For those of you who know me in real life, you'll know I've just undergone a pretty big life change. For those who happen to be reading this otherwise, I've just packed up my happy life in Australia to seek new opportunities, new challenges and new experiences in Dublin, Ireland. As such, this blog may change tack a bit from now on. Will try to post more regularly, and will try share experiences from my new life in Ireland. Fear not though, a leopard can't change its spots, so there's sure to be political and other such posts too from time to time.
So it has now been 2 week since I left Sydney. That's probably as good a time as any to begin to recall my journey to Ireland.
After a frantic week of late nights packing, sorting and stressing, everything was done and I set off on August 26th. I was lucky to have some close friends come see me off at the airport, and for that I am so grateful to have such amazing people in my life. With many tears shed, a few last minute surprises, airport arguments over excess baggage and a rendition of Lambada which will forever be etched in my mind and bring a smile to my face, off I went through the departures gate, on my own, to set off on my new path.
The journey to Dublin took me 43 hours. Fun. First stop was Singapore, with scoot airlines, with a business class upgrade sweetening an otherwise bittersweet occasion, fresh from the farewell of my amazing friends. Flight was pleasant enough. Food was nice, service was good, and in business we received Ipads to watch movies on, we got given luggage tags as a gift (random), and got to keep the earphones that came with the iPad. I watched 'the hunger games' on board. Never one to succumb to trends or pay attention to hype, I knew little about what to expect, and found the movie intense. Life lesson learnt: no matter what happens in life, at least I'm not in the hunger games!
After 8 hours I arrived in Singapore, where I had 11 hours overnight which I planned to spend sleeping at my friend's sister's house. What should have been a good rest was shortened by the need to ship off half my luggage in unaccompanied luggage, to avoid exorbitant excess baggage costs by my next airline , Malaysian airline, which gains a dishonourable mention here for that affair. Nevertheless, I got 5 hours sleep in Singapore, in a proper bed, and was hosted very graciously, with a 4am breakfast served to me and just the loveliest of hospitality. Thank you to my friend Kalpna and her family, for organising that for me and for hosting me so well, it means a lot.
Next stop was Kuala lumpur, a short, hour long, flight. Here I ran into a girl I know from sydney, for I wouldn't be me if I didn't run into a familiar face in unfamiliar territory (more on this later).
From Kuala Lumpur, it was a 12.5 hour flight to London. I must say I was not overly impressed with the service on board, though the flight was comfortable enough. During the first meal, they couldn't find me supposedly, to give me the kosher meal I'd ordered. By the time I got my meal others were having theirs collected. Oh well.
After I arrived in London for the final stretch, I decided to try beg for mercy and cut down the 4.5 hour layover enroute to the Emerald Isle. No such luck, no compassion was to be found. Instead I spent half my time talking to an Israeli farmer, who pegged me as Israeli as soon as he saw me, something I found quite ironic given the journey I had travelled by the time I'd arrived into London. Nevertheless, eventually 9pm came around and finally I was on my way to my final destination and onto the start of my new life. Boarding the flight to Dublin on Aer Lingus, it was immediately unmistakable that I was finally on my way to Ireland, with flight crew including names such as "Paddy" and "PJ O'Neill", or as I like to call it "Irish McIrish names". Since arriving here I have found that so many people here do in fact have such typically Irish names, as opposed to just common English names. I guess that shouldn't surprise me much. In any case, after a short flight I was finally in Dublin, and jumped into a cab headed to Dublin 22, where again I was very lucky to have been hosted graciously by the Uncle of a friend from Sydney, while I searched for more permanent accommodation in Dublin.
So here I am. What can I say about my time here so far? There is a saying in Hebrew, which translates in English to "change your place, change your luck". I have always thought of myself as lucky for the things I have in life, but on a day to day basis I am not known for having particularly good luck, if you believe in that stuff. In Ireland though, there is the term "luck of the Irish", and I really feel that since getting here I have enjoyed quite a bit of the luck of the Irish. Funnily enough, while packing up all my things in Sydney, I found a key ring that I had bought in Ireland when holidaying here 3 years ago, with a real 4 leaf clover, another Irish symbol of luck, which I put on my keys since I got here. I am not a superstitious person, but for whatever reason, I do feel that things have gone very smoothly for me here so far (and having now said that I'm not superstitious, "knock on wood" for that one :-p).
