Are You Good?

Cultural Differences

It's a question most often asked when ordering food at a counter or while browsing in a shop, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what the response is to "Are you good?" I'm good, how are you? I'd like to order *insert order here*? Oh, I'm terrible, thanks for asking? I cannot quite make sense of it and usually just stumble through an answer.

Drinking an Irish Fanta on my way to Iveagh Gardens, walking past the National Concert Hall.

Despite my confusion over "Are you good?", I expected a much larger culture shock moving to Ireland. Sure, there are things that are strikingly different from the US, but there are some days that Dublin feels like America 2.0 and every accent I hear on the street is American. I'm nearing a month (!) since my arrival so it's possible that it's still a bit too early, but I really am feeling much more settled in and have really enjoyed exploring the city.

Just for fun, here are some of the cultural differences that I've taken notice of so far:

Irish Fanta is what American Fanta wishes it was.

The Irish can make sauces like no other. Garlic butter, garlic mayo/aioli, pepper sauce, you name it. No idea what's in them but please dump them on whatever I'm eating.

Chicken goujons - I had to Google how this was pronounced because I still haven't heard it said once. They're chicken tenders!

Kitchen appliances do not make sense even after reading the manual. Defrosting and grilling in an oven? Absolutely not. The manual suggests that you can even close the door while grilling for "efficiency." Who is grilling in their house with no air conditioning and leaving the door to a 225°C/437°F wide open? There's also a big red switch on the wall that turns the oven on, as if it were a light as opposed to a kitchen appliance.

(I'm just now realizing that these are all food related - food has actually been the biggest difference I've noticed and I'm desperately missing boxed mac and cheese and bread with sugar.)

Ireland thinks that they can get away with no air conditioning because of the relatively mild year-round temperatures, however they would be wrong. I've sweat more in the past month than I feel like I have the entire past year of my life, and I'm quite convinced that I'll not be closing the window in my room until at least November.

On a related note, there are no screens in the windows so as you are trying to cool off a room, bees and flies and spiders often have a mind to come explore places they most certainly do not belong. However, due to the no air conditioning situation, I am doing my best to power through the bug situation. I may or may not have sprayed bleach all around my windowsill yesterday in an effort to deter unwanted visitors.

While the differences are quirky, it's been a joy to experience them and learn about a new culture. Every day I wake up to the sunrise (actually rain or clouds most days but my memory wears rose-colored glasses) and feel so lucky to be here. Just today I woke up to actual sunshine, I rehearsed some Sibelius 2 as part of a wind repertoire class at my school, I bought a cupcake on my way home at one of Dublin's most well-known bakeries that is just down the street from my apartment, and I spent my afternoon at the National Library of Ireland working on genealogy research. If you'd have told me even just a year ago that I'd be living in Dublin today, I'm not sure that I'd have believed you. But how absolutely amazing is it that it's true.

Slán go fóill,

Bernadette