Being in Ireland for five weeks I feel comfortable describing some of the cultural differences that I have noticed between America and Ireland. There are simply differences such as a french fry vs. chip and also how their cars have the drivers side on the right vs. left side of the car. Those are some of the easy and more noticeable differences between the two cultures. On the other hand there are much more complicated cultural differences such where the two countries stand on abortion and also religion and state being combined.

Interacting with the Irish people there are notable cultural differences there as well. Most Irish people that I have met are extremely friendly and don’t have as big of a  ‘filter’ when talking about topics such as politics or religion. At first this caught me slightly off guard and took some time to get use to. This being said, they weren’t trying to cause any conflict, but rather be friendly towards a foreigner which is what they’re use to. I’ve found that most Irish like Americans and enjoy learning about America and our culture as well.

When it comes to living amongst the Irish and not just being a tourist, I have noticed that most people that live in Dublin work in small businesses and make a good salary. Not many people are ‘rich’, but the majority of people here are middle to upper middle class. Most people here, even though they live in a city, prefer living in homes as opposed to an apartment/flat.

Describing the political conditions here/how the Irish feel about their politics and the worlds politics is quite different than in America. In America, I feel as though I have been mainly exposed to just American politics and I don’t have that much knowledge on other country’s political systems. This being said, I would say that my knowledge about foreign politics is about average for people my age. Talking to my coworkers and other Irish people I have interacted with, they know pretty much all of the world’s politics that are happening right now. In fact, they may almost know more about what is happening in America’s political system now than I do!

Overall, my interactions with the Irish people so far have given me the impression that they enjoy talking to Americans and that they welcome us in Ireland. Many Irish have actually studied abroad in America, so this being said they support students coming here as well as American citizens. I am confident to say that our interactions will continue to have this kind of positivity!