Upon first arriving in the Dublin airport, I had no concrete expectations for the city or Ireland. Sure, I had some pre-conceived notions about what Ireland was—accents, Guinness, shamrocks, green countryside, sheep and pubs. But all of these were just things I had heard about or seen on television, so I had my doubts about what Ireland would actually be like. However, the cab ride from the airport to our accommodations did not disappoint. Our driver had a thick Irish accent, we drove on the left side of the road, and all of the cars and street markings were different.
Once we had arrived at our apartments things started to feel the same. There were some differences, but they were not that major. The plugs were different, there were switches on the plugs, and the hot water for the shower had a timer. These were the only differences. We were still in a city, in cheap apartments, there were couches and tables and televisions. Giant signs for Guinness, people in wool sweaters and leprechauns were nowhere to be found.
This is how most of my introduction to the city went. Everywhere I went there were slight differences that you would miss if you weren’t looking close enough. Like any other cities there were commercial areas, malls, parks, low class neighborhoods, high class neighborhoods, fast food places and over priced restaurants. While I’m sure it would have been a shock to someone coming from a rural part of the USA, I have lived in cities all of my life and none of this was new to me. The entire trip, the money I had spent on it, the summer of almost certain unemployment, the people I left at home, and all of the excitement didn’t seem worth it. Maybe I had made a huge mistake. This was until I slowed down, stopped, looked around, sat in a bar with a pint and really began to take in the people and customs of Ireland.
The Irish people are some of the best people I have ever had the opportunity to meet. I am truly lucky I’ve had the opportunity to experience their culture. While yes, they may look like every other European or American to a certain extent, their culture and attitude is completely different. No other culture I have ever experienced has had such a high context culture with such a down to earth approach to life. Even after five weeks of living here I still cannot wrap my head around some of their customs.
Every single time I go out to eat I have no idea what to do. Do I go up and get menus? Do I seat myself? Should I wait for someone to come to my table? Do I need to go up to order my food? What about water? Do I have to ask for it or are they going to bring it for the table? While this part of their implicit culture can be nerve wracking at times for a foreigner I do enjoy it to an extent. You are responsible for yourself in Ireland, as silly or obvious as that sounds. No one is going to hold your hand through the experience. And if you’re going to be reckless or do something stupid, that is your own fault and you can’t blame anyone else.
Fences, guardrails, disclaimers and warning signs are a joke in Ireland. If you want to go right up to the edge of a cliff or river, you can. But if you fall in, you have no one to blame but yourself. You should know your limits and know how to take care of yourself. You can’t rely on other people to keep you in check, let alone blame them for your shortcomings. This is probably the best thing about Ireland and the Irish people. In the USA there are signs telling people what to do, warning signs and guides everywhere, and people sue each other over the smallest things. All of these things have always bothered me back in the states. No one takes responsibility for himself or herself. If you fall while on the sidewalk, it’s because it was cracked, not because you are clumsy. Or if you get a bad grade it’s the teacher’s fault, not yours because you didn’t put in the necessary work. Even if you burn yourself because you couldn’t wait to drink your coffee, it’s the restaurants fault for not warning you. NONE of these things would happen in Ireland. They simply wouldn’t even entertain the idea. It goes directly against their culture and values.
The people and attitude of Ireland is what truly makes Ireland Irish. This is only further amplified when you go out into the country. Out away from the city is where you find all of the stereotypical Irish things like sheep, cliffs, castles, rocks, and more. This is great and I had an amazing time exploring it. I loved that people embraced this Irish attitude even more the further you got from the city. Everything Irish was amplified by ten in the country. There were ten times as many sheep, ten times as many green things, ten times as many castles, and you were ten times more responsible for yourself.
-Amos Hanna
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