Katja was on an exchange year in Ireland

Hey! My name is Katja and I made my high school exchange in Ireland.

It was really difficult for me to choose a country where I wanted to do my exchange year, I found so many countries interesting, and if I could have done my exchange year in every country, I would have! Ultimately, I chose Ireland as my host country.

In the beginning, I was anxious but also excited. I had some expectations, but you never know how it’s going to be in the end. Once I arrived it was really strange, because everything was new and different.

School

Especially school was hard in the beginning because, all of a sudden, I wore a school uniform and all the subjects were in English. We also had new subjects like home economics. But in general, school was loads of fun once I got used to it and I met most of my friends there.

My host family

I was really lucky with my host family; they are great people. They always brought me to town and to the train station (even though the train connections are good, it’s hard to get to the train station if you live in a small village outside of town). Even though I had to get used to their lifestyle at first, we got along really well. I love them; they are part of why my exchange year was so great and special.

Free time, hobbies, and friends

In my free time, I did a lot of new things. In Italy, I was a ski racer which I obviously couldn’t continue in Ireland. So, I found other hobbies, like soccer and badminton.

I made friends at school and in my sports clubs. On the weekends, we did a lot of traveling together. We went all around Ireland, to Cork, Dublin, to the beaches, to visit Gaelic football games and more. I made friends from all over Europe. They are friends for life. I’ve either already visited them or plan to.

Conclusion and some tips

In general, I’d say my exchange year was a success and very exciting. But also different from what I expected. In some ways, it exceeded my expectations, and in other ways, it was totally different from what I expected.

The most important advice I can give is: Be open-minded and don’t be afraid to approach new people!

Find out more

• Read more student stories from Ireland
• Read more about a high school exchange in Ireland
• See all our high school exchange destinations