My Time in Ireland

I feel somewhat ashamed that I've waited until halfway through my adventure to Ireland to write all about my experiences here for all of you. I feel even more ashamed that it took an assignment in my Business Information Management class to inspire me to do this now. It's not that I've not had the time. It's simply that I always manage to find other activities, from sleeping, to staying out late, that seem to get in the way.

To start, I'd like to compose a simple list of things that exist in Ireland, but not in America, as well as things they do NOT have in Ireland, but do have in America:

In Ireland...
Sports
*a nationwide interest in rugby - I did manage to get to one rugby match earlier this semester, and was honestly a bit underwhelmed. The stadium was largely very quiet, but that is probably due to the match not being one people cared about in particular. An interesting concept though that I observed -- in the rugby equivalent of a field goal, the entire stadium hushed itself to complete silence.
*hurling - the most exciting of the three new sports I've been exposed to, hurling involves a bunch of guys running around on a field with flattened sticks and a ball. Somewhat like football, somewhat like lacrosse... I encourage you to take a look on YouTube.
*Gaelic football - perhaps the sport that arouses the greatest fan reaction / pride. Gaelic football is a sister sport to hurling, but the best description is to say that some soccer players got tired of not using their hands, so they picked the ball up.
Social
*Global awareness - I feel very selfish that I can have a thorough conversation about America with just about any Irish native, when I in fact know very little about Ireland, its history, or its current issues (or any other country, for that matter).
Food
Chips (french fries). Lots and lots of chips. With ketchup, mayo, or my favorite, curry!

Not in Ireland...
Food
*root beer
*peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - a staple of my diet (apologies to any nutritionists out there), when I purchased the necessary ingredients at the 'food shop' for this, I got the response: "VERY American"
*Ranch dressing - Ok, so they have ranch, but they've yet to discover its wondrous effect on pizza, chicken wings, or just about any other meal.

I'll be adding much more to this later, including stories and descriptions of my travels throughout Ireland, Amsterdam, and Brussels.