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Published: September 9th 2008
Confused? True, my blog has experienced drought-like conditions these past six months. Testament perhaps to the nature of my crazy adventures and just how much fun I've been having! And no, unfortunately I'm not still in some exotic and hot Central American location. Actually, I've just moved to Dublin, Ireland - where I'm busy applying for jobs and 'back-blogging'!
Ireland? "Why would anyone want to live in Ireland, instead of Australia?"
"All it does here is rain"
"This is the worst Summer we've had in twenty years"
"Dublin's just not the same as it was ten years ago"
"It's so expensive here"
"There's no jobs at the moment love"
"What's happening on Neighbours?!"
Everyone, particularly the locals, are questioning my decision to come to Ireland - I suspect based on the carefree image of Australia portrayed in 'Home and Away'. ie. sunshine, surf and a cushy job in the caravan park! The thing is, I always knew I wanted to work in Europe - so several months ago I had a decision to make - take a working holiday visa for the UK or Ireland. Countries with much the same climate, cost of living, proximity to the rest of
Europe. Don't get me wrong, I love the UK, but Ireland had a few winning qualities ... the visa process is easier, Dublin lots smaller than London, less Australians come here and I have less friends here than London - so I saw it as more of a challenge. Something to help with the reverse culture shock. Then, just when I'd decided on Ireland, I ended up travelling through much of Central America and some of South America with a great gang of Irish from Cork who are now as good as family.
So yes, basically - I've chosen Dublin over Melbourne (
the second most liveable city in the world) and so far it's grand!
The plan. Whilst in London in late July, I applied for an Irish working holiday visa which allows me to work here for one year. So when that came through, I farewelled my old and new friends in the UK and caught the bus from London to Dublin for a measly £13. Great deal and the bonus is you can take as much luggage as you want at no additional charge (take that Ryan Air!). The ferry crossing was great too - I saw the shoreline of the Emerald
Isle at sunrise from the boat (featuring non-stop Olympics coverage ... BMX and ping pong that night) - a nice way to arrive in Dublin.
Lucky for me, Noreen, a travel friend from Dublin has let me stay at her house which is about 20 minutes by bus from town. So, for the first time in a year, I've unpacked the backpack and have a room to myself. At first I struggled with little things - like flushing loo paper (I kept looking around for the bin), not greeting people in Spanish and even sleeping in a room on my own ... in a double, not a bunk bed!! But very quickly I'm adapting to the little luxuries of having my own place to stay, cook and wash clothes - but I'm still using the kathmandu chamois towel (for old times sake!).
With my work visa ready to go, Garda ID Card and the PPS - the equivalent of a social security number I'm now hot on the job hunt - applying for marketing contract positions - mostly maternity leave coverage. Lots of the European HQs are based in Ireland (like Google and Microsoft) and I have already
had a few interviews, so fingers crossed something good comes up soon. One recruiter I spoke to asked whether I'd considered marrying an Irishman - to get around some of the visa restrictions ... which I thought was a bit rash, especially in light of the he-fringe situation (see below)!
Observations. There's a scary looking hairstyle that's popular here for Irish men, involving a type of short slicked-down-he-fringe stuck to the forehead. It's almost like the front half of a mullet. Not a fan!
They do like their beer. Apparently Ireland has the second highest consumption of beer per capita - at 131 litres per year! Or my favourite statistic - that Dubliners drink a total of 9800 pints AN HOUR between the hours of 5.30pm on a Friday and 3am the following Monday. That brings me to Guinness' alcohol content - the stuff here is around 4%!a(MISSING)lcohol content versus 6%!p(MISSING)lus back home. However, it's so highly regarded as a source of Iron, that if you give blood here, the blood bank gives you a free pint!
I particularly love the sayings here and the nicknames for some of their most famous landmarks and
statues like 'the tart with the cart' (Molly Mallone statue Grafton Street), 'Hags with the bags' (statue by Ha'penny Bridge) and 'Dick with a stick' (James Joyce's statue). The meeting place in town is by the spire - or the tall spike monument that nobody likes on O'Connell Street. The place names and people names are also sometimes a little tricky to pronounce. 'Dun Laoghaire' is pronounced 'dun leary', 'Aoife' is pronounced 'ee-fa' and 'Seamus' is of course 'shame-us'.
People are genuinely friendly and helpful. Like the local butcher who starts singing 'tie me kangaroo down sport' every time I walk in. People at bus stops love a chat (my bus stop is right near the children's hospital - so everyone seems to assume I'm a nurse), as do local barman. The mailman actually whistles and rides a bicycle (none of this motorcycle malarkey like at home) and if you have a particularly big envelope, won't just leave it down at the post office to collect, but will knock on the door - hand you your parcel and have a chat. Yes, it's true I know this because I'm unemployed!
Tradition is big here. The
Rose of Tralee was on
a couple of weeks ago and got prime time television coverage. A beauty pageant for a group of twenty-something girls of Irish descent (meaning half of them were Australian and American) put on some fair-to-average singing/dancing-style talent quest performances. 'Fair play to them' - as they'd say here! Even more amusing, the former Prime Minister or Taoiseach (thanks for the correction Barry!) - the controversial, wellie wearing, pint swilling, larrikin Bertie Ahern - hosted 'the Road to Croke Park' - a gaelic footy show - because the regular correspondent is away at the Olympics. AND did a good job - can't imagine 'Kevin 07' stepping up to host the Footy Show back in Oz!
