goodbyes

I said goodbye to two friends, two ex face2facers yesterday evening. Bec and Toast are off to finish their days of traveling before heading back to Australia. They’ll head from Dublin to Geneva, Switzerland. After couchsurfing in Switzerland, they’ll head to London, before finally spending some time in Thailand. After this stint of traveling, they’re going back to Australia for college.

Bec and Toast chose to spend time traveling the world before going to college. I can’t imagine myself at 18 or 19 moving halfway across the world for an extended period of time. Bec and Toast, all the best to you as to finish your travels. It was a pleasure to have met you both (and I just lost the game).

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the moment

As I write this, I’m sitting in the kitchen of my hostel. I’m here with eight other people who are either living in this hostel or coworkers of someone who lives here. We’re enjoying drinks, conversation, and music. I decided I needed to sit down and write.

The eight people I’m with are more or less in the same situation I am. We’re traveling. We’re meeting new people. We’re poor. We’re living life. We’re working or looking for work. More importantly, we’re experiencing what exists outside of the comfortable place we call our home. All of our stories are somewhat different. But, we share as a common bond our desire to fully experience this world we live in.

When describing my situation to people I meet, I often tell them I’m, ‘delaying the inevitable.’ In a sense, this is true. Most likely, the inevitable is I settle down and get a steady job working forty or more hours a week. This is only the inevitable if I choose this path. It’s not difficult to get by in Ireland. It is one god damn expensive country, but I’m doing okay. If I can survive here, I can survive anywhere. Will I eventually settle down? Sure. My family means too much to not eventually move home. As for now, I’m choosing to live my life differently than many of my peers. I wish more people would choose the path I’m taking. If this blog accomplishes one thing, let one person reading it decide that they’ll move abroad. Escape their comfort zone.

I’m rambling. I know. Yesterday, I emailed the author of one of the few blogs I check regularly. If you’re from Iowa City, there is a good chance you’ve read about him. Brian Triplett left home just before the beginning of 2007 and spent a year traveling throughout the world. Reading his blog furthered my desire to move abroad. His writings put my blog entries to shame. He ended his reply to my email with this:

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360 view

My front porch … aka Quay Street in Galway Ireland. The main drag in Galway is a series of pedestrianized streets that start with Quay (pronounced Key) Street, and then High Street, and then Shop Street. During the day the streets are busy with shoppers, street performers, and the like. Come the evening or, as I’m in Ireland, the early afternoon, the many pubs are filled with young and old enjoying cold, pints of Guinness. After the pubs close, the socializing (read partying) moves to the streets and continues till the early morning.

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small world

I never cease to be amazed at how small this world we live in is. This fact was apparent again Thursday night as I was waiting tables at Ard Bia.

First, a quick update on the job … I’m in! I still can’t believe how lucky I was to stumble into the opportunity I have. If I wouldn’t have met the general manager Wednesday afternoon, I’d still be searching for work. Patrick, the general manager, has been brilliant. When I’m working with Patrick, he does a terrific job of taking me under his wing and continually offering me advice. Waiting tables is completely foreign to me. If this isn’t enough, I’m waiting tables in a foreign country – where everything I’m used to is a little bit different. The restaurant is quite small, but my responsibilities are multifaceted. In my role I serve as a host and seat customers, I cork bottles of wine, I bus tables, I take orders, I deliver food, I make coffees, I set tables, I dry wine glasses, I … and the list goes on.

As for now, I’m looking at each night as a learning experience, and every night seems to go better than the last. I will be spending most of my time working at Nimmos Restaurant & Wine Bar, but I will also occasionally work at Ard Bia. Check out the links.

Anyway, I was working at Ard Bia on Thursday evening. As I was opening a bottle of wine for three ladies, one of them asked me where I was from. “I’m from the States, from Iowa,” I let her know (It continues to be unnecessary to mention I’m from the States as it seems all I have to do is open my mouth and my accent is immediately apparent. This always amazes me as I’ve never thought of myself as having an accent.). This lady laughed and asked where in Iowa I was from. “I grew up about an hour west of Des Moines in Atlantic, but I went to school in Iowa City at The University of Iowa.” She then informed me that she received her Masters from the College of Education at Iowa. She was in Galway on business.

What are the chances? If this wasn’t enough, she continued with this. “The program I got my Masters in unfortunately no longer exists. I always get phone calls from students at the University asking me for support. I find it hard to give back the the College when they dropped my program.” I chuckled and let her know that until about three months ago I was with that group of students calling and asking for her support.

A friend from Iowa made it to Galway to visit this weekend. An ex-Telefunder herself, Cat Gaa made the trip from Spain to visit Brian and I. As I was showing Cat around Galway on Saturday, I realized that from a tourist’s perspective, there isn’t much to see or do in Galway. It is a lovely city that in many ways reminds me of Iowa City – yet it is void of the history that encompasses so many Irish towns and villages. Either way, I think Cat enjoyed her brief stint in Ireland. Cat is spending a year in Seville, Spain, teaching English to high school students and teachers – follow Cat on her adventure here.

