A Human Writes: Reeling in the Year

May

Exams began, and they weren’t nearly as impossible to get through as I had thought. The work was back-breaking and because my four law exams (constitutional, Irish legal systems, criminal and contract) were scheduled the same week I was left exhausted, emotionally unstable, and with a chronic hand cramp. But they were over soon enough, along with my three German exams, and I was free to look forward to the summer ahead of me. I started moving my things out of my room in Halls and bid Dublin farewell, because I was off to Wiesbaden for the next three months!

Law and German finished exams at last

The warehouse party that never was

Last day in Dublin

June

In June, I started my job in the supply chain department of a large company based in Wiesbaden, Germany, having spent the last week of May getting used to my new surroundings. This was also the month I got locked into my new apartment, freed by the fire brigade, and evicted the next day. I also received my exam results after a nervous wait and to my utter relief I passed first year with a nifty two-two. Not bad for someone who slept through a lot of lectures, partied hard, and procrastinated.

In Wiesbaden

July

The beginning of July was tough. I had been in Germany for just over a month, and the novelty was starting to wear off. Worryingly, Nana had taken ill back in Ireland and although Dad did his best to keep me up to date over the phone and via email it just wasn’t the same. I was tired, lonely, and missing home and friends. Fortunately, I finally had the opportunity to visit Sorcha, Shannon and Ruairí in Berlin, enduring a fifteen hour round bus trip to do so. I met Sorcha and Shannon’s thirty-five year old roommate, skinny dipped, stayed up all night swapping stories, ate döner and had an altogether pleasant forty-eight hours in the Hauptstadt. The following weekend, my chum Maria visited me in Wiesbaden. Selfies, twapes, Malibu rum, crepes, ice cream and sightseeing were the order of the day, and I was very sad to see her leave.

Reunited with Shannon

Apres midnight swim

Crepes at the La La Land Cafe, Wiesbaden

Maria's visit. My decision to wear shorts in public was a big one.

Frankfurt am Main

Apple ice cream

August

August was great! Nana started to show signs of recovery, I had built up a great rapport with everyone at work and I was really enjoying my job even though the 6am starts were crippling. I finished work on the 15^th of August and my colleagues presented me with a card and gift and showered me with praise and applause. There was a lot of awkward hugging (I am the least tactile person in the world and Germans love hugging and cheek-kissing) and promises to keep in touch. I lapped up the attention. After saying my last goodbyes to Wiesbaden, I headed to the airport on the 19^th to fly to Berlin. The ten days ahead of me looked rosy and I felt content. I spent two days with Sorcha and Shannon in their apartment in Spandau before they had the argument to end all arguments with their flatmate (and landlord) and were consequently thrown out. We arrived to meet Kieran, who was joining us for a week, at the airport with all our worldly possessions in tow and ended up checking into a hostel called Generator together where we dormed with Charles, Seb, Max, and Comme – four French guys from Lyon who became our best friends for the week. The next day, Nick showed up in Berlin to surprise us all having booked a flight over from Washington DC via Dublin on a whim. Katerholzig, hangovers, rooftop techno clubs, breakfast buffets, cocktails, getting to know the world’s most quirky city even better, a visit from Jade and Ollie, heart-to-hearts, hugs and constant side-splitting laughter made that week in Berlin undoubtedly one of the best of my life. On the 29^th of August Shannon and I flew back to Dublin, and back to reality.