So... as I mentioned in a previous post, there were some snide comments directed towards yours truly recently regarding this blog...such as whether the blog was ever going to be updated again or it was "so 2007...". In my defense, I only just got back from Ireland (after a month) in the beginning of Jan, having eaten like a sumo wrestler readying herself for a famine during the Christmas season. By the time I digested all that food, something more punishing was around the corner: the last week and a half has been consumed by "hosting" the folks in town for our annual kickoff...these poor, mis-guided souls had to be escorted and steered away from the soul-sucking tourist traps, and who better for that daunting task than someone with such a strong sense of community and self-sacrifice? It was a job I took on with a legendary sense of responsibility, and my liver has since imploded. The economy, however, has been given a boost of unprecedented proportions, with hoards of Europeans tearing through shops, play money in hand (US$ for those subsisting in middle earth), buying everything in sight. The other evening, DB asked me if this indeed was my job or I actually did something for the company aside from this... har har...he's just the quintessence of Irish wit sometimes, that boy.
Truth be told, I'd been a bit of a wallowing-in-self-pity, moany bitch lately, what with the job situation and all. Then I caught up with a good friend recently with whom I hadn't exchanged 15 full sentences since I left for my Ireland assignment. His infant daughter (less than a year) has a tumor in her eye and is undergoing chemotherapy for the same. I can't even begin to imagine what this family is going through...now I feel like an over-privileged brat who has the luxury to complain about being granted one less company-paid perk and doesn't realize how lucky she is (and I'm the worst, really, because I often like to think I am far more evolved in these matters than I am :-) ). Hopefully, most of you reading this blog will take the time to do the same: appreciate our good fortune (till our parents stop sending the checks, anyway), and our health (and especially, by god, our industrial strength livers).
Right then...stay warm, and I'll update the blog with some recent happenings soon.
December 2007 - III
Christmas eve & Christmas
DB called over on Christmas eve with gifts (“so I wouldn’t feel left out over Christmas”), which was such an incredibly thoughtful thing to do that I was confused regarding his gender for a few seconds (didn’t last long, thankfully for us). What’s even better is the fact that these were all gifts that I just LOVED. We all know how it is with Christmas gifts… I mean, which one of us is really going to put that porcelain cat to use, hmm?... well, these have been used a lot since being received – the best gauge, in my opinion, for how much they are liked/ appreciated. Dinner was at TG’s place with a couple of his friends…Indian food (the preparation of which almost killed them with coughing fits… brave lot, these Irish, for being willing to ingest that very same food after that).
For Christmas, I guilted TG into inviting me to his family home for dinner and revelries with the family (I swear, CB has noted that I have acquired the guilt-inducing skills of a jewish mother (she’d know)). He is one of seven siblings, which in itself is stupefying to me. That they were all going to be there with families in tow was an epic event I could simply not have missed. As TG put it, “there’s always place for one more… noone’ll even notice you’re there”. The day started out with gifts being unwrapped by TG’s daughter, amid excited squeals and giggles. After a breakfast of eggs florentine whipped up by TG (this is the LIFE!), the young’un & I were bundled into the car and transported to the family home. After we had each consumed enough food for a small nation, we said our goodbyes, and off we went. It was an incredibly fun time, and I was invited back “anytime” (an invitation I totally intend to take them up on, little do they know!).
DB called over on Christmas eve with gifts (“so I wouldn’t feel left out over Christmas”), which was such an incredibly thoughtful thing to do that I was confused regarding his gender for a few seconds (didn’t last long, thankfully for us). What’s even better is the fact that these were all gifts that I just LOVED. We all know how it is with Christmas gifts… I mean, which one of us is really going to put that porcelain cat to use, hmm?... well, these have been used a lot since being received – the best gauge, in my opinion, for how much they are liked/ appreciated. Dinner was at TG’s place with a couple of his friends…Indian food (the preparation of which almost killed them with coughing fits… brave lot, these Irish, for being willing to ingest that very same food after that).
