Irish Tidbits

Major Cultural Differences/Oddities: (Thanks Ellie!)

• They keep all rooms SO WARM, and it's always stuffy!
• "What's the craic?"= "What's the fun/ How's life?"
• Most Irish girls wear 5 inch heels constantly
• They have weird flavored chips like pickled onion and bacon.
• They call 'yards' 'gardens'.
• My recent yogurt purchases: Blackcurrant, gooseberry, rhubarb. Interesting.
• They call fries chips, and they call chips crisps.
• They don't tip taxis unless its after 2am.
• 18 to drink & buy alcohol (they hardly card)
• Cooker= our burner/stovetop
• They drive on the wrong side of the road and I feel like we're going to crash all the time.
• They call classes modules.
• Independent study in your classes is a HUGE part of succeeding. 1 class = about 150 hours of independent study.
• Local students go home every weekend, so the parties take place during the week.
• There is no such thing as a 'school night'.
• Traffic lights turn yellow before they turn green too.
• They celebrate Halloween here, which I thought was odd.
• 'For here' is 'sittin' in' and 'to-go' is 'takin' away' when ordering food.
• It costs more to sit down and eat.
• Everybody drinks tea! Long classes even have a 'tea break' in the middle.
• WAY more smokers
• The rugby guys seem like celebrities to everyone.
• The trendy man-mullet is the most common haircut. 
• All guy's hair must be gelled at all times
• They are many different Irish accents (I can't decipher between any!)
• People say 'wee' here. As in 'I just took a wee walk down the street.'
• All the stores close at 5:30pm!
• Theres a switch on the electrical outlets that you have to turn on before it will charge anything.
• We have the best conversations with taxi drivers.
• Literally every Irishmen whose ben to the U.S. has been to: New York, LA, Las Vegas & Florida
• Car parks= our parking lots
• The cars are all tiny...I've seen maybe 2 SUVs
• Rubgy, cricket, gaelic sports

If I think of any more, they will be added :)