Culture Shock in Ireland: My First Impressions as an American

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Chapters:
00:00 First time in Ireland
00:09 1 Everything is green
00:28 2 It’s expensive
1:15 3 Sharing taxis
1:50 4 Good food
2:36 5 The weather isn’t that bad
3:00 6 Nice people
4:07 7 Mental health issues
5:11 8 Buses won’t stop
5:36 9 Slow Internet
6:24 10 Slow population growth
6:49 11 Japanese Zen Garden
7:02 12 No bathroom outlets
7:35 13 Turning off outlets
7:59 14 Signs in Gaelic
8:18 15 People are late
8:38 16 Shops are open late
9:06 17 Weird town names

#cultureshock #ireland #livingabroad

[SalixTree]

I had to move to Ireland from California with my company during to 80s. I found the culture here so lovely and friendly, and so green. A little backward, but that was good, it reminded me of my childhood (it's changed dramatically since then). I was meant to stay for two years. Well, here I am 40 years later, still in this beautiful country. I loved this place so much, I couldn't imagine going back to the USA.

[sherrytolbird]

I loved Ireland it’s the most gorgeous place I’ve ever been on earth. I’m coming back again ! My husband only wants to visit Ireland for the rest of his life, it imprinted on our souls

[barbarawarner]

The Irish are super friendly and helpful. It’s a great country to visit.
That “stuck” feeling is universal and even more significant for island dwellers, I think.

[mtngrl]

The west coast of Ireland is really stunning. One will hear Irish spoken much more frequently, Connemara is quite beautiful.

[silverkitty]

You are a nice American. Welcome to Ireland.

[davidmccabe]

Well said with your fair and diverse observations. I am 84 years old, Dublin born and bred. For foreign visitors remember that Ireland has an ear based culture....music, songs, conversation and chat, jokes, memories etc whereas the UK and northern and central Europe have a more eye based culture with varied architecture, efficiency in travel etc but relatively much less fun than Irish culture. So be generous if you wish to observe deficiencies in Irish culture. David McCabe Dublin April 2023

[patriciam.]

Came to Ireland as a young bride in 1966 and am still here, love it. Have traveled a fair bit but this place and people are in my soul now.

[trevorfitzgerald]

I totally love the place. Felt so safe and the locals are just great. As Irish people are world wide lovely place and people.

[loreman]

I grew up in South Africa, and the sheer amount of rain and green in Eire is unbelievable!

[mrElpacas]

i advised a friend on visiting ireland from the US, it seems the majority of US tourists do dublin, cliffs of moher, giants causeway. now im not knocking those places their grand, but their is so much more. I told him to travel dont spend the entire time in dublin and just seeing those sights, get some different photos than everyone else you know, he agreed so i arranged a day of tours around my area in the sw of county cork, what was planned to be 1 day around the area turned into 3 and he changed his plans, as typical irish things happen the first night we got invited to a village meal where a different american man and his wife were visiting, they had lived here for a good while but had to return to the US, so as soon as he found out my friend was american and a ex serviceman we ended up with a meal and a sing song after a day of mountains, coastlines, castles, ruins and hill forts from 4500bc, the 2nd night we ended up in a lock in at the local pub till 3am, his last unplanned day with us was spent recovering and some very close local sites and a huge sunday roast with my family.
its been about 6 years since his trip and he wants to come back here again, it was the best part of his trip and he says it was better than the other places he went by miles.
i would advise anyone to travel to different places than the usual, if you want to see what ireland is like outside of the tourist traps, by all means do a bit of the tourist things but dont make that your sole visit, your missing out on so much more.

[bjornfongern]

German here who lived in Dublin for more than 8 years. The irish people are genuinely the nicest. So outgoing, friendly and generous it almost came as a bit of a shock. Especially as a german where people are nothing like that. Food scene in Dublin was a very pleasant surprise for me, too. Didn´t expect much tbh. Dublin is in my eyes not overly pretty as cities go but it is very charming in it´s own way and there´s beautiful nature and landscapes all around. You don´t even have to go far. Just taking the DART either to Howth or down south towards Bray will already give you a lot of beautiful impressions. There´s a pretty vibrant cultural scene, too. Museums, theatre, art, lot´s of activities, guided tours etc.

