Hi everyone! The time in Dublin has gone by so fast, and it is now the beginning of week four of my internship. It is crazy to think that we’re practically halfway through this entire program. Besides doing my internship during the week, some friends and I went to the UCD theater and saw the new Inside Out movie, and I found it to be surprisingly enjoyable and quite relatable. As for the weekend, our friend group went to Amsterdam! We left for the airport on Friday right after work, and we rushed there to make our 6pm flight. At that point, everything started going wrong. The flight got delayed, then the airplane had a mechanical issue that made our takeoff time even later, then immigration line took about 45 minutes to get through. After that, our train to the hostel we were staying at was also late, making us miss our reservation that we made at a famous bar in Amsterdam where the walls and glasses were made of ice. However, we happened to get a later reservation and made it to the bar at 12am. Even after all that trouble, the trip was well worth it and we were excited to get the weekend started. That Saturday, we took a tour of places around Amsterdam including a windmill farm, a cheese factory, and a wooden shoe factory. We got to see some great places and eat some delicious food, and it was so cool to see how the cheese and wooden shoes were made right in front of us. Furthermore, we decided to continue our sightseeing on Sunday by going to the Rijks museum, which had art pieces by Van Gogh and Claude Monet. Even though we didn’t have time to walk through the entire museum because of our flight time, it was amazing to see such famous art pieces by these well-known artists. My friend and I also tried their famous stroopwafels, and it was one of the most delicious things I have ever had. Overall, I had such a great time in Amsterdam and I would most definitely visit again if I ever had the chance.

Once our flight landed and we got a taxi back to UCD, it was 11:30 pm and I was extremely exhausted. It was difficult waking up this morning at 7am for my work day, but I somehow got through it and got there on time at 9am. Today, I started a new project where I had to look up the budgets of the grant numbers in Excel and made sure that they matched the budgets that are in our system, which is called Agresso. I have been learning to use Agresso for some time now, but it is still often hard to figure it out and use it on my own. One big thing that I am finding difficult to adjust to concerning Ireland’s culture in the workplace is their lessened amount of clear directions and assignments. In America, my tasks are often clearly thought out and I am given step-by-step directions by my superiors. Here, however, my boss is often more laid back with her directions and it sometimes is not clear what to do when completing an assignment. It wasn’t easy adapting to this in the beginning of my internship, but now I feel like I am starting to get used to it and it’s been helping to change up the way I work on my own and with others in order to fit the workplace culture in Ireland. My coworkers are also very kind and they will answer any questions that I have or give me some more direction if needed, so that is very helpful.

Additionally, people in Ireland are known for their ability to have a well balanced work and social life, and they find time to go out with friends or do something after work. I have been finding this difficult to do because of how tired I am when my 9-5 shift is over. I am not used to working forty hours a week, so this has been taking me some time to adapt to and I find myself wanting to head home and relax right after my shift ends. I know that I need to travel more, so I am starting to explore places around my workplace by meeting up with friends after work to grab food or go sightseeing. I live right near the city center, so I want to get better at taking advantage of the opportunities my location gives me. Adapting to Ireland’s culture has been a challenge, but a very fulfilling one. I am very excited to keep improving at both my social and work life, and I am ready to see what this next week will bring me.