3 Cultural Shocks I’ve Had Since Moving to Ireland

PART THREE

You can only see the island when you’re not on the island.

I love this quote so much. It humbles me and it allows me to reflect on the idea that not everybody that says something about you is actually being mean to you. Maybe they can see stuff that you can’t see. You are the island. Sometimes it takes an outsider to point things out to you.

I like to think that if anybody points things out to me about my country and culture, maybe, this could be an amazing opportunity and a sign that I should allow myself to start a conversation about issues that matter — and that maybe I hadn’t paid any attention to. Conversations that can lead me to reflection, self-discovery, and growth.

Welcome to Part Three of this series of articles in which I share some of the biggest cultural shocks I’ve had since moving to Ireland.

I appreciate your support, comments, and reactions to what I shared.

The whole point of this series was to share my point of view on the things that have shocked, bothered, and challenged me as a foreigner living here.

If you read the first two articles, you know that I shared both very minor and big cultural differences.

Now, it’s time to close with some other shocks I’ve had that certainly made me aware that this is not the country I grew up in and that I should try to adapt to as soon as possible so that I can have the best experience living here.

3- The way people walk on the streets

The way that everybody walks in Dublin is definitely the most annoying way I’ve ever seen in the world.

What I mean by that is that people here, and of course, I’m also including the tourists, don’t watch their way when walking, crossing the street, turning, standing, etc.

After living in the U.S, and spending some months in the U.K, I noticed that the streets and the way people go from one place to another are very organized.

For instance, when going up or down the escalator in both of these countries, people will tend to stand on only one certain side and leave the other one free so that whoever is in a hurry, can walk faster.

Well, in Dublin, people will stand on the right-hand side as well as on the left-hand side blocking both ways.

Also, when walking on the streets, people in Dublin will walk so slowly but so freaking slowly that whoever is behind them will certainly die of anger because there’s no way you can have a good day when everybody in front of you is taking baby steps to get to places.

And do you know what I wish I could do? I wish could just blame that all on the tourists. But the reality is that I’m mostly talking about the Irish. The way they walk on the streets is so annoying.

Another thing that kills me is when people will just step in front of you without minding their steps and that you’re there.

Be sure that somebody will simply walk right in front of you without saying “excuse me” or minding that you’re going in a certain direction. If you’re grocery shopping, be sure that somebody will simply walk and stand right in front of you as if the aisle were empty. If you’re going up the escalator and you’re in a hurry, be sure that everybody will be standing both on the right and the left-hand side of the stairs blocking every single part of the way.

I don’t want to sound rude, but it looks like it’s everybody’s first time going out on the streets here and that somehow leaves them unsure of how to walk.

This is annoying and I wish they could see how people do it in other countries so that they could copy them.

2- Unnecessary number of bus stops for the same bus lines

When you first come to Dublin, you fall in love with public transport because it looks different and efficient.

Well, it looks like that. That doesn’t mean it is. Once you’ve lived here and used it enough, you start to realize that it is so bad and annoying.

There are three problems with public transport here. The first is the public. The second is the transport. The third is the unnecessary number of bus stops.

Why do we need 3 different stops for the same bus line that are 200 meters away from one another?

This is what I mean: The bus will stop at Stop A, people will get on, then the bus will drive and in less than 3 minutes, it will stop again at Stop B. I mean, couldn’t the people just walk to just the same bus stop?

This results in being stuck on the bus for a huge amount of time.

During my first month here, I lived 7 kilometers (4.34 miles) from the city center. And that took me 55 minutes by bus. Fifty-five minutes to go from a certain neighborhood to the city center? That should be illegal. And trust me, it’s not due to bad traffic. It’s the unnecessary number of bus stops.

The drivers will drive, and then they’ll stop. They’ll drive, then they’ll stop. They’ll drive, then they’ll stop again. All of that in 5 minutes. From one bus stop, you can already see the people waiting at the next one. I mean, WTF???

To make it worse, buses will drive extremely slowly because the speed limit here can not go over 30 km (about 20 miles) per hour in most parts of the city.

1- Kids in strollers ( and a hundred thousand of them on the streets)

One of the biggest cultural shocks I’ve had here was when I saw that kids will be in strollers even when they’re already grown.

I’m not talking about babies, I’m not talking about toddlers, I am talking about a kid who is about 8 years old in a freaking stroller.

As I said in the previous article, I have nothing to do with how parents choose to raise their kids in other countries. It’s none of my business.

But that doesn’t stop me from getting annoyed by certain things they do here.

If you want to go through hell, try to go grocery shopping here. You will see that parents will take their kids with them and they will take them in strollers. The kid is big and healthy enough to walk, but they will be just sitting in the strollers.

But Gabe, why does this bother you so much?

Simply because there will be a hundred million of them on the streets and parents, when pushing these strollers, will hit you, bump into you, run over your feet, block the street or the aisles at the grocery shops, and parents will not give a fuck if you’re hurt or if they are blocking the way.

I’ve gotten into so many arguments here because parents wouldn’t care that they’re running over people’s feet with those huge strollers when clearly, their kids could be walking.

I have a few friends who work as babysitters here, and they all say the same thing: Kids are too spoiled in Ireland. Their parents won’t let them raise a finger to do anything. Their parents will still wipe their asses even when they’re 10 years old. So that explains a lot why parents will still push huge strollers on the streets with a 9-year-old in them.

I try avoiding certain areas and places, but it’s impossible. They’re everywhere. Huge strollers with kids who are big and healthy enough to walk and parents pushing these strollers hitting everyone along the way as if they were playing bumper cars in a freaking amusement park.

Guys, seriously, you can judge me. But only after living here, you will understand what I mean.

Ireland is a small country, the streets are very narrow, sidewalks are even more narrow, and parents won’t let their kids do a little bit of walking? Why all those strollers on the streets? It looks like a field trip for parents when you go to the city center. All of them will be pushing those huge strollers as if they all planned to do that on the same day at the same time together.

Thank you so much for reading my article today!

If you have read all the three articles on Cultural Shocks, thank you so much for supporting me!

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