Deja Vu

For a lot of people, this will be review material, but I wanted to catch up anyone I've neglected to email. (not really neglected, more like avoiding giving myself carpal tunnel) (as if my job isn't already giving me that)

I'm now on Week 4 of living in Dublin. I'm working, I've found a place to live, I've sent out change of address cards that my friend Billy made for me, I've been in far too many government agencies to register as a foreign worker, and I've pretty much figured out how to get around the place.

On Work:
I'm working for BDP, a massive European firm that has a small Dublin office. www.bdp.ie if you're interested. So far, I like it. It's a very international crowd in the office and the accents are killing me: South African, English, Polish, and many, many varieties of Irish. I've been out a few times with the co-workers and they seem like a nice bunch of people. I'm working on an office building with in a larger mixed use retail complex, set in Bray, just an hour South of Dublin on the train. In reality, it's probably 20 minutes by car, but getting there without one takes so much more time. Time I get paid for, mind you, but still. It's along the sea, so it's a pretty dramatic ride.

On Housing:
I am very lucky. After listening to my coworker Polish Anna relate her tales of the search for housing, I realize that I got extremely lucky. I am renting a room from a girl very close to the city center. Basically, it's an attached suburb called Irishtown. Yep, how fun is that name. Anyway, my flatmate's name is Suzie and we get along very well. She's very intelligent and bubbly and we seem to have identical temperaments and senses of humor. We'll sit down for dinner and spend 3 hours chatting away. I really like her and I'm very thankful to have found this place. It's a little 2 bedroom apartment, nothing really different about it from American places. Except the heating. No heating in the bathroom and the halls. Makes for very short showers in the morning. Actually there is a little mounted space heater in the bath, so I usually go turn it on and then crawl back into bed for 15 minutes before I attempt a shower. The village square is a 10 minute walk from the house and a 2 minute bus ride back, which makes it ideal when carrying groceries. It's really a picturesque square and as just about everything you could need: bank, butcher, book binder, yoga studio, grocery, wine shop, video store, florist and a dentist. Your post code here tells people about you, similar to area codes in LA. So when I say Dublin 4 people raise their eyebrows and say "Oh! That's a really nice area. I wish I lived there." I've done well for myself I guess.

On Not Having A Car:
I LOVE IT!! Yeah, it's a little cold. Yeah it's easier to get a cab than wait for the bus. But really, I don't miss it at all. The office has a company car to use for site visits and I've told them to keep me away from it. Not only do they drive on the left side of the road, everything is just smaller. The streets are smaller, the cars are tiny, and they squeeze so many lanes of traffic in it scares me. I can't even cross the road by myself; I'll step into oncoming traffic everytime, while looking the other way for cars. FYI, drivers don't like it when you press your face in your hands and scream while they drive down the country roads.

On the Weather:
At least part of every day I've been here there has been blue sunny skies. It doesn't rain like it does in Seattle. Or Dallas this year. It'll sprinkle and then stop. Or it'll mist; they call that a soft day. It's been snowing the past few days, but it melts as soon as it hits the ground. Really, it hasn't been too bad. I guess I missed out on the worst part of it. I do like walking in the fresh air though. So easy to sober up...

On Pubs, Tea and Everything Else:
I'm coming to understand why pubs are so important here. They really serve the function of a town square or a piazza. Pubs are where the Irish lead their public lives. It has to be inside because the weather sucks. And, just a theory here, restaurants are a new invention here. Its only been in the last 10 years that people went out to eat. They had dinner at home and then went to the pub to meet their neighbors.

Tea several times a day keeps you from freezing your butt off.

All things considered, very happy I made the move. Looking forward to St. Patricks day, even though it's akin to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Sans flashing. Too cold to get your kit off, as they say.

B.