Impressions of Northern Ireland

So much green! Those were our first thoughts when we were taken from the airport to Ballyclare. Compared to Germany, the nature here is an essential part of the scenery. Driving on the left confused us a lot at the start. We were especially surprised by the quite nice weather. We were expecting more rain. We were slightly shocked when we saw some of the bad housing conditions in and around Ballyclare. Whenever we visited Belfast, we discovered there was quite a lot of rubbish lying in the streets. We enjoyed the historical buildings and the many colourful flowers.

Even before we arrived, we were looking forward to learning about the Northern Irish school system. We were struck by the friendly and bright atmosphere of the school. Another difference is that the pupils must wear a school uniform. The long periods are also different. Our periods last 45 minutes and between the periods we always get a 5-10 minute break. What we miss from our school is the long lunch break, in which you can have a warm meal in the cafeteria. We were quite astonished by the amount of sweets consumed by the pupils.

Overall, we have enjoyed it a lot here and we got on really well with you and our host family. Through speaking with the exchange students and their families, we could improve our English.