Headcount!

OY

Hey there,

I am new to Boards in the sense that i post rarely but old to boards as i have been a member for awhile. I think that i come to this site to get a bit of Irish humour (or to make sure i do not lose it!).

Anyhow, I moved to the US just over a year ago and am living and working in Minnesota (Coodest Place Ever, temperature wise anyway!) and I was just curious how many of you are no longer resident in Ireland and have gone in search of greener pastures? Also interested in where you guys are ending up? And why you chose to stay/move on?

BEAT

I'd be interested in knowing why you picked minnesota of all places myself!
I have that on the bottom of my list of places I'd visit, let alone move to!

So tell us your story and why you love it there.

Lump

I'm living in London, went to Uni in Carlisle, north England. Then applied for a number of jobs in Media, much easier to get into in the UK. In Ireland you HAVE to join the SIPTU Technical trade Union, which you can only get into if you have two sponsers. Also I wanted to come to work for the BBC. I applied for a job and got in just after finishing Uni, as a result I am in London, for the next 5 to 10 years, ideally 7 years and then it's a move to america hopefully.

John

Kernel32

nevernev wrote:

Hey there,
Anyhow, I moved to the US just over a year ago and am living and working in Minnesota (Coodest Place Ever, temperature wise anyway!) and I was just curious how many of you are no longer resident in Ireland and have gone in search of greener pastures? Also interested in where you guys are ending up? And why you chose to stay/move on?

Living in Portland Maine. Also pretty cold here in the winter. Raining today, hopefully the snow pack should be gone in a week or two. My wife is from Maine which is why I am here. I have also come to really really like living here, been here 6 years or so now. We have thought about moving before. We even went as far as living in Ireland for a while. Luckily we did it as a temporary move because it made us realize how much more we liked it here so we came back. Recently I have been asked by someone I worked with to move to Miami Florida for a job, he landed a CIO job at a big company there, full relocation and a fat salary. Can't do it though, its a tough one because I've never had to turn down an offer like this one. I hope I don't regret it down the road!

OY

BEAT wrote:

I'd be interested in knowing why you picked minnesota of all places myself!
I have that on the bottom of my list of places I'd visit, let alone move to!

So tell us your story and why you love it there.

LOL! I do not blame you for having it at the bottom of your list. TBH I do not think I will be here for more than a couple of years.
There are a few tings keeping me here, my wife is in school here and I have a decent job. Plus I am living in the city, Minneapolis and it is not all that bad a place with a surprising amount of culture and a lot of bars!
The main thing that is pushing me south would be the weather. It is exhausting for me and I think that a few years of it will be enough. I do see us both moving once my wife is done with school.
As to why I love it here, for right now I have a new car, a nice apartment downtown and a great job... and coming from Dublin it makes a nice change to be able to afford it all!
I would not recommend you come and move here but it is not the worst place to be.

BEAT

ya, somehow I think I may never make it over to Minnesota, unless I knew someone there that I wanted to visit
I have lived in Cleveland, Ohio most of my life, lived in Morgantown,West Virginia, and Dubiln, Ireland also....
My favorite was Dublin ofcourse.
I think becuase it is different from what I am used to and I liked it for other reasons too.
I liked being able to drive down to Limerick or over to Galway in just a couple hours to party and seeing all the places in between.
I felt more comfortable there than I have here my whole life.

I will probably move back there someday when my financial situation has changed but for now I stick it out in Cleveland...yay :rolleyes:

Gone West

phoenix, AZ (45 deg celsius in summer, thats why!)

paulcr

I'm from Minneapolis and as far as winters go this one was whimpy. As far as places I wouldn't live Cleveland or anywhere in Ohio for that matter are at the top of the list. If your coming to the US and want quality of life there aren't many places that can compete with Minnesota, Colorado or New Mexico. Stay away from the south or any state that voted for George Bush. Stupidity is contagious.

OY

paulcr wrote:

I'm from Minneapolis and as far as winters go this one was whimpy.

It was whimpy! But i am a whimp so...
As soon as a bad one hits i think i am outta here!

Unpossible

Is this limited to the US ? Im living in Finland now, Ive been here since last may. Im in college here so ill be spending the next few years here (am even considering a masters here).

As to why I am here, well long story short; I got work expirence here last summer & afterwards I decided to live and study here. Im hoping to do an exchange to another country for a few months & hopefully an exchange to the US

RedRules5

nevernev wrote:

i come to this site to get a bit of Irish humour (or to make sure i do not lose it!).

Be sure to take a trip down to the prison forum, its a riot!

