Dublin from an American's perspective

strawberryjam

I visited my boyfriend in Dublin for 3 months! And I just wanted to post some interesting tid bits.

Some notes I'd like to make before I start...
My boyfriend is Polish and he has been there less than a year, so even spending so long there, I feel like I hardly know anything about it there.
And this was also my first trip to Europe so any comments I make might be general rather than Dublin exclusive.

- In the States, if you carry a backpack into the store, employees might keep an eye on you thinking you're going to steal something! I thought it was so strange when I saw people loading their backpacks up at the cash registers over there.

- Store clerks are obligated to be fake happy and nice in the USA. They have to smile and ask, "how are you?" and ask if you need any help. I remember reading a few posts about Irish complaining that Poles never ask, "how are you?" and all. But I think of it with both ethnicities. I never met an Irish person though, but I wish I did. This is all from my shopping experiences, sadly.

- I have never been around so many pure blooded people before. And because of that, I realized I can't tell a Pole from an Irish! I am Chinese, by the way.

- I cannot understand Irish speaking English really. When I was on the plane, I believe I heard Gaelic and English though and they sounded pretty similar at least.

- Drinking is so popular there, yeah? I am jealous that we do not have alcoholic ciders here. And 18 is the drinking age there, yeah? I drank when I got there because I could. I had a half glass of wine and threw it all up.

- There's quite a bit of tension there about Polish people and jobs and stuff, I think. And from some posts I read, an argument that Poles are doing Irish good is that USA is quite successful from immigration which is true. A lot of them being illegal. It is funny how Americans want to keep Mexicans out though. But that would be bad since a lot of them do the labor such as farm work. The sad thing is, I know there are farms in Ireland, but I have no idea who does the labor and I'd think Polish would be doing that... but I hear they're doing construction. Just wanted to point out the mind set that has been drilled into my mind from living in California.

- Not sure if it's just a thing with Poles, my boyfriend specifically, or maybe Dubliners too, but I went to eat at Burger King one time with the bf and he said jalapenos without any Spanish pronunciation which made me laugh so much! So... do people know how to say tortilla right there?


I had more to say, but my post was wiped. ;_; And I wonder if anyone is gonna reply anyways....

scruff321

from reading your impression of ireland you didnt really get a good grsap at all of the country,sounds like you were there for a week rather then 3 months!

Melion

You didnt meet an irish person when you were in Dublin or 3 months? How is that possible?

Gaelic and English sound nothing similar and i seriously doubt you heard anyone speaking gaelic on the plane over.

Doctor DooM

Melion wrote: »

You didnt meet an irish person when you were in Dublin or 3 months? How is that possible?

Gaelic and English sound nothing similar and i seriously doubt you heard anyone speaking gaelic on the plane over.

Isn't Gaelic Scottish?

And yes OP it is brilliant that people in shops don't fake niceness.

Ponster

Welcome to Boards.ie strawberryjam !

strawberryjam

scruff321 wrote: »

from reading your impression of ireland you didnt really get a good grsap at all of the country,sounds like you were there for a week rather then 3 months!

You didnt meet an irish person when you were in Dublin or 3 months? How is that possible?

Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I sure met them when I was like buying something at a store. But other than those formalties, nope, never. I was with my Polish boyfriend most of the time. He lived in a house with other Poles.

So, a lot of what I learned from Ireland too, was from their point of view too.

Yay, for me being an sterotypical, ignorant American. I partially posted this too to be informed better since I as I said I learned much about Ireland through Poles' views and would like to hear it from a native.

armour87

C'mon, spill the beans. The Pols hate us all don't they!

And half a glass of wine!? Was that your first ever drink? And quite possibly your last lol?

Faith

Ehhh... I don't think this belongs in Abroad, but I'm at a loss as to where I'll put it. Suggestions?

Ponster

Not AH

strawberryjam

Faith wrote: »

Ehhh... I don't think this belongs in Abroad, but I'm at a loss as to where I'll put it. Suggestions?

I was wondering that too. Obscurity would be good at this point though. Elevated hostility would make me sad. I must go educate myself now.

But, hey! I go to school at Berkeley! Wiki tells me my school/city it is in was named after an Irish philosopher.

armour87 wrote: »

C'mon, spill the beans. The Pols hate us all don't they!

And half a glass of wine!? Was that your first ever drink? And quite possibly your last lol?

Humor!
Nope, the weaboo Poles I know just want fast internet and uh... shy, quite, fragile girls.

And yes, that will be the last I drink. Unless it is tasty cider. I should have known that I couldn't handle much. It's common for East Asians to be unable to handle much drinking. Many of them lack the enzyme to break it down which makes us look as red as a beaten pulp on our face. Same with milk (except we need to take a dump instead of throwing up) though this only occurs later in life. Hey, so someone teach me something now. T_T

The Sweeper

Strawberryjam, it's interesting that you had the experience you did, because I think a lot of Irish people suffer similar experiences when they go abroad themselves. We're a big nation for travelling and living abroad, but in my mind we fall into two categories.

