Ireland Vol. 1: Things I’ve Learned After Two Days in My New Home

7/9/22 11:13pm

You know, it wouldn’t be a proper move to a new country if there wasn’t a little ~pizzazz~ involved. I mean, nothing wakes you up like an ice cold shower at 2am when you are trying to go to sleep so you aren’t ridiculously jet-lagged the next day, right?

I’m sorry, I might’ve started this entry off on the wrong foot.

I made it to Ireland!

Tonight marks the end of my first full day in Ireland and my second night in this beautiful green country. So far, my time here has been a whirlwind of moving in, shopping for necessities, driving lessons, and exploring my new home! My favorite artist came out with a new song yesterday (@noahkahanmusic @stickseason) and I’ve only listened to it once and if that doesn’t tell you how busy I’ve been I don’t know what will.

It is 11:13 pm and I am very tired, and yet I write this, sitting on my bed in a bath towel, because I have spent the last hour trying to get hot water in my shower. One freezing cold shower I can handle. Two cold showers in a row hurts the soul a little bit. So alas, I wait to see if the water will heat up. I’m going to go try it again.

7/10/22 7:41am

So I did go and try the shower again last night and it was…. Lukewarm! Compared to the first night, I call that solid progress and enjoyed my only slightly cold shower in peace. However, you probably did not come here to hear me complain about my shower because even a cold shower seems a little more magical when you’re in Ireland.

Let’s start from the beginning (I hear it’s a good place to start):

Getting to Ireland

My friend Jackie (who from here on out will be referred to as IrelandJackie2022) and I flew out together on Thursday night, partying it up in the very last row of the

plane, and by that I mean we slept the majority of the flight. It was honestly great. We arrived around 2pm in Dublin and spent the next hour dragging, pulling, and pushing a ridiculous amount of luggage through the airport in search of our driver who would transport us to the magical town of Sligo, our home for the next year.

We then proceeded on a cross-country roadtrip, which marks my second cross-country roadtrip this year! Admittedly, one was 9 days in a base model 2010 Honda Civic (shoutout to Gertie, the best car in the west!) and the other was 3 hours in a Mercedes van with a hired driver, but both were adventures all the same. Our driver Brian kept us entertained with Ireland trivia, US trivia, honestly Brian just knew a lot about everything. After 16 hours total travel time we finally made it to our new home!

While IrelandJackie2022 is living in an apartment in downtown Sligo, my residence for the year is right outside town in a little area called Collooney. It is truly beautiful. If you were to Google “Idyllic Ireland Countryside” a picture of this place would probably show up.

My New Home!

Picture this: you pull up to the property and drive through an old stone archway with ivy growing up the sides. You continue though, and your next mile is a small pathway with rolling green hills on both sides of you, sheep grazing in the fields. You soon approach a castle. Yes, a real-life castle, on the same property as the apartment. You mosey past the castle, follow an even smaller path, and end up at a building with three courtyards, more rolling green fields, more sheep, and some weird creepy sculptures scattered throughout. This is my home for the next year.

I can’t wait to start working, find a routine, and continue to get to explore my new home. I will continue to update you on all of my adventures but for now I will end with a list of valuable things I have learned while living in a foreign country during the last day and a half.

Things I Have Learned While Living in a Foreign Country for a Day and a Half:

1. While it may sound like a good idea to carry one backpack on your back and one backpack on your front through a very large airport (it balances out the weight, you know?), it may also cause bruised shoulders and an even more bruised ego.
2. Hot water heater timers exist, and you have to turn them on 30-45 minutes before you actually want to shower to avoid taking an ice bath (shower). Even then, it may still be lukewarm.
   1. Will keep you updated on my quest for hot water.
3. Some toilets in Ireland require three vigorous flushes to get the water going where it needs to go.
4. Pro tip: add 00 before the 353 country code when calling someone in Ireland. Even then you might still call the wrong number one time, dial the exact same number, and reach the person you were trying to get ahold of the next time.
   1. This may work in your favor though, as everyone in Sligo is very kind and you could make a new friend!
5. Make sure your hands are 10 and 2 on the driving wheel, or your driving instructor will yell at you. Or at least make a snide remark.
6. Driving on the left side of the road isn’t as hard as it seems until it goes down to a single lane and a car is coming full speed toward you with no exit. But you’ll figure it out.
7. When the sun is out in Ireland, drop everything, and I mean everything, and go out to enjoy it. Which is where I leave you because that is exactly what is happening now.

On a Final Note…

Thank you for joining me as I begin this amazing journey! If you would like to learn more about me and how I ended up here, check out my About Me page! Otherwise, stay tuned for more posts about my time in Ireland as well as other adventures I encounter along the way.