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(hopefully) one point, iowa.

A quick update on the job search:

I spent the greater part of yesterday walking around Galway handing out CVs to stores who were hiring (CVs being the European equivalent of a resume). I wasn’t expecting anyone to immediately sit me down for an interview. Nonetheless, after four or five hours of walking around the city looking for help wanted signs, I was beginning to become tired and a bit frustrated that the perfect opportunity hadn’t jumped out at me. As I was just getting ready to head back to my hostel, I saw a restaurant which had a sign that read, “Supervisor wanted at Ard Bia!” I didn’t imagine there would be any chance I could land a job supervising a wait staff considering my limited (zero) experience waiting tables. But, I decided I’d at least drop of my CV.

So much of finding a job by dropping in to stores or restaurants is simple luck. Yesterday afternoon at Ard Bia, luck seemed to be in my favor.

As I walked in, I noticed a man at the computer entering in an order. With a smile on my face, I asked him if they were by chance hiring. He looked back, smiled, and said they might be. He then asked me to have a seat and said he would be with me in a moment. Score. This was farther than I had gotten in the previous four or five hours. Patrick came in, introduced himself, and asked what my story was.

“I just arrived in Galway yesterday, and I’m looking for work. I’m from the states, from Iowa, and am spending a year abroad,” I let him know. “Iowa?” Patrick asked. “That’s wonderful. I have a great friend who lives in Des Moines.”

Thank you Iowa. After ten or so minutes of conversation, much of this being about the Midwest, Patrick decided he would like to have me work a trial shift. I worked last night at Nimmos – another restaurant he manages. It went as well as I could have hoped, especially considering my limited experience waiting tables. I’m not entirely sure if I’ve landed the job, but I’m working again tonight at Ard Bia, the other restaurant he manages.

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back in galway

I’m back in Galway. I just booked a week in the Barnacles hostel dorm room.

I dropped my parents off at the Shannon Airport at around 11am this morning. We had a fantastic time traveling together for the week. They both seemed to love Ireland. How could you not? The country grows more beautiful each time I travel its precarious highways. They also both loved the Guinness. One of my favorite quotes from the week was from my mother.

As we were nearing the end of a day driving to a new town, we were all becoming a bit stressed. This is bound to happen when you start each day not entirely sure where you will spend the evening. Navigating can be difficult when traveling throughout Ireland as roadsigns are an often uncommon sight. The frustrations we were all feeling was summed up when my mom said, “I’m ready for a pint of Guinness and some Bacon Fries!” (Bacon Fries are delicious, bacon flavored, rice snacks found in many an Irish pub)

As we were preparing to say our goodbyes at the airport, I was having conflicting thoughts on my current situation traveling. A small part of me thought it would be a good feeling to again have some sort of normalcy in my life. A permanent address. A normal job. A closet to put my clothes in. The other part of me was thinking about how free I was (I’m in Galway as I quit my job with face2face, more on this to come). I had all of my possessions on my back. I had a strong urge to book a cheap, last minute ticket with RyanAir and head to some other part of Europe for a couple days. I decided it would be in my best interest (namely, financially) to come to Galway and look for work.

So, as of right now, I’m unemployed. I quit my job with face2face on Sunday afternoon. I was nearly certain this would happen sooner or later. Even with all of the advantages of the job, I decided it was time to move on. Thursday is November first – this marks the halfway point of my time in Ireland. I’m ready to have a job that doesn’t require 60 hours of my time each week. I have the rest of my life to put in those kind of hours at a job. Where will I be working? I’m not entirely sure as of right now. Hopefully, I’ll be able to give you more of an idea by the end of this week.

Speaking of work, I’ve decided we do to much of it in America. From my understanding, when most people begin full time work in the states, you get two weeks vacation. In Ireland, with most full time positions, you’re given at least five weeks off. There are also eight bank holidays in Ireland. When the banks take a holiday, so does the rest of the country. This essentially means that in addition to your five weeks of vacation, you also get eight long weekends. As a man we met at a pub in Westport Quay said, “Work to live, don’t live to work.”

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updates

Hello from Portmagee, Ireland. Portmagee is just off the Ring of Kerry in County Kerry. Today is Wednesday. I’ve been lucky enough to travel since last Saturday with my folks. It has been great to spend time with them (and, the B&Bs have been much more comfortable than the hostels!). I quickly influenced their travel plans. By this, I mean we haven’t really had our days planned out until we get into our rental car in the morning.

I’ve been our designated driver for the left side of the road. I’m not sure if I’ve posted about this until now, but for the last three weeks I worked with face2face, I was the driver for my team. I’m amazed at how quickly I’ve become acclimated to driving on the right side of the car on the left side of the road.