Those that miss club and tayto...

...and those that don't.

(Club is a brand of orange soda drink, tayto are a brand of cheese and onion flavour chips - crisps - both of which are available in Ireland but hard to find anywhere else.)

Some Irish people will travel to the UK, the US and Australia and often the first thing they'll do is try to find an Irish pub. Personally, I try to avoid Irish pubs when I travel, unless I'm remote enough that I'm nearly guaranteed to find them full of people who aren't Irish. I find that if you go to a country and spend all of your time there with your own people, you learn nothing about that country. Also once you're settled in with your own lot, it can be difficult to break out of that social group, almost like moving for a second time!

Next time you come and visit him, try and do something other than just sitting around the house when you're not working (or when he's not working). There is a lot to see in Dublin and in Ireland generally. You can sit around the house in any country in the world, and all of the countries will then look exactly the same.

Kernel32

strawberryjam wrote: »

- Drinking is so popular there, yeah? I am jealous that we do not have alcoholic ciders here. And 18 is the drinking age there, yeah? I drank when I got there because I could. I had a half glass of wine and threw it all up.

I've never had a problem buying alcoholic cider in the US, in the grocery store or at a bar. Maybe it's not something that popular outside New England or something.

2Scoops

SDooM wrote: »

And yes OP it is brilliant that people in shops don't fake niceness.

I'll take insincere niceness over genuine rudeness any day of the week!

MagicMarker

Americans! Typical.

Dont be at yourself

Strawberryjam, it's interesting that you had the experience you did, because I think a lot of Irish people suffer similar experiences when they go abroad themselves. We're a big nation for travelling and living abroad, but in my mind we fall into two categories.

Those that miss club and tayto...

...and those that don't.

I think that's a bit harsh, it's not quite that black and white.

If you're living in a different country, a packet of tayto, a fish & chips in an 'Irish Pub' and so on can be a great way to touch base with home and prevent homesickness. It shouldn't be taken to extremes, and one should endevour to expose themselves to as much of the local culture as possible, but everybody needs a break sometimes - and there's no shame in indulging in your own cultural habits while living abroad.

scruff321

NekkidBibleMan wrote: »

I think that's a bit harsh, it's not quite that black and white.

If you're living in a different country, a packet of tayto, a fish & chips in an 'Irish Pub' and so on can be a great way to touch base with home and prevent homesickness. It shouldn't be taken to extremes, and one should endevour to expose themselves to as much of the local culture as possible, but everybody needs a break sometimes - and there's no shame in indulging in your own cultural habits while living abroad.

i think your spot on here,if you have the right balance between socialising with ex-pats and meeting the locals then i think its the way to do it,i think its a shame to actually go to a country for 3 months and not make 1 single local friend,having said that i often feel that irish people are less inclined to mix with foreign people socially.

BraziliaNZ

scruff321 wrote: »

having said that i often feel that irish people are less inclined to mix with foreign people socially.

I don't think that's true at all. It's just hard for guys living abroad on their own to make friends with local people, unless it's flatmates. Usually the only people you can go out with etc. are other ex-pats. In NZ 90% of my friends were ex-pats the rest were kiwis. The one Irish girl I knew when i was living in Wellington had no problem meeting the locals (of course all of them were male...), basically because she was banging them left right and centre. As I didn't have the luxury of a vagina, I hung out with people I knew from living in the UK and a guy I used to work with back in Dublin.
And how come when people come to cities like Sydney and Melbourne they think "Oh it's great it's so multicultural the way they have Little Italy, Chinatown, the Jewish Area, Russian area" etc. etc. yet turn their noses up at places where Irish congregate? I don't like Irish bars here because they always have irritating bands that are far too loud, and extremely drunk young Irish backpackers that make me feel embarassed. I do nip in sometimes though for a few pints of Guinness. But they're different everywhere, Oz is notorious for drunk backpackers so you're bound to find them here.

craichoe

I moved to Holland and have found it to be a good place.

I only go to an Irish pub for a fry .. because lets face it .. dutch food aint all that great.

Have dutch friends but expat friends too ..

The Sweeper

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

And how come when people come to cities like Sydney and Melbourne they think "Oh it's great it's so multicultural the way they have Little Italy, Chinatown, the Jewish Area, Russian area" etc. etc. yet turn their noses up at places where Irish congregate?

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I don't like Irish bars here because they always have irritating bands that are far too loud, and extremely drunk young Irish backpackers that make me feel embarassed. I do nip in sometimes though for a few pints of Guinness. But they're different everywhere, Oz is notorious for drunk backpackers so you're bound to find them here.

I think you've just answered your own question there tbh.