An American In Dublin

Greysoul

Hi there. I see that this board has much for people coming from Ireland to the US, so I hope this is the right place to ask about the other way around... I'm an American who will be coming to Dublin in January (I'm a photographer, and have been invited to show my work in several galleries there) to stay for a minimum of six months, probably much more.

So basically... what would you recommend for an American coming to Ireland to know about it? I've never traveled abroad before, and since I'll be spending as much time there as I can, anything I should know to be aware of beforehand - any points of custom and culture I should be especially aware of, anything I should be absolutely certain to do or not to do - would be deeply appreciated!

Thanks so much.

wes

Honestly can't think of anything off the top of my head. You should be grand. I don't think you will end of offending anyone.

qz

I'd like to say steer clear of certain areas if possible, but then I may offend some users.

optiplexgx270

One thing if you are pro Bush well may I suggest you don’t point that out. As for culture, the Irish language is by the most part dead (most of us never use it after school) so don’t go around trying to speak it to people. One thing people hate is Americans doing the whole "Top of the morning to ya.", leprechauns, wow you have electricity here etc. crap like the country got stuck in time back in the 1800s.


When you get to Dublin (I assume you are coming into Dublin Airport) you will want to get the Aircoach (Blue Coach) that heads into the city center or the 746 Dublin bus, may i recommend the Aircoach.

Transport:
www.aircoach.ie (you can even watch the coachs live GPS positions on the site)
www.dublinbus.ie
www.luas.ie
www.dart.ie

What do you like doing, your personality etc. can give us an idea as to where you may like to go etc. I assume you will be renting a place for the stay correct?

DublinWriter

1. Make sure you get the proper visa to work here
2. Ireland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe - to give you an idea, a can of coke costs 1.22 in your money in the average shop here, so make sure you've enough money to get by on
3. Don't tip barmen!

optiplexgx270

Good point you dont need to tip ANYONE really.

Greysoul

Heh, I'm about as anti-Bush and liberal as you can get. (If anything, I worried *that* would be a problem...) I have someone picking me up at the airport that I'll be staying with.

Personality-wise, uhm... I'm 31, I love photography (obviously) so I'll definitely be looking for places of particular visual interest. (Not just the countryside, I'm not a "pretty landscape" photographer at heart anyway - I want to see the real, non-touristy beauty of Ireland.) Not much of a club or social event type of guy.

I promise to avoid hashing up stereotypes... being from Texas, I've had to do my share of convincing people that we're not all cowboy-hat-wearing, "y'all"-speaking, Bush-supporting folks here.

DublinWriter

Greysoul wrote:

Personality-wise, uhm... I'm 31, I love photography (obviously) so I'll definitely be looking for places of particular visual interest.

You're probably wasting your time in Dublin then. Kerry and the south West are visually a lot nicer.

If it's a city you want to live in, check out Cork. Bags of character and close enough to Kerry. Would be a lot cheaper to live in Cork city than Dublin.

Dublin has become like any other bland European capital - same shops, same malls, mainly a dull surburban mix of apartments and houses once you wander away from the coastline.

Civilian_Target

Greysoul wrote:

Not much of a club or social event type of guy.

6 months in Ireland should be sufficient to fix that

DublinWriter

Civilian_Target wrote:

6 months in Ireland should be sufficient to fix that

You think so? I find as a people that we're very 'cliquey' and rarely venture out of our tight social circles.

Sure we're very friendly to strangers, but I think it's a very superficial friendliness.

jm2k

travelling really broadens the mind, and i'd whole heartedly recommend it to anyone. dublin is expensive, but then so are most european cities (the reason u hear irish people complain about it so much is that it has got so expensive so quickly). accomodation is definitely something you need to look at, take a look at daft for starters.

i'm sure you'll find the weather an adjustment, but if you're not too bothered about having a sun tan, you'll be fine. (we had family over from texas last year and they enjoyed a break from the heat!) take note of what others have said here, get out of dublin a bit while you're here. i'm fond of the west coast, can be brutally beautiful sometimes with the atlantic beating against its coast.

finally, take a look at the government's oasis website, its packed with useful & practical info relevant for you.

good luck with the move!

Cindy Love

I dont have time to right a long email but having lived in the states i would say that Ireland and in particular Dublin has an incredibly bad transport system-so you should really plan any/all journeys to allow for this.

Temple bar is 'renowned' in all the tourist guides as being the heart of Dublin-for this reason its full of tourists and avoided by many Irish. Do yourself a favour and give it a go but there are much better pubs/clubs if you stray even slightly of the beaten track-afterall most irish people could write a thesis extolling the virtues of their favourite haunt-all you have to do is ask...we're fond of our booze.

Irish people are chatty and friendly-you'll be fine-if your lost or find yourself wandering into a dodgy area just ask someone. Most decent people will have no problem helping you out.

enjoy

FranknFurter

Greysoul wrote:

I promise to avoid hashing up stereotypes...

