You will all be happy to know that I am officially a vehicle owner. I'm absolutely in love with my euro car and even better, I survived the journey from Dublin to Cork when I collected her (it's for sure a she) on Friday.
I was surprised at how easy driving came to me. Granted, I've been driving since the age of 16, but the fact that it was on the other side of the road on the other side of the car really intimidated me. Our 2 night stop over in Tipperary gave me a chance to try my hand at driving on country roads. Nothing scarier than driving on a one lane road that's supposed to fit two cars in both directions. Or getting stuck behind a tractor and having to pass it when I'm afraid to go faster than 40 mph. Or better yet, praying silently that random dogs roaming the side of the road won't dodge out in front of me. Still, I managed.
Other than completely underestimating the cost of petrol (gas), I'm thrilled to be back on the road. I've been driving myself to and from work for the past few days and actually have time to get up in the morning and do things prior to leaving for work instead of rushing for the bus as soon as I hop out of bed.
Next on the list is a new job. I start next Thursday and am pretty excited about that as well. Last week I was starting to think I was coming down with a bit of Stockholm Syndrome. I was feeling really bad and scared about leaving the company I'm currently with. I started to feel very anxious about going somewhere different, learning a new product, and meeting new people. But as the start date gets closer and closer, I'm more excited to take on the new challenge. Not so excited about the commute to the new place considering I have to go through more roundabouts and drive partially through the city (ahhhh!) to get there. More to come on that!
So I did it. I always said I would be happy to live in Ireland if I could have a car and get a job here. Done and done. Don't get me wrong, I still miss home and every so often get the "WHAT ARE YOU DOING???!!" voice in my head. This week I'm bummed that my mom and 2 of my sisters are going to all be in Ohio in June without me. If I wasn't starting a new job and didn't just spend my entire bank account on a car, I may have been able to swing meeting them there. This time though I'll just have to get email and picture updates. I'll survive, but I wish I could be there.
Ok, enough sap. Bed time is swiftly approaching. Today I woke up and thought it was Wednesday. Tonight I can take comfort in the fact that when I wake up tomorrow, I'll be correct.
Hi-
ReplyDeleteStill haven't taken the purchasing plunge myself, but glad to hear it went well for you.
I'm the editor of Expat Arrivals.com (http://www.expatarrivals.com), a site devoted to developing comprehensive destination guides aimed at easing expat transitions abroad. I came across your site while doing research to improve the Ireland portion of our guides. I was wondering if you'd be interested in sharing some of your insight regarding life in your country. We constantly are looking to give our readers the most relevant and up-to-date information, and we find there's no better way to do that than to have people on the ground shedding light on their experiences. In exchange for content we give promotional profiles where you can levy exposure for yourself, your blog and your business.
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Best-
Stephanie
stephanie@expatarrivals.com