After spending a couple of days here in Dublin, I have developed a few initial impressions of the area compared to the US. My first impression of Dublin… it rains… A lot. I have noticed that the food proportions are much larger here than the US. I have eaten at 3 places now and have received very large portions for fair prices. We have had to adjust to drivers going the opposite direction on the roads which makes crossing the street (which is normally a routine behavior) quite tricky because we are not used to the way cars are coming.

One of the first things I noticed when riding on the bus from the airport to our hotel was the lack of tall building. Downtown Dublin is not filled with highrises, busier streets, and more traffic… it’s relatively calm, simple and much less hectic than US cities. This is much different from the US because most cities have densely populated downtowns with highrises and increased traffic.

Even though both the US and Dublin speak English, I find the way locals talk different from the US. Even in professional settings, they are loose with their language. They seem much more relaxed and casual than I would expect from a business setting in the US. I have also found that they have much nicer attitudes towards complete strangers (even us being tourists). I have been absolutely delighted by the way I have been treated by the locals. For example, when we were trying to find an electronics store, we were talking on the street and a random local stopped us and gave us helpful directions without being asked.

Finally, I learned how important Hurling is to the culture of Ireland. After the visit to Croke Park, I learned a lot about a sport I knew nothing about. I was fascinated to find out how popular the sport is and how involved the communities are with their teams. Despite the popularity of sports in the US, we have no sport that can compare to the popularity and universal respect that Hurling has here. It truly is more than just a sport, it is part of their culture and receives a tremendous amount of respect.

I have found that businesses have the same purpose both here and in the US. Despite the more casual setting, different operating methods, marketing activities, and behavior, businesses here have similar mission statements and values as businesses in the US. Overall, the climate is very similar to most Northeast cities. I felt more of a drastic change going from Pittsburgh to Charlotte than I did going to Dublin. I have also found that grocery stores and restaurants carry very similar foods to the US. While they may be prepared differently or have different names, most of the base foods are the same.

I found StayCity to have some differences compared to the Hyatt we stayed at in Charlotte. The room layout is very different compared to traditional US hotel rooms. The Hyatt had an open concept design with lots of decorations and amenities whereas StayCity has a lot of small rooms, hallways, and doors with plain, neutral colors. I have found that StayCity has a much more simplistic layout and design. We are given the necessities and that’s about it. I think this suggests the Irish culture is in general, more simple and casual than the US.