Lena – not goodbye, but see you again!

14th March 2019

‘See you again! never Goodbye’

It is unbelievable, but my time in Cardiff is coming to an end as I will be flying back to Germany on Sunday afternoon. Not only will I take with me the many new clothes I bought in St David’s shopping centre, but also lots of wonderful memories and a wealth of experience.

Before I came to Cardiff to start my internship at Celtic, I was scared. Although I’ve spent some time abroad before, and although I have been teaching German for three years in Germany, I still thought I might not be able to meet the requirements of doing an academic internship in a well-known language school. I was also anxious about my host family and my colleagues: Will they be friendly? Will I understand them when they talk to me? Will I have to make them coffee all day?

After six weeks, I can now say with certainty that my fear was much ado about nothing. I’ve stayed with a perfect host family. They’ve been welcoming and friendly since the beginning and I’ve felt completely at home in their house. They took me to Quantum Fitness, an entertaining gym where you don’t need to sign a contract (so you might want to go there if you stay for a shorter period of time) and we worked out together. They also took me to Barry Island and the Cardiff Bay Barrage and showed me around like tourist guides. And, each Sunday, they took me to the Bowls Club, where I got to know both the sport (which we don’t have in Germany), and many kind-hearted elderly people. Staying in homestay has been a wonderful experience for me and I hope I will return to Cardiff to visit my second family again!

I’ve also enjoyed my work at Celtic. Everyone has been so friendly towards me – office staff, teachers, and students. I’ve never walked up and down as many stairs in one day before and I’ve never spent as much time in the rain, but nevertheless I’ve loved working at Celtic and I am really sad to leave! What I’ve enjoyed most has been all the interacting with students. I’ve loved working in the classroom as a teaching assistant as well as helping with student enquiries in the office (giving out the books from the small office library was fun) and going on trips with the groups. It was also interesting to look behind the scenes, too. I found out how the attendance is reported; how new students are uploaded to the Celtic online platform; and how the starters are processed every week. Thank you to the staff at Celtic who have been friendly and helpful at all times, I’ve enjoyed my internship a lot!

All I have left to say now is “Auf Wiedersehen” – it is German and does not mean “Goodbye”, but “See you again!”

#NewFriends #FindYourEpic #LearnEnglishinWales