Day 2 or T-1 down in East Cork … Where to start … Well the wake up certainly wasn’t my usual kind … no iphone alarm clock down here on the farm of a Sunday! I was woken by a combination of crows cawing (a murder of crows, I wanted to murder them !!!), a donkey or two braying and of course the expected cock crowing … I think the crows will take some getting used to!

The day was a reasonably uneventful one or at least reasonably conventional! A leisurely morning stroll on the strand (amazing clear day) and then on to the gym and even managed to relax a little in the steam room, sauna and outdoor hot tub as well as working out … wasn’t the same as Bag Class 😉 (starting to miss that now!) Then a little trip into Midleton just to get familiar with it and to pick up a few things in the supermarket.

After that the rest of my house mates arrived during the day and they were welcomed with some good old Luxembourgish hospitality … white wine paired with some Irish farmhouse cheeses (Gubbeen and Mileens) and some Gubbeen Chorizo! So we’re all here now … bar one (who is delayed for some personal reasons). You will all be delighted to hear it’s me and five ladies at the moment … so I am the token man for once in my life! Doing wonders for my self esteem! I’ll get a photo together at a later stage. And for those still wondering … Yes we are the over 40s house 😊

At 6 p.m. the vast majority of students gathered with name tags on … for a welcome dinner (wood fired pizza) and it was great to see the diverse range of ages mix and start to get to know each other. Most appear to be more than comfortable chatting with everyone and willing to engage! The dinner was served by all the teachers and staff … something we won’t be getting used to I’m sure!

If I was to guess I would say the vast majority of students are under 30 with a slight weighting towards the girls … apparently we have 12 nationalities represented … although I think I am down as Luxembourgish … moien, wéi geet et ??

Darina gave a welcome address that was very well received (she’s actually very witty … surprisingly so - for those who have watched her on TV over the years) basically it was just a brief introduction to the school and farm … although I did get a telling off from the lady herself over leaning back on a wooden chair chatting to the table behind) … bodes well for the future (can’t bring me anywhere)!

We were all asked to introduce ourselves and to give a bit of background where we came from and whether or not we were doing the course for life skills or a potential career, I was introduced as a Luxembourger ... quickly corrected I may add ... and that I was currently a JPM retiree (you're welcome guys) facing a potential career change ... we would wait and see ... pretty much true for now!

Nothing much to speak of after that … some of the younger students went off to the pub for one or two (or so I was told) while I had a cheeky glass of white to end the night and actually managed to get to sleep early for once … first time in many years …

This blog is actually turning out to be difficult to get around to … hmmm who would have thought ! I’m writing this after classes on T … more on T tomorrow … I feel like I have a “going to print deadline!” 😁

T-1 - The official welcome!