Name: Addison Horine.
Age: 21 yrs.
University: Metropolitan State College of Denver.
Length of time here: 4 months.

What job are you doing in Ireland?
I was worked for the Guinness Store House at St. James Gate Brewery. I worked as in retail and beers back stores assistant. It was an awesome, an international work experience, I met some really cool people, who I still keep in touch with.

Where & Who are you living with here?
I was living with another Work In Ireland participant. We shared a very cosy flat. I met her at one of the Work in Ireland socials, and discussed with her about housing and she offered to share her place with me, turned out to be really handy as it was only a 15-minute walk to work for me.

Whats your social scene like? Where do you go? What do you do etc?
Well I would spend every moment out in the city centre I could. I did a lot of travelling on the weekends and since time was short I spent a lot of weeknights out. Weeknights got pretty crazy none the less. My mates and I enjoyed places like Fitzsimmons, Pal Joeys, Havanna and Messers Maguires to name a few. There are always those places you end up at that nobody remembers of course but its all in good Irish fun. It was always a great place to meet new people and do a bit of socializing. As far as activities I spent a lot of time with my mates travelling around shopping and a lot of sight-seeing. Dublin, as well as the rest of Ireland has some great historical sites to visit.

Your most memorable thing to date in Ireland?
Oh where to start, so many that come to mind. I will always remember the experience of being in a foreign place all on my own for the first time, when I arrived, thinking to myself “what am I doing here, I'm 5,000 miles away and don’t know anybody”. Meeting people and the experiences gained, will be among my most fond memories of Ireland. It is Ireland I credit for my new outlook on life and my maturing as a person.

Can you sum up your experience on the program in Ireland to date?
It was so helpful in every sense of the word experience. It helped me to not be so shy, to rely on myself and learn who I really was as a person. I know it sounds really cliché to say. Nothing can compare to the maturity you gain as a person with an experience like this.

What Advice you would give any students thinking about going on the WII program?
Easy just do it, Life is too short not to take the chance. For me personally it was the right time, if I did'nt do it now I might never go. After my time there, I realized I rather regret a bad experience than to never have experienced at all. Experience good or bad facilitates personal growth.

Summer Festivals…

Ireland will be the hub of the some of the best music festivals ever! If you have never been to a music festival in Ireland, then make it one of your top reasons for coming here! They are certainly the most exhilarating, mind blowing and energetic experiences your will ever have!! Here are just a few of the festivals lined up here this summer!

Oxygen

The greatest rock and roll weekend in the Irish calendar is set for 7th/8th/9th July, again at Punchestown racecourse. Oxegen Festival is Ireland's biggest two day rock festival and now enters its seventh year. Already some of the finest acts in the world have confirmed they will be playing Oxegen, with possibly the biggest news being The Killers are to headline on the 8th. If The Killers are not your bag, then try some of the rest of the acts on for size - Muse, Snow Patrol, Scissor Sisters, Kings of Leon, Interpol, Amy Winehouse, The Fratellis, MIKA, Wu Tang Clan, Tori Amos, The Goo Goo Dolls (all on Saturday), Razorlight, Arcade Fire, Daft Punk, The Kooks, My Chemical Romance, Bloc Party, Babyshambles, James Morrison, CSS and Klaxons (Sunday). There are tones more acts due to be confirmed.

Electric Picnic

The rolling lawns of Stradbally Hall, Co. Laois provides the perfect setting for a feast of eclectic music, entertainment and food. The Electric Picnic, Ireland's premiere boutique festival. The three day festival, marking the end of the summer is set to run from 31st August - 2nd September. Electric Picnic is aiming to maintain it's current size of 32,500 festival goers and is to keep all of the good things from previous years with a few extra surprises thrown in for good measure. The initial lineup has been announced, with some of the finest worldwide acts set to perform, including Sonic Youth, Bjork, Jarvis Cocker, The Go! Team, LCD Soundsystem, Primal Scream, Beastie Boys, Iggy and The Stooges, Magic Numbers, , Polyphonic Spree, Jamie Lidell to name a few with many more to be announced. This festival has been increasing in popularity over the years and is set to sell out again fast!

Heineken Green Energy Festival

The 12th Heineken Green Energy Festival returns to Dublin across the May Bank Holiday weekend with 3 days of top music in Dublin Castle. This unique festival has provided music fans with great acts down the years including Lou Reed, Orbital, Counting Crows, Beck, White Stripes, Kaiser Chiefs and The Hives amongst many others. This year is no different, with Best Live Band at the NME Awards Kasabian headlining Saturday 5th May with an excellent Irish supporting bill of The Blizzards and Future Kings Of Spain. Sinead O'Connor plays a rare gig on the Sunday with Irish Trad-Fusion legends Kila and up comers Delorentos with crowd favourite David Gray playing Monday 7th.

Neeson tipped to star in Paisley, the movie

Northern Ireland's Big Man could be coming to a cinema near you. Plans are underway to make a biopic of one of Ulster's best-known - if not best-loved -characters, Ian Paisley. Plans are already being put in place for the big-screen biography with Ian Jr set to sign on as executive producer. It is hoped that Hollywood star Liam Neeson, who like Paisley also hails from Ballymena, Co. Antrim, will take the lead role. In addition to acting out some of Paisley's more rabble-rousing roles - like when he was ejected from the European Parliament for heckling Pope John Paul II - the movie will also deal with Mr Paisley's more recent pragmatism as he edges closer to becoming the North's First Minister.