Jonas Baldauf

Due to the Ireland work exchange program, I had the chance to work at Cleere's Bar and Theater. It is a small traditional Irish bar in the city center of Kilkenny. The bar also serves food which many who work nearby regularly Claim.

I started with my work at 11am and finished at 4pm from Monday to Friday. Because of these pleasant working hours, I was always able to sleep long and also go out in the evenings or spent time with my host Family.

 My day has often started  with a little shopping tour in the local SuperValu, after that I have mostly done the stock up of the drinks and helped Mary with the preparation in the kitchen.

At 12 o'clock we started serving food like the traditional Irish Stew. I was allowed to take orders on the first day which really surprised me.I was also shown how to tap the different types of beer and what should be considered and I learned how to handle three or four dishes at the same time. Most of the customers came between 12:30 and 14:30 during this time it could be a bit stressful but after that you could order something from the menu and enjoy the different Irish Food.

Cecile Berchtel

I worked in Thomastown in a small caféshop called "Studio & Press"

The first week was a little rough. Instead of the work I was assigned to, i had to help redecorating the shop. But it wasn't a bad thing.  I had time to get to know the people I work with beforehand.

In the second week my "actual" work started.  I had to serve costumers, had to make coffee, and even was allowed to help a little in the kitchen.

I had a great time there and I loved working with all the different people. 

Hannah Egger

During my stay in Ireland I worked in the Truffle Fairy. The shop is located in Thomastown, a small town in Kilkenny. The shop sells chocolate in many variations. Over the four weeks I assisted the staff in making the products and selling drinks. Mainly I supported a coworker with baking. We made brownies, muffins, cookies and many other products.

Surprisingly, I repeatedly met people from Austria and Germany in the shop. All in alI, I really enjoyed working in the Truffle Fairy and I learned how to be a good shop assistant.

Fabian Ellmauer

I'm very proud to work in the Paris Texas. The first day was very interesting because everything was new and I didn't know what to expect for the next weeks. I  started with filling up the condiments, refilling the icebar and putting the dirty glasses into the dishwasher and than I put them to the right place when they were clean. In the first week I also had to study the menu in my freetime, to get familiar with it. So then I could start with getting the orders by myself. This has been a really good experience for myself, because in Austria I would never have had the idea to work in service. It is much better than I expected and I like it very much now, because there are very nice people and it is always a good atmosphere. Sometimes, when it was quiet I also had to polish the glasses, but it  always kept me motivated and I tried to do a good job. 

Thomas Haemmerle

For the program, I was placed at the Kilkenny Ormonde hotel. I was given all sort of tasks, depending on what kind of work was available, but my primary function was in the back office.

My working hours were 9 to 5, but depending on the workload I would often stay longer or be send home earlier.

I was mostly precessing the arrivals, inputting group reservations or individual bookings into the System and filing papers.

My coworkers were all lovely, with whom it was a pleasure working and talking.

The work placement was an excellent experience and I am glad to have had such an amazing time.

Sven Juen

I’m Sven I worked at Kilkenny Physiotherapy. The physio is a very small and cosy place with really nice employees such as Margaret, Moira and the owner Theresa. Even though it is not very big, it is very busy at times and they always had work for me, such as organising phone calls, scheduling text reminders and other office tasks which I was very happy to do. I really enjoyed the easy and relaxed atmosphere there with occasional small talk and discussions which were very interesting at times and made my workdays there really enjoyable. To wrap it all up, I could not have had a better work placement than Kilkenny Physiotherapy.

Filip Jovanovic 

My work placement was the “Pambroke Hotel”, which was in Kilkenny centre.

I started working at 9 o’clock till 5 o'clock and I could choose when I wanted to have my half an hour break. The best part of my work was that I could select something to eat from the menu and the food was really good. Also, a good thing was, that my friend Sandro worked with me, so I never got bored.

In the mornings I had to prepare for the breakfast buffet. Part of the preparation was to set the tables and clear the tables and also to serve the costumers tea and coffee. In the afternoon I had to work at the bar as well and had to do things that a waiter does.

In addition, I had really nice colleagues who were from Poland and I could learn Polish too.

All in all, it was great to work there and I really enjoyed it.

Laura Lindorfer

I worked in the coffee shop „MOCHA DAYS“ in the city centre of Kilkenny. It‘s a nice coffee shop where you can sit down and enjoy your coffee but they also have food like burgers, pizzas or crepes. I started to work at 9 am and I finished at around 4 pm. I had very flexible working hours and enough free time. 

