First Impressions of Dublin

Babylon Radio’s interns come from all around the world. Experiencing culture shock, therefore, comes as no surprise.

Find out what Babylon Radio’s interns’ first impressions of Dublin are.

For some of Babylon Radio’s interns it has proven a difficult task to find their way round Dublin in the first couple of days. Especially at night. Of course, there are many significant landmarks that might help you find your way. The spire, the…other monuments and buildings. Irish people use pubs for orientation. Lost interns use…Google maps. Pray, your phone doesn’t die when you need it the most.

It came as a shock to the Polish and German interns when they found out that a pint of Guinness was 6 Euros. And that cocktails were hard to find. For comparison: a pint of beer in Germany is usually not more than 3 – 4 Euros. It is hard to be an intern in Dublin.

The German interns confirm that they prefer the cute swishing sound of the Irish traffic lights over the annoying, high-pitched and ear-blowing sound that German traffic lights make.

I looked out of the window and thought: “Wow, what a lovely day it is today. Sunshine, no wind. Perfect for a stroll through the Phoenix Park. Maybe I’ll spot some deer”. An hour later I was clutching my hat so that it won’t get blown away by the wind while the rain was lashing against my face. Don’t get fooled by Irish weather. How we did we learn to cope with Irish weather? Get used to it. Umbrellas are useless when there is a slightly weaker version of a monsoon ripping your hat off.

And sometimes you happen to encounter people of only one nationality.

An example: When two interns, one of them Polish, decided to grab a coffee/ milkshake in a café near Dublin Castle, the Polish intern noticed that the shop assistant was Polish and decided to have chat with him. There were about 6 customers including the two interns in the café. After a couple of minutes, one after another got up from their seat and went to the counter to pay and to have a chat with the shop assistant – in Polish. Turned out, that every single person in the café (with the exception of the German intern) was Polish! What a coincidence!