Culture Comparisons

Bus rides provide the perfect
opportunity to catch up on some
much needed sleep...

...especially for Michael

One of the first things I noticed after arriving in Ireland was that they drive their cars on the wrong--I mean the left side of the road. As disconcerting as this was at first, I have grown used to it and considering that I have not driven at all since arriving in Ireland, it is not that big of a deal. On that same note, public transportation is a much bigger thing than in the states, especially in the state where I am from, Nebraska. Their vehicles also seem to be smaller and less "gas-guzzling" than what we are used to as well. We can literally hop on a bus in Galway and go almost anywhere in Ireland. This is even more helpful for those without driver's licenses or without cars, which seems to happen much more frequently here than in the states. I have walked more since being in Ireland the last two months than I probably have in the last year...

Michael and I on our way home from one of our many walks to Spiddal

Another distinction I notice between Ireland and the U.S. is how intertwined their national religion--Catholicism--is with their government and politics. Coming from the U.S., we do not even have a "national" religion, and we are careful to keep the separation between "church and state" as our Constitution instructs. Ireland, on the other hand, has many laws, holidays, and other traditions that are directly related to Catholicism. Even our first day of class, February 1st was St. Brigid's day. I also noticed that many of the Irish I have encountered--especially in pubs--want to talk about American politics. I find this interesting, because coming to Ireland I knew very little about the Irish government and their politics, while many Irish (and other Europeans as well) pay very close attention to what is happening in American politics because of how much of what we do impacts the rest of the world.

One final note I'll make about comparing culture in Ireland to the U.S. is how big folklore and myths are here. In Galway City there is a church--St. Nicholas's Church--and it is said that Christopher Columbus stopped there on his was to the "New World." They also have other myths about mermaids and even particular towns and how they supposedly got their names. Another good one, is the myth that St. Patrick (the Saint credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland--and yes he is the St. Patrick in St. Patrick's Day) expelled all of the snakes from Ireland, which is why there are no snakes in Ireland today. While we do have our own legends in the states, they do not seem as popular as they are here.

An image portraying St. Patrick vanishing snakes retrieved from:
http://www.metalinjection.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/st-patrick.png

Me celebrating St. Patrick's Day with a little bit of face paint

And oh yes, I must not forget living by the ocean. Most Irish that we've met find it amazing how far Nebraska is from an ocean, considering even the most in-land Irish are probably only an hours or two from the seaside. The beauty of the ocean never gets old.