So how has the luck of the Irish rubbed off on me? For starters, I started house hunting the 1st full day I got here - and found a house that very night, which I moved into a week ago today. I now live in an area called Portobello, in a charming two storey house with two extremely lovely Irish girls as my housemates. We got on so well when I came to inspect the house that they asked me to move in, if I was interested, on the spot and I immediately agreed. Portobello is a very vibrant part of Dublin, very multicultural and full of diverse restaurants, cafes and pubs. Having researched areas in Dublin before I arrived, it was on my shortlist of places I wanted to live. It's also very close to the city centre, and satisfied my desire to live in a house, rather than an apartment, so it basically ticked the two boxes I had in mind: Living in a house, and being close to the city. Very lucky indeed!
Secondly, as excited as I've been to move out here, my friends will know how much I was dreading the Irish weather. Well, in the two weeks I have been here the weather has been absolutely brilliant, it's actually been really, really nice! Or, as they say here in Ireland "it's been grand". On a side note, "grand" is a term used here a lot, and can be positive or negative. You can say "it's grand" when you're really happy/excited about something, or you can say "it's grand" when really it's not grand at all and what you really mean is "it's ok", or "don't worry about it."
Then there has been the people that I've met so far. I have been told more than once before arriving here how friendly the Irish people are. It is very true. Irish people have to be amongst the friendliest I have come across in the world, everyone really is so nice. From my host in my first week here who looked after me so well and took me under his wing as I arrived, to my lovely housemates who have been so welcoming, one of whom has introduced me to Irish life and out to parties and clubs with her friends, the other one always checking in on me to see how I'm getting on and even made dinner for me tonight while she made dinner for her mum who came over tonight, to even just helpful strangers all around. Even bus drivers and taxi drivers here have just been so damn nice. I have met so many people at work too, from all over Europe, along with some locals, and I work with a great bunch of people all round.
I will expand more on day to day experiences I have had since arriving in future posts. One funny thing to mention though, which I said I'd get to earlier in this post. Those of you who know me personally know how well connected I have become in Australian life with the networks I've established. Hence why it's so typical that I ran into someone I know in Kuala Lumpur airport on my way over, just like it's hilarious yet typical that when travelling in India last year, I ran into someone I know among the billion people that are in that vast country. Naturally being new in Dublin I don't have a network here as yet. However, today I discovered that one of the good friends of my housemate, whom I've met in the last couple of days, used to live next door to an Irish Jewish family who immigrated to Australia who I know from Sydney. Now me being me it is not that atypical that I would know any given Jewish person in Sydney, but what are the chances that in my first 2 weeks here I would meet someone, obviously not Jewish, who happened to live next door to this Jewish family who moved to Australia? The answer is that with approximately 1 million residents in Dublin the chances literally are around one in a million. And yet, in typical me fashion, that's exactly what happened.
One final update before I sign out. I have also made an effort to tap into the Jewish community here. It is very very small. Last week I met the Rabbi, who is really nice, and I attend Shabbat services last Saturday at the Orthodox Shul here. The Rabbi introduced me to other members of the community, most of who are of older generations, there weren't really any young local Jews when I went there. As the High Holy Days are coming up, it was good to go there when I did, as I intend to attend services at the Shul during the upcoming Jewish holidays. There is also a pretty tight knit group of Israelis who I work with, they hang out a lot and seem to look after each other, which is nice. They are planning to do something together for all Israelis and Jews who we work with to celebrate Rosh Hashana, so that should be quite nice.
Overall, it has been a pretty good two weeks here. I am starting to get my bearings around the city and now starting to build some sort of routine. On the cards is an exercise routine I hope to get into soon, and I plan to sign up for Arabic language classes fairly soon, a hobby I picked up in Sydney since the start of this year. Socially things are coming along slowly but surely, as some friendships are beginning to form. I haven't felt lonely or sad as yet, so that's all good. It has been really great receiving so many facebook posts and messages, text messages, whatsapps, email and viber calls from so many people in Sydney already, I love hearing from you all and I promise I'll always respond even if I don't initiate contact, so please keep it up! Being on such a close time zone to Israel has been great too, being able to speak to my sisters and Mum more regularly and at decent hours is, as we say here in Ireland, grand!
