Last year I made a pretty big decision: to work and live in another country for almost two months. I have always loved traveling and I thought that this opportunity was too good to pass up. After getting placed with a local company I was off to a new environment to have new experiences.
This summer I get to work with Athletics Ireland in their finance department. So far I’ve only been working there for about a week and a half but I am excited to learn more about the accounting practices here in Ireland. From what I can tell a lot of things are similar to how they are done in America. All of the accounting records need to be accurate, consistent, and released to the public in a timely manner, and there are many safeguards in place to protect against fraud. The only difference is that throwing me off so far is that everything is in euros instead of dollars! All of my coworkers are also really friendly and excited to be working with me. They are teaching me a lot about their systems and also giving me good suggestions on where to eat dinner. There are two other interns in the office with me, but they are working in different departments. One of the interns is Irish and the other is German, and it’s nice to see a variety of people working at this company.
When I’m not working five days a week, I get to explore the country on the weekends. This past weekend a group of us were able to take a trip out to the city of Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. The city of Galway was beautiful with a few pop up markets spread out around town. I was able to try some local food and buy some handcrafted gifts. The Cliffs of Moher were much like anyone would expect: breathtaking! At about 700 feet in height the view out onto the water and at the islands across the way was amazing and I’m so glad that I got to experience it. I also went to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College in Dublin and it was very interesting to learn about the history behind the book and the Christian religion. The Old Library at the college was also definitely a must see for any book lovers like myself. As for Dublin itself, it’s not much different than any other major city in America. There is a huge, diverse population, a lot of traffic, and plenty of good places to eat. However, public transportation is a much bigger thing here than in the US and a good portion of the city inhabitants use the bus or train to get to work, including me!
While I haven’t been in the city long, I am looking forward to spending the next month and a half here. I can’t wait to get to know the city, the country, and the culture better!
