Anyone find the continentals strange?

completedit

Living away surrounded by foreigners, just find their ways so odd. I was sitting around a dinner table and they were having a really earnest conversation about yield curves. I'm probably just an idiot but just find their ways so odd. No wonder Irish people move to other English speaking countries and even then we stick together. Anyone think Irish people in general are just more jovial and better craic than foreigners or is it just what we are used to? Nothing like living away to make you appreciate home 😀

*Don't want to come across as bad, just my own experiences living away. You'll never beat the Irish.

Deebles McBeebles

They terk er jerbs!!!

Yield curves are interesting

I stopped drinking with a few lads because they were all about the craic. Absolutely nothing of value was being said.

Give me yield curves.

jimgoose

Knew a Fodden lassie once. I yielded to her curves. In general Fodden folk don't always wash behind their ears properly and tend to keep kitchen appliances in cupboards, like filthy durty Protestants. In furtherance, their property laws are weird. Aside from that much, they're alright.

Slasher

Irish people are too much into the craic. If we took life a bit more seriously, we would be better off.

The Satanist

Foreigners are awful altogether, they should be forced fed drink until they're having the craic.

completedit

bluewolf wrote: »

Yield curves are interesting

I think you can have an interesting and a fun chat about economics politics but nothing worse when you're at a table and these topics come up and you'd swear it was the meeting at the federal reserve. Bit of humour never went amiss. Maybe it's because, despite them having excellent English, it is very academic so comes across really formal.

Anteayer

"the continentals" are over half a billion people from umpteen different cultures and some of them would consider Irish "craic" pretty tame.

This thread sounds like one of those discussions you'd have at a table full of Bexiteers all of whom moved to Spain in 1989 and are still discussing "the locals".

Did you think for a moment that maybe you were just at a table full of particularly boring people who liked to discuss economics, rather than being on the continent somehow causes this?

I've been at Irish weddings getting my ear worn off by someone talking about engineering or accounting standards or worst of all GAA scores telling me about every bloody match score involving Kerry in the 1970s.

sbsquarepants

Probably going to sound a bit racist - but the more time I spend around our European brethren, the more I realise we are not at all like them!

But it's all good, variety is the spice of life and all that.

Ush1

They weren't foreign, you were next to Aongus VB.

jimgoose

Anteayer wrote: »

"the continentals" are over half a billion people from umpteen different culture...

Exactly. Imagine - hundreds of millions of the fuckers, all eating their young, hiding the toaster in the press and transacting private property in a fashion that is relatively abstruse to an individual from a Common Law jurisdiction. :eek:

branie2

no, apart from the extremists

pleas advice

Ush1 wrote: »

They weren't foreign, you were.

...

Anteayer

Some English speaking countries feel a lot more foreign to me. I know the US call lull you into a false sense of security. You think you understand the culture then you're suddenly up against something like accidentally mentioning that you aren't all that into God and are an atheist while you're a bit drunk at dinner and the whole room goes silent. (Happened to me a few years ago)

Or you overhear : he's had two glasses of wine! The Irish are all like that. Gimme a night out with a bunch of Germans or dinner in France any day.

Even the annoying tip chasing waiters and the in your face customer service that makes you feel like they think you're shop lifting gets weird. Not to mention fake smiles and how may I help you type attitudes.

Then the fact they openly discuss salaries and seem to take no time off ever.

completedit

Anteayer wrote: »

Some English speaking countries feel a lot more foreign to me. I know the US call lull you into a false sense of security. You think you understand the culture then you're suddenly up against something like accidentally mentioning that you aren't all that into God and are an atheist while you're a bit drunk at dinner and the whole room goes silent. (Happened to me a few years ago)

Or you overhear : he's had two glasses of wine! The Irish are all like that. Gimme a night out with a bunch of Germans or dinner in France any day.

Even the annoying tip chasing waiters and the in your face customer service that makes you feel like they think you're shop lifting gets weird. Not to mention fake smiles and how may I help you type attitudes.

Americans are so strange and foreign to me unless they are from California or Deep South or something. I just like the Californians I’ve met mindset. People from the Midwest are the worst, zero divilment, zero charm.

