completedit wrote: » Americans are so strange and foreign to me unless they are from California or Deep South or something. I just like the Californians I’ve met mindset. People from the Midwest are the worst, zero divilment, zero charm.
Anteayer wrote: » It's actually true though the coldest and dampest places I've ever lived have been in Ireland and the UK. The quality of many houses and residental apartments is very low - some of the very recent build has caught up but you've a lot of houses here where the temperature plummets within 10 mins or turning off the heating and things like on demand hot water and central heating were considered ridiculous luxuries by a lot of those from a couple of generations ago while they've been standard in many parts of the continent for probably 100 years. I think part of it is while Ireland and British weather can be miserable it's not generally cold enough to cause hypothermia so we never bothered with proper insulation.
Maurice Yeltsin wrote: » I'd wager at least a good third of Germans would qualify for the Irish definition of an oddball. And tight as a nun's baby cannon. Well, sort of. They are tight in terms of things like eating out, drinking (I've seen Germans nurse a single free beer in my backpacking days). Yet if you look at any room share pages on FB they think there is noting peculiar about paying upwards of 800 quid for a room in Dublin, even a shared room.
is_that_so wrote: » Great tyres!
completedit wrote: » Living away surrounded by foreigners, just find their ways so odd. I was sitting around a dinner table and they were having a really earnest conversation about yield curves. I'm probably just an idiot but just find their ways so odd. No wonder Irish people move to other English speaking countries and even then we stick together. Anyone think Irish people in general are just more jovial and better craic than foreigners or is it just what we are used to? Nothing like living away to make you appreciate home �� *Don't want to come across as bad, just my own experiences living away. You'll never beat the Irish.
sbsquarepants wrote: » Probably going to sound a bit racist - but the more time I spend around our European brethren, the more I realise we are not at all like them! But it's all good, variety is the spice of life and all that.
ArchXStanton wrote: » I'm the same, anytime I visit these places I feel like one of the wildlings from North of the wall... I don't buy into this European identity propaganda the EU regime is pushing either
Anteayer wrote: » Sounds more like the problem is with your perception of how you think others are thinking about you, rather than how they’re really perceiving you. My experience of continental Europe has been they they don’t generally have any of the “paddy whackery” stereotypes (that originate in Britain or the US) about Ireland. In France for example there’s a tendency to have a view of Ireland that’s tinged with more arts / cultural view and a notion and in Germany it’s all a view of Ireland that’s based around green, friendly, some awareness of Irish music and even increasingly food products and so on. In Spain the seem to generally see us as more like them as than the Brits are and I got on like a house on fire with most Spanish people I met. Same in the Benelux - always felt very welcome. There also isn’t generally any notion that Catholics are somehow going to comply with some English stereotype of them either as there are plenty of secular Catholics on the continent and it’s very much in the background much like here - I always found in British culture there’s a tinge of sectarianism due to how they perceive their origins and there’s more than a slight tinge or anti-Irish stereotyping. I don’t know how many times I’ve had the odd “joke” that’s crossed the line or someone who’s given me a weird lecture about my catholic guilt (which is even weirder as I’m not catholic - not religious at all). Or someone trying to get me to mispronounce “th” I also found the French tend to be very much more on the side of Irish notions of republican values and so on and often know more about the troubles and so on than you’d think. I also got on grand in Scandinavia and Finland. Europe’s massively varied but I still think there’s more in common than there are differences. If you get talking to most people on the continent you’ll find the big thing is the social and political attitudes are a hell of a lot more familiar than American equivalents - things like attitudes to guns, religion, expectations of public services like health and education and so on. It’s very easy to see the US as more familiar because we watch American TV shows and speak English. There were far more things in the US that left me shocked at the differences in how they think about things than there were on the continent. All that said, I think we’ve a hell of a lot in common with places like Canada and Australia and NZ but they also share a hell of a lot in common in values with the EU and continental European values when you look at it too.
juanjo wrote: » Spaniard here. Yielding curves is one of our go-to subjects in big gatherings, can confirm.
mikemac2 wrote: » The continentals I’ve house shared with must have free oil/gas and electricity where they come from Heating and immersion on full blast hours each day :eek:
ToddyDoody wrote: » Supposedly the Finish will sit silently, and perfectly motionless, at a house party.
Seanachai wrote: » My brother remembers Germans sneaking in their mates to a weekly barbecue that used to be held in a hostel in Oz. They'd clean the place out, they fancies a bit of his mates ham from the fridge, even though it was labelled with a name tag. Said German was caught in the act and marched to the shop to buy new ham.
Maurice Yeltsin wrote: » I knew of Germans eating in soup kitchens. Not because they were flat broke and desperate, simply to save money. Miserable bastards.
Feisar wrote: » I've only one negative continental story. Two Italians moved into a house share I was in. They announced they would be paying a half share on the electricity as they didn't have laptops. I was only in the house during the week, used to drive up Monday morning to work and drive him on Friday evening so was only in the house from Mon evening to Fri morning. Didn't use the dryer/washing machine. That fairly softened their cough. Feckin' tight holes.
The Rape of Lucretia wrote: » I know its unfair to tar them all with the same brush, and in fact, you do come across some who speak English quite well indeed, but there are still an awful lot of them who speak little or no English at all, which makes dealing with them, outside the major cities and tourist areas, nigh on impossible.
Anteayer wrote: » Some English speaking countries feel a lot more foreign to me. I know the US call lull you into a false sense of security. You think you understand the culture then you're suddenly up against something like accidentally mentioning that you aren't all that into God and are an atheist while you're a bit drunk at dinner and the whole room goes silent. (Happened to me a few years ago) Or you overhear : he's had two glasses of wine! The Irish are all like that. Gimme a night out with a bunch of Germans or dinner in France any day. Even the annoying tip chasing waiters and the in your face customer service that makes you feel like they think you're shop lifting gets weird. Not to mention fake smiles and how may I help you type attitudes. Then the fact they openly discuss salaries and seem to take no time off ever.
completedit wrote: » I was sitting around a dinner table and they were having a really earnest conversation about yield curves.
Maurice Yeltsin wrote: » And tight as a nun's baby cannon. .
ChikiChiki wrote: » The more I travelled the more I realise us Irish have a wildness about us. Certainly always up for a good time and provide plenty of laughter. Of course yu will get some utter gob****es in the mix but its all good natured fun generally. I would have us very similar to the Spanish and South Americans in our outlook on life than the rest of the continental Europeans.
lainey_d_123 wrote: » I agree. The Spanish especially feel very close to Ireland, and a lot of them choose it over the UK for learning English because they feel like the culture is a lot more similar. I'd have to agree. Things like family, social life, are a lot more similar to Spain than England. I found the English very odd and cold in some ways when I lived in London. A cold formality that seems to extend even to friendships and family relationships.
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