Dear Grandma,

I don't know if I already told you about that but I have to do a semester in a foreign country from January 2015 to the end of May 2015. It's part of my studies and I am glad to have the opportunity to do that. Meet new people, discover a new lifestyle, see new landscapes, … I can't wait for all of this and I already know it's going to be awesome !

I made choices few weeks ago about where I wanted to go and here is the result : I am going to Dundalk in Ireland. It's between Dublin and Belfast, in the East part of the country. I am blithe to go there because I wanted to go in an English country in order to improve my knowledge in this language. I remember when you told me about our ancestors that came from Ireland, and when I learned I was going there, you can't imagine how happy I was.  I am going in the footsteps of my family history !

I swear to keep writing you as often as I can, to let you know about my trip, my impressions and the stuffs I will discover.

I can't wait to hearing from you.

Lots of love,

Clémence

Dear Grandma, 

I am in Irish land !

It was so strange at the airport, you can't imagine how lost I was … Everything was write in English, and even if I wanted that, it's kind of impressive. I hope I will adapt myself easily.

I took the bus from Dublin Airport to Dundalk, it is the only way to go there in less than two hours. I had to ask for a special stop in order to not be too far from my housing with all my suitcases, and even with that, I was able to be lost ! I had to ask to three people before finding my new place. You can't imagine how glad I was when I finally get into my apartment. It's lovely there, I have four room-mates, three Irish people and a French guy. They seem to be very nice, but I have to admit that I can't understand everything that the Irish people are saying to me. Did you ever hear their accent ? Really hard one. 

To come back to my new housing, it is located near the university (5 minutes by walk). There was another one further down the city (about 15 minutes by walk from DKIT), even if it was less expensive to go there, I choose the closest one. My apartment is on the second floor of the block, and I have a nice view of the mountain and the football court of the campus. In the flat, everything is well laid out. There are five bedroom (one for all of us), two bathroom and one living room with sofas and a nice kitchen. We also have a balcony ! You cannot imagine how good it is to have an apartment like this one after the one I had in Lyon. It is so much bigger here !

I will only start my courses on Monday. I don't have much, only six. And tomorrow, there are the Welcomes Days. All the new Erasmus people will be here and it will be an opportunity to speak to them and learn more about the university of Dundalk at the same time. I hope that the weather is going to be okay, because for now, it's kind of rainy. 

I can't wait to let this adventure begins for real ! 

Lots of love, 

Clémence

Dear Grandma,

Let me tell you more about the university I am studying in. Last time, I told you that I was in the university of Dundalk for a couple of months. This university is called “Dundalk Institute of Technology”, or DKIT in a short way. The campus is located in the county of Louth, halfway between Belfast and Dublin (each approximately one hour and a half away by bus). It set up in 1970 with an emphasis on business, engineering and science. Over the years, the Institute has expanded its range of programmes such as hospitality, music or humanities. Nowadays, the Institute has four Schools, with each one consisting of a number of departments with a wide range of programmes on offer. The four Schools are : School of Business and Humanities, School of Engineering, School of Informatics and Creative Arts and School of Health and Science. I am in the Business and Humanities school in the department of Business Studies as you can guess with my curriculum in France. And you know what Grandma ? Almost all the Erasmus students are in this department too. And that is quite nice, the atmosphere is conducive and breezy.

As I told you in my previous letter, we had the Welcome days few days ago. It was very nice. We made a lot of activities such as Irish dancing, the discovery of Gaelic football and several activities in order to learn more about each others. Indeed, we were all new students, and it was good ideas to break the ice. We also visit a little city near Dundalk : Carlingford. It is a beautiful city with a lot of medieval monuments. I really enjoyed this city.

Beside, we visit the university and the different facilities available for us, students. Here is what I learned : from pool to hurling, DKIT offers a large amount of activities. Between professionals coaches and different sports facilities (outsides and insides ones) the students have the possibility to be involved on a social way on the campus. There is also a gym room on the campus. To use it, students have to pay a registration fee of 10€ per semester. Open everyday except on Sundays, it tend to be a very popular place for sportsmen. Students can go there whenever they want and only have to register at their arrival.

About the food outlet available at DKIT, it is quite different from ESDES. Indeed, a canteen is available on the campus. For a reasonable price (around 6€ for a plate with vegetables, starchy food and meat), people can eat properly. Moreover, the place have a pleasant atmosphere. Very friendly and a little bit noisy during the rush time, it is a famous place of DKIT. It is possible to get a meal here at any time during the day, for a breakfast or a lunch. Several cafe are also present at DKIT. There you can buy food and drinks all day long. You have an amount choice of pastries such as croissant or scones, but also some sandwiches, snacks and small portions of hot food during lunch time.

Moreover, every student has a special user name and password in order to have an access to DKIT services, including campus PCs and online web services. They also got an college email address. By this one, students received information about modification of the timetable or additional information about class. Furthermore, they can communicate with teachers and others students. There are several computer rooms in the principal building where it is possible to work during free time. Class also take place here, especially language ones.

It have been a few days since I started classes now and it is not as hard as I was thinking. Indeed, the teachers are very comprehensive with us and try to speak slower than usual in order to help us to understand everything. I have chosen six different classes which are Management Accounting , Quantitative Techniques, English 2 for Socrates Students, Consumer Psychology, Management Behavior Studies and Marketing. All of this classes are interesting and will truly help me for the future. Indeed, this are subjects quite similar to the one we have in France or that we are going to have in the next years.

I think I told you everything that you have to know about my arrival in Ireland and the universe I am going to be raise in for the next few months.

Kind regards,

Clémence

Dear Grandma,

On Friday, we went to Belfast, Northern Ireland, in order to do an organized trip to visit the Giant Causeway. We took the train with three others friends and slept in a youth hostels there, because the trip started early in the morning on the Saturday.

During the trip, we first made a stop at the Titanic museum in Belfast, but we did not at time to visit it. Then, we crossed the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and the nice landscapes around it. We finally went to the Giant Causeway itself after several other stops (at the Bushmills whiskey distillery and in a small village on the coast).

It was a rainy day, so we did not had the opportunity to take as much photos as we wished we could, but it was a very nice trip. I really recommend it !

You can see the selection of photos I made for you in the gallery called 'Trip in Northern Ireland'.

Hope the best for you,

Clémence

Dear Grandma,

Today, we went to Blackrock, a little city across Dundalk, with some friends. It is close to the sea, so it remind me a little bit your home, and that is why I wanted to share it with you. Here are some picture of this lovely place. I hope you will enjoy it.

With love,

Clémence