Archive for January, 2008

Dublin Weather

Published on January 31, 2008 in Dublin and Ireland. 2 Comments

You might have heard of the Irish weather. The Irish themselves are complaining about it a lot. Which is funny enough, given that if they’re born here, they had a lifetime to get used to it… :)
Anyway, getting back to the point, I thought I should preserve something for posterity here (me and hundreds of other people who experienced it :D ).

South Dublin, last weekend: birds chirping in the sky, sun shining, spring flowers blooming on the fields, children playing in the grass, an ideal 20 degrees temperature. Only thing missing was Snow White and the seven dwarfs… And this is January.

South Dublin, today: snowstorms, rain, winds of what felt like 80km/h (literally pushing the unlucky few pedestrians), wet, cloudy, apocalyptic nightmare. Then a brief patch of sun. Then again winds, hale, rain, snow, winds… And this is still January.

Now I know that global warming has something to do with all this. I also know that most Irish people told me Ireland was always famous for having 4 seasons in one day. Oh, sweet continental climate, how I miss you… :)
And if you were wondering why I talked only about south Dublin above, the answer is simple: because I was there, and could see it with my own eyes. 5km away could have been a completely different weather, from all I know!

Babel on the Dublin Bus

Published on January 26, 2008 in Dublin. 1 Comment

irish_bus_stripe.jpgDublin is a very cosmopolite city. You don’t have to take my word for it. Just ride the 46A bus into town on a Saturday morning…

Choose the middle back seat on the lower floor of the double decker, sit back and listen.

Chances are that a scenario very similar to the following will occur: On your right, two chinese girls are chirping away. On your left, a Polish guy is talking on the phone to his girlfriend. A couple of blonde German backpackers is checking a map two seats in front. A brazilian guy on the left seat facing backwards just answered his phone, and is talking to what sounds like his manager with a very strong accent. An Irish teenager stops a second from listening to her iPod, and her eyes grow bigger at the multitude of different languages spoken around her. As the bus reaches your stop, you head for the exit, passing by a family of Indians. Oh, and you are Romanian :D
The 46A is the busiest bus route in Dublin, or Ireland for that matter, according to Wikipedia. It crosses the entire southside of the Dublin Area, starting in Dun Laoghaire, and ending in the City Centre, just a bit on the Northside, in Mountjoy Square. Being such a long and busy route, it’s no surprise that it provides for such a fine example of Dublin’s multiculturality.

That is not to say that the 46A always has this kind of people distribution. It would be probably interesting to conduct a full research on this - and I think the bus drivers would have a lot to tell. However, based on my personal observations alone, there are certain times of certain days, when the population on the bus has a high proportion of foreigners, be it immigrants or tourists. And it’s not the same as in the case of London, Paris or New York, as these are really huge cities, which traditionally have had a lot of foreigners. Dublin is relatively small for a capital, and it therefore feels more cosy, in a way like a big village - where everybody knows everybody :) I like Dublin, and I like the Dublin bus (probably also because I don’t neet to travel that much on it ;) ) And being a foreigner myself, I can say I understand why Dublin was voted friendliest European city in 2007.

4 Months 3 Weeks & 2 Days at the IFI

Published on January 11, 2008 in Dublin and Romania. 2 Comments

Film poster at the IFIThis week the IFI Cinema in Dublin is showing “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days“, a Cannes acclaimed film by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu.

I saw the film myself, and while I liked it a lot, I can definitely say it is not for the faint hearted.

Not sure as well how much of the underlying drama can most westerners understand, as the whole movie is basically a snapshot of the life and drama of two student girls in the 1987 Romania, under communist rule. For the person unfamiliar with the Romanian background at the time, the movie will simply seem Kafkian and bleak, the atmosphere crowded, and some of the actions of the characters - insane or impossible to understand. The film does not give any explanation of the social background in those dark days, it has a story to tell, and the director does not want to draw a conclusion, leaving it to the viewer. However, no scene in the film is useless, everything is there for a reason. I think for a person who never experienced life under communism, the film might lose a lot of its value.

