Me in Ireland

Hello blog friends!

As most anyone who is reading this probably knows, I relocated to Co. Clare Ireland from my native Indianapolis where I live with my Irish husband, Tristan. I've been in Ireland since 30 June, 2005, so I'm still relatively new, although I'm settling in quite well here.

I often have observations about the differences between my new home and old home, which I'll air here on my blog. I'm not promising you'll find it terribly interesting all the time. Often I find the most profound differences are in the smaller details.

I'll talk accents and language for today. As everyone knows, the Irish have a way with words and an unforgettable accent. It can be very contagious, especially when you live with an Irishman. There are some words and phrases that I thought would never become part of my personal vernacular even though they are uttered every day by people here. One is 'grand.' Everything in Ireland is grand. If it's good, or even just okay, it's likely to be 'grand.' Another is 'lads.' One can refer to more than one person, regardless of gender as 'lads.'

Yesterday, I did the unthinkable. I uttered both of these words. I think it went something like this:
Coworker: "Would you like a cup of tea?"
Me: "No, I'm grand. Are the lads ready for our meeting yet?"

Swear to God. While I'm here, every bit of any Midwestern American draw drains out of my speech and is replaced with this rather lilting, light language. Get me on the phone with someone back in the states, and I'm a Hoosier again! Back to drawn out "r's" and swallowed "l's" and saying things like "you guys" rather than "lads."

It's still shocking to me. I didn't understand half of what my father in law said through his accent until pretty recently. And even some of the songs are making more sense. (As a kid, I used to think 'Whiskey in the Jar' was a more literal reference to someone keeping whiskey in the type of jar you might use to preserve fruit in, as opposed to a slang term for a drinking glass!)

I know everyone thinks that moving to another English speaking country is easier because you don't have the language barrier. I, too, am guilty of this assumption. While the learning curve might not be that of learning a whole new language, learning to re-interpret the one you know is a different story.

More later...

My first post

Hello! This is my first post on a blog. I always thought this was perhaps a tad bit cliche, but heck, I have family across the ocean who might want to hear from me and see pictures all in one go!

More to come. (I'll spare all the boring background details on my life!)