So that's it for now, so far I am smiling and pretty happy as I settle in, so only good news so far. Missing everyone, sending everyone, wherever you are in the world, much love from the Emerald Isle xx.
So it has now been 2 week since I left Sydney. That's probably as good a time as any to begin to recall my journey to Ireland.
After a frantic week of late nights packing, sorting and stressing, everything was done and I set off on August 26th. I was lucky to have some close friends come see me off at the airport, and for that I am so grateful to have such amazing people in my life. With many tears shed, a few last minute surprises, airport arguments over excess baggage and a rendition of Lambada which will forever be etched in my mind and bring a smile to my face, off I went through the departures gate, on my own, to set off on my new path.
The journey to Dublin took me 43 hours. Fun. First stop was Singapore, with scoot airlines, with a business class upgrade sweetening an otherwise bittersweet occasion, fresh from the farewell of my amazing friends. Flight was pleasant enough. Food was nice, service was good, and in business we received Ipads to watch movies on, we got given luggage tags as a gift (random), and got to keep the earphones that came with the iPad. I watched 'the hunger games' on board. Never one to succumb to trends or pay attention to hype, I knew little about what to expect, and found the movie intense. Life lesson learnt: no matter what happens in life, at least I'm not in the hunger games!
After 8 hours I arrived in Singapore, where I had 11 hours overnight which I planned to spend sleeping at my friend's sister's house. What should have been a good rest was shortened by the need to ship off half my luggage in unaccompanied luggage, to avoid exorbitant excess baggage costs by my next airline , Malaysian airline, which gains a dishonourable mention here for that affair. Nevertheless, I got 5 hours sleep in Singapore, in a proper bed, and was hosted very graciously, with a 4am breakfast served to me and just the loveliest of hospitality. Thank you to my friend Kalpna and her family, for organising that for me and for hosting me so well, it means a lot.
Next stop was Kuala lumpur, a short, hour long, flight. Here I ran into a girl I know from sydney, for I wouldn't be me if I didn't run into a familiar face in unfamiliar territory (more on this later).
From Kuala Lumpur, it was a 12.5 hour flight to London. I must say I was not overly impressed with the service on board, though the flight was comfortable enough. During the first meal, they couldn't find me supposedly, to give me the kosher meal I'd ordered. By the time I got my meal others were having theirs collected. Oh well.
After I arrived in London for the final stretch, I decided to try beg for mercy and cut down the 4.5 hour layover enroute to the Emerald Isle. No such luck, no compassion was to be found. Instead I spent half my time talking to an Israeli farmer, who pegged me as Israeli as soon as he saw me, something I found quite ironic given the journey I had travelled by the time I'd arrived into London. Nevertheless, eventually 9pm came around and finally I was on my way to my final destination and onto the start of my new life. Boarding the flight to Dublin on Aer Lingus, it was immediately unmistakable that I was finally on my way to Ireland, with flight crew including names such as "Paddy" and "PJ O'Neill", or as I like to call it "Irish McIrish names". Since arriving here I have found that so many people here do in fact have such typically Irish names, as opposed to just common English names. I guess that shouldn't surprise me much. In any case, after a short flight I was finally in Dublin, and jumped into a cab headed to Dublin 22, where again I was very lucky to have been hosted graciously by the Uncle of a friend from Sydney, while I searched for more permanent accommodation in Dublin.
So here I am. What can I say about my time here so far? There is a saying in Hebrew, which translates in English to "change your place, change your luck". I have always thought of myself as lucky for the things I have in life, but on a day to day basis I am not known for having particularly good luck, if you believe in that stuff. In Ireland though, there is the term "luck of the Irish", and I really feel that since getting here I have enjoyed quite a bit of the luck of the Irish. Funnily enough, while packing up all my things in Sydney, I found a key ring that I had bought in Ireland when holidaying here 3 years ago, with a real 4 leaf clover, another Irish symbol of luck, which I put on my keys since I got here. I am not a superstitious person, but for whatever reason, I do feel that things have gone very smoothly for me here so far (and having now said that I'm not superstitious, "knock on wood" for that one :-p).
