Go raibh maith agat!

 Jenni Hakala-Deiro from Hyria came to visit and evaluate my progression. I achieved the highest grade in the evaluation of my study parts: Accomodation services and Informal learning in an international community. It was a pleasant surprise to have visitors from back home and I finally got to speak some Finnish.

Finnish reunion with head of division in Hyria, Jenni Hakala-Deiro.

Was that it? No, not in the slightest! I'm pleased to inform you that while my training here is coming to an end, I will be coming back. I got a full-time position in the reception here in the Four Courts Hostel. 
Ireland, I'm coming back and I this time I will be staying. 

This has been the most fruitful and enjoyable working experience in my whole life. If you are on the fence about going abroad, don't hesitate. Take the leap of faith and explore your limits. I've learnt so much in a small time window. 

I'm forever grateful for the guidance and skills I learnt in Hyria. You helped me to start achieving my dreams and be bold.

The Four Courts Hostel, thank you for molding me in to professional and making me a better person in professional and private life.

Thank you Ireland for making me feel welcome and opening up your country to me.
You lovely, lively and talkative storytellers.

Thank you Mom! You know how much you helped me along the way in my life.

The feeling you get after acing the evaluation.

My future workplace! I'm beyond excited to come back and start my work here.

Long weekend with Shamrocker Adventures

 I spent the most amazing weekend with Shamrocker Adventures. Our guide Emma was on top of her game and the tour was organised with impressive care. I recommend their tours strongly.
I took part in the Southern Rocker tour which included stops at the following: Blarney Castle, Cliffs of Moher, Galway and Dingle. You got the countryside, cliffs and the ocean, city bustle and small town feeling all in one package. All of the accommodations, transports and guidance was provided by the company. On top of that, they will pick you up from the Four Courts Hostel. 

Blarney Castle

The gardens near Blarney Castle have lot of nice features

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The following pictures are mostly from Cliffs of Moher. For keen eyed readers there is a small
Star Wars easter egg in the second picture.
With the relaxing weekend behind me, I'm anxiously waiting for my PPS card to secure my offered job.

Excel tasks and an escape to the countryside.

 I was given yet again a new administration task :) I've been asking for more of them, to improve my overall professional toolkit. I went through the working hours of all of our staffers. I compared this years hours to last years. Checked everything and marked the differences on the spreadsheet. 
I also checked, did comparisons and did some excel magic with staff salaries from this and the previous year. These tasks were in no form needed to be taught to me. This was all extra and the amounts of useful skills and information I acquired was really useful for me to grow as a worker. I really am getting quite a full picture of all of steps required to run a hostel. If you want to learn as much as possible, I strongly recommend applying for internship here at the Four Courts Hostel.

Management also showed me the steps on how price our beds and gave me the chance to participate. I can't go in to the details on the pricing, but again a learned a lot.

Catching the sunrise in the Irish country side is definitely worth the effort. The island is as green as it's depicted in popular culture. The picture doesn't make a justice for the bliss and calmness the landscape instills in you.

About the job seeking. I'm at the point that I have a meeting to get the PPS card to be able to work in Ireland. By the way this requires a job offer in Ireland, so I'm getting close. Fingers crossed everyone!

Routines and sustainability

 I had a meeting with the management about sustainability in our hostel.
We went through the differences with Finland and Ireland and what steps we can take here in Ireland to be more sustainable and eco-friendly. I'm glad to inform you that we are changing to wind energy in the future. Laws and regulation differ quite a lot from Finland and there is less government support for sustainability. Our building is also historically significant and it's a protected premise. Structural changes to the building are really hard to get approved and there is a lot of limitations. 
Our cleaning products have been changed to be more environmentally friendly.
I'm also happy to inform that my idea to change to fair trade coffee was approved by our management.
I'm also pleasantly surprised that management agreed to this meeting and told me in great detail how everything works and they were open to many of my ideas. It truly makes me feel like a valued help and not just a number or a ''worker ant''.

Yes, Ireland has some sandy beaches. They are just relatively rare and sometimes well hidden.
Water was just as cold as you would expect it to be in winter.
As a Finn I just had to take a dip in the sea, needs more sauna.

It's getting harder to describe my work days, since the routines are ingrained at this point. My efficiency and knowledge is getting to level where I feel at ease while working. 
My skills are at the point that I can finally try to apply to work in Ireland, but more on that later.

Did some shifts with housekeeping and breakfast service. The skills and work speed is on another level with the housekeeping staff. I learned a lot of useful skills and tips from the pros.

Getting more fluent with varying regional accents and the spelling of Irish names. Being on the phone is no longer getting me closer to a heart attack. About the spelling, for example: the name Eoghan is pronounced like Owen. I hope you understand why i dreaded reservations over the phone with Irish names. My Finnish accent is still quite strong so people tend to understand my occasional struggles with the names.

