In good company in Dublin for summer internship

Cover image

For 25-year-old German student, Fabian, the location of his homestay was really important to ensure he didn’t spend hours commuting to and from the company where he’s doing an internship.

“It was important to me to be somewhere close to the city centre, but also close to work,” Fabian said.

“When searching on Homestay.com it was great to find my host Teresa’s homestay. I knew by her pictures that I’d like it.”

Fabian, who is from a small village near Freiburg in southern Germany, is in Dublin for 10 weeks doing an internship in HR management. He chose to stay in a homestay because it would provide the local connections he’d need to quickly find his feet in a new city. It’s his first long-term trip away from home.

“You get the connections through your host family,” Fabian said. “It’s more familiar than staying in a flat in the city.”

“They can help you with where everything is and how to get there!”

file

He also enjoys the company of his host family and spends time talking with them each evening.

“Having someone to talk to is nice. At work, when you’re the new person, you can be a little bit quiet at first. It’s good to come home and have a chat at the end of the day. It also helps me to improve my English language.”

“It’s like I’m part of the family,” he said.

At the end of his internship, Fabian will travel to the west coast of Ireland with his family who are flying over from Germany to meet him. They’ll visit Galway, the Ring of Kerry and Cork.

“My sister has the whole itinerary planned,” he said.

He’s excited for his family to meet some Irish people as he’s found them to be really friendly.

“Before coming to Ireland I read some travel guides that said the people here were really nice and open-minded towards visitors. And it’s true. They are really interested to meet you and hear about your culture. Even more than I’d expected.”

file

Fabian’s host, Teresa, has enjoyed having him stay in her home.

“He’s a lovely guy,” said Teresa. “He’s young and interesting and chats with us a lot. He’s mixed in really well with our family, which makes it very easy for me. I have a 17-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old grandson, both of whom have really enjoyed getting to know Fabian.”

“Not only does he speak good English and is great company, but he keeps his room really tidy too,” she laughed.

Teresa has really taken on the role of surrogate mother to Fabian in some ways since his arrival.

“I taught him how to iron his shirt and trousers,” she joked. “He didn’t know how to use an iron.”

“I work full-time, so he needs to know how to iron his own shirt and be a bit independent,” she smiled.

She also gave him transport advice when he arrived and even brought him to buy his ticket for the train and got him some maps and brochures.

Teresa has hosted lots of guests from all over the world through Homestay.com, including guests from Italy, Spain and Saudi Arabia.

“Obviously the extra money is the main reason I decided to become a host, but I also think it’s really interesting,” she said.

“You get to meet lovely people from different cultures. I’m still friends with some of them.”

file

“You always get something back from it. For example, the Italian students I hosted cooked pasta a few times. That’s just one example.”

Her experience with Homestay.com has been really positive, she said.

“It’s a great website. I’ve been hosting for years but before using Homestay.com it was mostly through local language schools, but I have been as many getting bookings through them recently as many have closed down.”

Her advice to other hosts is to respond as quickly as possible to any messages from guests. “If you don’t answer quickly enough you might lose the booking. You have to do it within a couple of hours ideally.”


 Newer

Older 

This website uses cookies