Doesn't everyone in the world care about Memorial Day??

Apparently not. But I still got my Memorial Day holiday all thanks to my friend Kenneth, who I'm sure picked that weekend just for me. :)

The time change from Ireland to the US is not bad. The flight took off at 10:30 a.m. my time and landed at 1:00 p.m. EST so the only time that I was truly tired was around 8:00 p.m. Not too bad. Of course I was up at 5:30 a.m. the next morning.

The weather was beautiful the entire time. I actually found out about an outlet mall that's about an hour away and there are buses that take you there. WHAT??!! How have I never known this before!! And because it was a holiday weekend, the sales were fantastic. Banana Republic missed me as much as I missed it.

The wedding itself was Sunday night at a quaint restaurant in Brooklyn. The ceremony, drinking, dancing all took place there. It was very intimate and, personally, I think that's the way to go. Kenneth's wife has a Thai heritage and, therefore, there was a Thai element to the ceremony. This made it great fun for us to watch and get a little more culture in our lives.

Fortunately we sat next to a few young couples at the ceremony and were seated with them at the dinner as well. They all new each other so this made for great banter all night long. They took us in and by the end of the night (when the people at the restaurant were dying to go home) we all went across the street for more alcohol and they actually had board games.

The game of choice was connect four and it was a hit! I played in the first round and it seems I need to upgrade my strategy from when I was 7 since I lost. Next time I'll be ready!

It was a great weekend overall, but the getting used to the time difference coming back was a killer. Landing at 5:30 a.m. after leaving the day before at 5:40 p.m was trés difficile. I passed out til noon and then made myself stay awake til nighttime then couldn't go to sleep until 1:00 a.m. Bah.

Brilliant

I say that because I had this idea as well. :)

www.myus.com

As mentioned in a previous post, I had many ideas for new businesses based on initial frustrations due to the realization that Ireland does not have some of the same efficiencies as the US. This was one of them.

And on top of that, I am unable to get any subscriptions of magazines that I'm interested in because they are set in the UK and the UK doesn't deliver to Ireland. Fabulous.

Hopefully now all of my magazine problems are solved. And maybe now I can order from Banana Republic!!!! All is well with the world.

On a serious Cajun note

Seems Lafayette and Breaux Bridge had a little tussle with a tornado last night:

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080516/NEWS01/805160317&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

Kenneth - call your mom.

American Meetup Group

First of all, thank you to Isabelle for sending me the information on this group. I had planned to do some searching for expat groups, but in no way would I have been as organized as she is and not as speedy in my research either.

The April monthly meeting was the first week that I arrived, so I didn't attend that one, but the May meeting was last night and I went with bells on. I wasn't sure what to expect or how many people would be there. The gathering was at a bar called The Morgan on Fleet Street in Temple Bar. Temple Bar is the area that I believe most tourists flock to. An Irish Bourbon Street of sorts. I would generally stay away from the area, but The Morgan was a really nice bar attached to a hotel I believe.

Fortunately the group had a sign - otherwise I would've been sitting at the bar waiting to hear that familiar American accent. The first person that I started talking to was Irish. Damn. I came to this thing and I'm probably only going to talk to an Irish person - that makes no sense. Turns out he is the husband of the organizer of the event. Very nice guy, but I was glad when some actual Americans came over to chat.

There was of course a mixture of home towns: New York, Colorado, Texas, Pennsylvania. There was also a good span of length of time lived in Ireland: 6 weeks to 3.5 years. We chatted about the differences that we're experiencing, things missed from home, and new things loved in Ireland.

The best tip learned so far is that instead of having to buy a car, I can apparently enter into a long-term rental from a regular rental car company. That way I can avoid the road tax and having to search for something that I really want to buy. So, the event was fun AND beneficial! Can't beat that.

Geography 101

Now, some of you will probably say "Duh Nikki" but I thought it was important to share what I have learned. And based on the fact that some Americans asked me before I left if Scotland was in Ireland (no worries, not a a silly question - you know me and geography - I have no right to judge), I think that most people aren't really sure how it all works up here. Here's what I understand...

Scotland is actually in the United Kingdom. At the top. Also included in the United Kingdom, besides England, is Wales and Northern Ireland. We'll just leave Northern Ireland out of the equation for now as it just confuses things.