Concert euphoria and administration tasks

A dream came true in the form Tenacious D concert at 3Arena in Dublin. The band was on fire and the Irish people sure know how to have a good time, Sláinte  ;) My motivational battery was full again after the enjoyable evening. Note to everyone: You won't leave a public event in Ireland without sharing life stories with ever so lively local folk. Trading stories is one of my favorite things in life and I would recommend the readers to enjoy that part of life too.


Back at work I was tasked to go through all reservations of a reservation channel from last month.
Main point is to check from the system actual spent nights at our premises and make sure everything is on point and we don't actually pay extra commission. After comparing I updated everything on a spreadsheet.

I also did a 5 week comparison to surrounding hostels and their room prices. Can't go too much in to the details on the steps we take, but it includes spreadsheets again :)
I'm glad that management trusts me more and more with administration tasks and I get to learn a broader skill set for my future. 

Some of the Irish pubs have have been around for longer than you would imagine.
Title for the oldest pub in Ireland is contested, but the Brazen Head is at least the oldest pub in Dublin.
Close to our hostel, the Brazen Head is a nice place for a lunch with traditional Irish cuisine. Fried fish with mashed potatoes is a must to anyone visiting Ireland.

As we are approaching the summer, we can see the increase of tourists at our hostel. I truly love our little melting pot of cultures and stories.

Did a lot of preauthorizations and allocations. Increasing number of groups leads to interesting little puzzles with allocation of the beds. I'm getting more administration task by the day and I'm trying to prove I am worthy of the trust and responsibility.

Full house and big groups = Learning and shifts passing by in a moment

Lot of big groups and guests in general forced me to be a busy bee. Fulfilling tasks all around the days. 
Being in the middle of this so called ''controlled chaos'' helped me to improve in many areas. It felt like I had only worked a few hours, while in reality my shift was already completed.

Did many changes to reservations of our guests and got experience on what steps I need to take in changes. Refund policy and extending the reservations are practically in my veins now.

Lot of customer service with a big group. I was tasked to query on possible day trips for the group. I felt like I was a man on a mission, while organizing the trips. Truly exciting and fun in every way. 
I booked a day trip to Cliffs of Moher and a private walking tour around Dublin.

More repetition with long term bookings and steps needed. Getting close to the level of managing long term bookings by myself.

Have you ever tried being a live GPS through a phone in broken Russian? Well I have now, and oh boy was it nerve wracking. I have to add that my Russian skills are more of a one way system. I can understand it quite well, but talking Russian is a different animal altogether. 
When the guest arrived we had a blast recollecting the trip. The joy and the laughter, good times. 
Events like this are one of the more satisfying aspects of my future profession. 

The O'Connell Monument on the O'Connell street.
Monument celebrates Daniel O'Connell and his campaigning for Catholic emancipation in the beginning of 19th century.

I was tasked to do the reservations and invoicing of incoming long term students. I'm thankful for the trust of bosses on allowing to expand my set of skills. I was quite nervous and triple and quadruple checked everything. 

Did co-operation with the housekeeping staff on room situations and tasks ahead. Keeping the information going forward is crucial for guest enjoyment in our premises.

Planning and scheduling with our maintenance staff. A new crucial part of keeping the rooms as full as possible on every given situation. When to do an what? How does affect the availability of the rooms and how much is needed for tasks to keep the hostel in top notch condition.

We also update social media accounts of our hostel.
We don't have to participate ourselves in the posts, but it's appreciated.
Good example of having fun and throwing yourself in to the mix by our superstar maintenance staff.

Sporting events and additional sales

Rugby's six nations cup was in town and we had the pleasure to have wonderful fans as guests. The colors and ingenuity with attires and face paintings were off the charts! The atmosphere and the joy of the fans was quite contagious. Great stories and chants along the way. What a pleasant and eventful day to be working. Interactions like these give you a distinct spark to carry on throughout the week.

The Spire in it's ridiculous glory. Hated by many, useful to some.
Although the Spire is an eye sore to some of the locals, it's a quite useful landmark to pinpoint your location.

I'm getting more and more additional sales and don't forget previous stuff after learning new ones. I still find myself all over the place at brief moments, but they're getting more rare on each passing day.

Note to self: remember to add all purchases to the system, so I don't end up spending personal time after work in panic trying to figure out what's wrong. Got everything fixed and gained a valuable lesson to focus on every moment. 

We got a good amount of group bookings and I got much needed repetition on frequently asked questions. I think I have to most common ones under control. 

We went through long term student accommodations extensively. What needs to be done and who makes the decisions on long terms. Some extra work with allocations and it must be done with extreme precision and care. Got the gist of it, but need more repetition to be able to manage them by myself.

I have gained a lot more confidence in my skills and English and my bubbly personality is getting through more and more. I just love working here in every possible way. 

My personal roadside ''Titanic'' moment on the west coast.
Though the weather tends to look gloomy, there's a lots of light during the days unlike back home in Finland. And it's relatively warm during the winter here. Just get a windproof jacket and you'll be fine.