This 2nd of June 2023 will remain in my memory. At 10:45 pm exactly (French time), the boat named Pont-Aven belonging to the Brittany Ferries company cast off from Roscoff harbour. Towards Ringaskiddy’s ferry terminal in Ireland. I will spend 3 months over there to perform my technical internship as part of my studies at ISEN.
I was excited and impatient to live this new experience though I was afraid of letting my family, my friends and all I knew. For 3 months, I will have to manage on my own in a new country, in a new environment and to speak English !
The 2nd to 3rd of June 2023 night was special. It was the first time I slept in a boat. Hopefully, everything went well. The crossing with the ferry lasted 14 hours so it was better not to be seasick !
The 3rd of June around 10 am (Irish time), I was able to sight for the first time Irish coasts. And around 11 am, I put the foot in Ireland, in the Ringaskiddy’s ferry terminal. A small town located in the south of Cork. A new adventure had actually begun !
When I arrived, I was surprised by high temperatures. Ireland was experiencing a heat wave at this moment. I did not expect it !
If you want to learn more about the weather in Ireland, go on this website. You can find numerous surprising statistics about the climat...
Contrary to what we can think, May is the sunniest month and February is the driest ! Ireland is full of surprises !
However, no matter the weather, it won't impact my stay here ! When I went out the Ringaskiddy's ferry terminal, I took a taxi to get to my accommodation where I will stay for 3 months. It is a residence for students, just 5 minutes walk from the place where I will perform my internship : the Nimbus Center. This building is located on the Munster Technological University's campus (MTU).
MTU (or Munster Technological University) is a technological university made up of six different campuses located in different places.
The Bishopstown Campus is the main campus of Cork campuses, and is the location for courses in Business, Science, Computing, Engineering, Media Communications, and Humanities. The Bishopstown Campus is situated in the western suburbs of Cork City.
Based at the Bishopstown Campus is Nimbus, Ireland’s leading research centre in Cyber-Physical Systems & Internet of Things research, innovation and learning. The Nimbus Research Centren offers many opportunities for students in ICT, engineering, computing, the built environment, energy, multimedia, and related disciplines. It provides space for up to 80 researchers, including facilities for undergraduate project students, visiting postgraduate students and researchers from other institutions and universities. It is in this building that I will work.
I had the great luck to go abroad as part of my technical internship. I think if I can do that anew, I will do it. I discovered places, persons and a culture that broaden my horizon. I wish you only one thing : to live the same experience that I had !
For the moment, I share with you practical information...Enjoy your read !
PRACTICAL INFORMATION :
Journey period : beginning of June until end of August 2023
Journey duration : 12 weeks that is to say 3 months
Jet lag : 1 hour (for example whent it is 5 pm in France, in Ireland, it is 4 pm).
Currency : euro
Driving : Be careful ! Don't forget in Ireland, driving is on the left-hand side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right in cars. Driving on the left, it requests ome training but it will become fastly an habit. You just need to follow the traffic. As a pedestrian, don't forget to look carefully before crossing !
Papers/health : ID or passport. Regarding health, there is nothing to predict. Think just to bring your European health insurance.
Equipment for the stay : an adapter for the sockets (sockets are not the same than in France).
PRCTICAL QUESTION : How to get to Ireland ?
You can choose between several options :
By boat. It exist several shipping sompanies which cross several times a week (or a day) between France and Ireland. Different harbours in France and in Ireland are used for the crossing (you only need to choose which one you want). Main shipping companies are Brittany Ferries, Irish Ferries, Stella Line. The price for a ticket will depend on different criteria. First of all, the price will depend on the number of passengers. More they are, more the price of thr ticket is expensive. Then, the price will take account your mobility's type : if you are a pedestrian, if you carry your bike or even your car. Same, you pay more if you carry your car than if you are by foot. To finish, when it is time to book your ticket, you can choose (or not) a seat or a cabin. If you sleep on the boat, it is better to take a cabin to be more comfortable !
Be careful : It exists invisible sea borders between countries. However, these sea borders are not invisible for mobile operators ! If you decide to use wi-fi on your phone, to send message, to make a call furing your crossing, your phone will use the mobile network called maritime network from the shipping company. This mobile network is emited on board and it relies on a satellite connection (the boat sends data to a satellite which send them to the earth and vice versa) and it is not free...
How is it possible ? When you take a ferry equipped with a mobile network and if your mobile operator has a partnership, your connection will automatically switch to this network if the boat is over 2 nautical miles (around 3.7 km). Beware of unpleasant surprises with invoices !
By plane : you can leave from France for Ireland from numerous airports such as Nantes, Bordeaux, Lyon, Paris, ...Ireland, as for it, has 3 international airports. The most important is Dublin. The second is Cork and the last one, the smallest one, is Shannon. Depending on the town, the airline company will differ but also the price ! From Paris and Nice to Dublin, direct flights are offered by the low-cost airline company Ryanair. From Bordeaux and Lyon to Dublin, it is the Irish airline company Aer Lingus. It is important to know that low-cost flights exist for less than one hundred euros.
Be careful : it is more expensive to land in Cork airport than in Dublin airport.
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