-I love the countryside. The physical beauty of this place is everything that you see in pictures and movies, and then some. Ireland is truly about twenty shades of green, with brown and gold and gray mixed in. Driving in the rural areas is also an experience in itself- the roads are about as wide as a normal-sized car with high hedges on both sides, so good luck if you have to pass someone! The coastline is incredible, too. I went on an Art trip a couple weeks ago up and down the Copper Coast (which is also listed as one of the "501 Must-Take Journeys"), and it's one of my favorite things that I've been able to do so far. If you ever are in this art of Ireland, take an afternoon to see it.
-I love the people. I really do. No, they're not all cheery and happy-go-lucky and nosy and overly friendly and singing all the time (though some do); they're just people like any other group of people you'll find anywhere in the world. There's the nice people and the not-so-nice people, the respectable people and the "knackers". However, I will say that the famous Irish sense of humour is in fact one of the best I've ever known (because I've been so many places, you know... haha). And most everyone is really willing to talk to you- I met this very nice older woman on the bus coming in from town last weekend, and we talked for about ten minutes about how strange it was that there were no other bus riders and how it kind of creeped us out. So yes, you can believe the idea that most Irish people are extremely friendly and nice, and they like to have fun.
-I absolutely love the idea that school starts at nine o'clock every morning. Love love love it.
-I love how old this place is. That might sound weird, but it's true. I love that you can drive down almost any given country road and at some point pass an old ruin of some kind built hundreds of years ago, maybe a church or a cottage, or even a dolmen (which are thousands of years old). I love that the city walls in Waterford were built by the Vikings and are still standing. I love that my first night here, my family took me up into Dunhill Castle (google it, it's a bit amazing), and we climbed up into it and looked out over the bog while the sun was setting. Being a citizen of a country on a continent that was really only "colonized" 400 years or so ago, everything older than that has this weird ancient mystique about it. Case in point: while visiting/exploring around a dolmen one day with my host mom and roommate, we stumbled on an old overgrown graveyard. My host mother pointed to one tombstone and exclaimed, "Look, that one isn't old at all!". It was from the 1790s. Just saying.
-I love surfing. I know that activity isn't endemic to Ireland, much less associated with the country, but I do love surfing here. I went Sunday again, and it was extremely cold, but the waves were big because of the storm and the clouds were stunning. I love the sea and anything to do with it, so surfing is definitely my kind fo sport. I am so blessed to be located in Tramore in that sense.
-So many other things. I could go on and on... but I'll leave it here for now. Updates ot this list will be posted pericodically.
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