Life's Too Short Not to Be Irish- At least once

The time has now come for me to make one final assessment of Ireland and everything that goes hand in hand with the country: drink (and lot’s of it), the people, and the Irish way of life in general. In a nutshell, these elements have all impacted my life during my 6 month stay and it is now time to reflect upon those aspects that have helped piece together who I am today. Usually in order to do a proper field study of a culture, one has to have been immersed in said culture for at least a year. The following words may not be facts, but they are opinions that are subject to much experience, and therefore I consider them at least partially valid.

DRINK
Many a night out were had in Eire, not to mention Europe in general. I was well informed of the innate alcohol-tolerant Irish before arriving there, but was hoping it may have been another Irish legend that was exaggerated to socks as it passed from one generation to the next. I mean, to be honest, we Canadians can tie one on as much as the next Patty. Unfortunately this legend was instead a well known fact; the Irish indeed do love their drink.
Now, having had the opportunity to observe their kind under very close inspection, and even having had cohabitated with the above named, I have learnt to understand (but not completely respect) this need and want for the indulgence of alcohol.
Pubs in Ireland have always and will always be the main industry in my opinion. Even the smallest of towns have their own local which will usually have a decent amount of tractors parked out front. Can you legally drink and farm? Nonetheless, it is the way of life of the Irish and in lieu of family outings to the nearby playground; you would be likely to find a whole family (kids, babies and granny too) tucked in cozy comfy in the corner booth of their local pub. Especially when it’s lashing rain on a Saturday afternoon.

I’ll never forget my first staff night out. “Sure, I’ll go for a pint, when are we meeting 7, 8?” Now, I usually respect my tolerance and control but we Canadians aren’t all accustomed to going for a pint right after work (5:30pm) then following suit for the rest of the night. I mean, I can get decently intoxicated when I start consuming at 9 or 10pm, let alone 5:30! Needless to say, after a few too many mixed fruit Kopparberg’s (courtesy of USIT) I was well chuffed and slightly inebriated! I then learnt that where most European countries start their nightlife late in the evening, Ireland starts it when it suits best, after lunch. There’s nothing better than having drink after some good wholesome nosh! Pubs open around 11am and are seldom empty long after, then remain open until about 2am every night.

I was pleasantly surprised to find such a mixture of people in every pub here as well. For example, in Edmonton I would avoid certain bars or pubs because of the crowds they attract but you just never know here. Because so many folks go out right after work, there’s always a mixture of youngins and oldies leaving way for a most exciting night and great craic all together.

There are many cafés in Ireland but in general, Dublin isn’t known for its coffee, it’s known for its Guinness. Therefore, for a non-beer drinker like myself, I sometimes find it difficult to partake in other activities other than pub-outings. It took me a while to find another way to socialize with friends in the evening, but in the end, if you look hard enough you can find your own outlets. I recently read an article about sobriety in Ireland and the challenges it faces knowing that drinking in Ireland is a way of life and the social aspect of going for a pint is superlative to all other forms of social contact. There were a good few times that our table in the pub would consist of four Guinness’ and an orange juice…spot the Canadian?! My overall take is that, although I’ve gotten to like my life here in Ireland, the way of life and the people here don’t always coincide with my own values and beliefs and therefore they couldn’t keep me here for too long. To be honest, they’re almost too social for me! Although this is somewhat of a generalization, the Irish in general are not always fit for this lifestyle as well…which brings me to the subject in question…those crazy Irishmen.

PEOPLE

FRIENDSHIPS
It’s a little ironic that after venturing halfway around the world, I settled in by surrounding myself with Canadians. I guess in times of uncertainty, it’s nice to have the familiar close by. I met a lot of really great people here, a lot of which are Mark’s friends from Waterford, and now hopefully my friends as well. In general, I would have to say it was a little hard to make friends here, especially female ones. To me, the average Irish female seemed to wear a hard shell making it difficult to try and get in, unless you have a few beverages to soften the lining first.

My women’s football team consisted of a wide variety of personalities, and thinking that we already had a common interest of liking football, I thought I would have no trouble fitting in. The team was welcoming, but nowhere near as welcome as I was expecting and the only one who seemed to make an effort to include me was an American girl who was formerly the one in my place; the new girl. As the season went on I got to know more of the Irish girls and they were genuinely nice but just a little hard to read at times. My own evaluation of the Irish female is someone who, for the most part, is careful of their appearance, dressed to the nines on nights out, quite timid and self-conscious in general (maybe Canadians are just too forward and obnoxious), and obsessed with celebrity gossip magazines. Remember now, these are all my own personal assertions and stereotypes, don’t take offence. What I have noticed as well is that most Irish women are dating someone… in fact; it is very hard to find a single lady in Dublin. Even the not-so-attractive ones usually have boyfriends which is very unfair to the abundant single Irish lads. Hint hint for those single Canadians ;)

I feel kind of lame in saying that I haven’t really made any good Irish “girlfriends” (apart from Mark’s former friends and his family of course) that I would keep in contact with. Perhaps if I had made more of an effort to fit and conform into the mini groups of estrogen, I would be writing differently but for me, friendships usually form quite naturally and they didn’t quite succeed here. Apart from my Canadian girls of course who will go down in history. I don’t think I would have gotten through some of the tough times if I didn’t have Gillian to make me dinner and chill out with, or Marlon to motivate me to run along Phoenix Park until power songs like “Eye of the Tiger” were engrained in my head and my legs were turned to jelly.