For Christmas, I guilted TG into inviting me to his family home for dinner and revelries with the family (I swear, CB has noted that I have acquired the guilt-inducing skills of a jewish mother (she’d know)). He is one of seven siblings, which in itself is stupefying to me. That they were all going to be there with families in tow was an epic event I could simply not have missed. As TG put it, “there’s always place for one more… noone’ll even notice you’re there”. The day started out with gifts being unwrapped by TG’s daughter, amid excited squeals and giggles. After a breakfast of eggs florentine whipped up by TG (this is the LIFE!), the young’un & I were bundled into the car and transported to the family home. After we had each consumed enough food for a small nation, we said our goodbyes, and off we went. It was an incredibly fun time, and I was invited back “anytime” (an invitation I totally intend to take them up on, little do they know!).
December 2007 - II
Business meeting in Germany
So off I go in Dec for a meeting in the back arse of nowhere in Germany. No, I mean it… this was no Berlin or Frankfurt. A fine time, nonetheless, because of the folks I was out to meet… they were great company, and I was brought around to a local winery (bought 12 bottles of good riesling… more on that later), the Mannheim Christmas market for what is possibly one of my favorite Christmas related things: gluhwein (mulled wine), a sumptuous meal in a non-tourist spot and loads of strong German beer.
But the excitement only begins after I crash face-down in the hotel. OF COURSE I don’t wake up when I intended to, because the alarm was set for 7 PM instead of AM. So there was a general rush to catch the train to get back to Frankfurt to catch the flight to Dublin. Now bear in mind that while I traveled very light TO Germany (1 small bag & 1 laptop), I now have an additional 12 bottles of wine (weighing 18 kgs) to take back. Basically, from now, pretty much every step, every stair, and every mini-sprint has that weight in addition to everything else and my own tubby self. And also keep in mind my fitness level (pathetic). In my haste, I get on the wrong train – this was not the fast ICE train that takes only 30 mins… this was the slow-ass local one that stops at EVERY damn podunk town on the way to Frankfurt. The ticket collector comes by and informs me that I am on the wrong train… this is not the ICE. Umm… no shit, Sherlock… I could've guessed that from the fact that the cows are keeping pace with us, for god’s sake. I ask him if I can make it in for my flight, which leaves in about 2 hours, and the man just freaks. He launches into a hysterical lecture of some sort in German, glancing at his watch repeatedly and gesturing in a rather maniacal fashion (all this makes him seem like the energizer bunny, but powered by stress instead of Ni-Cd or whatever... there was head clutching and hand wringing involved... truthfully, I hadn't thought Germans capable of such drama. Live and learn, eh?). Anyway, I gather from the hysterics that the answer is “no”. I imagine that in true German style, he simply cannot fathom how I'm not already at the airport, all checked hours in advance. By now he has managed to give me a panic attack as well… (normally not an easy feat when it comes to me & travel related matters)...I am having visions of spending days on this train as we go from village to village before getting to Frankfurt and having to eat my handbag with sauerkraut for meals, washing it down with lukewarm riesling. In the midst of this, I reckon he realizes that my blank stare could mean that I don’t speak German. He races off into the next compartment… at this time, I figure I’ll get there when I get there, and what’s the point in getting frown lines over this? But lo and behold, he’s back with a young lady in tow. She doesn’t speak very good English, but definitely enough to explain to me that I am screwed. He hands me off to her after explaining all my options to her. No, I won’t get to Frankfurt airport in time (1 hr in advance)… in fact, I won’t even get to Frankfurt city by then. Oh, and I have to change trains to get to the airport. Great.
This girl then proceeds to:
- sit with me throughout the journey in case I have any questions
- offer me the use of her phone to change tickets (Expedia is called and they mention it’s too late to change tickets if the flight is in less than 2 hours… I should do this at the airport…also keep this trivia in mind for later)
- give me her contact information in case I ever need help when I am in the area again!!!
- make me get off at the same stop as her, carries half my stuff, and deposits me on the right platform to catch the train to the airport. She asks another girl at the stop to make sure I make it to the airport, and the other girl agrees (!), picks up half my stuff as instructed by girl#1 and prods me to get off at the right stop.
This is just astounding to me… simply AMAZING… I am humbled by such genuine helpfulness!! Several other people offer to help carry things, but I am simply too embarrassed by now to put any more people through any trouble. I manage to run/walk/crawl to the Aer Lingus counter (miraculously, 30 mins before the flight) and choke out my destination. Imagine my surprise when the lady behind the counter says “you’re not on the 10:30 a.m. flight…you’re booked on the 8 p.m. flight. No, we don’t do standby, sorry. Next!” (HOW could Expedia not have told me this earlier??) So now I have half a day to hang around. I go to the company’s Frankfurt office to get some work done, or browse the internet. At the office, I meet some more interesting people… such as the IT manager, a super sweet guy who also happens to be an uber-geek. The following are the highlights of the interaction with him:
Him: please can I take a look at your laptop for a minute?