So how has the luck of the Irish rubbed off on me? For starters, I started house hunting the 1st full day I got here - and found a house that very night, which I moved into a week ago today. I now live in an area called Portobello, in a charming two storey house with two extremely lovely Irish girls as my housemates. We got on so well when I came to inspect the house that they asked me to move in, if I was interested, on the spot and I immediately agreed. Portobello is a very vibrant part of Dublin, very multicultural and full of diverse restaurants, cafes and pubs. Having researched areas in Dublin before I arrived, it was on my shortlist of places I wanted to live. It's also very close to the city centre, and satisfied my desire to live in a house, rather than an apartment, so it basically ticked the two boxes I had in mind: Living in a house, and being close to the city. Very lucky indeed!
Secondly, as excited as I've been to move out here, my friends will know how much I was dreading the Irish weather. Well, in the two weeks I have been here the weather has been absolutely brilliant, it's actually been really, really nice! Or, as they say here in Ireland "it's been grand". On a side note, "grand" is a term used here a lot, and can be positive or negative. You can say "it's grand" when you're really happy/excited about something, or you can say "it's grand" when really it's not grand at all and what you really mean is "it's ok", or "don't worry about it."
Then there has been the people that I've met so far. I have been told more than once before arriving here how friendly the Irish people are. It is very true. Irish people have to be amongst the friendliest I have come across in the world, everyone really is so nice. From my host in my first week here who looked after me so well and took me under his wing as I arrived, to my lovely housemates who have been so welcoming, one of whom has introduced me to Irish life and out to parties and clubs with her friends, the other one always checking in on me to see how I'm getting on and even made dinner for me tonight while she made dinner for her mum who came over tonight, to even just helpful strangers all around. Even bus drivers and taxi drivers here have just been so damn nice. I have met so many people at work too, from all over Europe, along with some locals, and I work with a great bunch of people all round.
I will expand more on day to day experiences I have had since arriving in future posts. One funny thing to mention though, which I said I'd get to earlier in this post. Those of you who know me personally know how well connected I have become in Australian life with the networks I've established. Hence why it's so typical that I ran into someone I know in Kuala Lumpur airport on my way over, just like it's hilarious yet typical that when travelling in India last year, I ran into someone I know among the billion people that are in that vast country. Naturally being new in Dublin I don't have a network here as yet. However, today I discovered that one of the good friends of my housemate, whom I've met in the last couple of days, used to live next door to an Irish Jewish family who immigrated to Australia who I know from Sydney. Now me being me it is not that atypical that I would know any given Jewish person in Sydney, but what are the chances that in my first 2 weeks here I would meet someone, obviously not Jewish, who happened to live next door to this Jewish family who moved to Australia? The answer is that with approximately 1 million residents in Dublin the chances literally are around one in a million. And yet, in typical me fashion, that's exactly what happened.
One final update before I sign out. I have also made an effort to tap into the Jewish community here. It is very very small. Last week I met the Rabbi, who is really nice, and I attend Shabbat services last Saturday at the Orthodox Shul here. The Rabbi introduced me to other members of the community, most of who are of older generations, there weren't really any young local Jews when I went there. As the High Holy Days are coming up, it was good to go there when I did, as I intend to attend services at the Shul during the upcoming Jewish holidays. There is also a pretty tight knit group of Israelis who I work with, they hang out a lot and seem to look after each other, which is nice. They are planning to do something together for all Israelis and Jews who we work with to celebrate Rosh Hashana, so that should be quite nice.
Overall, it has been a pretty good two weeks here. I am starting to get my bearings around the city and now starting to build some sort of routine. On the cards is an exercise routine I hope to get into soon, and I plan to sign up for Arabic language classes fairly soon, a hobby I picked up in Sydney since the start of this year. Socially things are coming along slowly but surely, as some friendships are beginning to form. I haven't felt lonely or sad as yet, so that's all good. It has been really great receiving so many facebook posts and messages, text messages, whatsapps, email and viber calls from so many people in Sydney already, I love hearing from you all and I promise I'll always respond even if I don't initiate contact, so please keep it up! Being on such a close time zone to Israel has been great too, being able to speak to my sisters and Mum more regularly and at decent hours is, as we say here in Ireland, grand!
So that's it for now, so far I am smiling and pretty happy as I settle in, so only good news so far. Missing everyone, sending everyone, wherever you are in the world, much love from the Emerald Isle xx.
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