Am just down the road from Lump, in Shepherds Bush, London. I can't admit to being here for reasons of education or employment. Just fancied a change from the Dublin and that blasted Celtic Tiger, although it was ill at the time I left, you couldn't watch the news of an evening without hearing about layoffs, political corruption or another increase in the rate of inflation (Nov 02). Have no plans to stay long term, maybe another year or two, but as soon as the GAA championship starts up the homesickness will kick in and I won't know where I'll be the following week let alone the following year.

nevernev, I assume there must be a least one Irish bar in the city, so do you ever meet any other Irish in Minneapolis? You won't find me holding up the bar in the local Irish owned bar (except during summer Sundays) or visiting the Irish Centre but that must be weird being so isolated from the usual Irish hang outs?

OY

RedRules5 wrote:

nevernev, I assume there must be a least one Irish bar in the city, so do you ever meet any other Irish in Minneapolis?

Well actually there are a few. Minneapolis has 'O'Donovans', 'The Local' and 'Kierans'! And Saint Paul (other big city in MN) has 'The Liffey', 'Mcgoverns' and 'The Dubliner'.
I am serious when i say that those are just a few. Just around the corner from my apt is a tiny bar called 'McNamaras'. There is a LOT of irish bars in the twin cities.
On Paddys day i was at 'the local' and there was a fair few irish people, like 10! Most were from Limerick for some scary reason! But it was fun!

Lump

I am interested... Where abouts do you live?

John

RedRules5

On Paddys day i was at 'the local' and there was a fair few irish people, like 10

Thats not so bad so. You're in no danger of losing your sense of humour if you have an Irish bar around the corner. (btw its college, C.O.L.L.E.G.E, unless your a cradle snatcher )

Lump, ten minute walk down the Uxbridge Road from the green. I wouldn't have though many people know where White City is. Is there more to it than the BBC, a massive construction site and an even bigger council estate? Although as council estates go, this one doesn't seem all that bad.

Lump

I live on the White City Estate, once it was the roughest estate in west london. Seems fine now. The building site is supposed to be the Biggest Mall in europe when it's finished.

John

ShevY

Raleigh, NC atm

Gordon

Scottish living in Greece.

Kernel, I'm sure you won't regret it.

Unpossible

You're in no danger of losing your sense of humour if you have an Irish bar around the corner.

not true for me, Im the only Irish person in Kuopio (Ive looked, hopefully Im wrong though). There is an Irish pub here, with the same name as myself funnily enough, but its not great. I only know one other Irish person over here and he lives in the nearby town of Varkaus (he says hes the only Irish person there). So when I hang out with native english speakers they are usually/almost always americans. Ah well, cant complain too much.

OY

See i think that this is interesting. I like to see where people have ended up in this world.
You guys think that it is becoming a trend to leave Ireland? I know that 3 of my good friends have moved country since i did 14 months ago. Is anyone else noticing a lot of their friends leaving?

yossarin

I've noticed friends spreading about the country.

Living in London Bridge, sauf london. Moved over here from dublin with my gf two years ago so she could get experience and climb the work ladder faster. Same for me I suppose - London just seemed to offer more by way of employment.

Unpossible

You guys think that it is becoming a trend to leave Ireland

Ummm, I always thought that less people were leaving Ireland these days. Compared with a few decades ago.

OY

yossarin wrote:

I've noticed friends spreading about the country.

Living in London Bridge, sauf london. Moved over here from dublin with my gf two years ago so she could get experience and climb the work ladder faster. Same for me I suppose - London just seemed to offer more by way of employment.

So maybe i should word it differently then...
Do you notice a trend with people leaving Dublin?
I am just curious as like i have said. A lot of my friends have left, and it seems like a common thing to do to me.

billymeehan

I'm in Toronto Canada at the moment. I've been here 6 months now and I really like it. Its incredibly cold in the winter but the summers are roasting hot, even now its warm enough not to wear a jacket.
I left Dublin because I was offered a transfer with the company I was working for. Also I figured it was a good time to get away, the job was getting a bit monotonous and I'd just broken up with a girl I'd been going out with for a few years. Also I'm 25 and I figured that I probably wouldn't have been able to up sticks and move if I was 28 or 29 (mortgage etc).
Canada rocks though! and its true north american women just love the Irish accent.

Kernel32

billymeehan wrote:

I'm in Toronto Canada at the moment. I've been here 6 months now and I really like it. Its incredibly cold in the winter but the summers are roasting hot, even now its warm enough not to wear a jacket.
I left Dublin because I was offered a transfer with the company I was working for. Also I figured it was a good time to get away, the job was getting a bit monotonous and I'd just broken up with a girl I'd been going out with for a few years. Also I'm 25 and I figured that I probably wouldn't have been able to up sticks and move if I was 28 or 29 (mortgage etc).
Canada rocks though! and its true north american women just love the Irish accent.

Canada eh. My boss travels to Moncton a lot in the Atlantic Canada area, we have some offices up that way. I hear its nice there. Maine borders Canada but I haven't ever gone that far north, nothing but trees, moose, bears and black flies. Someday I will have to take a trip. Up until this year they ran a ferry to Nova Scotia from my city but its not running this year because of a dispute over the ferry terminal.