Dublin, Ireland is not what you would expect.

I arrived here several days ago to intern at Temple Street Children's University Hospital and it has been better than "grand" (a colleague finally explained to me that "grand" means okay/fine). I had been here ago eight years ago, but I didn't remember much about it other then the people were nice and there were a TON of sheep--these both are still true to my knowledge.

Now I've come to learn some of the little things that make Ireland special. Everywhere you go people are friendly and chat with you even if you have never met them before. They make a real effort to be social with those around them even if it is as simple as talking about the crazy Irish weather, you still feel welcomed.

The next thing is the weather; lots of places have crazy weather yet there is nothing quite like experiencing all four seasons with the hour like you can here. You can never plan on what the weather will be like and every time you try, inevitably you will not need anything extra. The craziest part is that even if I read the same weather forecast as the rest of Dublin, I am rarely prepared, but everyone else is. I don't know if the carry changes of clothes or something everywhere they go or if there is some secret weather alert system I need to be on--either way it is very impressive on their parts.

Okay, so once you get used to being horribly unprepared for the weather and strangers talking to you almost anywhere, you have to master the bus system. If your from a city, I'm sure you are rolling your eyes thinking that city buses aren't that hard--well you'd be wrong. Maybe it's due to bad luck or just to the laid-back culture here, but my bus has only been on-time once and I've taken at least fourteen buses since arriving. The sign will tell you that the bus is due in five minutes and twenty minutes later the bus will grace you with its presence. Of course while you were waiting, every other bus has come in multiples. You were waiting on the 11 and in your twenty minutes you have seen FIVE different 140 buses. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN!?! Needless to say, the bus system is not my friend even if I am taking four buses at day to commute to work. Locals tell me all of the time that they don't generally have problems with the buses so maybe it really is just me.

Other important thing to note is that while coffee (really espresso called coffee) is served in many cafes, locals are more likely to reach for some tea. The women I work with keep a kettle at work and every day they drink tea with their lunch. One of the women was telling me that it was not abnormal to have five cups of tea in a day. Culturally they don't go and grab a coffee, they have some tea. I'm not much of a tea person, but I do enjoy the social aspect of it and the fact that the city isn't wired on coffee.

Although I've only been here for a short period of time, I have really come to love it. Sure there are negatives (*cough cough* the bus system *cough cough*), but I think the positives outweigh them. Thanks a million! Cheers! (That is the extent of my Irish phrases).