Culture Chat

Living in Ireland has shown me many differences between the American culture, which I am used to, and the Irish culture. I have been able to talk through some of these difference with my good friend, Wibke. She is from Germany, which allows her to see the culture here from a different perspective. We found that the cultural topics we talked about the most where food, clothing, and transportation.

Food

Wibke was telling me, that in Germany, they have three main meals and a time in the day to have a warm drink and bread and cake for special occasions. I am used to having three main meals in my day as well. That is common in American culture. When I was a kid, we had snack time at 3:00pm. That was the best time of the day. We would get home from school and have a snack with Mom before starting our homework. My favorite snack times were when it was cold and snowy out so Mom would heat up water with the kettle on the stove for hot chocolate. As I have been getting older, snack time is not very consistent. I would say that this is a difference between our two cultures, but I would be very happy to adopt this bread break into my afternoons.

We also shared how our lunches are different. I am used to lunch being a sandwich or some sort of cold lunch. I do not exclusively have a cold lunch, sometimes I will eat something warm, but most of the time, supper is the meal I put the most effort into making. I have a warm supper that is usually larger and takes longer to make than my lunch. Wibke is used to lunch being a warm and larger meal. Bread is eaten with most of her meals and potatoes are a common addition in her house.

In Ireland, bread and potatoes are very common for meals. One time, I ordered garlic breaded chicken and they gave me mashed sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and chips (french fries) also. Tea is also a very popular drink in Ireland while ground coffee is less popular (I miss ground coffee. I am tiring of instant coffee and going out for an espresso drink is expensive.)

Clothing

It is hard to miss the clothing differences between the Irish people my ago and the people my ago back home. There is almost a uniform for Irish guys: athletic pants, a sports shirt, and the standard Irish guy haircut often called a fade cut (this is of course not a haircut exclusive to the Irish, it is just very popular). The day time outfits for Irish gals has a little more variety. The going out outfits are the most interesting. Guys will were almost the same thing in the day as they will when going out to the pub or club. The gals will put on their fake tan, eyelash extensions, and short bodycon (formfitting) skirts and dresses before heading to the pub and club.

In Irish culture, they are very conformist in the way they dress. This is different in German and American cultures. Trends are still very popular in both, but people are more open to express different senses of style. The German people may be better dressed though. In Ireland and the United States, people will wear athletic clothes as every day wear instead of solely for athletics. In Germany, it is more common for athletic clothes to be worn solely for athletics.

Transportation

I use the bus a lot more in Ireland than I ever did in the United States. I rode a school bus to school as Wibke did in Germany, but that stopped as soon as I went to high school. In the United States, a person can acquire a drivers license at the age of 16. It is very common for 16 year olds to be driving to school in the United States. In Ireland, a person needs to be 17 years old before a drivers license can be acquired. In Germany, the age is 18. This means that taking public transportation to school is much more common in Ireland and Germany. When I need to get somewhere, I drive. When Wibke needs to get somewhere, she will most often bike. Americans drive more than Europeans because the gas is almost half the cost and many areas are not made to support walking or biking as a primary form of transportation.

I hope you enjoyed learning a few of the cultural differences and similarities that I have noticed. Let me know if there are any other topics you would like me to learn more about or share.