1st week in Belfast (Day 1 - Day 7 in quarantine)

Day 1:

Since we are at the beginning of quarantine and don't have much to work with, I got up at 10am and got ready for the day. As some of us had already finished breakfast, I joined the others, ate and planned the day. We did a little online shopping at Tesco and thought about what we would like to eat for the day.

As I hadn't got round to unpacking my bags yet, I went up to my room to do so. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite complete the task because the fire alarm in the house went off for no apparent reason. All six of us quickly got out and stood in front of the door on the street. 

Fortunately, a staff member from Intern Europe was there to greet and instruct our two new guests from the Czech Republic. Sadly, the fire alarm can only be switched off in the neighbouring house and it took some time until it worked. So, despite the quarantine, we could already breathe a little of the good Belfast air.

Fresh Belfast Air

After all the excitement, the two new flatmates introduced themselves briefly and we spent the afternoon playing Super Mario 3D World. After we had all worked ourselves out virtually, we went to the kitchen for a little meal. We had sandwiches with ham and cheese and a few sweet drinks. We finished the evening by watching the Xbox and Bethesda games presentation.

Day 2:

Its Sunday, hopefully a quiet day... I slept until 11 o'clock and then got ready. Downstairs in the kitchen there was already a lot of activity because we had to use the Covid test kits ordered from Randox. Everyone who had their kits (unfortunately Kassandra and Erik didn't get their tests in time) studied the instructions and tried to do all the steps correctly. After about 20 minutes we successfully completed our tests and bagged them.

My Day 2 / Day 8 Testkit from Randox

Ready to send

Now there was only one problem: Our test kits have to be sent to a special mailbox and the closest one is at Dublin Airport. Since we had no way to get there due to quarantine, a member of the Intern Europe team picked up the tests and took them there. In the afternoon I wrote mails to the "Placement-Team" of Intern Europe, because I was offered a new placement for my internship starting 23.06.2021. I read through the offer and did some research on the company and accepted the offer. My company for the internship here in Belfast will be The Tech Stop in the North. Here are a few pictures of my future colleagues and working environment.

After everything was settled with my company, we met together in the kitchen and made hot dogs for dinner.

After dinner, we all played a nice game of Mario Kart and let the evening slowly fade out. From 10 pm onwards, we all went to bed one by one.

Day 3:

In the middle of the night, at 4am, I got the email from Randox that I had tested negative for Covid. Good news :)

Otherwise the morning and noon were as quiet as the last days, we talked to each other in the living room and did some work.

For dinner we had delicious butter chicken and spaghetti bolognese.

We ate together with our flatmates from the Czech Republic and talked together.

Afterwards we finished the evening with Mario Kart and Bombermann.

Day 4:

After getting up a bit later and doing my morning exercise, I grabbed my book and read for 2 hours. Today, Erik and Kassandra were finally able to do their Covid tests and they were picked up by Intern Europe right away.

Spoiler: In the end, they all passed the Day 2 Covid-19 test with negative results. I spent the afternoon looking for a suitable route to my internship. It looks like I have the longest way to work and the longest working hours.

For dinner, we all ordered burgers online with different side dishes. We ate them together while watching TV. The delivery service meant it very well with the fries, because they were very large portions and 80% of them were left over for us to eat between meals the next day.

Burger & Pommes

Day 5:

Today I had the honour of being woken up by 3 French girls who suddenly appeared in my room...

The whole thing turned out to be an accident because Tracey, our housekeeper, accidentally gave them the key to my room and told them that they were staying there. The whole thing was quickly clarified and the keys were swapped and the girls moved into the room opposite.

After the exciting morning, I played a bit of Mario Kart until lunch. After a bite to eat, our whole house had a meeting with Intern Europe, we had to answer a quiz with 25 questions about Belfast. I would say I could answer about half of them with confidence, the other questions took a bit of guesswork. All in all, the Zoom meeting was very interesting and I learned a lot about Belfast.

For dinner today we had chicken curry and fried noodles, which everyone enjoyed very much.

Day 6:

In the morning, one of the Intern Europe team came by to bring us a USB stick with the film Good Vibrations. We were supposed to watch it together in the evening and answer the corresponding Word document. Apart from that, today was pleasantly quiet and I was able to write my blog and read a book. For the film in the evening, we ordered 4 pizzas with side dishes from the delivery service and made ourselves comfortable in the living room.

Film Info:

"In 1970s sectarian Belfast in the midst of The Troubles, DJ Terri Hooley opens a record shop "on the most bombed half-mile in Europe". He is a music-lover, idealist, radical and rebel. He is inspired by the new underground punk scene and in turn galvanises the young musicians, branching out into record production and bringing life to the city."

Day 7:

The first event worth mentioning today happened right after I got up. I was taking a shower and suddenly the shower door fell out and lay on the floor next to me. After the initial shock, I finished getting ready and immediately wrote to the landlord to report the damage. After this was done, I treated myself to a late breakfast around 12 noon and wrote a bit of my blog on the side. New guests were supposed to move into our house today, but they missed their flight and will arrive tomorrow morning at 1am. We were asked to take their shopping, which was supposed to be delivered earlier, and put it in the kitchen. For dinner we had nachos with dip. We all ate well and then sat in front of the TV with full bellies and talked.