First day in Dublin of a Travelling Languages student!

Hi folks, today I’m posting the first 24h experience of a former Travelling Languages student, let’s read how her first day was:

“I arrived one Sunday night during last summer; I was nervous and excited to be in Ireland at the same time… It was my first trip alone!
While I was landing into Dublin, the first things that I noticed were the bright lights which coloured the city from the window of my plane. When I arrived, as I expected, it was raining, but it wasn´t cold, at least I was feeling hot, maybe it was thanks to the adrenalin in my body.

At the airport, there was a guy, a member of the school Travelling Languages, who was waiting for me. He picked me up and he brought me to the hostel where there were other students who arrived during the day. During the journey from the airport to the hostel we spoke a bit, and even though my English was out of practice, we had a long conversation. He was speaking to me in a clear and slow way. He was trying to help me relax and I really appreciated it.

We arrived in the city centre in only 25 minutes. It was 10 pm, and the streets were full of people who were entering and leaving the pubs. Dublin was so alive and I wanted to go out like the people that I saw  from the car but I couldn’t: it was my first night in Dublin and the day after I had my first English class, so I went directly to the hostel and I fell asleep.

The following day I went to school and the first 4 hours of lessons were so funny and intensive at the same time. Emma was my teacher, she is so cheerful and strict, but you can see easily that she likes teaching and she is so good! I learned a lot from her during my 2 weeks programme! After school, we went out to have lunch all together and there were some native speakers who came with us. They were there just for us: they helped us to speak only English.

After lunch, with them, we went to visit Trinity College, which is beside Travelling Languages.
There was a guide of Trinity College who was waiting for us. He said that Trinity College is the oldest university in Ireland and it was founded in 1592. Inside there is a large campus with lawns, a large golden sphere; it is also crowded with people walking, and standing there enjoying the sun during the sunny days. The most important monument is the library, which is situated in a separate building from the rooms of the university. Trinity College Library has the largest collection of books and manuscripts in Ireland. Since 1801 they’ve been collecting a copy of each book published in Ireland and Britain. The main room is called the « Long Room » and it was the one that I most appreciated. It is a huge wooden room with high ceilings. The guide said that it was an inspiration for the library in the Harry Potter film. When the visit finished, we went out from the library, and we passed near a cricket field that was inside the campus. We sat down on the benches to watch the guys who were playing and I tried to understand how this sport works.

The Tjs proposed us to have a walk in the city centre. So they brought us to discover Dublin. We walked around the city centre and I saw a lot of monuments but I’ll always remember about The Spire. It was the first attraction which caught my eye. It’s a great monument, a shaped cone in the middle of O’Connell Street, and in the centre of the city. It can be seen from anywhere in town due to its height (120 metres) and its lights that during the night enlighten the city, for this reason it is also known as « Monument of Light”.
We walked down the avenue of the River Liffey, with all its bridges, which divides the city into: Northern and Southern district. The bridge that I most appreciated was the Ha’penny Bridge (nobody knows that this is its popular name, but its real name is Liffey Bridge). The bridge looks like a half English penny, which was the exact  amount that people needed to pay to cross the bridge since it was built in 1816, until 100 years after.

To finish the day like typical Irish people, we went to have a pint of Guinness in the picturesque area of Temple Bar.  I love the Dublin pubs’ atmosphere, Irish people are so friendly and cheerful, and they really love to have fun with other people!

I spent 2 amazing weeks with Travelling Languages. I enjoyed my time so much with them and I also learned a lot in the class and I learned a lot from the local life as well. I met a lot of friends; I discovered a lot of cities and amazing places, and I did all these things travelling around Ireland and speaking English all the time!

I chose the right school of English that gave me the possibility to really improve my English. »

Thank you Marta for your story, see you next week with another story, maybe! 😉