ultra gaelic

You know we live in a global world when a French person asks you, “Do you have Starbucks in America?”

I’m learning that people’s phone habits vary by country, not just by language. In Russia, for example, I never learned how to say hello fast enough. You call someone, they answer, and before I have a chance to say something, they’re already saying “hello?” again as if they’re afraid they can’t hear me or I’ve been disconnected already.

In Ireland, on the other hand, what’s different from the US is how you end a phone conversation. Not only do people draw out the word “bye” naturally in everyday conversation, but people here have a bit of competition to see who can get in the last “bye”. What you end up with is both people saying “baaaaaaay-baaaay-bay-baaaaay” until someone gives in and hangs up.

It’s funnier if you hear it, I suppose.

Speaking of colors, it’s getting to be the green time of the year. Green, of course, is associated with spring and St. Patrick’s Day, both of which are approaching quickly.

It’s been getting gradually warmer here, but it’s not as warm as it’s been recently in the US. While places with continental and semi-continental climates (where most of my readers live) are likely to have some more periods of cold before it getting warmer still, around here the daily highs and lows stay practically the same every day, with only minor fluctuation in the seasons. While the grass stays green all winter in this part of the world, there’s still no leaves on the trees.

The past few weeks have been incredibly sunny—even more sunny than I remember when I was here in August—which has been quite welcome. But since yesterday it’s become mostly cloudy like usual, so I suppose all good things must pass.

I’m told that it’s only foreign tourists who wear green on St. Patrick’s Day; I think everyone’s too busy getting drunk to bother. It’s a national holiday here, and the government’s recently expanded the celebrations to include a few days leading up to the day itself. Today I noticed a lot of people wearing green, but that’s because of the big rugby match against Wales today.

I’ve long liked purple clothing, but things in Dublin are getting a bit out of hand with the color. I started noticing purple women’s women’s, but now I’m seeing purple everywhere: shirts, gloves, shoes. It seems to be all the rage this season. Some quick searches online indicate that the fashion began in 2007 or 2008, which makes me wonder it’s Dublin or me that’s a few years behind in noticing.

This past Saturday morning the sun was shining brighter than I’ve ever seen it in Ireland, so I decided to seize the opportunity to take photos before the clouds came back. Add these to some photos I took on other days and it turns out I now have 46 photos of Dublin. Check out the growing collection.

Just down the street from where I work, a new take-away food place has opened. It’s called “Pablo Picanté” (their accent mark, not mine) and is labeled a “Californian Burrito Bar”. Looks like a small version of Chipotle/Qdoda/Pancheros. I was impressed with their viral marketing campaign and had high hopes for it, which were dashed today once I tried a burrito. Forget celery in curry, may I suggest feta in a burrito?

Last weekend I took a bus day trip with a bunch of tourists to various sites in County Wicklow, including the location of St. Kevin’s mission. I was hoping for lots of tacky Kevin paraphernalia, but I’m afraid I didn’t find any. However, you can find my photos online. As with many of my photos in Ireland, I’ve had to adjust the photos after the fact to take into account the low natural light. So if you’re wondering why some photos appear brighter than others, know that it’s likely because I tweaked some of them, not because the sun went in and out so fast.

I just discovered some photos on my camera from my brief trip to Cork last month and finally put them online.

In addition to pondering those two articles on British and American cultural differences that I mentioned last month, I’ve been thinking about a commentary about customer service in France that I read more recently. The anecdotes seem too outrageous to believe, but I get flashbacks to unpleasant encounters in shops in Russia and start to think they are possible. Even the surly English “barman” (bartender) in the New York Times article seems familiar from my travels.

What puzzles me the most is that, despite the turmoil of the French Revolution, France maintained a remarkably polite public culture. American English and French both have commonly used terms for addressing strangers that are used without a person’s name (sir/monsieur, ma’am/madame, miss/mademoiselle), which, it turns out, is uncommon in most of Europe. Furthermore, the French are of course known for their copious use of these terms and bonjour in greeting strangers. I find it strange that, while subservience went out the door with the French Revolution, gentility did not, whereas in Russia both were lost after the Russian Revolution.

dear

expensive

maths

short for “mathematics”, as in “You do the maths.”

estate agent

real estate agent

franked post

metered mail

bio(logical)

eco-friendly (used in reference to laundry detergent, laundry powder, or dish liquid)

stone

pit (of a piece of fruit)

flapjack

granola bar (but square and made with less sugar and more butter)

gentlemen’s club

a well-established private club

think-in

retreat

think tank

retreat (?)

Thanks a million.

Thanks very much.

TK Maxx

TJ Maxx

(I wanna know what’s wrong with “J”!)