Some things - off the top of my head that I think one should know about before watching the movie:

- abortion (and contraception) were illegal in communist Romania - due to the grand plan of Ceasescu to increase the population

- good coffee, and foreign cigarettes were very hard to find, only available on the black market, and usually sold by foreigners living in the country, who were allowed to buy from certain shops that only sold goods in foreign currency, dedicated for tourists or foreign people. That explains the fact that Otilia (one of the main characters) is buying Assos cigarettes from a Palestinian student living in the same hostel (you can see the palestinian flag on the wall behind him in his room).

- because of the scarcity of these items (good coffee and cigarettes), they were commonly used as presents, ways to soften the mood of people you needed help from (bribes, to be blunt).

- communism tried to eliminate class distinctions. This led to opposite reactions from the people, who instead put a lot of emphasis on their social status (When Otilia goes to visit her boyfriend’s family, the host introduces all the guests to her, carefully mentioning the “title” of each - professor, doctor, and so on).

- sexual education was taboo and matters of sexuality were seldomly discussed, and using only carefully chosen, euphemistic language. This can be seen in the conversation between Otilia and her boyfriend, while in his room at his parents’ house.

I will stop here, hoping that the above was at least a bit useful for potential western viewers. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. If you have not seen the film, and are more a Cannes kind of person, than a Hollywood blockbuster type, go see it - I highly recommend it. This is a link to the trailer, if interested.

My Cyprus Experience

Published on January 6, 2008 in Cyprus and Limassol. 1 Comment

Remote Cyprus beachI wanted to write something about Cyprus for a while now. Actually, when I started this blog I thought it would be a collection of both my memories of life as an expat over there, as well as my new life in Ireland. Turned out it’s not that simple. If I really wanted to go for it, I should start a blog separately about that.

Unfortunately, my Cyprus experience is over for more than a year now. Since I did not have a blog back then, the thoughts of a fresh Cyprus expat are lost forever. Same for the thoughts of a fresh Ireland expat (as I only started this blog after spending about a year here already).

Still, it’s never too late for memories. Cyprus is a great little island, with friendly climate and people. They speak Greek over there, but English is the second official language, and the place is a favourite among British and Irish tourists alike. I had a great time over there, and my most fond memories are related to the weather, which is at the extreme opposite of Irish weather (it’s sunny 9 months a year over there…)

Cyprus has a few similarities to Ireland, from the most obvious (they’re both islands!) to the British connection (they both were once under British rule, and have English as one of the official languages spoken). They both also have “trouble up north”, albeit Ireland’s troubles are over for a while now. The northern part of Cyprus is under Turkish occupancy since 1974. The flag of the Republic of Cyprus is showing the full island, a strong sign that they are not going to recognize the turkish side any time soon. Time will tell, but I think it will be interesting to see how the issue will be solved politically, especially since Turkey wants to join the EU, of which Cyprus is already a member.

I was living in Limassol, on the greek side of the island - probably the most southern city in the EU. The current header photo of this blog is actually taken on a remote beach on the north side of the island. We visited the “turkish side” with a group of friends in August 2006, and slept on the beach, one of the most pleasant experiences I had. The thing I remember best is that the moon was full, and it was shining so strong, that it felt as if the light was on in your bedroom. However, since there was no other light around, one could clearly see the Milky Way in all its glory! Such a beautiful sight, too bad that due to light pollution in cities, few modern people get to see it at all in their lives.

Cyprus is more mountaneous than Ireland, the highest peak being Mount Olympus at 1953m (highest in Ireland is Carrauntoohil at 1038m). On new year’s day in 2006, I took the following picture from the top of one of the hills near Limassol:

Limassol view from Germasogeia

One year ago…

Published on January 1, 2008 in personal. 0 Comments

On this day, Bulgaria and Romania were officially joininig the European Union. Also, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish became official languages of the European Union, joining 20 other official languages.

I was celebrating New Year in Vienna, going up the Kahlenberg, taking the attached photo, and one day later experiencing my first Segway ride :) Kahlenberg view of Vienna

Happy New Year!