Today the showings started a bit earlier. The appointment that should have taken place at 7pm the day before was at 11am. I walked up there and had a look at the rooms. They were the biggest single rooms I have seen up to now. It had a rather small kitchen and two bathrooms. The best place I have seen by then. The neighborhood seemed to be okay too. The minor problem is that it’s 4kms to the College. But there’s a bus route leaving right at my front porch to the College and I can go by bike (fair enough for drinking that much Guinness). The next meeting would be at 4pm so much time to think about which accommodation I would take. I called the guy from the “drug-house” and said that I didn’t want the room. I trusted my taxi driver and his opinion that it’s not the best area to live in.

The showing at 4pm was for a shared twin bedroom. Sadly my sharing partner would have been a german guy. The apartment was very clean and very new from what I could tell but sharing a room and paying 400€ a month is really expensive. Not what I was looking for.

My chances of getting the room from the showing that should take place in the evening weren’t very good and I talked to the landlord if there was any chance I could get the room. She said she had three or four people looking at the room today so probably my chances wouldn’t be too high, because I just need a room for the next 5 months and most landlords are looking for long term contracts.

I decided to take the room in the house where I had to go to GCD by bus or by bike. I called the landlord and luckily one room was left. I took it.

I went there at 9pm to pay my deposit and the first rent. Finally the feeling of a safe place to stay came upon me. It was good.

After handing over the money and getting the keys I talked to one of the girls that is living there. She told me not to go to Summerhill because even Irish guys don’t go there even by day. She told me a story of the one time she travelled with the bus. She was going by bus very late in the evening and in the back were several guys with sweatpants on. They had scares in their faces and were looking really rough. She advised me to avoid those guys. Listening to more and more people you get the feeling Dublin is a tough place to live. One of my new flat mates is from Korea (she is 27/28 depending on in which country she is). She is doing her Master next year and will probably be working until then. We were talking about Germany and she told me she had been in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich before. She even offered to introduce me to her friends – I was delighted.

Two new girls moved in today that I haven’t met yet. I’m living in a house with four girls for the next five months. 1 Irish, 1 Greek, 1 Korean and probably one German. The landlord didn’t remember where the last girl came from. It will be an interesting time

Hint for all of you who are looking for an accommodation in a city where you don’t know your way around. Take your camera with you every time you visit a house/apartment. Look the area up on Google earth. If the gardens are neat and the streets are clean that are good indicators for a good neighborhood. In the end you have to talk to the people living there to get a better picture of the neighborhood.

I went back to my hotel and fell asleep immediately. That day was really tough.

Today my main target was to get a suitable accommodation for the next five months. Four viewings were planned for the day. Three were held and one left for tomorrow. Added the other two I have tomorrow that makes three today and three tomorrow. It’s a good amount of work today plus calling people for more showings. One step at a time.

My first showing was set for 2pm. It’s a room in a house in the South Circular Road. A location that is close to Griffith College. I spend the morning trying to arrange more meetings. I ended up with an appointment at 6.30pm, 7pm and 8.15pm. Tough timetable. The biggest problem was that the first and the last appointment were in the same area and the second one up trough half the city. Well, life’s full of small challenges. At around 1pm I started walking to my first appointment. Walking is my primary way of moving around the city at the moment. I probably lost a few kilograms over the last hundred kilometers. I was a bit early for the showing but since it was raining heavily I just called the landlord. Surprisingly the address of the meeting had changed and I had to walk further down the road. That was a hell of an Irish guy. I couldn’t understand at least half of his sentences. But I understood that the room I applied for had gone. He told me that he didn’t want me coming up for nothing and he could offer me a single room for me with my own kitchen and my own bathroom. The single room is large enough to fit a small bed in there and a radiator … that’s it. Sounds lovely – NOT. I think he wanted to let me a so called rat hole. Sunday’s cab driver warned me not to take one of those places. Since the inhabitant was still in there he couldn’t show it to me right away. But he promised to keep it until Thursday for me. I agreed to have it as a backup plan. First Showing in Dublin and it didn’t go very well. I was really looking forward to the showings in the evening.

I left the house and walked around the neighborhood and finally came to a LUAS-Station. LUAS is something like a Tram in Germany. I decided it’s time to take my first ride with it. I bought a day ticket so I could use the busses later on. I got off too early – what a surprise. I walked a bit around town and was really happy that I bought the Internet-Flat from T-Mobile for one week. At least my iPhone could tell me where I was. I came to a bus station where busses were leaving to “city center”. That was exactly what I wanted. So I got on the bus and sat down. First Thing I recognized is that there is no sign what the next stop is. You just have to know where you are and where you want to get off. At one station many people wanted to get out so I took my chance and got off too. And I ended in O’Connell Street – that’s the street were nearly all busses stop and it is in the center of the city. Sometimes you have to be damned lucky.

