Thinking about moving to Ireland? You should do it but you should also be prepared for some level of culture shock. Now that we’ve lived in Ireland for about 7 months I feel like I finally have the time to sit back and reflect a bit on our experience living here.
- The pace of life is much, much slower than the pace of most US cities.
- Eating out takes a few hours and you have to ask for the bill. It’s best to settle in because you live there now for the time being.
- Everything has to be mailed by an post, no matter the wait time. Everything.
- Opening a bank account or finding a job without sponsorship is not as simple as someone might lead you to believe.
- Once your bank account is open, you will have a back pile of trash to handle because you can’t set up any utilities without a bank account.
- You need to show proof of address to open a bank account. It’s easiest to show proof of address with a utility bill. You can’t set up utilities unless you have a bank account. Wait…
- No, you cannot place empty wine bottles in the recycling bin. You have to do a walk of shame to the nearest public bin and sort the glass by color.
- Washing laundry is an all-weekend activity. Clear your schedule.
- Hot water and heat are not immediate luxuries. Also, in some cases, not long lasting luxuries.
- Yes, you have to pay the TV license, even for Netflix, or act like you have no idea until you accidentally answer the door that one time and then they have you on their radar.
- You can only pay for the bus with coins. If you don’t have exact change you have to pay extra and grab a receipt to get your money back from somewhere…still haven’t bothered to figure that one out. Just get a leap card and save yourself the agony.
- When someone says, “don’t panic” they mean don’t worry, not “you are going mad!”
- People will think you are nuts for moving to Dublin from California or anywhere else that is remotely warm. I used to give an explanation, now I just nod politely and smile. After spending some time in the climate here you will begin to think you’re nuts as well.
- Block off half your day for an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) appointment. Your appointment is at 9am? You’ll be out by 3pm…in 2022. Tops.
- Yes, you have to get a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) so that your employer can pay you and also tax you at an extremely high rate.
- Dubliners do not walk in an orderly fashion so give up control and join the chaos.
- Cars do not wait for pedestrians and pedestrians do not wait for the signal to cross the street.
- The food tastes grand and less processed. Milk, eggs, butter, beef, and dessert are far superior than any I’ve had in the US.
- Irish people really are that nice and you may find yourself in conversation with a stranger several times a day. Sometimes you will hear someone’s entire life story on the bus and then never see them again.
- Locals think you are crazy when you take a weekend trip to the countryside and drive more than 2 hours. My colleague told me if you have to drive more than 2 or 3 hours to get somewhere you have to spend at least 5 days there. Not a bad point if you think about it.
- Dublin is a truly international city. You can hear up to 5 different languages being spoken at any given time at work or in the city center.
- Buy at least one good waterproof jacket. You will find out right away what is actually waterproof.
- Forget the umbrella. The wind will ruin it straight away.
- Take the tea breaks with your colleagues and never eat lunch at your desk. Fully embrace the Irish work schedule.
- You will begin to have a tea addiction. Stressed? Tea. Hungry? Tea. Tired? Tea. Chatty? Tea. The answer is always tea.
- Find fellow American expats that feel as homesick as you, but don’t complain about everything. This one is hard to find.
I think the biggest mistake American expats make when they move here is that they assume Ireland will be similar to the States. My advice is to drop all expectations and truly immerse yourself. Don’t compare the heating, hot water situation, shopping, any of it, to the US. Yes, Ireland is different but isn’t that why most people choose to move to a different county in the first place? Time for some tea.