Downsides I noticed: While the city does generally feel pretty safe you do have to be aware of your surroundings. There are some pretty dodgy areas really close to common ones. Sometimes it really changes from one street to the next. Normally even in dodgy areas people will leave you alone if you mind your own business but I have seen some pretty crazy stuff happening, even during the day. Traffic is really bad during the rushhours. Public transport and road infrasturcture are struggling to cope. My morning commute was about 10km from the south towards the city centre. Took me 45-60 minutes on the bus every morning for those 10k, mostly stuck in traffic. Pricing: Back in 2019 when I left Dublin I honestly didn´t find day to day living expenses to bad. Public transport I found rather cheap compared to Germany, groceries a bit expensive but not too bad. Restaurants quite affordable (especially with early bird deals and thelike) Alcohol quite expensive but not too bad if you go to your local pub instead of the city centre. What was insane back then though was housing prices/rent especially for the "quality" you normally get. In fact that was the main factor for me for eventually leaving the country and heading back to Germany. I had a good time over there and looking back at it I do miss Ireland and especially it´s lovely people. Hope to be back some time.

[Keith_Aerotrunk]

You did a great job in presenting your experience of traveling to Ireland for the first time in an engaging and interesting way. This surprise at certain aspects of Irish life, such as the weather and the friendliness of the locals, is conveyed in an entertaining manner that makes the viewer want to keep watching. Additionally, your video includes insights from locals on what life is like in Dublin, which adds another layer of interest and authenticity to the content. Awesome content!

[Harsh_kr_]

Ireland is one of the most beautiful places to visit..❤

[btrav]

I visited Ireland in the 80's, 90's, and is from Drumshanbo. I'm not trying to insult anyone when I say that I noticed that in 2013 there were many more obese Irish folks than my previous visits. (In 1988, my brother and I were amazed at how slim and attractive everyone was). The food options got "better" each time I visited. In 2013 I thought that the options were about as good as anywhere in the world. Processed food is creating health issues all over the western world and obesity in the US is at epidemic proportions options" are slowly killing us.
BTW, I think that Ireland still is MUCH healthier than where I live in New Jersey, and the US in general. (Disney world makes me sad at the state of our health as a country)
Ireland is great and I cant wait to bring my kids there....hopefully in a year or two.

[seantynan]

As an Irish person who has lived here all of my life, I can say this is all pretty accurate. It's great to have the perspective from someone not from here!

Yes, things are expensive, and more so during the year that has passed since this video was posted.

Interesting that you noted the mental health issue. Ireland has a very dark past, and I think some of that filters through the national psyche.

And on the weather, yeah you got lucky Kristin, it rains here a lot! 🤣

Thanks Kristin, excellent content! Best wishes from Ireland.👍☘

[johnburns]

Kristin I must say that I enjoyed your observations about Ireland. You pay good attention and described them well. I hope that all goes well for you now and in the future.

[frugalferg]

You are so very welcome to the Emerald Isle Kirsten and I hope you have a ball. A couple of things..
1. I'm not sure who you met that said we all have mental health problems but honestly we are generally a happy, hard working, honest race of people. I'm sure we do have people with mental health issues as does any society but by and large, we're fairly sane.
2. Yes, Dublin is at least 30% more expensive than the rest of the ROI on everything. So get out to the countryside.
3. Broadband is fantastic where I am, rural ROI but in some parts it may not be as fast.
4. The ROI's economy is booming. We have almost zero% unemployment. There's huge opportunity to make something of yourself. In the ROI of today, "if you can dream it, you can do it.'
5. It's not all peaches and cream though, we have a dreadful health service and a housing crisis mainly due to self serving politicians.
6. And yes, in 1840, the population was about 8m. However, we suffered a famine in the 1840s due to the potato crop being affected by blight. The British government who governed our country at the time, neglected its Irish citizens to such an extent that one million died of starvation and just under 2 million emigrated. It has taken until the mid 1990s to recover from the horror of The Famine and British rule. We are steadily trying to make progress.

[tontsar]

I have nothing but love for this beautiful green country 💚

[seanbrennan]

I grew up visiting Ireland in the summers to see my grandparents home and see extended family. Flew to Dublin hopped in our rental cars drive straight to south Armagh for 3 weeks. The furthest we would go was Newry and that was the big city in Ireland for us. We stayed at the foot of slieve gullion it was honestly some of the fondest memories of my life so far. It is also quite a unique area of Ireland. The first summers in the late 90s and 2000s british patrols and helicopters all over. I never realized until I was older that that wasn’t common outside that little corner of Ireland. Now the area is peaceful and no more British spy towers and is seriously such an overlooked part of Ireland. An untouched gem

[ssgoffical]

As a African American I love Ireland 🇮🇪 ☘️🍀