Expat Life in Ireland // Month #1 recap and photos
I’m a little late on writing this post, as technically last Thursday marked a month of living in Ireland. But, that just goes to show how insanely hectic life has been since I moved here! Getting settled in as an expat in Ireland has pretty all-consuming.
Just for a little background info, my friend Maggie and I moved to Dublin, Ireland on a year-long working holiday authorization visa. When we moved across the Atlantic at the end of April, we had no jobs and no places to live lined up. Not nerve-wracking at all, right?! So here is a summary of our first month of expat life in Ireland!
When we first arrived we spent a few nights at Abigail’s Hostel, right in the city centre. This was my second time staying at Abigail’s and have had a very pleasant stay both times. So it’s a great place for affordable, central accommodation!
We had a crazy night out in Whelan’s Friday night to celebrate Maggie’s birthday, then on Saturday morning we checked out of our hostel to head to our Homestay in Templeogue, an area southwest of Dublin’s city centre. We had the most precious and amazing host family and we had a great time there. Originally we had booked it for 1 week, but after no luck in the apartment hunt after that week, we decided to extend our stay another week.
Getting Settled In
Expat life in Ireland has been hectic, but the worst part has been finding a place to live. Apartment hunting in Dublin is a big ol bitchhhhh and the toughest thing about moving to Ireland. It’s super competitive and such a process. So between trying to find an apartment in a decent location AND job hunting, we were going to and from the city centre by bus all day every day. (I MISS MY CAR!) Oh, and we also had to do all the legal stuff, like registering with the immigration office, signing up for taxes and bank accounts and such. Oh, what fun that was!!!!!!!
The first weekend we were there was a bank holiday, so we spent the Monday wandering around and freezing our butts off in Howth. While there, we stumbled across a restaurant that was hiring and got hired as waitresses on the spot! Whoop whoop! But still, the apartment hunt dragged on for another week+ until we FINALLY found a great place right in Temple Bar with an amazing Brazilian couple who are just wonderful.
After that, we focused on moving, getting groceries and homewares, and settling in to our new apartment. Since then, our first month has consisted of going out, wandering around Dublin, and getting to know our new neighborhood. We’ve been working a lot to try to help with allll the initial costs of moving, so we hadn’t really had a free weekend. I even picked up a few more hours/week working at a clothing store. But month #2 started off with a weekend trip to Galway, so I’ll be posting about that soon! One of the highlights of month #1 was DEFINITELY when the marriage referendum was passed!!!!! It was such an amazing and historic day!
Anyways, that’s the gist of the first month of expat life in Ireland in a nutshell. It sometimes feels like it’s gone by in a flash, and then sometimes I think back to when we were in the Homestay and it feels like FOREVER ago. Funny how that works! But I’m definitely not regretting moving to Ireland, it’s been so fun and rewarding so far!
Some things I’ve learned about Ireland since I’ve moved here:
1. I thought there wouldn’t be a language barrier here…but LOL some Irish people literally don’t sound like they’re speaking English, so sometimes it’s a bit tough.
2. I’ve learned lots of Irish lingo since being here. “Locked,” “Shifting,” “Minted,” “Grand,” being a few that we’ve had to learn.
3. I’ve also noticed fashion trends here that aren’t in the States. Guys here apparently love to wear these grey sweatpant things that get more fitted at the bottom. And I’ve noticed a lot of girls have on really cute outfits and then they’ll be wearing them with like Nike sneakers. BUT SOMEHOW THEY PULL THEM OFF. It’s great, and I’m all about comfort so I’m going to try to rock that.
4. I think we have both FINALLY mastered looking the right way when attempting to cross the street!!!!!!
5. Back home in the U.S., when we hear “immigrants” we immediately think of people from Mexico or other “foreigners.” Some Americans think of immigrants in negative terms, like they’re below us. Well, here, I had to go to the immigration office and stand in line with people from all foreign countries. I was no different because here, I am an immigrant. No privilege because I’m American. I am no better than anyone else in that building. It was a great reminder because sometimes Americans have the tendency to think they are the top of the world. That “their shit don’t stink,” per say.
4. In general, we both feel more comfortable and like…we get “it.” We get living in a foreign country. We try to not be obnoxious tourists. We’re really trying to fit in with locals. It’s ok to ask for help. I absurdly find myself getting REALLY annoyed with American tourists, even though I was one literally a month ago. It’s weird.
Here is my first month of life as an expat in Dublin, Ireland, in photos!
