On Monday January 29th grade 9 flew to Ireland. We stayed there with host families for five days. In Ireland we were picked up at the airport in Dublin by Jim the bus driver. He gave us a short tour of Dublin and after that we had free time, which we used, to explore Dublin, to try Irish food or go shopping. In the afternoon we drove to Wexford for two hours where the host families were already waiting for us.

Tuesday was our first day. After we had a lovely breakfast, our host parents drove us to a famous Irish statue called Commodore John Barry. There we met Jim, our teachers and two very kind girls named Sara and Diana, who accompanied us on many adventures. We were divided into little groups, in which we had to do something similar to a treasure hunt and for example ask Irish people what old Irish sayings meant. After around one and a half hours we met at the statue again. From where Jim told and showed us many stunning things about the sea, the harbour and the mussels and crabs. While leaving the harbour with many new learned things, a great hunger and lots of excitement, we rushed into Wexford’s city and could finally look around by ourselves. From two to five we visited the Slaney language centre for the first time and learned much about how to promote and expand our creativity. When language school ended most of us were driven home by Jim and while driving Jim told us old stories and legends about Wexford sights and people. Finally home our host families welcomed us with a big smile and a delicious dinner and while going to bed we were already excited and curious to find out what we are going to see and learn tomorrow.

Wednesday was a great day. First, as always Jim, our guide for the week drove us to the Hurling field where we got to know two new sports, Gaelic football and hurling. We learned a lot about the two sports and it was very interesting but also exhausting. After we had finished, we took a group photo and then our sport teachers chose one student who did it best. He was allowed to take a photo with our sports teacher, Larry O’Gorman who was a famous hurling player. Afterwards we drove back to  Wexford city where we had free time to eat our lunch. Some students went to a café or explored the city. We met at the Slaney language centre again and had three hours of school. In the evening our host families picked us up and we arrived back home.

Thursday was a very busy but great day for us. It started, as always, with Jim. He drove us to Curracloe Beach, while singing Molly Malone, with much joy. The beach was incredibly beautiful. At first, we walked up the dunes and had a stunning view over the beach and the calm sea. Afterwards Jim dropped us of at the cinema and we had our lunch break. We met again at the Slaney language centre and had about three hours of English lessons. Everyone agreed that the creative lessons helped us to improve our English a lot. Finally, we all went out for dinner together and then we went bowling. It was a good end to an eventful day.

Friday, our last day in Ireland, started at a meeting point, where our host families dropped us of. After a heartwarming goodbye, packed with a lovely lunch, we left for Dublin. We arrived at the EPIC-The Irish Emigration Museum after a two-hour ride. It was a great experience, to expand our knowledge about Irish history, which was connected, with having much fun at the interactive stations. Afterwards Jim picked us up and drove us directly to the airport. Loaded with many emotions, we got on our flight back to Germany. We are very thankful that this opportunity was given to us, by our school and for the effort our teachers Mrs. Seemann, Mrs. Brink and Mr. von Dreusche put into this trip. Furthermore, all of this couldn´t have happened without our lovely host families.

Written by Alissa Schulz and Mia Lehnort (9d) as well as Lotte Zimmermann and Samira Ifiri (9c)