Rachael: The Pace Of Ireland

I have been back in the States for a week now, and I can honestly tell you that when I returned I suffered from culture shock. We were warned ahead of time about the pace of Ireland, "don't get mad when the public transit is late, I waited 3 hours for a bus once and when it finally came the bus driver wasn't even in a hurry.." This made the comparatively slower pace of Ireland seem like a bad thing, but it also applies in a positive way to Irish people. Never in my life before Ireland have I had a stranger ask me how I am and really mean it. In the states People ask how you are and if your answer is longer than "Fine, thank-you" you've lost their interest. In Ireland, people want to know about your brother's swollen toe, your mother's cold and then they want a detailed description of your genealogy starting with your great-great grandmother on your father's side. I'm not sure how, but I become accustomed to this very quickly, and by the time I returned home everything in the States seemed too big and to be moving away from me too fast. In the airport, I had to ask the man at customs three times if going down that corridor was the way out of the airport. After the third, very loud, time I asked the man in the line next to me answered for him without lifting his head a short, "Yes, ma'am". I didn't even know if he was talking to me or not. Some people may have a problem getting used to a different, slower, way of life, but for me I found it was nicer than how people are at home. That is the thing I am going to miss the most.