And I, (raises right hand* his bf, promise to make double sure he never wears luminous green shirts and avoids anything with a shamrock printed on it! lolol

Greysoul

FranknFurter wrote:

And I, (raises right hand* his bf, promise to make double sure he never wears luminous green shirts and avoids anything with a shamrock printed on it! lolol

Damn, and here I JUST bought the *cutest* little shirt with this drunken leprechaun sitting on a pot of gold saying "Kiss Me, I'm Irish"...

Thanks so much for the advice everyone, much appreciated!

BEAT

well I moved to Dublin a few years ago form the states and i had no problem at all adjusting once I knew how to get around. The bus system is great...i saw someone above say something bad about it. pffft
There is a bus to take you everywhere you want to go and once you know where teh stops are you'll have no problem getting around, get yourself a city map and bus routes map when you get there.

Do get out of dublin when you can, I took buses all over, to galway, limerick etc... its really not that bad and its a cheap way of transport.

Just remember if you bring anything over that needs plugging in youll need a converter for the different recepticals.
The coversion rates are killer, you will be gettting a lot less back in Euro than you hand over in dollars, prepare yourself.

All in all I think you will have fun, you can meet a lot of nice people around and even here on boards...try and get to a boards beer if you can (view the events forum) good luck!

mike65

One thing to get used to is things not working as well as they should, I don't mean the buses - I mean anything!

Amercians are apparently used to high levels of service and low levels of pricing - here its the other way round. Rents are expensive and the size of the place will be small I expect, eating out is not cheap so get used to home cooking out of tins! Utilities are expensive - light, heat etc...something to bear in mind as you are arriving in the bleak mid winter. Oh yes bring a good top coat for the rain/cold.

anything I should know to be aware of beforehand - any points of custom and culture I should be especially aware of

Never, even when its clearly true, say (as you get annoyed with something/someone not working properly) "well, back in the States we'd do it better - like this..."!

As for photography - Dublin has loads of visual interest actually, its just a question of having an eye for it. Which you will have naturaly.

Mike.

FranknFurter

Greysoul wrote:

Damn, and here I JUST bought the *cutest* little shirt with this drunken leprechaun sitting on a pot of gold saying "Kiss Me, I'm Irish"...

Only in the house dear, only in the house

lazydaisy

And be prepared to hear a lot of unsolicited opinions about America, Americans, Yanks, how everything is America's fault and how the St. Patrick's Day Parade in NYC is nothing but a fundraiser for the IRA. We're stupid, naive, gullible, idiots. I lived there for over five years and it was around before the war in Iraq and before Bush, so don't be fooled.

Also - when asking for directions don't necessarily believe what you are told. They like to send tourists in the wrong direction. They think it's funny. The transport system in the west isnt great. Bus timetables in Dublin are fictional. Very important - drinking is on a rounds system. You'll be landing in January, a very insular time as it is raining alot and daylight is brief.

The bathrooms - you will see FIR on the mens rooms and MNA on the ladies.

It's expensive too so bring money.

iguana

TurquoiseDream wrote:

The bus system is great...i saw someone above say something bad about it. pffft

Sure it's great, if you are comparing it to the bus system in the worst parts of Latin America. Don't expect the buses to run on time. Dublin has a lot of traffic problems and unless you are getting a bus that runs 95% in bus lanes the buses can get badly delayed.

However should you want to travel anywhere between midnight and 7am, you can pretty much write off public transport. There are what is called a nightbus. These only allow you to get on the bus at one stop in the city centre, after that it's drop-off's only. They cost about 4 times the price of a regular bus and they are notorius for refusing to finish a journey if there are only one or two people on the bus.

The last time I was in Dublin I ended up walking around 3 miles to get a cab on a Saturday night as the demand far outstrips the supply. And ordering a cab is next to impossible late at night at the weekend.

---

Ime, the dating culture is not the same as it is in the US. People don't really go on casual dates. If you meet someone and you arrange to go out together several times, this generaly signals the start of a relationship.

I'm not sure if you are male/female, straight/gay, or maybe you are in relationship and aren't looking. However if you are female and in a relationship you should still be ready for the drunken advances of some men. Men for the most part can be very forward, but for the most part they are crap at chatting up women in a social situation. They can also get very bitter at the rejection and turn around and insult the woman who they were just trying to get together with.

If you are a guy (and single), you could find yourself being quite popular with women. Being the new guy, with the accent will certainly attract some women to you. I have been told that casual sex and one-night stands are more common in Ireland than in the US. But that could be complete bs.

Victor

Balance the cost of accommodation -v- transport. It's no use scrimping on rent only to pay a fortune on travel.

FranknFurter

*giggle* I dont think girls will be a problem

Greysoul is my bf and we will be living together so accomodation cost are pretty minimal.
We do intend to travel a lot tho'.

As ull see on his site (url is in my sig), his photo style is pretty varied so its more "interesting" rather than traditionally scenic, so if anyone knows of anywhere off the beaten track we'd love to hear (specilally if its wheelchair accessible lol )

b