Comitting to Commuting

            Although I’ve started and finished my first three days of work, I have yet to complete a full route using the public transportation system without managing to screw myself over at some point. You’ll notice I will constantly refer to it as “the public transportation system” instead of choosing to use the much shorter term of “bus.” This is because I come from Houston, Texas where personally owned cars are like tanning memberships in Jersey Shore – everyone has one, and they’re over-used.

Since I grew up in a town where you hop in the car to drive 2 blocks to a friend’s house, “public transportation” has always had a negative connotation to it (subways and trains are different for some reason, like they’re futuristic or something.) I hate to sound like a brat, but the smelly crowd jerking left and right on sharp turns will just take some warming up to. But when cabs were beginning to thin my wallet and Google Maps informed me my commute to work was the direct opposite of town, it was time to suck it up learn to commute like a Dubliner.

I bought my student pass, checked out the routes, and updated my ipod to really fit in with all the business-casual clad people with headphones walking around city center. On Monday I walked to the bus stop listening to “How Bout You?” by Yonder Mountain String Band, and I quickly realized why commuters invest in Apple products. It was like walking around in your own movie with theme songs playing around you. Music can set the tone for your mood, so I opted for up-beat songs and felt confident, like the first day of work was gonna be a good one. That is, until I was scrolling through my Third Eye Blind tracks and completely lost in my make-belief movie world of “Macy Takes the Bus to Work in Dublin!” and missed the 16 bus.

Fantastic – nothing like being late on the first day. Anyone with a type A personality or over-achieving tendencies probably would’ve allowed themselves extra time in case they found themselves in this situation. Well I’m neither of those, but I probably could’ve bet a week’s budget of Euros that I would get lost of miss the bus. The iPod was a good idea for a hot minute and maybe for someone else less ADD than I, so I took out the headphones and focused on the route map to come up with a new plan. After running like a fool from the last stop I arrived only 12 minutes late, with 2 new blisters, out of breath, and in desperate need for a ponytail holder. Good thing the Irish are so friendly and laid back and took into account I was just another dumb American who can’t figure out a bus map.

Day 2 got off to a good start as Becca and I headed to the bus stop together, 15 minutes early to catch a faster bus into town. We leisurely walked towards our next stop before going our separate ways, and I decided I had enough time to get a cup of coffee. When I got on the Dart train I noticed there were WAY more people on this train than the one that comes only 10 minutes later that I took yesterday. I also noticed the digital screen displayed names that didn’t seem familiar. I remembered a girl telling me that every train goes to Grand Canal Dock so I sat tight, thinking I’d recognize it when I saw it. The second didn’t look too familiar, but looking back now that’s probably because of the mass amount of people around now that weren’t there the day before. So I got off at third, and again found myself wondering around an unfamiliar area fighting the panic attack that was about to evolve. Why the hell was I not made with that GPS gene some people tend to have? I found a girl who looked like she was on her stomping grounds and asked her directions to Malting Tower. For the second day, I was late to work because of my retarded-ness.

I’m not gonna go into great detail about failed attempt at public transportation round 3 because I honestly think I knew were I was going this time. My directional skills were improving, but my common sense was obviously lacking. Long story short, we met up with Ben and his friend from work at Dicey’s on Tuesday night after work. They say you can’t beat their 2 euro pint special on Tuesday nights, and its true – Dicey’s won. 7:15 alarm turned to 7:55 and I ran out the door to meet Becca downstairs without putting any thought into what I grabbed with me. I forgot my bus pass and wallet so Becca passed back her bus card and gave me change for the Dart, and I could meet Ann during lunch to get my purse so I could ride the bus back. Google map gave me some bad news: the walk to Ann’s office was long enough for an Olympic relay (no wonder everyone rides the damn bus). I had a total of 85 cents leaving work that day. I hailed a cab, had the most pleasant conversation with a cab driver yet (who also gave me a bootleg version DVD of The Sourcecode), and Ann brought my wallet down when I arrived back at the apartment to pay him.

I’m at work right now and it’s day 4. I got on the right bus at the right time, and walked in the door at 8:59 this morning. In America we tend to believe the third try is the charm, but in Ireland clovers prove that luck is in the number 4.  

Reality Check

            I’m having that all too familiar feeling on a Sunday night when the weekend comes to an end and dreadful reality is fast approaching – except my weekend has lasted nearly 2 months, which only makes reality seem worse. My summer began on April 27^th when the Tornado hit Tuscaloosa and finals were canceled. Since then I’ve traveled from Georgia to Texas and nearly everything in between, to the Middle East, and Europe. Life’s been one big carefree party with my main responsibilities being to make my next flight (which I didn’t accomplish in Nashville) or remember to check my bank account before I go out. But all that comes to an end in the morning when 7:15am alarm clocks will become standard and the term “rush hour” isn’t referring to the 60 minutes before last call at the bar.