Me (thinking I had accidentally brought in a virus in or something) yes, of course
He simply looks at it and asked which one it is. I tell him the model number.
Him: "ah... you are a manager position? In the US?"
Me (thoroughly perplexed): "um.. yes"
Him: "I see"
He then goes on to tell me that they have different laptops for different position levels in that office!!!
He and I then have this awkward little chat about computers and why he thinks that IBM laptops suck now that Lenovo has bought them, etc – to the point of insisting that “ze plastic is not even feeling that good". That I was boggled by this attention to work laptop details would be an understatement. I felt inadequate that I had nothing to add to feed this passion… I could only manage to squeak out something about bad battery life… it seemed to work, and he went on to tell me AT LENGTH how to deal with it (including taking me to his office to show me a program used to manage battery power). Then he stopped by a bit later and said, "also you could change the battery". I could only blink vapidly in response, once again surprised at the fact that someone would actually care a whit about my petty woes. Friendly lot in that office...I may go back for a visit after all.
So off I go in Dec for a meeting in the back arse of nowhere in Germany. No, I mean it… this was no Berlin or Frankfurt. A fine time, nonetheless, because of the folks I was out to meet… they were great company, and I was brought around to a local winery (bought 12 bottles of good riesling… more on that later), the Mannheim Christmas market for what is possibly one of my favorite Christmas related things: gluhwein (mulled wine), a sumptuous meal in a non-tourist spot and loads of strong German beer.
But the excitement only begins after I crash face-down in the hotel. OF COURSE I don’t wake up when I intended to, because the alarm was set for 7 PM instead of AM. So there was a general rush to catch the train to get back to Frankfurt to catch the flight to Dublin. Now bear in mind that while I traveled very light TO Germany (1 small bag & 1 laptop), I now have an additional 12 bottles of wine (weighing 18 kgs) to take back. Basically, from now, pretty much every step, every stair, and every mini-sprint has that weight in addition to everything else and my own tubby self. And also keep in mind my fitness level (pathetic). In my haste, I get on the wrong train – this was not the fast ICE train that takes only 30 mins… this was the slow-ass local one that stops at EVERY damn podunk town on the way to Frankfurt. The ticket collector comes by and informs me that I am on the wrong train… this is not the ICE. Umm… no shit, Sherlock… I could've guessed that from the fact that the cows are keeping pace with us, for god’s sake. I ask him if I can make it in for my flight, which leaves in about 2 hours, and the man just freaks. He launches into a hysterical lecture of some sort in German, glancing at his watch repeatedly and gesturing in a rather maniacal fashion (all this makes him seem like the energizer bunny, but powered by stress instead of Ni-Cd or whatever... there was head clutching and hand wringing involved... truthfully, I hadn't thought Germans capable of such drama. Live and learn, eh?). Anyway, I gather from the hysterics that the answer is “no”. I imagine that in true German style, he simply cannot fathom how I'm not already at the airport, all checked hours in advance. By now he has managed to give me a panic attack as well… (normally not an easy feat when it comes to me & travel related matters)...I am having visions of spending days on this train as we go from village to village before getting to Frankfurt and having to eat my handbag with sauerkraut for meals, washing it down with lukewarm riesling. In the midst of this, I reckon he realizes that my blank stare could mean that I don’t speak German. He races off into the next compartment… at this time, I figure I’ll get there when I get there, and what’s the point in getting frown lines over this? But lo and behold, he’s back with a young lady in tow. She doesn’t speak very good English, but definitely enough to explain to me that I am screwed. He hands me off to her after explaining all my options to her. No, I won’t get to Frankfurt airport in time (1 hr in advance)… in fact, I won’t even get to Frankfurt city by then. Oh, and I have to change trains to get to the airport. Great.
This girl then proceeds to:
- sit with me throughout the journey in case I have any questions
- offer me the use of her phone to change tickets (Expedia is called and they mention it’s too late to change tickets if the flight is in less than 2 hours… I should do this at the airport…also keep this trivia in mind for later)
- give me her contact information in case I ever need help when I am in the area again!!!