I have been told that I should not refer to the people that live in England as British because the United Kingdom is also referred to as Great Britain (a whole other post can be done on why someone decided to name it Great). The reason why I have been told not to call the English British is because if I do that, then I am including the Scottish and the Welsh in that distinction. So, if I say "that accent is very British," the Scottish and the Welsh would disagree.

So now it totally makes sense. Right?

Vote YES! Vote NO!!

There are signs all over the city that basically say one or the other. What the vote is all about is something called the Lisbon Treaty. Apparently it is a 500 page treaty that was signed in Lisbon (surprise, surprise) on December 13, 2007.

I am no expert on this thing and I'm sure I know less than the average Irish citizen, but it's complicated in that they aren't giving a lot of information. They do provide the link to read the entire treaty, but even a lawyer would get bogged down in all of that legal mumbo jumbo. You'd be asleep by the end of page 2. They are also providing small brochures in the mail to attempt at a layman's explanation, but it still doesn't make a ton of sense. My personal opinion on the reason why is that they are asking for a yes vote and no one really knows what the yes vote will bring. But they know what the no vote will bring - status quo. A quote I like to use in many situations - it's easier to "stay with the devil you know."

It seems that the treaty will attempt to further reform voting procedures. The "yes voters" say it will make a stronger European Union. I would think that most people who vote no will do so because there isn't enough information as to why it's a good idea to vote yes. There's a ton of reading to do out there, I'm sure, so I'll update once I have more time to learn about it myself. In the meantime, I've included a few informational links.

Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon_treaty

10 reasons to vote YES: http://www.ibeclisbon.ie/

Sinn Féin says vote NO: http://www.no2lisbon.ie/

Traditional Irish Pub

Saturday night I had the privilege of going to a traditional Irish pub outside of the city center. I know what you're thinking - aren't all pubs in Ireland traditional Irish? But no, a lot of them have some form of catering to tourists. Now, I certainly haven't been to every pub in town as a test, but this is just my observation thus far.

There was a small gathering following a golf tournament held in the honor of the unfortunate death of a friend's father one year ago. The gathering was mainly the family and then a few people who had participated in the tournament that day.

The band was called the Beer Mats (what we call coasters) and definitely played traditional Irish music. There was lots of singing along - not by me of course. The American just sat and drank. At one point, a song came on and everyone stood up and held hands. Not wanting to stand out (and really not having a choice since someone grabbed my hand), I did the same. Standing, swaying, singing - good time had by all. Later on in the night, we were all still standing and the national anthem started playing. I was told to put my drink down. No drinking during the national anthem.

The family completely took me in the entire night - I was told lots of stories.

Four to five pints later (Guinness and Bulmers), I was done. The pubs close around 12:30 (eek) and they flick the lights slowly so you're sitting in the darkness a few times. Then people walk through and start saying "Time to start heading out folks," "Come on guys, seriously, we need to start closing up," "Ok seriously, please start gathering your things. We want to go home." I heard a comment from the group, "Good luck with that."

It was a great night had by all. Hopefully I'll get to do something like that again soon.

Irish Names

I definitely wasn't expecting to have so much trouble pronouncing the pure Irish names here. I have come to learn that Americans (or at least I do) pronounce things just as they read them. Here are a few examples:

Eoin = pronounced as Owen
Siobhan = pronounced as Chivanne
Odhran = pronounced as "hey you"

Well, you try that last one! I've made a fool of myself by not saying it right and also by assuming that someone is female or male when they're obviously not - as seen by the name. I mean, obviously. :P

Differences - Part Deux

To add to my differences post below, I forgot one regarding the dryers here. Besides the fact that it's half the size of the ones that I'm used to, it also needs a little extra help to get the job done.

As we all know, there is a lint trap in dryers - no difference here. Still have to deal with that - no big deal. The big difference is that it actually collects water and you have to empty the water after every third run or so - WHAT?!

So, at the top there is a plastic tray of sorts that you pull out and carefully balance so that you don't spill water all over the floor out of the hole at the end. I'm guessing that it sucks the water from the clothes into this tray. Who knows how that actually happens. The dryer also doesn't do it's job in one shot - you have to run the thing three times if you don't want damp towels after your shower.

When I asked about this fun feature and if it's normal, the response I got was "Well, where does the water from your dryers go??" Me - "Um, I don't know. Outside?!" :)

Jeez - Does it have to be so screamy??

