Welcome to my second post which will have a heavy focus on my first week at GreenAer!
On Wednesday, I braved the Dublin bus system by myself for the very first time, learning how simple a bus transfer is and the general timetable of busses during my commute. After the 45-minute trip, I walked into the GreenAer Sandyford office meeting Ollie in person for the first time. He gave me and Lucas, another intern from Colorado, a quick rundown of the company before we started meeting everyone else in the office. Very quickly, Cyrus, one of the main salesmen in the office told us to pick a bike and we took off to a local coffee spot. I ordered a dragonfruit sports drink and we sat around talking about the company and our summers. We headed back and I got to work on designing some templates for social media posts. Everyone then took a break for lunch which was when Cyrus and Ollie gave us some recommendations of restaurants, pubs, and sightseeing spots to try and visit during our trip. When we went back to work, a package arrived for Cyrus, containing 100 small bags of Haribo gummies. This led us to snack on these gummies for the rest of the week, enjoying a quick candy break every hour or so. I really enjoyed how friendly everyone was and how the culture in the shop wasn’t nonstop action like it is in many American work environments. We took a lot of time away from our work to talk and get to know one another, making me feel more comfortable adjusting to the work setting. While I was given an ambitious list of goals to accomplish in these 8 weeks, I am very excited about how much creative control I have to pursue everything I am working on.
The following two days were similar to my first day of work, allowing me to create my first idea proposals for promotional material. The most unique part of Friday though was my ride to GreenAer that morning. For some strange reason, the bus looked pretty empty compared to the two days prior. Once I hopped on, I noticed that the bus driver was waving me to come up to the front. He then asked me if I knew the route as he was just doing it for the first time. While I wanted to pretend to be a local and show my knowledge, I valued making it to my internship on time and gave him directions through Google Maps. It wasn’t until I arrived at work that I learned it was an election day, explaining the lack of people on the bus. It was a small moment in my week but made me feel that I wasn’t alone in trying to figure out how to live my life here in this country.
Saturday was one of my favorite days thus far. We set out on an early bus ride to the Wicklow mountains where we took an extremely relaxing hike and saw the beauty that the melted glacier created. I enjoyed taking the time to wander, talk with the others, and decompress in nature. Afterward, we saw a large chunk of the Irish countryside, passing countless sheep and cows as we went along. We then arrived in Kilkenny, exactly what I envisioned a European town to look like. Our suite explored the town for about half an hour before grabbing lunch at a nice tavern. I had a delicious burger that fueled me for the tour of the castle. I enjoyed the tour far more than I expected to especially when we learned about all of the art present throughout. My favorite pieces of art were the columns in the ballroom that had different images representing different eras of Ireland’s history and the beautiful handmade tapestries depicting the story of Decius.
Monday brought another very enlightening trip as we visited the National Museum of Ireland. This museum gave me great insight into the bronze age and Viking period in Ireland specifically through seeing the well-preserved artifacts from their respective times. I found all of the work done with metal especially interesting to learn about such as the golden jewelry from the bronze age and the ornate engravings in the Viking items. After we left the museum, I finally succeeded in my quest of getting a guitar, a souvenir I am already really enjoying and hope I get the chance to share with others on the trip if they don’t mind a few wrong notes.
I am so excited about this upcoming weekend’s trip to the West Coast and hope to have a lot of knowledge and stories to share in next week’s blog!
Cyrus, Lucas, and I at the GreenAer Sandyford store
A photo from Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains
The columns in the ballroom as I mentioned above
A silver brooch made by the Celts (Vikings)
Have you had a chance to eat traditional Irish Food?
Can’t wait to see more pics, especially with you in them 🙂
Jackson,
I love the descriptive language that you’re using throughout your Blog! I honestly feel that I’m able to experience Ireland along with you. I can’t wait to see you and hear more about your adventures and “Must Dos” in Dublin.
Such exciting adventures. It is great to see you are able to have a nice work / play balance (how European).
Looking forward to more about your projects and the fantastic music scene.
Jackson,
Your blog post is fantastic! I felt like I was experiencing your adventures to date through your eyes. Wonderfully descriptive. Interesting that you’ve already picked up on the “work to live, not live to work” culture that the Irish have vs working in the States. I’m glad you were able to pick up a guitar. I look forward to following along on your journey.