I went back to my hotel to look for more accommodations. At around 6pm I asked for a number of a cab company at the reception. I would need a cab more often this evening to keep my schedule. First time calling a cab in Ireland was kind of complicated. It’s even more complicated if you don’t know how to correctly pronounce some of the street names. The cab picked me up and together we tried to find the correct street. It’s always fun going by cab because the drivers know the city better than many other people. He told me that there are two areas nearby the street I’ll be looking at a house where I shouldn’t go. One is Maryland and the other St. Theresas Garden. In both areas are living the two most dangerous drug dealers of Dublin. They are regularly fighting each other about who is the main drug supplier. One of the drug dealers sleeps in a different house each night to be safe from his enemies. A Story that could have come straight from a movie. I took a look at the room and it looked okay. Big enough, it had a wardrobe but no desk. There are three other guys living in the house. A Chinese, a Korean and an Irish guy – and only one bathroom. That would be messy. I liked the house because it’s located close to the College but it’s a hell of a way to the city. Anyway it’s much better than the rat hole. I told the landlord I needed time to think and that I’ll call him the next day.

At the next bigger road I caught a cab. I called the landlord of the second meeting because I would be late five to ten minutes. She said she had gone home because she couldn’t see someone coming. She tried to give me the address again for tomorrow morning because even my cab driver didn’t know the address. He even stopped the taximeter as I was talking to her on the phone. Cab drivers in Dublin are really great guys. So I told him to bring me back to my hotel since the last meeting would be just around the corner. Before I’ve only met landlords – this time it is some kind of casting. They are looking for a new flat mate. At around 8pm I went to their place. I was a bit early and the guy that was shown the place before me was still there. It seems that I was the last one they had an interview with and they seemed pretty tired by then. I think they just invited me to be polite. They weren’t talkative and I didn’t get the feeling it would work out well with them.  After only a few minutes I left the apartment. Well at least I had two opportunities that I could choose from. Not too bad for my first day of viewings. In the evening I went into another pub again and watched England against Wales (1:0). I asked the waitress where a young guy like me could go to in the evenings to have some fun in the nights.  She told me of a few places that I visited later on. They are really partying in Dublin every night. Unbelievable. After a few Guinness I didn’t feel like dancing so I went back to my hotel to get a good night of sleep.

It is the first time in the last month that I was able to sleep long in the morning. I started with the continental breakfast at my hotel, which was okay. The standard stuff you’ll get everywhere. Having finished my breakfast I started my laptop and made a list of the things to do in the next days:

1. Get a mobile phone to call landlords
2. Get a student card for the bus
3. Buy a good rucksack for my laptop and school stuff
4. Find a place to stay for the next month

First Things first I opened a map of Dublin and went looking for a meteor store – they are the local vendor for mobile phones that is recommended by many other students. A mobile phone would be my key to the most important of my to-dos. The weather was generally good – no rain but sunshine. So I went on my journey through the Dublin city center. I walked through “St. Stephen’s Green” one of the many little parks in Dublin and I had to admit that it’s already autumn in Dublin. The leaves begin to change the color.

The Dublin City Centre is really nice. There are many small shops next to each other and a few shopping malls. My first visit was one of the many meteor stores. Five minutes later I had my own Irish mobile phone number. Now the search for accommodation could begin … not. I spent the morning strolling around the City. The people around are friendly … sometimes a bit too much. Always “please”, “sorry” and so on. A total difference to my first day experiences with the taxi driver.

I was sure I’m not the first guy from Hamburg walking around this city and sure enough I found signs of my predecessors:

Buying a new rucksack wasn’t that easy. In Germany I know where to go to get what I want. But in Ireland … never mind. I went into an Outdoor Activity Store and asked the guy where I could get a good rucksack and he gave me a few addresses where I would probably find what I needed. I ended up at Arnotts. I suppose you could compare it to Karstadt. I bought a small Samsonite Rucksack (2years Warranty – 1 month to return it if I don’t like it). Next to Arnotts is eason – a bookstore that sells everything that has to do with studying or going to school. That stuff – like everything else – is really expensive around here. For a normal college block I paid 2,50€.

Around lunch time I was stopping at O’Briens. It’s like subways but for sandwiches. The two ladies in the photo thought it very funny that I wanted to take a picture of the store but agreed finally.