Ireland has their collective head in the right direction when it comes to drinking and driving. And as you may have guessed, they want none of it. This is quite a surprise for someone from Louisiana. You do three tequila shots just to take the driving test. :)

Anywho, their traffic system, from what I understand, involves a series of points if you are caught doing something that is a no-no. Once you rack up a certain number of points, that's when the suspending of the license and other not fun sanctions start to happen. They have lots of check points where they will pull people over for a breath test.

So, on top of that, there are these commercials that I actually have to change the channel or walk away from when they come on. It starts off with a nice little song and a couple by a rail at a serene intersection. Then along comes 2 cars and one is out of control and basically slams the other car into the couple on the rail. So, now the couple is smashed together and the guy is literally split in half and the girl is screaming (of course). The nice little song keeps playing while the girl is screaming louder and louder and there are crashed cars, a dead guy, smoke from the cars, and the supposedly drunk person wobbling around. Next scene is in a courtroom where the drunk driver is getting tried and the girl is there in a wheelchair.

Now, I don't think drunk driving is a good idea and I do think that advertisements are a good idea to help the fight of making it go away. But, does it have to be SO gory??!! I mean, SHEESH!

I guess the ad does do it's job though. I'll always remember the commercial and I'm sure so will everyone else in the country.

Sorry Starbucks

Apparently I have used up your entire supply of regular vanilla syrup. Monday and yesterday I visited two separate Starbucks in two completely separate areas and when I asked for my standard Venti Vanilla Non-Fat Latte please, I got this response: "Would you like sugar-free vanilla? We are out of the regular vanilla." No way Jorge.

You probably didn't get the memo that I was coming over, but I'm here now so you may want to increase your order next time. Thanks.

Traffic Lights

Once again, shouldn't it all be the same? Now, I knew that they drove on the wrong side of the road, but it makes it pretty difficult for already confused Americans (and most people in the world) to drive if all of the signs and indicators are different.

It is very common to pull up to a stop light and there will be 2 lights there. One is red and one is green. Um, which one is mine?? I'm sure the standard American response is to just wait there until someone decides to honk at them. Must be my turn to go. They issue big stickers with an "L" on them for student drivers. And probably Americans.

Why my commute doesn't suck

It's an hour and a half walking and riding the train. A couple of reasons:

1. I'll get lots of good exercise walking back and forth, to and from the train.
2. I can read or write in my journal or listen to music or all three.

Why it does:

1. It's an hour and a half.
   

Thank God for Tide Sticks

I was pretty nervous for my first day of work, but as many say, "It will never be as bad as you think it will be." Well, I wasn't thinking that about 10 minutes in.

I decided to skip the normal way that I would commute because I was too nervous to screw up the train or have it be delayed and I didn't want to be late on my first day. Crossing the street to get my daily Starbucks fix, I completely wipe out on the pavement. Of course it had to be wet outside (the only wet morning), so the pants of my new suit were soaked. The suit was a light grey, so the were basically black.

Good thing I had a half hour to wait for my pants to dry - that would've been fun to explain. As I was falling for 5 minutes straight, over and over and over, my passport and ipod went flying. Someone was nice enough to care that I was flat on the ground and obviously American. She said "It's the rain - it'll get you every time." Lordy, let's hope not!

This one deserves it's own post

THE EMERSION

As you know, in America we just have hot water. There is a special little faucet and it has an H on it and we turn it on and...voila! Hot water. I would think it would be silly for me to expect anything different here.

Oh, was I wrong. So wrong. A very possible conversation:

American: "Do you know why the hot water isn't working?"
Irish: "Did you turn on the emersion?"
A: "Ummmmm..."
I: "Well, you have to turn on the emersion to get the hot water."
A: "Ummmmm..."
I: "See, in the hot press (cabinet for us Americans), you turn on the emersion, give it 10 minutes and you're ready to go." But never put it on 'bath', if you put it on 'sink' that should be plenty of hot water for your shower."
A: "This makes no freaking sense."

And another very possible conversation:

A: "Ah, nice hot shower for the first 30 seconds - maybe next time I'll put it on bath."
I: "Did you turn off the emersion?"
A: "Ummmmm...no"
I: "WHAT??!! NOOOOOOOO!"
A: (sheesh)

To be fair, if the heater is on in the house (central heating = radiators in each room), the hot water will just naturally work. Naturally.

