From February to April, I spent my 5th (internship) semester in Dublin working at the Bechtle direct e-commerce company. Since I like to gain experience abroad, I wanted to use this opportunity to get to know the country and the people better.
Working in DublinI knew I wanted to stay in an English-speaking country, and so I decided on going to Ireland. Something I noticed right off the bat was that the various Irish accents aren’t really that easy to understand. But this wasn’t much of a problem as my colleagues were all incredibly open and friendly and with time I got used to their ways of speaking. I received a very warm welcome and the team is like one big family.
All in all, the team I worked with was very international, so it was a meshing of cultures that resulted in us learning from each other a lot.
There was a total of 20 in the team, of which half was at the office and the other half worked remotely. There are four areas (administration, sales, finance and marketing) each of which I worked in for two weeks and was allowed to take on my own tasks. Since I didn’t have any experience in these areas at Bechtle Germany (or very little), it was very exciting for me to gain an insight into these.
Life in Dublin
The quality of life is great in Dublin. For a capital city, Dublin is moderately sized, which means that you can get everywhere on foot and don’t have to go far to reach the inner country, while being close to the sea. The city is divided into the north side and the south side by the river Liffey which flows in from the Irish Sea.
Dublin has a lot to offer—cute cafés, sizeable parks, historical buildings and of course the many Irish pubs. The pub culture with its good live music, Irish stepdance and Guinness beer is something I personally like very much. The people here are very welcoming, which means that you can easily get to know them and find out more about the country and the culture.
I used the weekends to see more of Dublin, but also the rest of the country. The historic capital city provides plenty of stories to hear, but the nature outside of it is breathtaking. I took a trip to the Wicklow mountains to the south of Dublin to look at the medieval town of Kilkenny. The peninsula Howth in the east of Dublin provides a beautiful view of the sea and the city. Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, with its British touch is also worth a visit and is only two hours away from Dublin. From there we took a trip to the Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on the north coast.
Going to Ireland was definitely the right decision for my semester abroad. I can recommend everyone to travel to this country—with a bit of courage and openness you will have unique international experiences.
“In Dublin you are able to celebrate life, happiness, and history. The culture is focused on being alive, yet aware of the past. All people are welcome.”
Jana