My tasks were to clean the dishes, serve food and drinks, clear the tables and go to the shop to buy ingredients. My favourite task was to serve the people because I could talk to many different people and improve my English.

All in all, it was a great experience, I really enjoyed working there and my colleagues were also very nice.

Sandro Mangold

I had the great opportunity to work in the Pembroke Hotel. There were many different and demanding tasks to accomplish. One of my main functions was working in the restaurant. In the morning I had to cater for the guests, clear the tables and reset them for special occasions like a private dinner.

Another important part took place in the bar of the hotel. My tasks included not only serving food and different drinks like coffee or beer, moreover I had to restock empty goods, take care that everything is clean and tidy,  take orders and many more.

Furthermore I had great co-workers. Because the Pembroke is not a very big hotel, I knew nearly everybody by their name and because of that I had a lot of opportunities to talk with different people.

The significant improvement of my English skills is not the only advantage, moreover I had a great and unforgettable experience!

Anastasios Maximos                             

Michelle Rossi

My work at „Kilkenny Cycling Tours“

Usually I’m working from 9 am to 4 pm.

In the morning I have to bring the “Flower” Bike and the other beautiful bikes outside.

If there’s a tour scheduled at 10 am, I have to bring all the bikes to our practice area.

When Jason and the other Tour guides leave with their tourists, I have to bring the remaining bikes back to the shop.

For the rest of the day I have to sit in the shop.

When a customer comes in and wants to rent a bike, I show him our selection of bikes.

After he chooses the one he wants, I give him a helmet and our tour book and explain the special routes.

At last I hand over a lock and show him where he can return the bike if nobody of our staff is around.

I really enjoyed the past four weeks, because I met a lot of different people from different countries, like USA, Italy and Canada.

My Boss Jason is really nice and one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.

The other tour guides are nice as well. I’m really lucky that I got the chance to work at “Kilkenny Cycling Tours”

Denise Schertler

I am working in a creche and there is always something going on. The first day an employee showed me all the rooms. There is one babyroom, one room with children at the age of 6 to 10 years, and three rooms with kids in the age of 2-5 years. So in the first week I was in the room with the children from 6 to 10 years. There it was very varied. One day we made playdough and bracelets. The other day we made slime and lots of other great things. From the second week on I was in the room with the kids at the age of 2 to 5 years. I prefer this room because the older ones played by themselves most of the time and they didn‘t need help so often. One day I was in the babyroom and I liked it but it is different from the other rooms because I can’t talk to them.  I can talk a lot more with the older children. Moreover we went outside a lot. All in all, I really enjoyed it to work there and everybody was very friendly there.

Sumita Singh

I had the chance to work in “Market Deli”, which is a small take away shop, where you can have different types of sandwiches with a big variety for breads for example ciabatta, panini, bagel, wraps and rolls. In addition, you can also buy salads there. My boss was Ana and I had two work colleagues, whose names are Cathy and John. They all were nice, and we had so much fun together.

I started my work at 10 am, then I had my one-hour break at 12 o’clock and finished my work at 4 pm. I had very flexible working hours and enough free time. I had a very varied job because I could do everything in the shop like making sandwiches, smoothies, coffees and I also had to go to the store to buy ingredients at the “Dunnes store”. My favourite job was to charge the costumers because that’s was the best way to improve my English. Mostly my work started with cutting tomatoes and onions. Since it was a small shop and had only few places to sit, I was mostly busy at lunchtime from 1 to 3 pm.

To sum up I really liked and enjoyed working in my work placement because of the different jobs, the nice customers and the pleasant staff. It was a really good way to improve my English. 

Angelika Tomic

I was working in the Molly’s cafe which is located on John Street in the little town Kilkenny. On my first day I got to know my colleagues. They showed me how everything works but my main task was to clean up after the customers.

The cafe has a kitchen in the backyard which is very narrow. In the first week I didn’t have a lot of tasks in comparison to the weeks which were coming up.

From the second week on, I got the chance to interact more with customers and serve them. However, I mostly enjoyed communicating with our regular customers. Some of them were from Austria or Germany and since I can speak German fluently, I could accommodate their requests without hesitation.

Furthermore, some of my other tasks were to do the dishes, help to prepare a meal and I also often had to do the grocery shopping.

Another advantage was that whenever I was hungry they offered me something to eat. The working hours were also very suitable. I had to be there from 10 am till 4 pm and sometimes I was allowed to go home earlier it just depended on how stressful the day was. The peak hours were from 12 am to 2 pm.

All in all, I enjoyed working with such friendly colleagues and it was a pleasure being there. :-D