- make me get off at the same stop as her, carries half my stuff, and deposits me on the right platform to catch the train to the airport. She asks another girl at the stop to make sure I make it to the airport, and the other girl agrees (!), picks up half my stuff as instructed by girl#1 and prods me to get off at the right stop.
This is just astounding to me… simply AMAZING… I am humbled by such genuine helpfulness!! Several other people offer to help carry things, but I am simply too embarrassed by now to put any more people through any trouble. I manage to run/walk/crawl to the Aer Lingus counter (miraculously, 30 mins before the flight) and choke out my destination. Imagine my surprise when the lady behind the counter says “you’re not on the 10:30 a.m. flight…you’re booked on the 8 p.m. flight. No, we don’t do standby, sorry. Next!” (HOW could Expedia not have told me this earlier??) So now I have half a day to hang around. I go to the company’s Frankfurt office to get some work done, or browse the internet. At the office, I meet some more interesting people… such as the IT manager, a super sweet guy who also happens to be an uber-geek. The following are the highlights of the interaction with him:
Him: please can I take a look at your laptop for a minute?
Me (thinking I had accidentally brought in a virus in or something) yes, of course
He simply looks at it and asked which one it is. I tell him the model number.
Him: "ah... you are a manager position? In the US?"
Me (thoroughly perplexed): "um.. yes"
Him: "I see"
He then goes on to tell me that they have different laptops for different position levels in that office!!!
He and I then have this awkward little chat about computers and why he thinks that IBM laptops suck now that Lenovo has bought them, etc – to the point of insisting that “ze plastic is not even feeling that good". That I was boggled by this attention to work laptop details would be an understatement. I felt inadequate that I had nothing to add to feed this passion… I could only manage to squeak out something about bad battery life… it seemed to work, and he went on to tell me AT LENGTH how to deal with it (including taking me to his office to show me a program used to manage battery power). Then he stopped by a bit later and said, "also you could change the battery". I could only blink vapidly in response, once again surprised at the fact that someone would actually care a whit about my petty woes. Friendly lot in that office...I may go back for a visit after all.
December 2007 - I
The complete omission of all December 2007 events from this blog has been noticed by certain observant readers (the sanctimonious little twits that they are) and I have been pulled up on this. As such, the next few posts (including this) will be addressing that concern…
Company Christmas party in Ireland
Venue: Ramada Inn, Co. Carlow
This was an absolute smashing hit, in my humble opinion. Not that I EVER had doubts that this would be the right thing to do (the other option was to bore myself to tears at the company Christmas party in the US), however I still must reiterate that this was a great ol’ time – very well planned and attended. There was a copious amount of alcohol (the great social lubricant), and a good time was had by all, nolens volens. The air guitars were out in full force, and our lads were second to none when it came to partner-toe-crushing action. Needless to say there was singing involved…some mighty fine singing voices in the group, although the other end of the spectrum was also, sadly, well represented.
Company Christmas party in Ireland
Venue: Ramada Inn, Co. Carlow
This was an absolute smashing hit, in my humble opinion. Not that I EVER had doubts that this would be the right thing to do (the other option was to bore myself to tears at the company Christmas party in the US), however I still must reiterate that this was a great ol’ time – very well planned and attended. There was a copious amount of alcohol (the great social lubricant), and a good time was had by all, nolens volens. The air guitars were out in full force, and our lads were second to none when it came to partner-toe-crushing action. Needless to say there was singing involved…some mighty fine singing voices in the group, although the other end of the spectrum was also, sadly, well represented.
Temple Bar
Went to a drinking establishment called "Temple Bar" last night (no stag (bachelor) or hen (bachelorette) parties in sight), in an only mildly objectionable area of town. Struck up a conversation with the bartender, who was a 40-ish woman, and it turns out that she's from Galway, and it was her birthday the next day. We also proceeded to talk at length about what's possibly the most discussed topic in her homeland: the weather. Now generally speaking, Americans tend to talk about the weather when they are uncomfortable, want to break the ice, or have nothing else to say, etc. In Ireland, the weather seems a totally legitimate topic of conversation between individuals who have known each other for months or years. A good chunk of conversations can center around current weather conditions, and comparisons with the last few month/years. I've tried to explain this to my friends in SF, but:
- Several of them are spoilt from only having lived in California after moving to the US, mostly from other warm climates. No upstate NY with chances of a snow-in till mid-May for this lot! A whole week without the sun is an unthinkable thing.
