nikio

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel, only read the first page."

Niki O

24 / Female

Galway, Galway, Ireland

About nikio

Full Member | Member since 30th Apr 06

Citizenship: New Zealand
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Globetrotter
About nikio:

After finishing a degree in Communications, I moved to Germany for a year to work as an Au Pair. Then I spent 15 monts in Vancouver, Canada and now I am in Galway, Ireland for a year.

Note: The Big `OE´ stands for overseas experience. A common New Zealand/Australian term used for when anyone typically aged 18 to 30 packs up everything they own and goes travelling the world (usually for a few years). A lot of them will end up living and working in London, but it varies from person to person.

Hobbies:

Movies, travel, being around friends, writing, photography, just the usual I'm afraid - nothing too strange.

Favourite places:

Lake Waikaremoana in Te Urewera National Park, and the Waioeka Gorge, Bay of Plenty both in the east of the North Island of New Zealand. Both places have hardly a soul around and have fresh, clear water, bush and sky. Both places feel like 'home'.

Activity : photos (341) forum (11) guide (0) blog (57) diary (0) trips (7)

Latest Blog Entry

A Year in Ireland

Posted by nikio | 6th November 2009

Lets just start with the absolute truth. Ireland, was without doubt my hardest year abroad. It wasn't because of the rain or all the bleak grey buildings, the knackers or the tinkers, the bogs, the drinking or the potatoes. It was a little more complex than all that. However on the flip side, it was also my most rewarding year.

I arrived on the 29 of September 2008 on a wet miserable day in Dublin. I found an apartment almost immediately in the center of Galway city. Eager to settle in and get unpacked I moved into a three-storey apartment called 'The Cobblestones'. Johnny was a builder and Caroline worked in a Call Centre. Arlene, a student was a ghost whom we never saw.

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To say I struggled to find work is an understatement. I applied for everything, dropped CV's in to any store who would actually take one. I landed an interview with a marketing company as a trainee. I got a call back, but ended up in Tuam,

Continued | The Big OE