I gained a lot of experience in cross-cultural communication in Ireland that I did not expect to learn. Obviously, I had expected to adapt to living in and communicating with Irish cultural perspectives, but staying on the University College of Dublin campus, I could not walk down the street without hearing Spanish, Italian, French, even Mandarin voices alongside the predominant Irish and English.

Every day for a month I would interact with the host culture of Ireland, learning what is typical for Irish food, Irish drinks, Irish conversational practices, and that if you don’t hold your hand out for a bus, the driver will not stop! Alongside these subtle and not-so-subtle cultural differences between Ireland and the U.S., I observed the cultural differences other European and Asian travelers faced as well. For example, Italian children often would not hesitate to cut you in line unless you explicitly expressed your desire to order your sandwich before them. On the other end of the standard of American cultural politeness, students studying from Asia approached and interacted with my peers and I a few times– Them, eager to practice their English, and us, eager to learn about their experience in Ireland. Eventually our group learned that the seemingly large number of foreign students is common in Dublin summers as foreign language learning programs often travel to the city with their students to practice English.

Ultimately, I loved being able to immerse myself in a Dublin culture as warm and welcoming as the stew they serve, but I will always appreciate the multicultural interactions between us students visiting the city as an integral part of my education abroad. Despite the many differences between the U.S. culture, European cultures, and Asian cultures, the one similarity which shone united us all in Ireland no matter where we went was a reverence for the awe-inspiring nature of the country, and kindhearted people who inhabited it.

• Name: Andrew Powers
• Status: Junior
• Major: Secondary Education - English
• Hometown: Grand Ledge, Michigan
• Program: Irish Literature and Culture