- I really think this obsession cannot be appreciated until one has lived in Ireland for a bit, and been hugely surprised by a fantastic day in October, or crushingly disappointed by a much-promised summer that never quite arrived.
Anyway, Temple Bar was followed by Indian/Pakistani food at a hole in the wall place around the corner. Hadn't been there in months... thankfully, not much had changed. Everything was still guaranteed to be completely non-organic, hyper-fattening, instantaneously food coma-inducing, and swimming in as much oil as the containers would allow. Oh, and did I mention social-interaction-inhibiting odors that refuse to part company with one's skin, hair or clothes? Good times! Ate like a pig starved for generations (a skill perfected by yours truly from travels to Spain).
- Several of them are spoilt from only having lived in California after moving to the US, mostly from other warm climates. No upstate NY with chances of a snow-in till mid-May for this lot! A whole week without the sun is an unthinkable thing.
- I really think this obsession cannot be appreciated until one has lived in Ireland for a bit, and been hugely surprised by a fantastic day in October, or crushingly disappointed by a much-promised summer that never quite arrived.
Anyway, Temple Bar was followed by Indian/Pakistani food at a hole in the wall place around the corner. Hadn't been there in months... thankfully, not much had changed. Everything was still guaranteed to be completely non-organic, hyper-fattening, instantaneously food coma-inducing, and swimming in as much oil as the containers would allow. Oh, and did I mention social-interaction-inhibiting odors that refuse to part company with one's skin, hair or clothes? Good times! Ate like a pig starved for generations (a skill perfected by yours truly from travels to Spain).
R.I.P.
PK's cat died today. Actually, we don't know when exactly it died...could have been a couple of days. PK is on vacation in Spain with her husband. Around 10 p.m., I received a hysterical call from PK's cousin who thought something was wrong with the cat (said cousin was stopping by to check on the cats upon request). While I was looking up an emergency/ 24-hr vet's number, she called back and said she thought the cat was dead. She couldn't go back and take a look or touch it to see. Could I please come over right away? Ok. Panic. What does one DO in a situation like that? Well, we found out after a few phone calls that we needed to take the cat into a 24-hr pet clinic, and they would take care of all the "arrangements" for us. So today I had to touch and transport my first dead body. Stiff as a board, and cold. I've seen several dead bodies up close before this, but never been responsible for one. Don't want to repeat the experience, for sure.
Surreal that this was a living being when I had last seen it only a few days ago, giving us all attitude as only cats can. This would be 1 of the only 2 cats I've ever developed an affection for. It died at home, alone for days, and was obviously a bit sick prior because it had thrown up in a corner. Noone was there to take notice or help. What a miserable feeling, and a terrible way to die...I wonder if that's what really freaked me out about the whole thing. AH, DB and I had once laughed about a certain party guest acting like dying cats after falling down the stairs. The truth is obviously far from funny.
Surreal that this was a living being when I had last seen it only a few days ago, giving us all attitude as only cats can. This would be 1 of the only 2 cats I've ever developed an affection for. It died at home, alone for days, and was obviously a bit sick prior because it had thrown up in a corner. Noone was there to take notice or help. What a miserable feeling, and a terrible way to die...I wonder if that's what really freaked me out about the whole thing. AH, DB and I had once laughed about a certain party guest acting like dying cats after falling down the stairs. The truth is obviously far from funny.
Thanksgiving weekend
Fine... some of you wanted to know what went on on this long weekend, so here it is (no flak accepted for lack of excitement):
Thanksgiving day: Headed to a good friend's place for dinner. His wife, whose family was visiting, was horrified that he would have invited anyone who was a newbie and may not be able to appreciate their sense of humor or propriety. She'd obviously overlooked the minor details of my country of origin, what prizes lurk in each and every Indian family, and that melodrama runs in my blood! Anyway, it was all for naught... had an absolutely fantastic time with the family. Her uncle reminded me of one of my own, as it happens! aah..families! At the risk of sounding like a sop, I am so grateful to them for making me feel totally at home while I was there. I was even considering staying over when they offered (actually, I had been considering it well before that!)... if it hadn't been for CB coming by the next morning, I most likely would have, and stuffed my shameless face with delicious homemade breakfast before rolling out to the car.
