The Best and Worst of Ireland Thus Far

By the time this blog gets posted I will have been here in Ireland for a full month. I’m going to separate this blog into two parts: a list of my 10 favorite things about Ireland, a list of the 10 things I miss about living in Boston. Here we go:

My 10 favorite things about Ireland:

1. I’ve had lectures cut short to give us time for tea between lecture and lab three times.
2. Pretty much everywhere is beautiful. As an Irish taxi driver once said while rolling his eyes: “The first thing out of everyone’s mouth when I pick them up at the airport is ‘IT’S SO GREEN HERE, WOW, A COW!’” If you like scenic countryside, ancient castles, walls and ruins, uninhabited beaches, cliffs, caves, rivers, and quaint towns this place is incredible.
3. There’s music everywhere! Traditional Irish music (usually just called “trad” here) is played at bars, restaurants, outside, on campus, etc. daily. It’s never hard to find live music, and every act I’ve seen so far has been great. The Irish take great pride in their musical acumen. UL in particular has a prominent music and dance school that trains world class performers. This past weekend was the Limerick jazz festival, which I took full advantage of by seeing 5 different acts throughout the weekend – from trad music, to classic jazz, to a brass dance band.
4. Ireland is young and vibrant. Boston is often praised for the youthful vitality of its residents, having so many colleges. Ireland may not have the same reputation, but it is actually has the youngest residents (on average) of any country in Europe. With a large young population comes great nightlife, trendy cities, and ample opportunities for recreation.
5. Good food and drink. Most people don’t think of food as a reason to go to Ireland, but there are two main things that I think prove Ireland’s mediocre food reputation wrong. First, the Irish are VERY proud of local food. “Produced in Ireland” is in bold print on almost everything in the grocery store, far more prominent than on products in the US. This is also more significant than things being made in the US. The Irish have significantly less space and less diverse territory to be used for farming. In the US you can grow avocadoes, potatoes, and cranberries in the same country. In Ireland, they have less to work with but make every effort to produce and eat domestic foods. Not only are the grocery stores almost entirely populated with Irish products, but there are an abundance of local vendors and markets offering handmade cheese, hand carved steak, and craft brewed beer. Secondly, the youthfulness of Ireland contributes to a creative and vibrant food scene. In Limerick city, there are a variety of trendy coffee, and burger joints, Asian fusion, and upscale modern bars alongside the more traditional (and often quite plain) pub food people tend to eat as tourists and then associate with Ireland.
7. The clubs and teams at this school are diverse, inclusive, and non-competitive. I’m able to participate in windsurfing and sailing without needing any prior experience. The beginners and competitive athletes have fun side by side.
8. Coca-cola is made with sugar here, not high fructose corn syrup. Trust me, you can taste the difference.
9. The professors are all very friendly and down to earth. The standard practice here is to call professors by their first name, and they really do give a lot of individual attention to students. Furthermore, they take care to try and make sure international students are integrated with Irish students in group projects in the classroom, which helps make it fair for visiting students who may not otherwise be quite on the same page as students who all know each other and the expectations for class in Ireland.
10. The people. This is probably the most cliché thing to love about Ireland, but the people really are as friendly as everyone says. The vibe between students in class is so different. Less cliquey and more inclusive. Everyone in my 4^th year engineering class has known each other and been in classes together for years, and they all make jokes and hang out as one huge group in class regardless of whether or not they would actually be friends outside of class. Furthermore, they are inclusive to international students, more so than back home in my experience. Everyone I’ve met has been genuinely interested in where I’m from and how I’m finding it here. This atmosphere carries over from class to restaurants and bars too. It really is true that everyone you meet at the pub is just a friend you haven’t met yet, whether patrons or staff.

Here are the 10 things I miss most about Boston. This section is not meant to be a critique or complaint about Ireland, but rather commentary on the cultural and physical differences of living in Ireland, and going to school in a slightly more rural location.

1. Good coffee. As I’ve mentioned in another blog post, everything is espresso based here, it’s nearly impossible to find a normal cup of coffee (with the exception of a select few Starbucks), and even the espresso is usually pretty bad. Instant coffee is the norm for home consumption.
2. It’s hard to get around. The city of Limerick is interestingly a test city within Ireland for Ireland’s Smarter Travel campaign. This means there are buses and bike lanes everywhere. Unfortunately, the buses are twice the price of those in Boston, and even more likely to be late, despite shorter and less frequent routes. And even the buses (which all seem to be brand new) don’t tell you what stop you’re at, or have any maps, so you better keep your eye out that window.
3. There are no family sized snacks. This might seem silly, but the snacks here are 90% crisps (our chips), and ONLY come in tiny single serving bags. You can only buy in bulk by buying big bags of smaller bags. The largest container of any common snack they have are Pringles cans. This is not only not economical, but it is hugely wasteful in terms of packaging.
4. The weather. I’ll stand by this one until my return to Boston in January, at which point I’ll doubtlessly be dreaming of these rainy 50 degree days.
5. A good Mexican place (by my standards anyway) is usually just a short walk away in Boston. Not the case here. Even when grocery shopping; salsa, beans, and tortillas can only be found at certain stores.
6. Normal kitchen appliances. I’m not sure what this is about, but all our houses on campus came fitted with induction stoves instead of normal electric or gas, but without microwaves. Instead of microwaves, a tea kettle and toaster were prioritized for countertop appliances.
7. A proper concert. Going to concerts is one of my favorite things to do, and Boston has tons of my favorite bands coming through on a regular basis. Limerick has great options for trad and local artists, but their biggest and most popular venue is a pub that only fits about 100 people. This pretty much prevents any sizable touring band from making a stop here, and Dublin is a 2.5 hour, 10-euro bus ride away. They do however have plenty of clubs with nightly live DJs.
8. Stick deodorant. Fortunately, I brought some, but they prefer spray on here.
9. Walking on the right side of the sidewalk. I’m not sure what this one’s about, but nobody walks on one side of the sidewalk/path/hallway or the other. Everyone is always walking in random parts, left right or middle. Same thing with bike lanes and paths. There doesn’t seem to be any default side to stick to. This has caused a couple near bike accidents while I’ve been biking or walking, and I watched one girl get run over by a bike as they tried and failed to signal which side of the sidewalk they would each move to before it was too late.
10. Finally, folders. This one may seem strange and like a very insignificant detail, but for some reason there are no stores in Ireland that sell normal two pocket folders for storing papers for class. Everyone here has these or these and everyone from the US here agrees they are not convenient at all, and usually cost more.