I decided I wasted enough time and should start looking for a place to stay for the next five months. On my way back to the hotel it started to rain. I think the average of eleven days rain in Dublin are probably 22 half days of rain. Back at the Hotel I opened daft.ie – First choice looking for shared accommodation in Dublin. Now the hard work begins. I spent two hours looking for appropriate accommodation and tried to call people. Most of them didn’t answer so I suppose it’s too early in Ireland. I had a break and wanted to relax in bed. Bad Idea – I slept for one and a half long hours and was woken by a call from one of the landlords. That was a tough telephone call. I had just woken up and he spoke in such a strange Irish accent. I missed every second word but in the end we set an appointment for tomorrow at 2 pm. Or at least I hope we did. Since I was awake anyway I could start calling people again. After the third call it was easier after the sixth I could do it blindfolded. I did get a second appointment for tomorrow night. Many weren’t available but I’ll call them tomorrow again. I’m really looking forward to the two showings. I decided that I did enough for today and that I should spent the night in a Pub. This time I was even more daring – I ordered a “chicken, ham and mushrooms pie” with fries. It was delicious. There was live music again and I was really enjoying the Guinness.

Finally full up I went back home to my hotel to lie in my cosy double-bed and get some sleep.

Currently I’m on the plane. The five extra euros for my seat (first row) were well spent because I have more space for my legs than most of the other passengers. I’m enjoying an awesome blue sky (probably the last time without rain ).

Yesterday I started packing my stuff. It was kind of late to start packing but I had to do a lot of stuff in the last weeks. It was kind of a challenge to estimate what I would need in the coming weeks and months. Having tried to collect all the needed stuff all day the full impact of my decision to go to Ireland hit me. The most frightening thought is that I still haven’t got a place to stay (Living in a hotel for five months would probably be too expensive). After a few hours I resigned and watched Loriot’s “Pappa ante portas”.

Today I really started to pack my stuff. I was finished around 1pm and ended up with a 15kg rucksack, a 6kg suitcase and my laptop bag. I even managed to fit bed sheets into my rucksack.

Sadly I had no time to go shopping at the airport due to my timely arrival. Surprisingly the guy from the Border control knew my father (“Jagenow? Der Zahnarzt?”). The world is a village. After waiting 5 minutes in front of the gate they started boarding. I’m really excited when I think about the upcoming days and weeks.

… Later that same day …

I arrived at Dublin Airport in sunny weather … I was really surprised. Finding my way out of the terminal and fetching my rucksack was pretty easy. I thought, since it’s my first day in Dublin, that I’ll take a taxi to my hotel. A good decision. I got a very typical Irish taxi driver. At least every third word he used was what my teachers would have called a “bad word”. I was talking the 20-30 minutes ride to my hotel with him: About Dublin, about foreigners (Turkish, Polish and Nigerian). About politics (he really didn’t like Angela Merkel).He told me about sport events in the city and that there is a big football match in 2 weeks. He insisted that I watch the replay of the Hurling Game that was on today. We also talked about cigarettes that are quite expensive in Ireland. I told him that I’m a student earlier so he gave me one of his own cigarettes and we “illegaly” smoked a cigarette in his car since it’s forbidden to smoke in taxis in Ireland. Cigarettes are quite expensive, so I’ll probably smoke less in the next weeks. At the end he gave me a discount on the ride. I asked him where I could go to this evening to spend my time. He told me about two Pubs where I could get something to eat and drink (he nearly forced me to swear that I will drink a Guinness – easy enough for me ).

Up to now my arrival in Ireland was really smooth and nice. Next stop: Leeson Hotel. I booked a single room for 5 nights. I got a double room for five nights … for the same price. That’s really nice – A bigger bed for the same price. What a hell of a day. If the whole week is that smooth I’ll have a place to stay by Wednesday. The room is not what you would expect from a German *** hotel but it will do for the next five nights. I can hear every one of my neighbors as well as the ones above me.

I haven’t had something to eat since lunch because aerlingus doesn’t give sandwiches on flights to Dublin.  So I made my way to the pubs my friendly taxi driver recommended me. I chose Foleys Pub and ordered “Three Mini Burgers with Foleys Fries” and … a Guinness. The burgers were really small and to my surprise were served together with fried squid rings. It was delicious. My first “real” Guinness in Ireland was really really really good (probably supported by the nice atmosphere of live music). Having finished my meal and drink I went back to my hotel … the day was exhausting.

Tomorrow morning I’ll start my search for a flat.