After Thanksgiving:
- CB arrived in SF on fri at 1 p.m., and not a second was wasted before we went about lining up the drinks.
- Headed over to the farmers market at the ferry building on sat, and pretty much spent all the time guzzling wine at the wine bar instead of getting our greens. That set the tone for the rest of the day.
- Over the course of the weekend, I'd like to say that we stuffed our faces like never before, but that would be a lie. We did, however, do our best to set new records. The staff at the Chinese/dim-sum restaurant upon which we descended was visibly disturbed at the amount of food ordered for all 3 rounds (not courses, rounds).
And now it's over. More updates later...
Thanksgiving day: Headed to a good friend's place for dinner. His wife, whose family was visiting, was horrified that he would have invited anyone who was a newbie and may not be able to appreciate their sense of humor or propriety. She'd obviously overlooked the minor details of my country of origin, what prizes lurk in each and every Indian family, and that melodrama runs in my blood! Anyway, it was all for naught... had an absolutely fantastic time with the family. Her uncle reminded me of one of my own, as it happens! aah..families! At the risk of sounding like a sop, I am so grateful to them for making me feel totally at home while I was there. I was even considering staying over when they offered (actually, I had been considering it well before that!)... if it hadn't been for CB coming by the next morning, I most likely would have, and stuffed my shameless face with delicious homemade breakfast before rolling out to the car.
After Thanksgiving:
- CB arrived in SF on fri at 1 p.m., and not a second was wasted before we went about lining up the drinks.
- Headed over to the farmers market at the ferry building on sat, and pretty much spent all the time guzzling wine at the wine bar instead of getting our greens. That set the tone for the rest of the day.
- Over the course of the weekend, I'd like to say that we stuffed our faces like never before, but that would be a lie. We did, however, do our best to set new records. The staff at the Chinese/dim-sum restaurant upon which we descended was visibly disturbed at the amount of food ordered for all 3 rounds (not courses, rounds).
And now it's over. More updates later...
'tis the season to be tacky...
It has begun...
- Christmas edition cups in Starbucks, served by employees wearing Santa hats (news flash credit: "field correspondent" KR of 'bowchikawowow' fame)
- Suburbia getting geared up, with titular redneck patriarchs enthusiastically bringing out "the nativity scene: front lawn series". Incidentally, an 8 ft tall Santa is only $80 right now, in case anyone's interested.
- Trees subjected to ornamentation that no living being would put up with if they weren't fixed to the ground
- Nauseating catalogs in the mail with perfect little children in disgusting Santa and/or gingerbread man sweaters flashing perfect pearly teeth (I did NOT realize that you can teach kids that young to look fakely happy?!)
- Shoppers that "mean business" with anxious looks and sharp elbows. I actually want to have an out of body experience and hover over the Macy's/ Nordstrom women's departments during the day-after-thanksgiving sale (reportedly the busiest shopping day in the US). I can almost bet money that there's bitch-slapping and cat-fighting involved. I think someone died (or was seriously injured) in a stampede at Walmart the year before last... ain't NO piece of clothing worth THAT!
- Christmas edition cups in Starbucks, served by employees wearing Santa hats (news flash credit: "field correspondent" KR of 'bowchikawowow' fame)
- Suburbia getting geared up, with titular redneck patriarchs enthusiastically bringing out "the nativity scene: front lawn series". Incidentally, an 8 ft tall Santa is only $80 right now, in case anyone's interested.
- Trees subjected to ornamentation that no living being would put up with if they weren't fixed to the ground
- Nauseating catalogs in the mail with perfect little children in disgusting Santa and/or gingerbread man sweaters flashing perfect pearly teeth (I did NOT realize that you can teach kids that young to look fakely happy?!)
- Shoppers that "mean business" with anxious looks and sharp elbows. I actually want to have an out of body experience and hover over the Macy's/ Nordstrom women's departments during the day-after-thanksgiving sale (reportedly the busiest shopping day in the US). I can almost bet money that there's bitch-slapping and cat-fighting involved. I think someone died (or was seriously injured) in a stampede at Walmart the year before last... ain't NO piece of clothing worth THAT!
