Three schoolgirls from the twin town Leiria finish their internship in Emsstadt
Rheine/Leiria. The kindness and helpfulness of the people in Rheine – these will certainly remain in the memory of the three young female interns from the twin town Leiria, who traveled back to their home country a few days ago. And naturally each made in its way vocational experiences in the practical course enterprises, which will completely substantially affect the decision with the soon lining up study and occupation choice.
“It was hard at first,” says Catarina Henriques (18), who worked at Cafe Echtzeit for ten weeks. The German language in particular presented the young woman, who – like her other colleagues – had learned English as a second language at school, with minor problems at times. But then there were the nice colleagues and the lovely guests who patiently helped Catarina – and were happy to repeat the order again, speaking more slowly. “Catarina had the highest score in all areas in the final evaluation, for example, in terms of teamwork and attitude to work. You couldn’t ask for better,” owner Iris Grünberg also praised the intern. “She was a very valuable employee”.
And how is it different from working in Portugal? “In our country, there is not as much appreciation for the staff as there is here,” Catarina reports. When she did an internship at a hotel in her home country last year, for example, no one called her by name. And she even fell a little in love with Rheine: “We love this city, the river and the buildings. The people were very respectful,” she continues.
She now wants to start studying in the field of tourism/foreign transport soon. But before that, she will work in Leiria this summer to earn money. And then, yes, an adventure vacation is planned before graduation….
“Here in Rheine it’s not as hectic as it is here in Leiria” grins Núria (18), whose house name is Tomasini, unusual by Portuguese standards. “My father is Italian,” she clarifies.
She did her internship at Hotel Lücke and here she worked in the restaurant, in room service and in the kitchen. “Getting the rooms ready for the next guests and then adding a little souvenir, that was really nice!”
She had nice colleagues who showed her how to do the varied work. In general: “The people here in Rheine are so friendly and helpful,” she enthuses. The landlord couple in Gellendorf in particular have always supported the three girls, she says.
Gellendorf is not in the center of the city, but the bus and train connections are excellent. So it was also easy to get to know other cities such as Münster, Cologne or, most recently, Amsterdam in their free time. The Amsterdam excursion, however, did not end as expected. Despite all their efforts, the young women were unable to open the door in the older model Intercity. It was not until they reached Osnabrück that they managed to get off the train. From there, they returned to Rheine, but there were no more buses at that point. A call to José Azevedo from the partnership association was enough and he took them to their accommodation. José had also accompanied them excellently throughout the weeks and repented.
Mobility has its limits: Núria rides a bike excellently, another one of the group learned to ride a bike so reasonably in Rheine, the third one doesn’t manage it at all.
Speaking of learning: “I was able to improve my English quite well,” says the young Portuguese woman happily.
What was negative? “The fact that the stores here have such strange opening hours,” Núria blurts out. In her home country, the stores would have been open around the clock, even on weekends.
Despite all the positive experiences she had during her internship, she still doesn’t want to go into the tourism industry. She has another interest in law and wants to train as a paralegal at university.
At home, she first wants to treat herself to a short vacation. At the same time, however, she wants to get her driver’s license. But she is also looking forward to seeing her loved ones at home, because it was the first time she had been without mom and dad for so long. “But it was also an important experience for me,” said Núria Tomasini as she said goodbye.
Mariana Pereira (17) had a very diverse field of work at the recently opened Art & Tech-Space on Lindenstraße. “We quickly involved Marina in the day-to-day work and especially in event planning,” reports employee Nathalie Winckler. Activities ranged from painting Easter eggs for school children to writing Instagram posts or conducting interviews with downtown visitors. “I really appreciated it,” Mariana says as she says goodbye. She is completing another four weeks at the Europe-direct Center in Steinfurt’s district administration. “I prepared EU information material and sent it to citizens and various institutions in Münsterland. I was involved in the organization, preparation and implementation of the Europe information stand at the Marktzauber at the Gravenhorst monastery, took part in an excursion to the NRW Chamber of Agriculture in Haus Düsse and was at a simulation of the European Parliament in the Friedenssaal in Münster City Hall. I have gained a lot of knowledge about the EU within the four weeks here, I was able to improve my English and my communication. The experiences here are of great value for my future,” Mariana concluded her stay in Steinfurt.