Elemonator

It's literally only the Irish who believe "you'll never beat the Irish".

lainey_d_123

completedit wrote: »

Living away surrounded by foreigners, just find their ways so odd. I was sitting around a dinner table and they were having a really earnest conversation about yield curves. I'm probably just an idiot but just find their ways so odd. No wonder Irish people move to other English speaking countries and even then we stick together. Anyone think Irish people in general are just more jovial and better craic than foreigners or is it just what we are used to? Nothing like living away to make you appreciate home ��

*Don't want to come across as bad, just my own experiences living away. You'll never beat the Irish.

Didn't have to read any further to know what kind of person you are.

YOU are the foreigner, btw.

completedit

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

Didn't have to read any further to know what kind of person you are.

YOU are the foreigner, btw.

We’re all foreigners actually. We are foreigners in the country that we are living in. I’m talking them on an Irish message board. They’re foreigners to us. Don’t get me wrong nice people just bland

I never thought I’d be someone who feels an affinity to British when away but have to say, when you hear the accent and you haven’t heard an Irish one in a while, feel good, got talking to a cool guy from London, proper Afro Caribbean Londoner, man was an absolute gent, had such a good fun chat with him, made me realize how much closer we are to Brits than other Europeans

lainey_d_123

completedit wrote: »

We’re all foreigners actually. We are foreigners in the country that we are living in. I’m talking them on an Irish message board. They’re foreigners to us. Don’t get me wrong nice people just bland

Maybe they think you're bland. Most of my friends in Dublin are foreigners. Got sick of my Irish friends' idea of socialising being getting blind drunk and talking sh1te. Normal conversation topics were 1) b1tching about other people (the women) 2) GAA/rugby/football (the men) 3) just drunken nonsense.

juanjo

Spaniard here. Yielding curves is one of our go-to subjects in big gatherings, can confirm.

completedit

juanjo wrote: »

Spaniard here. Yielding curves is one of our go-to subjects in big gatherings, can confirm.[/QUnOTE]


Ah Spanish don’t count, youz have your own ways but clear you’re up for the craic. On Erasmus, Spanish were the ones who were always getting on it. I’ll never forget the time an Andalusian lad 4am in the morning gave me coinage to make my way to Malaga airport. Hero

mikemac2

The continentals I’ve house shared with must have free oil/gas and electricity where they come from

Heating and immersion on full blast hours each day :eek:

Anteayer

I think you'll find there are boring people everywhere see: Derry Girls Uncle Colm or that priest on Fr Ted who corners people to discuss gas boilers.

lainey_d_123

mikemac2 wrote: »

The continentals I’ve house shared with must have free oil/gas and electricity where they come from

Heating and immersion on full blast hours each day :eek:

No, just properly insulated homes. It's not normal to be uncomfortably cold in your home.

Anteayer

Anteayer wrote: »

Some English speaking countries feel a lot more foreign to me. I know the US call lull you into a false sense of security. You think you understand the culture then you're suddenly up against something like accidentally mentioning that you aren't all that into God and are an atheist while you're a bit drunk at dinner and the whole room goes silent. (Happened to me a few years ago)

Or you overhear : he's had two glasses of wine! The Irish are all like that. Gimme a night out with a bunch of Germans or dinner in France any day.

Even the annoying tip chasing waiters and the in your face customer service that makes you feel like they think you're shop lifting gets weird. Not to mention fake smiles and how may I help you type attitudes.

Then the fact they openly discuss salaries and seem to take no time off ever.

you see some of them boasting on reddit sometimes about how they haven't had a day off in years and the place would fall apart without them if they were gone. like no offence but i'm pretty sure if you won the lotto or got hit by a bus tomorrow, the place wouldn't go under. management's bad management of resourcing is not something for you to boast about

Anteayer

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

No, just properly insulated homes. It's not normal to be uncomfortably cold in your home.

It's actually true though the coldest and dampest places I've ever lived have been in Ireland and the UK. The quality of many houses and residental apartments is very low - some of the very recent build has caught up but you've a lot of houses here where the temperature plummets within 10 mins or turning off the heating and things like on demand hot water and central heating were considered ridiculous luxuries by a lot of those from a couple of generations ago while they've been standard in many parts of the continent for probably 100 years.