The Irish had pretty low expectations of their Olympic hopefuls, which is probably a good thing. Their big hope for the gold, Denis Lynch, was disqualified or rather his horse was disqualified because it was treated with an ointment made from chili peppers!
There's a big Polish and Eastern European population in Dublin. Apparently there's now more Polish speakers, than Gaelic speakers in Ireland.
The weather. Everyone talks about it. All the time. Mostly the weather forecaster just stands in front of a
screen displaying a ferocious, grey cloud mass. I expect Ireland is under there somewhere.
Travellers or 'knackers' get a very bad rap around Ireland. From what I can tell, they're best known for stealing stuff, wearing scummy tracksuits and general scum-bag behaviour. One of the most well known knacker surnames is Ward. My Great Grandmother was a Ward ... interesting!
What is craic? (for Jessie)
Pronounced 'crack' - but doesn't refer to plumbers or narcs - it's all about having a good time, a bit of laugh! Key ingredients include alcohol, good friends and loads of fun.
The craic so far. I’ve been in Ireland for just two and a half weeks, but already the craic has been, as they say here ‘mighty’.
My first weekend here I went to the GAA (Gaelic football) to see Cork and Kerry draw in the semi-final at Croke Park - Dublin’s MCG. It was also a good chance to hit Temple Bar (the most touristed bar district of Dublin) with my travelling mate Rich and his mates, up from Kerry for the game. This weekend just gone, I accidentally ended up at the All Ireland Hurling Final
- basically Noreen and I were off to watch the game at a pub near Croke Park and ended up getting offered a couple of tickets just 15 minutes before the game for significantly less than RRP! The atmosphere was sensational - Kilkenny versus Waterford, Kilkenny absolutely slaughtered Waterford making it ‘tree in a row’! Post-game the bars in the Croke Park vicinity were overflowing with revellers - lots of cheering, plastic pints, face-paint, flag waving and general drunken antics going on at ‘the Tree’ - the after-game haunt. You’ll never meet a friendlier, more inclusive and good humoured crowd - even the losers were in good form!
The most interesting thing about both GAA and hurling is that neither are professional sports - so unlike AFL footballers, these guys rely on their full time jobs, play for the county they grew up in and don’t get a cent for training and playing. It’s also interesting to see the aspects of the game Aussie Rules has retained - like the goal umpires in white. There’s significant controversy over here about Ricky Nixon (Aussie Rules talent scouter) sniffing around, luring young GAA talent to make the move to professional Aussie
Family & Friends visit Dublin
Cousin Ged, Vinka, Kippa, Pat & IRules. I notice Essendon have brought two of these lads over to Melbourne.
My second weekend in Dublin I packed my wellies for
Electric Picnic - a four day, camping, music festival extravaganza with the Cork Gang at Strathbally House, south of Dublin. Highlights were the silent disco (everyone has a set of headphones with two different channels and two DJs compete on the two channels - so everyone is dancing and singing along to different beats), Santogold, Pie Minister (best gourmet meat pies), mojitos at the Bacardi Bar, poshing it up in the VIP area (yep, I had a special guest pass - thanks Sarah) and brilliant company. The lowlights were the disgusting drop loos in the camping ground, the stench from the drop loos and losing my phone in the drop loos. Disaster! Really enjoyed that shower when I got home too - the first in four days!
Back in Dublin, family friends the Heagartys were in town, as was cousin Ged and his mate Kippa. We all met up for a bite to eat, a Guinness and stories from home and abroad at the Bank in College Green. A good evening, followed by a couple of pints with the boys at Kehoe’s and a bit of site-seeing around Dublin the following day. Saturday night it was back to Kehoe’s with Noreen and her two sisters Eileen and Rose for a few quiet pints - up the road at Bruxelles for one last drink before we caught the bus home, we bumped into Noreen’s long-lost second cousins Conor and Edmund. Conor bought us a bottle of Moet and suddenly our quiet drinks turned a little rowdy.
What's coming up? Well hopefully a job, but aside from that I'm heading over to the Costa Blanca in Spain for a long weekend to celebrate my friend Sarah's birthday. Looking forward to the sunshine, practicing my Spanish and a night or two out on the town. Then Mum, Dad and my sisters Katie and Sarah are coming over to Ireland for Christmas which is very exciting news!
Oh yeah and I'd like to be involved in a lock in, spontaneous Irish sing-a-long or both!
The blog. So for now, it's back to the blog - from Nicaragua, to Columbia; Galapagos to Argentina; Madrid to London ... it's got a long way to go!!
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Ruth from Wales
Ruth John
Grand
Hi there, great blog. I have just returned to the UK after a year in South and Central America. And I completely agree about getting used to the lack of a bin for the toilet paper!! Hope you get your job sorted soon. And keep up the blogging. Ruth.