there. We had a few drinks and enjoyed the music before going home after the set ended.

at the garden of An Pucan

On Tuesday I served customers but also John and me took a first look at the europass we had to fill out. Otherwise I helped John wherever I could. Also I finished testing the phones and put them all out onto the shelf. In the evening I started packing and it was a really weird feeling. It was kind of heartbreaking to pack everything back up knowing that I won't get it back out until I would be back in Germany. Also I cleaned up all dishes that weren't cleaned up.

On Wednesday Shane came into the shop to help John and I since we were swarmed with phones that needed to be repaired. So I went about my day in the usual manner and served the customers. Also I put away an order that came in containing a lot of screens but also tempered glasses, pop sockets and other accessories. Other than that I gave John the printed out europass as well as my weekly reports to sign, checked into my flight and booked my bus down to Dublin. At around half three-ish John let me go to finish up packing before we met in the evening to kind of give me a going-away party. We started out in O'Connell's at Eyre Square where we wanted to get some Dough Bros. With us was one of Johns friends and we were also joined by Johns girlfriend. Since the Dough Bros pop up there was closed we decided to change locations after the first pint to get Nachos and chicken wings at An Pucan. There we sat with some people of fonez (biggest competitor of ibroke). Johns girlfriend headed out when the food came but John stayed since he had the ibroke money to spend on our drinks. When Darragh arrived he thought about leaving but ultimately ended up staying while his friend left. We had some more pints there before changing locations. But before we went to the next pub Darragh and John helped me getting the trash out if the apartment. Thanks again for that one guys. Darragh wanted to go home afterwards but he drove John and me to Carroll's for  some more entertainment, pints and a game of darts. Afterwards we walked down to The Quays to have a last drink before he brought me back to the apartment like the gentleman he is and we said our goodbyes with promises of meeting again. He then went on to a friends house. I myself went to bed to get some sleep in.

credits to John for taking this picture

On Thursday I got up a bit earlier than strictly necessary. I packed up the last of my stuff and wrote all the postcards I wanted to send out. When I glanced at my watch I got a bit of a shock since I really needed to go to the bus station already. I guess it took longer than I thought to write all the postcards. So because of that I hurried and got all my roughly 55 kg of luggage, divided into 4 items down to the New Coach Station all the while looking around for a pillar box. I didn't find one and worried that I wouldn't be able to send them of. But firstly I had to worry about making my bus. I got to the coach station and dropped off my luggage to one of the stuff of citylink. I also told him that I had one extra bag because normally you can only take two suitcases and one on-board luggage. He said it didn't matter and that I didn't even had to pay for it. Also when I asked him about a pillar box he said there was one down at Eyre square and described exactly where it was saying I could make it. His colleague overheard it and offered to drop the postcards off for me in case they all have stamps on them. I told them they have and they took a look at them renewing the offer which I gladly took. So after checking all the addresses once more I boarded the bus and waited for it to leave. As soon as we left the coach station I fell asleep and slept all through the journey to Dublin. Arriving at the airport terminal I checked my luggage in and printed of another boarding pass for me. I went through security and had about two hours on my hands. So I followed Johns advise and got another pint. I sat down and just said my goodbyes to Ireland. When it was time I went to my gate and waited some more since boarding started late. Also we left about 50 Minutes after we were supposed to. But with a flight time of only 90 minutes we made it to Berlin almost on time and I landed in Tegel at 21:35 o'clock and met my parents who were waiting for me.

sunset on the plane

Yesterday I was busy getting all my stuff out of my suitcases and spending time with my parents which I intend to do after finishing this up as well. 

So following this up I will post a recap about my time in Ireland. So it's not quite goodbye yet.

See you. Stay tuned. Cheers!

Juliane :)

My week of work

Hey there,

what's the crac? This post will be a bit shorter than the last one but I just hope noone minds that.

On Monday John had the day off so I was working with Louis (the one from my first day) and Darragh (shop owner). It was kind of a different experience. It started in the morning when I arrived at the shop to find that I was the first one there and it was raining as usual in such situations. But luckily it didn't take long for Louis to arrive and shortly after Daragh came as well. Basically I was in charge of designing a spring sale mail which led to me searching pictures for the whole day whenever I had the time. Other than that I cleaned some phones and shortly before I left I took payment of a costumer for the first time ever in my life. That was kind of a scary experience. I actually managed to give the customer the merchant slip of the card payment but other than that it went mostly smoothly.

On Tuesday, the 24th of April, I told John everything from the day before and he showed me how to take a customer in. After he watched me doing it once he told me that I from that moment going forward would be the one taking customers in or taking payments. So that is my new main job. Listen to the customers explaining their problems, taking their details and taking payment when they collect their phones. Also, an order came in on Tuesday so I put it all away correctly.
On another note two of my roommates came back from Corfu. Emma and Maxine. We talked pretty much the whole evening and also went up to the guys apartment to eat there.

