More Lovely Facts About This Grand Place

Okay.  I just walk around every single day and all these crazy and different and super fun things happen!  And it's so much fun to live in and experience.  So, in Ireland they speak English.  Kind of.  I mean, it's their own special kind of English really.  They use words so differently and use some really unique and funny statements.  One example is the word "mad".  When something is "crazy" they will say "that's mad", instead of "that's crazy".  It's super funny!  I love it.  They also use the words "grand" and "lovely" a lot!  They are both very common words around here.  People will say them a lot in retail situations especially.  If you order something to eat and they ask you a question, they will respond by saying "grand" or "lovely" as a response to your response.  Grand.  Grand.  Lovely.  Lovely.  Such a proper people!  :) They use the word "posh" when talking about rich or wealthy people or areas.  When you are new to something, people will say "you're very welcome".  For example, at church, when I introduce myself as "Samantha, I'm from Utah, out here for six months going to school".  In America they will say "it's good to have you" but here in Ireland they say "you're very welcome".  The first time I heard it, I was thinking "what?, that makes no sense."  And it kind of still doesn't to be honest.  Every time I hear it, it still takes me by surprise and I laugh a little inside. Funny stuff.  A random fact is that Irish people watch a lot of American TV.  They don't have many of their own programs out here, so most people are very familiar with American culture, because of the movies and TV shows that they watch all the time.  So of course they have this "magnified" and a little extreme perception of a lot of cultural things in America.  It's hilarious when people pretend to understand something and you can totally tell it's because they've seen it on TV.  So priceless.  Irish people are afraid of snow!  If it snows even a centimeter here, they lock themselves inside, a taxi driver won't drive, they shut down schools, etc.  They don't know how to react to it!  I think it's funny!  All us international students get a kick out of it, especially since most of us come from snow climates.  The final random thought for now is about police man.  Irish people think that Americans are so "gun crazy and gun happy".  In Ireland the police man (called the GARDA) don't have guns.  Their "weapon" is pepper spray.  Yep.  That's all the cops carry here.  No guns.  I've been explained to that because the GARDA don't carry guns, the criminals just leave them alone, because they know they don't have guns.  So Ireland people think us Americans are crazy because our cops have guns.  And I honestly think it's crazy that their cops don't have guns.  They only have pepper spray.  Haha.  Life In Ireland!  It's so lovely and so grand!