I met my parents north of Dublin in Howth Saturday morning. It had been (according to my Dad’s count) about 51 days since we last said goodbye in the parking lot of Jordan Creek Mall. I’m sure we’d gone this long without seeing each other before, but it was great to get off DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) in Howth and see their smiling faces.

I’ll fill you in later on more from our travels. This morning, we’re going on a ninety minute boat ride to the Skellig Islands.

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back in courtown

Greetings, friends. Believe it or not, I’m back in the same internet cafe in Courtown that I was 11 days ago when I posted on the 8th of this month. So much has happened between now and then – my apologies for not having posted since then. I also, unfortunately, haven’t done any writing to keep you up to date with my adventures.

I spent the last two weeks working towns in the area around Dundalk. The team I was transferred to was wonderful. I was sad to see them go today as I dropped them off in the streets of Dublin. My old team leader (Danny) and his girlfriend (Bec) decided they were ready to be done with face2face. Bec is from Australia and will be heading home within the next couple weeks. Danny is from Galway and is heading that way to work for a couple months before moving to Australia with Bec. They were heaps of fun to work and travel with for two weeks.

The three of us and Brian (who also moved to Galway by the way to find different work) spent last Saturday driving to the Giant’s Causeway (I don’t have time to describe the Causeway in its entirety, so check out this link!). The drive through Belfast and along the Causeway Coastal Route was spectacular. By far some of the most breathtaking coastline I’ve seen in Ireland. I’d love to post pictures, however Brian and I didn’t mind the crashing swells at the Causeway. As I was turning around to take a picture, a giant wave soaked my jeans and thus, my camera.

Last Sunday, Brian and I hiked a slieve (Irish word for mountain) that was just outside of my place in Carlingford. We started late and didn’t reach the modest 581 meter summit until nearly dusk. We ended up making our way back to our car in the dark – the only thing that saved us from sleeping on the side of the mountain was finding a stream that we knew led to our car. Only would Brian and I find ourselves in this scenario.

I will work tomorrow and then head to Dublin to meet my folks. They arrived in Dublin this morning. I will be traveling with them all next week. When they leave, I’ll either come back to face2face for a couple weeks or head to Galway to find a different job.

Only time will tell.

I’ll do my best to try and write more in the next week. I hope you are all well.

All the best,

mdk

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courtown

Hello all, I’m sitting in an internet cafe in Gorey, which is 5kms away from Courtown, which is where I will be living for the next two weeks.

I left my hostel yesterday and had a chance to look around Wexford in the daylight. I decided I was going to hike outside of town to the Wexford Wildfoul Reserve – this was about 5 or 6kms outside of Wexford. As I was making this walk, I began to question my decision to hike to a place where 1,000s of birds go to spend the winter. As I was walking down the country road that led to the reserve, I passed cottages which had names like, ‘Raven Ridge’ and ‘Raven Lodge.’ Some of you reading this may realize that I’m not a huge bird fan – in fact, I’m somewhat freaked out by the creatures and their potentially deadly beaks.

I was pleasantly surprised. The bird reserve is right next to Wexford Harbor and actually sits 4 or 5 feet below sea level. It was a cool, cloudy, day and the reserve was nearly empty with the exception of myself, a couple small groups of visitors, and thousands of birds. Thousands of Greenland White Fronted Geese – nearly a third of the world’s population – fly to Wexford to spend the winter. I was shocked to read that an occasional Canadian goose somehow ends up at the Reserve as well. It was a peaceful place to spend the afternoon.

I walked from the Reserve to the highway which leads into Courtown. Within five minutes of putting my thumb out, I was picked up and given a lift. Courtown is a nice enough little village – during summer months, Dubliners make the drive to spend weekends here. Yesterday afternoon, the town was nearly empty. I spent the afternoon in a cozy pub and enjoyed a lunch of a traditional loin of Irish bacon, potatoes, and cabbage – and, of course, a Guinesss.

I met my team late yesterday evening and we attempted to check into our accommodation. For whatever reason, the manager of the holiday home complex had no record of our reservation. After an hour of phone calls, we were able to check in and spend the night. The only stipulation was that we get the problem ironed out in the morning. This headache lasted until about 11am today. I wasn’t worried, I only imagined this would potentially shorten my workday. I was elated when I found out that we wouldn’t be working today – and, shortly thereafter, frustrated when I found out we would be making today up on Saturday.

This, is when we decided we would drive to Gorey to eat and get some groceries. As I was writing this blog post, not five minutes ago, my team leader received a phone call from his boss. It turns out that a fundraiser on the team in Dundalk (my friend Lyndon from last week) decided he no longer wished to fundraise for face2face. Guess who now gets to hop a bus and head to Dundalk?

Yes, one Matthew Kyhnn.

cheers, and I’ll keep you updated,

mk

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finally, more pictures

enjoy.

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