On Wednesday John and Louis were in and working when I came into work. So I pretty much did the same thing as on Tuesday except putting away an incoming order. But I talked to all the customers and got a bit of a hang of when to ask John about the customers problems. Also I still searched for a good picture to put into the mail. After finding one I asked them what should go in the text. They weren't quite sure so I left it there and started searching tours for the weekend while still going up to the customers whenever one came in.

 On Thursday it was just John and me again. It was quite relaxed. I mainly did the same as on Tuesday and Wednesday. But I also decided that I would go and try every Subway that is available here in Ireland but not in Germany. Other than that I texted a lot regarding a trip I will go on in May. I had to laugh about a few messages so I was giggling quite a bit. John asked about it and when I told him he laughed about it as well. In the evening I met up with John, Shane, Louis and Louis' may-as-well-be-girlfriend Paige. We first went to one of Darragh's other businesses. A pub called Carroll's on Dominick Street. It has a double decker bus standing in its beer garden where you can get pizza. I still am getting used to the pizza habits here. First the toppings on most pizzas are very different. Like chicken or beef mince. And when eating the pizza they dipped their pizza in garlic sauce. I had never really seen that in Germany. Probably once or twice at Pizza Hut but definitely not so casually. The pizza though was really good. And it was not too crazy. We also got a few pints with it. I was one pint ahead of everyone because in true Irish fashion everyone else was a bit late and I didn't want to just stand there. John had to leave early because of his two daughters so the other three and I went on to another pub after enjoying the live music some more and Paige also sang a song with the musicians. We had a lot of fun and after going to two other pubs Shane went home as well. Louis, Paige and I went to a bowling alley afterwards. Louis knows some guy, who works there, so we got in and played a game. I left after that because I had to get up in the morning to go to work. I had a lot of fun on Thursday evening and I also got a picture of the three guys I work with. I asked them if they were alright with me putting up this exact picture and they gave their consent, so here it is:

John is in the back, Louis in the front. Shane is on the right side.

Yesterday I got up at what felt like way too early. But whoever can go out, can get up and work. So I got myself ready and while making breakfast Anna came up to me to say hi after she arrived in the middle of the night back from their trip to Korfu, Rome and Milan. She went back to bed and I went back to work. it was a slow day with not a lot of customers coming in. But we had one whose phone wouldn't back up. He left his phone and laptop with us and right in the middle of updating his phone via the laptop there was a blue screen. It appeared to be a driver problem so I searched for it on the internet but before I could find out more about it the customer came back and collected his laptop and his phone. I told him about it and also told him to keep an eye on it.
On another note we also had a customer who had his Samsung S8+ in for a new screen a few weeks back. John did it but the screen was faulty. It work but it flashed and it was black around one of the edges. So he was told he will get another one that has to be ordered in. Unfortunately, it took a while for the screen to arrive so he wasn't happy with us. He brought his phone in to be done yesterday and John changed the screen. The customer still wasn't super happy but he was alright. He left with his repaired phone. About two hours later a man comes in and shows us a really damaged screen of an Samsung S8+. When we wanted to get his details he told us that it wasn't his phone but his collegues' who is the exact same guy who got his phone fixed just earlier this day. He told us that both of them are bus drivers and that his collegue started work and dropped his phone onto the steps of the bus. So that will be another 300 €. John and me both felt bad for him. After that John told me I could go so I went off into my weekend.
When I came back home Maxine was gone to spend the weekend with her boyfriend. Mackenzie was asleep since she only arrived in Galway at 9 in the mornign after having to stay at the airport in Dublin the night before. Anna and Emma came home just about the same time as me and asked me if I wanted to join them for dinner as they would make shrimps alfredo. We were joined by Mackenzie, Ryan and Tyler. Since it was Tylers last evening with some of them we decided to go out afterwards. True to that plan after the meal we got all ready and went back to the boys apartment. There we met a whole lot of familiy and friends of Liam who are here to visit him. This happening led to only Tyler, Mackenzie and me going out for his last day in Galway. It was his last day because he will go on a three week long trip through all of Europe (whoever knows the film Eurotrip: something like that) after that he comes back for a few days but most of the girls will be gone by then. At least according to everything I've heard about it. But let's wait and see. Also, we didn't stay out too late since he had to get up and leave at five, mackenzie wanted to study for her final and I had plans for today as well.

That is pretty much all about my last week of work. Turned out it got a bit longer than expected. Also, this post was supposed to go up yesterday evening but clearly that didn't work out. So I will tell you all about my weekend in the next blog that will also contain a bit more pictures again.

Until then: Stay tuned. Cheers!

Juliane

P.S.: Also I cheered when it was announced on the radio that the Duchess of Cambridge had her baby boy and I cheered again on Friday when the name was announced to be Louis Arthur Charles but mostly I cheered on Friday because ABBA announced two new songs. And I'm really happy about that.