As time goes by

It is now nearly five months after I have arrived in Ireland. The time of my internship here with Maverick House Publishers is coming to an end, as next week I will be flying back home to my family in Germany.

I am quite excited about seeing my family again, as well as my friends. And I love the area we live in. I have really missed the vast forests around our small village in the east of Germany. I am also excited about starting my last year of studies in October with the new term.

But, nevertheless, I am also a bit sad about having to leave Ireland. Over the last five months I have become very fond of the Irish people, as they are a wonderful and charming nation. I have even picked up a few things from the Dubliner’s accent and I am sure some words will stick with me. Dublin is also, by far, my most favourite city. For being the capital of a country it is still charmingly small, and the colours of the buildings and doors have been the motive for a lot of pictures. The way of life here in Ireland seems to be a bit more easy-going than it is in Germany.

Before I came here I was a bit nervous. I have never done more than just a short summer internship, and the prospect of really being involved in a company did, to be honest, freak me out a bit. Also, I had no experience in publishing whatsoever, and was therefore a bit apprehensive about not knowing what to do.

But now, at the end of my time here, I have realised that most of the things I was afraid off just needed to be tackled with confidence. Off course there were times when I wasn’t sure how to do something or what to do next, but I could always ask Jean, who was able to help me whenever I had a problem. One thing I am happy to have learned is that, through justified criticism, I was able to advance mentally.

The Maverick House books have played another very important part during my time here. Since all these books are non-fictional and based on the stories of real people, each and every one of them showed me that my life was pretty easy and extremely happy compared to what so many others had to go through. I have read more books in the past five months than I would usually read in that time, even though I always read quite extensively. But the topics of the Maverick House books interested me so much that I just had to read as many of them as possible while here. Through them I have come to realise that every problem I might have is only a small one, and can be overcome by putting your heart to it. I hope this will, in future, help me to overcome obstacles I long since wanted to overcome.

All in all, I am very happy to have come here and certainly do not regret my decision to come here. Maybe one day, after I have finished my studies, I will come back to Ireland.

So goodbye then, Susanne