At home abroad: 11/01/2008

November 8, 2008

November Blues …as if!

It’s cold, it’s windy and let’s face it; it rains a lot (and by a lot I actually mean a lot more). Anyway that does not stop people from smiling. It’s this time of the year when I am really happy to be in Ireland.
Don’t get me wrong; I often miss lots of things about Finland and Germany, but during the dark months Germans as well as Finns tend to get quite upset and are seldom spotted with a smile on their face.
To be fair now winters are a lot darker in Finland with precious few hours of greyish light and as for Germans, they are not expected to look happy; I am still often met with a puzzled expression from my Australian co-worker when I make a joke (I don't know if my jokes are so bad or if she really is just surprised that Germans are of course utterly hilarious – not always completely voluntary I might add).
What I really wanted to say with this entry is that I am amazed about Irish people. Despite constant nagging about the weather, the recession and house prices they always seem really cheerful and open-minded.

November 3, 2008

Dingle, Kerry & stormy weather

Its seems that I find less and less time to blog here and just more lame excuses why that would be the case. That's got to stop. I promise to try a bit harder now.

This autumn was most eventful and full of unbelievable beauty. It would take a few years to bring you up to speed on all that happened so its probably best to summarize a fantastic weekend in Kerry & Dingle.

I live here now for 2.5 years and so far I have never made it to the most beautiful parts of this island. I loved what I saw of Dingle and also the parts that I could not really make out due to all the rain and wind;). The views are astonishing and the picture changes with every turn of the corner.
Kerry as well surprised me. I had heard horror stories of narrow roads, jam packed with German tourists, but at this time of the year it was most enjoyable and the few German tourists that ventured out in this weather were a most welcome distraction.

All in all a place that everyone should visit (and that looks surprisingly much like the New Zealand pictures my friend just took from her recent trip).

Intro

In Ireland I was once told a story. A Spanish man travelling in Connemara asked what the Irish word for mañana would be. He was told “Oh no, we don’t have a word describing such a hurry here.”
I tried to keep this story in mind on my way from Cork into Dublin on Sunday evening.
It seemed to me like even the roads were in a hurry. Cars where changing lanes like mad and honking was the only accepted way of communication.

Ireland is a lovely country, people are friendly, the weather is mild, the countryside is gorgeous and in general not much is working in this country, but Irish people are way to relaxed to keep complaining about this too much, which is a very good skill to acquire when you move here from lets say one of the Scandinavian countries.