We're Not in Kansas Anymore

It’s been a little over a week since we arrived in Ireland, so I thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on some of the changes or differences that I’ve experienced since I’ve been here so far...

1)      I haven’t taken a hot shower in over a week. We’ve been told it’s possible in our cottages, but so far we haven’t been able to make it happen.

2)      It is windy, rainy, and cloudy every single day, so we should just get used to the idea that we won’t see the sun until December. We are all currently fighting colds and coughs while we try to adjust to the always windy and damp environment we now live in.

3)      Everything is expensive. Things are also especially expensive because the euro is worth more than the dollar, so we lose money just by being here.

4)      When asked where we’re from, always say the state, never the country. Apparently it’s already painfully obvious that we’re from the US by the way we talk, so if they’re asking where we’re from, they are curious which state.

5)      The Irish people, guys in particular, are very forward and will tell you exactly what they think about you within the first couple minutes of meeting.

6)      The fact that the steering wheels are on the right side of the car and cars drive on the left is not the hardest thing about the driving here to get used to. It’s the fact that the roads are extremely narrow and speed limits seem not to be noticed by anyone except for tourists. (I’m just glad I’m alive after my taxi ride home last night)

7)      The people with the thickest Irish accents, especially middle-aged to older people, say “tings” instead of “things.” This is just something we noticed and found funny, and it applies to most words with any “th” sound in them. We also noticed that many of the people who speak Irish repeat words an excessive amount of times while speaking English. We've heard a lot of "yeah yeah yeah's" and "okay okay okay okay" while talking with the locals.

8)      If you order a Guinness, you can’t grab it right after it’s poured. The bartender will pour the glass and set it down, which is the point where you do not pick it up unless you’re a tourist. You need to let whatever it is in it that needs to settle, settle, and then the bartender will top it off and hand it to you.

9)      Tea is gross. Despite how popular it is here, how hard I’ve tried to like it, or how much milk and sugar I put in it, I just think it’s terrible.

10)   The fact that we talk about the weather in Fahrenheit or distance in miles, makes for a lot of awkward situations. It’s probably about time I learn to convert these things so I can save a lot of Irish locals the trouble of trying to look up conversions online while we talk, which kills a lot of good conversations.

Well these are the first 10 things that jump to the front of my mind when I think about the different things that have challenged us and made some funny and amazing memories since we’ve been here so far. I’m sure I will have more installments in the future, because if the rest of the trip is anything like the first week, we have lots to learn and lots of good times ahead of us J