            I start my internship at Bluecube Interactive advertising agency at 9 am. It’s about an hour commute and with my directional skills will probably take me an extra 30 minutes. I had a confirmation interview on Thursday and met my boss and the small team of six employees. The office is in an all glass building overlooking the canal and shares the block with the Google and Facebook headquarters, two of the firm’s biggest clients. I’ll be working in all areas of advertising, alternating from sales, creative design, copyright, event planning, and account managing each week. Long days, hard work, and no pay – coffee will be my best friend in the morning and wine will be my best friend at night.

The sting of reality increases when I realize it’s my first night abroad without any company from home. The day Cody left Dublin, Kelsey, Taylor, Kendall, and their friend Emily all came in. We went to Temple Bar and on a pub-crawl in city center, and they spent Friday and Saturday sight-seeing while I ran errands and finished settling in. I hadn’t had much time to really set my roots in Dublin yet with Cody being here and now all of them, but with work starting Monday I needed to start checking things off my to-do list. I felt bad not spending the days with them, but fortunately they were the most self-sufficient bunch I could’ve asked for. I loved getting to see Kelsey and am glad she got to meet my new friends and see where I’ll be spending the summer.

So now I’m left with Ann and the Irish roomies, and no TV – I’d say culture shock is an under statement. My Sunday nights for that past year revolved around the TV and my best friends, and maybe some Buffalo Phils ordered in. Homesick isn’t exactly the word I’m looking for, I think I’m just finally starting to feel the adjustment. Sometimes when life is moving so fast you forget to sit down and appreciate everything that’s been going on and account all the changes it’s made in you. And now that I’m sitting here doing exactly that, I’m only mildly annoyed I can’t play Eastbound and Down on my laptop. Maybe I am growing up after all.  

catching up with kels

Group before heading to the pub crawl

When in Dublin, do as the Dubliners do

     Any of those who know me know that I didn’t actually come home from my 21^st birthday and write that first post as if recapping the night right after it happened. In fact, it actually took me a few days to recover and regain some brain cells before I could even attempt to look at the “how to” instructions to create a blog. So now that the excitement of the first couple days of being here has worn off and I’m starting to actually unpack and settle in, here are some details of my living situation and what’s been going on the first few days.

     My requested roommate, Ann, goes to Alabama as well but we had never met until the first day. We also got to meet our other two roomies the first day, who are from the middle of nowhere Ireland. Of course, every other person in the EUSA program has EUSA (American) roommates, except me. I realize this is a cultural learning experience, but I thought I’d be working, meeting, and hanging out with the natives – not sharing dishes with them (which they do not thoroughly wash their bangers and mash out of.)

     The little lassies are sisters. Chivon studies libraries and Erin is in nursing school, has a glass eye, and likes heavy metal music. Erin also cut our introduction short when I told her my brother would be staying here for a few days, and then made a bee-line dart to the living room where she flirted him up for a good hour while I unpacked. I had no intentions of breaking that up, and instead let Erin tell Cody all about her favorite Irish head banger groups while I neatly folded my clothes into my drawers.

     I would say the Irish roomies are sweet, because they were at first; but now they just ignore us or get awkward when Ann and I walk in the room. So we tend to spend most of our time in Becca and Remi’s room. They’re roommates are cool, but we’ve all come to the general understanding life in Dublin would be much easier if us four could live together. Unfortunately I think I’m stuck where I am for now, and I guess that’s part of the deal I signed up for. 

     Cody leaves Thursday and Kelsey gets here Thursday, so it hasn’t really sunk in that I’m living in a foreign country on my own. I apologize if most of the content the next few days isn’t exactly educational or rich in culture as my summer is supposed to be here, because I don’t start work until Monday. Until then my cultural learning is trying the rich taste of Guinness at our welcome party hosted at the top of the brewery, and making my best attempt to master the public transportation system. Both may prove challenging since the darkest beer I like is Blue Moon (which is definitely not considered a dark beer), and my understanding of bus routes and navigational skills in general are very inadequate for a big city like Dublin

First sip of Guinness

EUSA welcome party at the Guinness Brewery

A Milestone Birthday Miles Away From Home

           Today is a landmark day for me in this string of days, years, and events we call life. Today will bring me a new age, a new world, a new chapter, and inevitably new friends. Not only is today my 21^st birthday, the day I’ve been waiting for my whole life (figuratively speaking), but it’s also the first day of my study abroad program in Dublin.  21 may not have the same merriment here of first time legal bar hopping as it does in the states, but who am I to let that stop me?  Although I may not be celebrating with the same people whom I’ve grown up with and have sang happy birthday to me each year, I’m putting my inner birthday diva aside and appreciating the fact that I’m in Dublin.

Thanks to a little Irish luck, I’ve managed to find a group of girls in the first hour of being here that look like they know how to have a good time. So we skipped out on the awkward introductions and left the jetlag behind while we headed to Temple Bar for the first of many nights out together. It didn’t take long to realize I was going to become best friends with these girls. Needless to say, June 13, 2011 has been a success for more reasons than one. I’m 21, I’m living in one of the most fun cities in Europe, I have great new friends, and I finally put my computer science classes to use by making this blog. 

                           Me, Remi, Becca, and Ann at Gogarty's in Temple Bar