I think part of it is while Ireland and British weather can be miserable it's not generally cold enough to cause hypothermia so we never bothered with proper insulation.

lbc2019

See that ludicrous display last night?

ToddyDoody

Supposedly the Finish will sit silently, and perfectly motionless, at a house party.

Anteayer

ToddyDoody wrote: »

Supposedly the Finish will sit silently, and perfectly motionless, at a house party.

Supposedly according to someone who's never visited Finland I would suspect.

Feisar

ToddyDoody wrote: »

Supposedly the Finish will sit silently, and perfectly motionless, at a house party.

Nah, met a Finnish girl on a night out on Dublin. Said she was an ex cop. Also said she was lesbian. She was definitely bi-sexual by the end of the night. I'd describe her as wild. Only Finnish person I've met so i can't really judge them overall.

whisky_galore

completedit wrote: »

No wonder Irish people move to other English speaking countries and even then we stick together.

Because we can't be arsed learning another language.

ToddyDoody

Anteayer wrote: »

Supposedly according to someone who's never visited Finland I would suspect.

Just from what someone else said.

I don't mean to turn after hours into a dumping ground.

Feisar

ToddyDoody wrote: »

Just from what someone else said.

I don't mean to turn after hours into a dumping ground.

I also rate the Dutch as great fun, had some mental nights in a pub called The Flying Dutchman, a lot of people say they are a dour lot, deffo not the case. However I suppose it's down to the circles one moves it.

RobertKK

I know a Finnish guy, it is not a party in Finland if there is no sauna involved. Strangers, men and women getting naked together for the sauna is normal he tells me, and yeah you sit still in the sauna, and you make sure not to get excited, that is a big faux pas...

is_that_so

Great tyres!

Anteayer

Feisar wrote: »

I also rate the Dutch as great fun, had some mental nights in a pub called The Flying Dutchman, a lot of people say they are a dour lot, deffo not the case. However I suppose it's down to the circles one moves it.

+1 on that!
I always found the Netherlands really friendly, vibrant and I like the zany sense of humor. Dour is certainly not a word I would associate with the Netherlands. It’s very, very well organised (probably due high population density and basically being under the sea if they ever forgot to turn on the pumps, maintain the dykes or miscalculate anything) but it’s one of the most fun loving places I’ve been.

Feisar

Anteayer wrote: »

+1 on that!
I always found the Netherlands really friendly, vibrant and I like the zany sense of humor. Dour is certainly not a word I would associate with the Netherlands. It’s very, very well organised (probably due high population density and basically being under the sea if they ever forgot to turn on the pumps, maintain the dykes or miscalculate anything) but it’s one of the most fun loving places I’ve been.

I had a flat tyre in a supermarket car park once, about four different people offered to help and I was only a few mins getting it changed.

Your Face

Oh get you OP - dinner table.
A right Fancy Dan, where were you having dinner - Versailles?!

a_squirrelman

Which country are you in OP?

is_that_so

As good or as bad a bunch as the Irish TBH. Interesting when you're the foreigner. Always found good people to support you with problems.

RobertKK

I really like our continental cousins.

OneArt

completedit wrote: »

Living away surrounded by foreigners, just find their ways so odd. I was sitting around a dinner table and they were having a really earnest conversation about yield curves. I'm probably just an idiot but just find their ways so odd. No wonder Irish people move to other English speaking countries and even then we stick together. Anyone think Irish people in general are just more jovial and better craic than foreigners or is it just what we are used to? Nothing like living away to make you appreciate home ��

*Don't want to come across as bad, just my own experiences living away. You'll never beat the Irish.

You know, I felt the exact same way. About the Irish. When I moved to Ireland.

Seanachai

I get where you're coming from OP, even though I've met some gems of continental people while abroad and at home, I would find more common ground with a British person.

I've partied hard enough over the years, but I never really went for hanging out with gangs of heads who saw themselves as being mad craic. I'd avoid them like the plague if I was travelling. To me the real craic is just a spark of mischief and openness to have fun with somebody, even if you're sober.

Another poster suggested that the Irish should take life a bit more seriously, in one sense I agree that there is a lot of reckless partying and a a flippant approach to serious things that goes on.

I don't like the culture of working yourself almost to death that has crept in though, swapping booze and missing the odd Monday for coffee, cocaine and working every hour god sends isn't a great way to go.