All in all, I think friendships are valued here in Ireland as much as the next country, and once you are authorized to complain about the good and bad of Ireland, it is easy to make friends that share those common interests. However, for a very outgoing person like me, they were hard to initiate. Perhaps this means that when they are formed they are very meaningful and not just fake or temporary.

COMMUNITIES
Irish communities can be studied best in the country towns. It is here where you can definitely witness the closeness of its members. I’m not a huge fan of religion as some of you may already know, but I can make a safe guestimation that the strong Catholic hold is what makes a lot of these communities so tightly knit. For example, going to church every week not only secures the minds of the traditional Irish Catholics, but also allows for gossip about the who’s-who and what’s-what events of that week. There were many evenings that I sat silently at the Foley’s dinner table while the family discussed who’s getting married to whom and who bought what new piece of farm machinery and what road is going up where. It was comforting to see that these little gossip-fests don’t only occur at my grandma’s house in Fort Saskatchewan, but are apparent everywhere and are sometimes quite exciting (had I known all the neighbors, I might have thought the news was thrilling). What made me think though was how these families have lived a good few acres away from their neighbors their whole lives but are still very close to them. I still haven’t met the gentleman who shares his duplex with my mom and we have the same driveway!

What I love about Ireland is that its history is still very much alive today and though the values of the average Irish citizen have changed significantly, you will still find little samples of the traditional way of life here and there. For example, instead of playing car games involving traffic lights, railroad tracks and punch-buggies like at home, they play “tractor” …which entails spotting tractors in the country fields. But watch out for those devious diggers! There was many times where I was brought back to those days trekking the country roads of Busbie (where my Grandma A used to live) while being in Ireland, and for those memories I am grateful. Sometimes I wonder if I was meant to live in a smaller country town but when it comes down to it, I figure the world is moving to fast and I like to be in the know.

In general, the Irish people are amazing! Always welcoming, never take no as an answer (I’ve learnt this the hard way), and always up for some good craic. It may have taken me the whole six months to realize all this, but I am very pleased in the fact that there is still so much good in this rapidly progressing world. I guess sometimes you forget to look for it and I think traveling helps to remind you of what kind of people are out there.


THE IRISH WAY OF LIFE
My first month in Ireland was extremely frustrating. Compared to Canada, Ireland seemed to be extremely slow and lethargic when dealing with administrative stuff, or anything somewhat important to be honest. The Irish police (Garda) were “useless” as Mark would say, and would often walk around in clumps chattin’ about the weather while a wino was picking a fight with someone just down the street. To make this statement more believable, the Garda Headquarters, which is very close to where we were living, got broken into and they never found out who did it! Egits some might say! Also, when Mark was applying for his Canadian visa, he had to get fingerprints done and the Garda ended up taking prints of his palms…not fingers?

Anyway, perhaps I’m being a little too harsh. The point of the above stories is to illustrate how life in Ireland differs from life in Canada. Living and working in Ireland made me realize how amazing the service industry in Canada really is, and contrarily, how difficult we are as Canadian customers. Having had worked processing visas for Irish students, I became a little lax myself. How could you not when these Irish students would go to their interviews with the US embassy drunk? And when something went wrong with their visa, they would simply say, “Ah well, I’ll be grand.” It took me a little while to learn how to take my job any other way but seriously, as I’m not really used to that mentality. But in the end, I guess it taught me to be more relaxed and to deal with people easier instead of taking potentially bad service personally. I mean, we’re all only human right? And I have my geezer years to be crabby and complain.

My last months in Ireland were the most enjoyable. I felt comfortable and at ease, and I felt as though everyone in the city was connected to me and each other in some way or another. I loved when tourists stopped me on the street and asked for directions, and I would know what to tell them! Or when I would recognize the staff from our local kebab joint and they would recognize me (maybe that’s not something to be proud of?)

The troubles between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have only recently ended (1960-1990), as well as the potato famine (1845-1849). For a country that not long ago had so little, Ireland is now one of the most expensive countries in Europe to live in and because of that, the people have changed. In general, wealth and material goods are now a priority (as with most wealthy countries) and this is very apparent in the big cities, such as Dublin. The really small country towns however remain mostly untouched; abundant with private cafés and boutiques. How good it is to know that not every settled land in the modern world is becoming globalized, at least not yet. Regardless, the Irish are still one of the nicest cultures I have ever met during my travels (along with Australian and Welsh), and the scenery truly is something else completely. Like most countries, I would recommend visiting sooner than later, before globalization and tourism take over completely and the culture itself is buried underneath the aftermath.

Statement (not said like Dwight):
"I'm not afraid
Of anything in this world
There's nothing you can throw at me
That I haven't already heard"
- U2

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