The Irish are a little bit crazy (pun intended)

Monday, November 16, 2020

Hello, everyone.

I'm back with a new blog post! It's been a few weeks since my last update. We're still in a national lockdown here in Ireland, so Marco and I can't do much at the moment (except for our daily walks in Doorly Park), but this post will not be short on content, I promise.

At the beginning of this post, there will be a little update on what has been happening in the past few weeks.

At the end of October, it was autumn break here in Ireland, but Marco and I were still bound to the boarding house and Sligo. Traveling is not possible at the moment. Instead, we used the week and the free time to try out the take away in town, go for walks or runs, and just relax. It's a bit eerie when there's almost no one in the boarding house (except Carla and me), but it's a pleasant change to not hear kids and be able to do whatever we want.

The weather is really nice and autumn-like at the moment. The leaves are all yellow or orange, the last rays of sunshine provide only brightness and no warmth, and you can occasionally see a rainbow. Ireland is known for that too. For the rainbows, the pot of gold at the end, and the leprechauns guarding that gold. Unfortunately, I haven't seen one of those red-haired leprechauns yet, but I still have a few months ahead of me.

Doorly Park is a suitable destination for a walk in this beautiful autumn weather. Unfortunately, the paths get a bit flooded after heavy rain, but my Dr. Martens are perfect for this condition. It's almost laughable that Marco and I go to Doorly Park almost every day and take our rounds there. Sometimes even multiple times a day. But what else can we do? It's simply the best option within the 5-kilometer radius. In the middle of the park, there is a bridge where you can sit and watch the people feed toast to the ducks, seagulls, and swans. If you ask me, it's one of the worst hobbies, and I'm just waiting for the day when a swan mistakes a child or a dog for a piece of bread (you can ask Ede if being attacked by a swan is funny, as you might suspect, the answer is no).

Marco and I are also able to be a bit more active in teaching now. The oldest three levels are currently having oral exams with the German teacher. Emily always takes one of the students outside and assesses their oral skills. Foreign language teaching here is not really focused on speaking the language in class. That's why Marco and I have been responsible for teaching the students and making sure that the lessons continue for a week.

It's a nice distraction and it's good to finally have a bit more to do. We're busy preparing the lessons and coming up with ideas to make the reading tasks a bit more exciting. I have to admit, though, that I can tell that being a teacher is probably not for me. I find the lack of interest from the students extremely annoying, and sometimes it feels like talking to a wall. But I chose to do this year abroad at a school for this realization.

But now let's get to my actual topic or idea for this blog post. The first few lines were just to bring everyone up to date on what has been happening.

For this post, I thought I'd talk a little bit about the Irish mentality and things I've noticed here during the first three months. It's always interesting to compare different cultures, and the Irish culture offers a lot to talk about.

No. 1 - Sweatpants and the Douglas store

I noticed this when Marco and I went to a club with Carla and her friends at the beginning of our time in Ireland. Of course, we couldn't dance and interact with others, but I did notice a big difference in how women and men dress up for a night out.

I was reminded of this again during our stay in Galway. While the guys at the club or pub dress as if they were lying on the couch until a few minutes ago, the women doll themselves up to the point where you wonder how long it will take them to remove the makeup afterwards.

Males wear sweatpants, a t-shirt or sweater in the club or pub, and you can't really say that they put much thought into their appearance. They also have a typical Irish hairstyle (bowl cut that looks like someone cut along a pot on their head or the mullet) and maybe a gold chain and a pack of cigarettes in hand.

Females, on the other hand, look like they fell onto the makeup stands at Douglas while lying down. I don't know where to start. With the heavily bronzed face, making the women look like they mixed their makeup with dirt, or with the too-short skirts or dresses. Because the dress code is: the less, the better. Of course, high heels are worn, because where can you go with flat shoes? Definitely not to a nighttime encounter with the opposite sex (insert wink smiley here)

No. 2 - Brown hands

And that brings us to the second observation. We're sticking with the female species of the Irish. I don't know why, but no Irish woman can apply self-tanner properly. This product is extremely popular here, and if I wanted to invest in something, I would definitely invest in the self-tanner industry.

I have to admit, at this point, that I too have used self-tanner incorrectly once. In my defense, it was also my first time, and I was somewhere between 12 and 14. So I think that's still very legitimate.

But here in Ireland, even adult women don't seem to know that they should wash their hands after applying self-tanner, otherwise, their hands look like a mix of carrot and old leather. I'm really surprised that no one here has thought of washing their little fingers after applying the fake tan. Isn't that the A and O? I think this knowledge can be expected by the age of mid-20s.

So, how do you recognize an Irish woman? By her hands (sounds like another bad joke, but it's the truth). I'd rather have extremely pale cheese legs (greetings to Nina D.) than look like a spotted carrot, because most of the time, it's not even a brown question, but rather a dark orange (not nice).

No. 3 - Irish punctuality is 5 minutes after the time

This should really make Germans' hair stand on end. After all, we're known for our punctuality and precision. But in Ireland, these values won't get you very far.

The Irish mentality is very relaxed. It's not really important to be punctual or to worry about not having something done yet or needing to organize something. It is often taken lightly.

That was a big adjustment for me. After all, I value punctuality, and I really don't like it when I have a lot of things to do. Apparently, that's not a problem for the Irish. These topics are not taken very seriously here. People prefer to live in the moment.

So, that's it for now. The first impressions have been processed, but I'm sure I'll gather more material for observations in the coming months to give you a closer look at Irish nature and mentality. But for now, that should suffice. I've already talked quite a bit.

I hope I have sweetened and beautified your dull Monday evening. Maybe there was even a chuckle or two, who knows. I can only hope for the best.

Keep your spirits up and enjoy the new week.

Au revoir.