Some people just don't have the spark, or else they're not comfortable being that open with a stranger. I'm not the most extroverted person, but I love just chatting to interesting or funny strangers. My nightmare is to be hemmed in at some dinner party in the sticks where I can't sneak out to a bar if I want to.

lainey_d_123

Anteayer wrote: »

It's actually true though the coldest and dampest places I've ever lived have been in Ireland and the UK. The quality of many houses and residental apartments is very low - some of the very recent build has caught up but you've a lot of houses here where the temperature plummets within 10 mins or turning off the heating and things like on demand hot water and central heating were considered ridiculous luxuries by a lot of those from a couple of generations ago while they've been standard in many parts of the continent for probably 100 years.

I think part of it is while Ireland and British weather can be miserable it's not generally cold enough to cause hypothermia so we never bothered with proper insulation.

I lived in a flatshare in a fancy building in the docklands a few years back and you had to put the water heater on for 30-40 minutes every time you wanted a shower. Only one person could shower in the morning before the hot water was gone. Totally ludicrous. 2015, in a fancy new apartment block and no hot water on demand?

The quality of the housing here is awful. Draughts because of gaps in window frames, doors, etc. If you go to Switzerland, there everything is totally sealed.

Tacklebox

Working in heritage and tourism, I find the French students quite irritating.

They just run riot and if there's a lonely peacock minding it's own business or a goat wandering around a big lawn. You can guarantee those French will chase it to death.

The Irish students are well behaved in comparison.
Ok they're Messer's but they've respect for animals or fowl.

Electric Sheep

mikemac2 wrote: »

The continentals I’ve house shared with must have free oil/gas and electricity where they come from

Heating and immersion on full blast hours each day :eek:

Having lived away from Ireland for many years, I find that Irish people seem to be very stingy with heat and hot water. I'd rather be comfortable in my own home than spend a fortune in the pub "having the craic".

partyguinness

OP...that is the joy of experiencing different cultures and people. They are different. Huge amount of emphasis added by me.

Born and raised in Ireland, lived in Boston for 6 mts, living in England for the past 10 years. Traveled all over the world, met all sorts and lived with various different nationalities in my time. In fact now in England I rarely meet a white English person- mostly South Asians. I remember being in a meeting with 5 other people and there were 6 different nationalities in the room. It was like some bad joke.

Danger is not to revert to lazy stereo typing- yes we all do it.

IAMAMORON

I certainly couldn't buy into the concept that Scandinavians' are no craic, this could not be further from the truth. Any Swedes, Danes, Fins, Norwegians I have met have been great craic.

I will never forget attending a dinner party with an ex girlfriend in Copenhagen, a good few years ago. I remember how at the start of the night sitting down for a soup starter and thinking this is going to be a really bland affair... Fast forward about 3 hours and the entire party were tobogganing down the main stairs on mattresses, everyone plastered out of it, the clothes were half off and the craic was flowing, it was great stuff.

I have lived in Germany before. They can be anything, and they really can. However when you get a German who is a bit of craic you are into a different league for having the craic. They just have it constantly, side splitting stuff which never ends. They can be mighty.

I don't think being Irish entitles anyone to instantly judge how much fun another culture is. I have met some really bland Irish people in my time, there are plenty of strange ones also.....

chrissb8

completedit wrote: »

Americans are so strange and foreign to me unless they are from California or Deep South or something. I just like the Californians I’ve met mindset. People from the Midwest are the worst, zero divilment, zero charm.

Yeah, hands down, mid western Americans are the weirdest bunch of people around. They all have that weird monotone voice! Devoid of humour and as if acting a bit like a dope is the worst thing. Plus half of them dress like the 90's never ended.

castletownman

Tacklebox wrote: »

Working in heritage and tourism, I find the French students quite irritating.

They just run riot and if there's a lonely peacock minding it's own business or a goat wandering around a big lawn. You can guarantee those French will chase it to death.

The Irish students are well behaved in comparison.
Ok they're Messer's but they've respect for animals or fowl.

Just on this, I was at a seminar for museums before christmas, and one of the lecturers told us to be wary of groups of students from those multitudes of language schools in Dublin.

Like wild animals as soon as they enter a space like a museum