GRG23 Sprachreise

Galway 2011

In March once again it was time for the English language week. And so the 6C and the 6D travelled to Galway. 42 students, led by Ms Liebetreu, Ms Delipetar and Ms Fellner set out in order to improve their English at the Galway Atlantic School.

But studying English was only one part of the experience. Getting to know the country and – more important – the people was also part of the enterprise. Or, to quote Marion Wolff, “Travelling to a foreign county and experiencing the difference is always an adventure. One of the most important aspects that makes it that exciting are the people. And there is no better way of getting in touch with them than living in a host family, like we did.” This is the student’s personal view of Ireland.

The host families

Our host family is part of a really big family, who has lived in Galway for decades. There are a lot of relatives in Galway, for example the grandparents live just next door. The O’Hallorans are actually a really old family. (Marion Wolff)

My host mother lives alone in her house. Her mother, the sister and three brothers live in the area of Galway. So she has a big family. She has always lived in this region and works for “Laura Ashley Interior Design Store”. She has one son, who lives in Chicago. So she has been to America 14 times to visit her son and grandson. (Carmen Hofmann)

Our host mother has three sons, but only two of them live in the area of Galway. One of them is her neighbour, the other one lives in Galway town. The family has always lived in this region, only one of her sons moved to Dublin. (Desiree Demel, Melanie Morawetz, Viola Gerbrich)

The family told us that they have always lived in Galway. Although the host father was born in the south of Ireland when his parents were on holiday, his family has never left Galway. (Lai Ao Li)

Eilish, our host mother, has got four daughters, but except Shauna, the youngest one, all are adults and have children of their own. We actually had the chance to meet all of them and we became kind of friends with Daniel, the oldest one, who is five years old. (Julia Digruber)

The economic situation in Ireland

The situation is pretty bad, actually. Our host mother, Margaret, told us that finding a job is one of the most difficult tasks right now. One of her sons, for instance, studied physics and Astronomy and he cannot find an employment. Only people with 2 to 3 years of work experience are wanted, but how many of the students have that?

A part of the people emigrate to other countries, like the US in order to avoid being unemployed and waiting for the situation to change. (Filip Lukacic)

In spite of the economic crisis my host parents have a job. I know that he is a carpenter and that she works in a medical factory. They cannot earn too badly, because they have three cars in front of their house. So it seems that they are one of the few families who were affected comparatively little by the economic crisis. (Antonia Netzl)

At the moment they have not got a job. But the host father used to work as a builder. (Philip Safer, Manuel Dordevic)

At the moment she told us it’s very bad. It is hard to find a job especially for young people. A lot of them move to the capital, because they think their chance of getting a job is better there. Also one of her children has problems finding a job. Her son just graduated from university and is now looking. (Johannes Zechner)

The people

Most of them are very nice to visitors but as always there are some, who might not be that polite. Rugby-fans for example can be dangerous if they are drunk, but I think in Vienna there is the same thing with football fans. But in general you get treated very nicely in Ireland. (Johannes Zechner)

Food in Ireland

If our host mother cooked something special for us she would make “Banoffi”, which she did and it was amazing. We praised it and her so much that we got it the whole time as dessert. She gave me the recipe, (...) it is very easy, the ground are Digestive cookies mixed with melted butter, the mixture needs to rest in the fridge, and then you put toffee on it, then banana slices and then whipped cream and she even put crumbled ‘Maltesers’ on top. (Lidia Velissaris)

If she wants to cook something special she cooks lamb and potatoes, which the whole family really like. (Kathi Frank)

Students in Irish families

She enjoys hosting people from other countries, she loves to meet new people and likes to get new information about other countries. Some of the students she hosted before still write cards to her and she really enjoys that. (Desiree Demel, Melanie Morawetz, Viola Gerbrich)

Two weeks before us the host parents hosted two Spanish boys whose accent was hard to understand. There were also Swiss boys, who made common mistakes due to German words and Japanese who spoke a good English. As for the curfew, there have never been problems, but according to Mary (Housing officer at the school) some students threw away their lunch packages or hid them under the bed because they probably did not like them. (Lai Wai Li)