Differences

I thought I'd make a list of what I've seen so far and I know there will be more, so more posts on that to come. :)

To list a few:

1. The portions of food and drinks are smaller, but the alcohol and beer portions are the same or bigger. Makes perfect sense. :) I got a small sandwich at Quizno's (JMF-they have a pepper bar) and it was SMALL. I'd say 3 inches long maybe? I mean, come on.
2. Restaurants don't refill your water unless you ask. The glasses are small and there is definitely no ice. Now, that actually makes sense. If it's cold, what do you need the ice for.
3. Tons of grocery store differences. I love Special K with berries and yogurt clusters cereal and they trick you into thinking that it exists. And when you open the box, I would venture to guess there's 3 clusters in the whole dang box. False advertising I tell you.
4. As to be expected - there are lots of word differences. I got lunch in Subway (lazy American thing to do) and I said I'd like "chips and a drink" so of course he thought I meant fries and a drink. Of course, right? "Oh right, I mean crisps and a drink. Didn't want you to go make me fries or anything."
5. The credit card machine is brought to your table when you're done so that you can put in the tip amount and the pin number from the credit card. Then they print out the receipt there.
6. You have to pay for your plastic bags at the grocery store. 22 cents each. I bought a canvas bag.
7. Much greener here than the US - grass and environmentally :).
8. There are switches that turn the outlets off and on. They should be turned off when not in use to save electricity.
9. Light switches are turned on but pushing them down instead of up.
10. Heat is powered by oil instead of gas in a lot of places.
11. There are assigned seats at the cinema. You pick when you buy the tickets.
12. Shower curtains come with 12 holes for the rings. The shower rod comes with 13 rings. The liner comes with 9 holes. 13 = 12 = 9 = HUH???
13. It is extremely uncommon to have A/C anywhere. Being a Louisiana native, I'm pretty scared.
14. The dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer are much smaller than I'm used to. Means double the loads of laundry and dishes prolly.
15. TV - you all know how I'm a TV junkie. So here's the "craic" as they'd say: there are lots of American shows on here, but they are anywhere from 3 weeks old to 2 seasons old. I thought I was safe cause I can just go to abc.com and watch them online, but noooooo. A big fat warning comes up that says you have to be in the US. Well, if I were in the US I wouldn't need to watch them on the stupid website!!!

All of these differences are giving me lots of great ideas for new businesses here. I could be a frillionaire.

$$$$$ =/ €€€€€

The exchange rate is great for the Euro and basically has been since the damn currency arrived. My frustration is obviously because my brain still works in the "how much does this cost? €20? Crap, that's like a frillion $$$."

Now, when I got my salary in the offer, I of course converted it to US dollars and it converted to a little more than I was making in New Orleans. Great - at least it's not less. I can work with this. I had heard that Dublin was more expensive than NY, which was definitely frightening since Louisiana is the cheapest state in the country - at least it seems that way.

The only problem is that everything costs the same (or more) than it does at home. So, if a lunch sandwich costs $5 in the US, it would cost €5 here. So, if everything "costs the same" and I'm "making less" (all in the look of the numbers - no currency involved), then definitely less coats, shoes, and purses for me. :p

Now that I've gotten that out of the way...

I can write about what I'm seeing and experiencing. I thought it would be easiest to put it all in a blog posting than send out tons of emails. We all know how "great" I am at communicating.

My first week was mostly filled with shopping for necessities and getting settled. I also did some roaming around the city center, including practicing my commute by both bus and train. I am living in Leixlip, which is about 10 miles from the city center at a straight shot (complete guess, by the way). I'll write more about my commute later.

Leixlip is a small town with basically everything that you need. The pub is bigger than four regular stores combined - shocker! Makes perfect sense. :p

Leixlip is Southwest of the city center and is a little outside of the M50 loop, which is their interstate. There's a decent mall in the next small town as well as a Home Depot type store (B&Q), a Best Buy type store (Power City), a Linen's n Things type store (Home Store and More), and a Walmart (Tesco's). The B&Q is as big as a Home depot, but the rest are much smaller. It's often difficult to find the things that I would like or are dreaming up in my head. I just want a dang alarm clock that projects the time on the ceiling and makes rain sounds at night!! How hard is that??!! To me, the city center will be mainly for work, shopping, pubs, going out with friends, to see bands, some history, touristy things, and outstanding food. Even though there is outstanding food everywhere.

I feel like I'm on an adventure with lots of highs and some frustrations of course. The weather will probably be a big one. Hopefully the summer will be better than the last summer. the weather since I arrived has been BEAUTIFUL!! It has rained a little, but most of the days are blue skies. I know that will change at some stage, but I'm appreciating it now. Apparently the winters are hell. Sweet. :p