With only a week and a half left in Dublin, time is flying at an alarming pace. It seems like the whole second half of the summer has gone so fast now that we’re all completely settled in and just living what feels like normal life. At this point, work is quite boring, and I’m glad I won’t be spending my 9-5s here much longer. As much as I love it here, I’m looking forward to going home for a few weeks before classes start up again to do absolutely nothing with a fully stocked fridge and pantry (thanks mom).

Professional Success

Back in the United States, a lot of people have the idea that success doesn’t come until you are a filthy rich CEO of a large corporation. We see someone highlighted in Forbes and they’ll mention their five extra houses around the world, and we’ll read their article about how to be a better leader and think about incorporating new practices into our daily life because it works for them. The experiences I’ve had in Ireland would make me think that their idea of success is very different.  To be fair, I’m exposed to a different working environment here than back home, so it could just be that kind of difference that I’m seeing. I am interning for a company that owns and operates different restaurants in Dublin in their small accounts office with three other people. The company is owned by a man and a woman who have employed a lot of their family members and friends, and it seems that everyone in the company is best friends. This has created a much more easygoing and casual environment, juxtaposed to the more cutthroat corporate business world that I have been exposed to.

From what I’ve seen, at least for my coworkers it seems that success to them comes from happiness, rather than wealth. They are all very family oriented and talk about their families and friends a lot at work. They rarely take work home to continue working after they leave the office, which I know goes on a lot at home. They certainly encompass the “work to live” attitude that is here, and that is something I really appreciate.

I remember a conversation I had with a coworker a few weeks ago about where she wanted to end up in the future. It seems like back home, a lot of people want to move to New York City or Los Angeles, or some other big city with a lot going on. She, however, had the opposite idea of what she wanted to do. She said that she, as well as most other people, want to move out of Dublin and into the country (specifically a coast). She said a quieter life in a small town is very desirable, and for that reason, very expensive to move out of cities. There also is much less work, so it isn’t possible for most people but acts as a dream for them to have. I thought this was so interesting because while I’m sure a lot of people in the States want this, it isn’t the universal dream like it is here. Regardless of where you are from, everyone has their own personal idea of success, and I can’t wait to achieve mine someday!

The Fun Stuff

As the mundanity of the weeks continue, I had another relaxing week of not doing much after work. I’ve been watching a lot of Netflix and going to some local parks and restaurants in my free time. I want to fit in as much as I can before I leave, but it seems like I’ve done most things that I wanted to. I finally got out and had some traditional Irish food, which was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I have a couple more pubs and restaurants that I plan to check out, but other than that, I have no major plans.

This past weekend I went to London with my roommates, and two days just wasn’t long enough for the entirety on London. We somehow managed to see everything we wanted to see, but it was a very stressful couple of days. Since we wanted to pack everything in, we were stressed and rushing around all weekend. London was much faster paced and crowded than Dublin is, which I wasn’t a huge fan of. We saw Borough Market, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Parliament, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, St. James’s Park, the V & A Museum, The London Eye, an under construction Big Ben, and more. As beautiful as everything was, I felt very relieved to get back to Dublin Sunday night after such a packed weekend.

This weekend I’ll be heading to Edinburgh, Scotland with one of my roommates for our last weekend in Dublin. I’m really excited to see another UK city full of history. We’ll be getting back to Dublin with all of Sunday left, so we’ll have one last full day in our city, and I’m so excited! I’m sad to be approaching the end, but I know all good things must come to an end.