Mary hosts pupils from other countries because she really enjoys it. We think that one reason why she does this is that when her children moved away she wanted someone to talk and maybe she doesn’t want to stay alone in her house. Maybe she fells lonely... (Melanie Morawetz)

Festivals

The family celebrates St Patrick’s Day every year. The Irish people usually wear something green, like a hat or shamrocks and some also dress as leprechauns. The younger generation doesn’t follow this tradition and prefer dying the hair green. Nearly everybody drinks beer on that particular day. (Lai Ao Li)

They celebrate their birthdays without a lot of presents. Adults only give each other cards, but children get huge birthday parties, for example at McDonald’s. (Desiree Demel)

For Irish people it does not matter much to turn 16, the most important birthday in their lives is the 21st. This birthday is celebrated in really big style. They have a shop in Ireland called “Birthday’s” which is full of birthday things. But the O’Hallorans do not often go there. (Antonia Netzl)

At Christmas time Mary invites nearly all her relatives and friends. They have a feast, mostly eat turkey, the adults drink beer and wine and their children get lots of presents. The adults don’t give each other presents... (Melanie Morawetz)

Christmas is a very important celebration for them. The grandmother loves it. They have four trees, two of them outside, one in the living room and the last one in the kitchen. The house is full of candles and they always eat turkey and cakes. (Kathi Frank)

Irish sports

Eilish told us about Irish sports too. Very popular are Hurling and Gaelic Football, which is a mix of soccer, football, volleyball and so on. (Julia Digruber)

The girls are called Molly and Barbara, they were very funny. The played in a hurling team and had training twice a week. We saw them in their dresses and they looked really nice! (Katharina Frank)

Hurling is a national sport. It is played with a coman, which is made of ash and a sliothan, which is made of leather. Gaelic football is also a national sport. (Mathias Blaha)

Impressions of Ireland

The greatest impression for me, was the Irish landscape. There was the road on which our bus was driving, and then nothing but endless green fields, this little stone-walls and some sheep. And the grey sky. When we were driven through this scenic grandeur I whished that I had a little house there. I think that this area is great for long walks. Anyway I think that this is the perfect landscape.

It is said that there is hardly any day without rain in Ireland, but during our stay there it rained only twice. My host mother told that we were very lucky with the weather because usually it rains more often. I don't think that we were so lucky because I like rain. The Irish people were very friendly and hospitable. They have a very strange sense of humour. The father of my host family always made jokes and it always took me a few moments to understand that he was joking.

The food was quite international. I got pizza, fish, chicken, spaghetti, hamburger and pork to eat. And then sweet corn, peas, carrots and nearly every day potatoes - as chips or boiled. But the food wasn't bad. The Irish put sauces and vinegar on everything. The sauces were very good, but vinegar on potatoes tastes awful. But "Thank God" I always had to put the sauces and the vinegar on the food myself.

Ireland is a very catholic country, but I think that most people do not care if you are a Catholic or not. My host mother wants her son to go to a mixed school, and many people think so, too. But she also told me that it isn't easy to find one.

I found our stay in Ireland great. My host family was very nice and we had much fun.

Nina Purgathofer, 6A

There are only two words to describe our week in Dublin and the three days in the west of Ireland: simply great!

In Dublin we saw many famous places like Dublin Castle, Trinity College, Grafton Street etc. - moreover we got known to the life of ordinary Irish people (our host families). In the west of the island - in Connemara, at the Cliffs of Moher, ... - you are really fascinated by these unique and wonderful character of the Irish landscape. Finally there's another reason, why I wouldn't want to have missed these ten great days: if you are on a trip with your class, you are together with your friends every day from morning to evening, and you can have even more fun with them than at home at school.

Madeleine Pichler, 6A

In the end we want to thank Frau Prof. Scheibl and Frau Prof. Eigner for enabling us these ten wonderful days in Ireland.