General Musings

General expat thoughts, musings

Things about America I've realized are weird

Things about America I’ve realized are weird now that I’ve moved away

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Things about America I've realized are weird

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY, YA’LL! In honor of the most American of holidays, I thought I’d share a few things about America that I’ve come to learn are considered a little weird now that I live abroad.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, if there was one, literally one, silver lining of the pandemic, it’s that I was able to visit home much more in the last year than I ever had before since I was able to work remotely.

It was soooo nice to be able to go home for so long. I mean after all, they do say distance makes the heart grow fonder. Although I’ve found that to be partially true, when it comes to going back to the US to visit now that I don’t live there anymore, in my experience distance ALSO makes me realize that there’s some super weird things about America that literally no other country does.

Here’s 10 normal things in America that I now realize are a little weird now that I live abroad.

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Well dang, it’s been a while.

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Hello? Anyone there?? I know I fell off the face of the earth for a while there and haven’t written a post in *checks notes* THREE YEARS, so I thought I’d post a lil life update. I promise I am alive and well! I’m still in Ireland and still loving it.

Actually, the fact that I’m loving it is part of the reason I haven’t posted in so long.

Let me explain with a lil life update.

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7 American Chains Dublin Needs

7 American Chains Dublin Needs, Ranked by Urgency

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7 American Chains Dublin Needs

Land of the Free, Home of the best fast food in the world. I LOVE living in Dublin, but oh how I miss the greasy French fries and overly-generous portions of American fast food. There’s really nothing quite like it.

And though Ireland does have a few US chains like McDonalds, Burger King, and KFC, they’re just not the same. The portion sizes are smaller, and they just taste different. (That’s probably because they’re lacking the artificial ingredients found in the States that are illegal in most other places because they aren’t meant for human consumption, BUT STILL.)

I’ve gotten used to, and mostly forgotten about, fast food places they have in the States that they don’t have here in Dublin. But then, every once in a while, I’m reminded. Someone utters the word “Popeyes” and I start foaming at the mouth. I wasn’t even a huge fast food eater back at home, but as soon as I hear magical words like “Taco Bell” uttered, I’m a goner. What’s that phrase again, “Distance Makes the Heart Go Fonder?” Well, that’s exactly what I’m suffering from.

Now, keep in mind that I’m from South Louisiana, and I realize that some of these chains aren’t everywhere in the US. But for me, these are THE best and the American chains Dublin needs, like, STAT.

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Ireland Marriage Referendum 2015

Ireland and that BIG Vote!

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Ireland Marriage Referendum 2015

So, if you’ve been watching the news recently, or are in the least bit up-to-date with current events (or you follow me on instagram here or here), you are probably well aware of Ireland’s recent referendum. This past Friday, May 22nd, over 60% of Irish voters voted YES to a referendum to change the Irish constitution to legalize same-sex marriage. They became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote!!

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5 Things I'l Miss Most about the US

5 Things I’ll Miss About the US When I Move Abroad

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5 things I'll miss most about the US once I move abroad

I have been totally and completely MIA from this blog since last week. Things have been CRAZY around here. I had my last day of work, I had the last day at my gym, I had a weekend getaway to a little beach on the Louisiana coast with a bunch of my best friends as a farewell trip.

Anyways, a lot of “lasts” have been happening all of a sudden, and it’s hitting me now more than ever that I AM MOVING TO IRELAND A WEEK FROM TODAY. Like…what?! Some nights, I have trouble falling asleep because I can’t stop thinking about it and everything I need to do before then. And it’s really starting to hit me that I will be gone for an entire year. I sometimes get emotional thinking about it!

America’s not perfect, but it has got some pretty great things. Like, all-you-can-eat buffets, for example. Well, since the day of my departure is looming ever closer, I’ve started to think about what I’m gonna miss most about the US when I move abroad. Well, 5 things/places/events I’ll miss from where I live in the US at least.

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Expat

Expat News / Updates / Freak Outs

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Expat

I’ll admit it, last week I was hard core slackin’ on this blog. I didn’t post quite as frequently as usual, I was slow to respond to sweet comments, and I didn’t get to do much browsing of other people’s blogs. And I missed it! But I’ve been SO busy starting to really prepare for my big move to Ireland. That’s right, soon I’ll be an expat in Ireland ahhhhh!!!!!!

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