I cannot believe I am about to enter my last week of my internship! Eight entire weeks at this company have resulted in long days, but incredibly fast weeks. Although very excited to be finishing up so I can travel with my family and head back home to Philly, I am saddened by the thought of leaving Dublin and the wonderful friends I have met.

This week my friends and I remained in Dublin and took the opportunity to try some new restaurants, pubs, and bars as we enter the last few days together as a group. There was one pub in particular that I think felt like the most quintessential Irish pub so far on this study abroad experience. My friends and I also had a night out during the week to watch a local artist (who frequents Grafton Street as a street performer very frequently!). I love how we have been trying to make the absolute most of our time here, even if it is still a weekday.

I cannot wait for my family to arrive so I can show them around and have all these spots picked out and to share all my little anecdotes about the city like a real local!

Yesterday we even took advantage of the gorgeous (but very hot) weather to make our way over to Dun Laoghaire. Although not my first time in the town, it was my first time swimming in the water and braving the famous Forty Foot! I did need some serious encouragement (and I made my friend jump off with me at the same time to feel better and to have less attention on me if I slipped off the cliff), but after I did it the first time I felt such a sense of accomplishment and adrenaline. I thought I would have still been content with myself if I decided not to make the jump, but I am so glad I did. That feeling is something that will also stick with me in a time of uncertainty, because now I have such a fun story to tell as well as such a sweet memory with my friends on a sunny day in Dublin!

At work things have been picking up as the launch for the new ready-to-drink cocktail, Little & Green, is in a few weeks. I have been happy to make launch party invitations, influencer packages, and simply sit in on meetings to learn more about the product and the brand we are trying to build around it. Since the official launch is after us students leave, I will unfortunately miss the big event, but am happy to support from afar.

Upon my time here, I consider Ireland to have a predominantly low-context communication style compared to the United States, or at least from what I have seen from my office environment. It seems that each department has its own diverse group of individuals working away on their own tasks. Communication in this instance can certainly be improved, whether within a single department or across the office. As a student who has never worked in an office, I have been fascinated to see how, for example, the Operations team interacts with the Marketing teams. At the same time though, as someone who has no interest in crunching numbers, and as someone who knows very little about the spirits industry or e-commerce as a whole, I needed to take the extra steps to reach out and ask questions to get the whole picture. This got frustrating at times and I would frequently feel disconnected from many of my colleagues.

Something I also noticed in my office is the language used in emails. Most of the time, while still friendly and polite, most of the emails I receive from my supervisors are incredibly to the point and focused on a specific task or goal. I have come to like this style of basic communication because it removes any unnecessary fluff not required at the moment. After all, I like speaking in person with my co-workers instead of through email, so any extra “fluff” communications can be done face to face.

When everyone has worked together for an extended period of time, it is no surprise there is an unspoken understanding of everyone goes about their day and makes decisions, so I have learned to observe more and take in everything I can as I work to understand the ins and outs of the business in such a small setting.