Ireland
These days I feel like all people ask me is: “How was Ireland? Did you like it?”. A question so straightforward and yet so difficult to answer. Not that I, of all people, can say I saw much of Dublin outside the city center, but my general impression about most places is that aside from the history (that doesn't really directly touch most locals' lives) some distinctive buildings (some riddled with bullet holes and some not), and other tourist sites, it’s not as if any capital city is really that different from another; it’s the people that make the difference. The denizens are the soul of any place, and if someone never came in contact with that, how is the experience describable to them? Gems like these (below) simply can't be paraphrased...they have to be experienced:
• The real usage of the word “grand”: e.g. when referring to a restaurant’s menu: “ah sure it’s not great…it’s grand, like”
• The true meaning of the word “temperate”: as in… “Sure you’ll be grand with a couple of jackets… Ireland’s climate is very temperate”… YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!
• “The one” (drink) -- as in "will we head to Kennedys for the one?"… fresh off the plane, I thought that it was indeed a drink, as in singular. To my surprise (and delight, I must add), I realized that the phrase refers, instead, to “the one that will put one in intimate contact with the flooring”.
• “Your man” or “your one”: as in “Jesus, would you see what your one there is wearing?”.
“Are you happy to be back home?”… now there’s another tough one. Having moved enough in life, I’m not sure where home really is anymore. Part of me now considers Dublin home as well. People tell me that not everyone thinks like this about a place they went for a temporary assignment… in that case, I am really REALLY lucky!
• The real usage of the word “grand”: e.g. when referring to a restaurant’s menu: “ah sure it’s not great…it’s grand, like”
• The true meaning of the word “temperate”: as in… “Sure you’ll be grand with a couple of jackets… Ireland’s climate is very temperate”… YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!
• “The one” (drink) -- as in "will we head to Kennedys for the one?"… fresh off the plane, I thought that it was indeed a drink, as in singular. To my surprise (and delight, I must add), I realized that the phrase refers, instead, to “the one that will put one in intimate contact with the flooring”.
• “Your man” or “your one”: as in “Jesus, would you see what your one there is wearing?”.
“Are you happy to be back home?”… now there’s another tough one. Having moved enough in life, I’m not sure where home really is anymore. Part of me now considers Dublin home as well. People tell me that not everyone thinks like this about a place they went for a temporary assignment… in that case, I am really REALLY lucky!
Microcosm
Our little apartment building has suddenly become a microcosmic reflection of the state of affairs in the US at large.
What makes you think that, you ask? Some of these many "instructional" notes posted all over the place may give you a hint:
- "Please lock this door when you leave"
- "Please make sure that the garage door closes behind you"
- "Please don't put your laundry basket on the table that's used for folding clothes" (yes, I'm not kidding)
- "Please use the garbage chute only for small items. Take larger items down to the bin" (I swear that this is not a product of my altering-substance-induced fertile imagination)
Anyway, there are loads of these all over the building, and let's not even get to the actual cork board by the mailboxes that's meant for posting shit. People have just gone ape-shit C-R-A-Z-Y there...there's the whole gamut from advertising dog-walking services to benign looking yet semi-hysterical notes. Such as: "It was noticed by a member of the Home Owners Association that the garage door was left open in the morning. PLEASE ensure out safety by making sure this does not happen again!!!".
Basically, since the break-in, it seems that we are operating under some kind of "red alert" military regime around here. Oh, and every time I read these notes, I can almost hear that ominous sounding announcement at the airport: "we are currently at threat level orange... do not leave personal belongings... blah blah".
What makes you think that, you ask? Some of these many "instructional" notes posted all over the place may give you a hint:
- "Please lock this door when you leave"
- "Please make sure that the garage door closes behind you"
- "Please don't put your laundry basket on the table that's used for folding clothes" (yes, I'm not kidding)
- "Please use the garbage chute only for small items. Take larger items down to the bin" (I swear that this is not a product of my altering-substance-induced fertile imagination)
Anyway, there are loads of these all over the building, and let's not even get to the actual cork board by the mailboxes that's meant for posting shit. People have just gone ape-shit C-R-A-Z-Y there...there's the whole gamut from advertising dog-walking services to benign looking yet semi-hysterical notes. Such as: "It was noticed by a member of the Home Owners Association that the garage door was left open in the morning. PLEASE ensure out safety by making sure this does not happen again!!!".
Basically, since the break-in, it seems that we are operating under some kind of "red alert" military regime around here. Oh, and every time I read these notes, I can almost hear that ominous sounding announcement at the airport: "we are currently at threat level orange... do not leave personal belongings... blah blah".
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