Living Abroad

[Mikhailov]

Great Spot with a tremendous amount of outdoor activities. Lot of work going into tidying up the downtown "Strip" area which has been deteriorating since the 70s/80s.

From Omagh, Yup.

Did you say you played club & county...trying to work out who you are here ??

[AZOffaly]

Club and Country. As in music

[Puckoon]

No, not even close to playing club and county (or country) I just miss the football. I'm just a regular guy, saving Gotham one day at a time.

That's right. I'm Batman.

[Beffs]

You also can't overestimate how much easier a warmer, drier climate encourages you to get out of the house and do things. Infrastructure over here in terms of transport is top notch which enables a lot.

I second that. When you live in a warm weather climate, your life and lifestyle is so different. You just get out more and do more. After work in the US, I'd go to the pool, or go to a pool party, or have others over for a pool party, or go to a BBQ, or have a BBQ, or go to a Braves game or a Hawks game, or go out on a friends boat on the lake, or go for hike near the river, or meet friends for dinner. Eating is so cheap there, you could do it 3-4 times without much bother financially. Eating out is not just for special occasions the way it is here.

Now that I'm back, I find it depressing that for 9 months of the year, people just come home from work and settle in for the evening and watch telly, or go to the pub to watch the Man U game coz you don't have Sky. I love a typical Irish pub as much as the next person, but there's more to life than just going to the pub, or sitting home and watching Eastenders every night. I've become a terrible couch potato since I've been back and I resent that. 

[heganboy]

Barcelona, Spain. 2015 -  Infrastructure over here in terms of transport is top notch which enables a lot. There are supermarkets everywhere and food is significantly cheaper than at home.

Barcelona- the opposite of America

p.s. Barcelona is in Catalonia, not Spain. ask Gary Lineker

[gallsman]

Don't even start.

[Mickey Linden]

I'm a bit unusual in that I traveled the world and drunk in Irish bars. Mixed with Irish people only pretty much.not deliberate but just the way it panned out. I could be mistaken and I know its cool to say u tried all three different things. The fact for me is that the craic is hard to bate. Walk into a bar where u don't know anyone and walk out with 5 best mates. Could only happen in an Irish bar.

[omaghjoe]

You also can't overestimate how much easier a warmer, drier climate encourages you to get out of the house and do things. Infrastructure over here in terms of transport is top notch which enables a lot.

I second that. When you live in a warm weather climate, your life and lifestyle is so different. You just get out more and do more. After work in the US, I'd go to the pool, or go to a pool party, or have others over for a pool party, or go to a BBQ, or have a BBQ, or go to a Braves game or a Hawks game, or go out on a friends boat on the lake, or go for hike near the river, or meet friends for dinner. Eating is so cheap there, you could do it 3-4 times without much bother financially. Eating out is not just for special occasions the way it is here.

Now that I'm back, I find it depressing that for 9 months of the year, people just come home from work and settle in for the evening and watch telly, or go to the pub to watch the Man U game coz you don't have Sky. I love a typical Irish pub as much as the next person, but there's more to life than just going to the pub, or sitting home and watching Eastenders every night. I've become a terrible couch potato since I've been back and I resent that. 

Problem is tho, that because the food is cheap as chips in America the most of it is pure shite. You can get decent food but its pricey same as Ireland. I like to eat well, not even necessarily "healthy" (as in according to  modern nutritionism) and find the best way to do that is eat at home.

[omaghjoe]

I'm a bit unusual in that I traveled the world and drunk in Irish bars. Mixed with Irish people only pretty much.not deliberate but just the way it panned out. I could be mistaken and I know its cool to say u tried all three different things. The fact for me is that the craic is hard to bate. Walk into a bar where u don't know anyone and walk out with 5 best mates. Could only happen in an Irish bar.

Regularly frequent Irish bars myself abroad but most that Ive been in have had no Irish people in them.

[omaghjoe]

What do you love about being away? - Lifestyle. Freedom to wear what you like or take up any hobby you want without people looking at you like you're not wise.

The freedom to wear your leather hotpants or chaps while you're out shopping in San Francisco I presume

Socal not a pile better tho. But then in turn I can go to the shop looking like a hobo and nobody looks sideways.

Then again, arent the lady residents of Ireland's cities going to the shop in their pyjamas these days?

I wonder tho Eamonn if you started a Bay area road bowling club would you get much strange looks if you where shooting bullets down Lombard St? You'd probably need bigger hedges on it tho for a fair game

[Mickey Linden]

Sometimes I think that's it easy to forget what we have at home. In my local u see some random acts of kindness which are considered normal. Fellas delivering Sunday dinners, sponsoring an underage team, and a gang of lads going to visit someone in hospital with a hip flask full of brandy under their coats. Not sure u get it anywhere but home

[Beffs]

Problem is tho, that because the food is cheap as chips in America the most of it is pure shite. You can get decent food but its pricey same as Ireland. I like to eat well, not even necessarily "healthy" (as in according to  modern nutritionism) and find the best way to do that is eat at home.

That's not strictly true. It depends on what you eat. If you are stuffing burgers and fries, rich pasta dishes and pizza into your gob 3-4 times a week, you'll find yourself in trouble health and weight wise. I could eat great seafood & chicken dishes and great salads for very reasonable prices.

[omaghjoe]

Problem is tho, that because the food is cheap as chips in America the most of it is pure shite. You can get decent food but its pricey same as Ireland. I like to eat well, not even necessarily "healthy" (as in according to  modern nutritionism) and find the best way to do that is eat at home.

That's not strictly true. It depends on what you eat. If you are stuffing burgers and fries, rich pasta dishes and pizza into your gob 3-4 times a week, you'll find yourself in trouble health and weight wise. I could eat great seafood & chicken dishes and great salads for very reasonable prices.

As I said I wasnt necessarily talking about healthy, mainly that it is processed with artificial flavours and tastes like it. Your typical causal dining place in america is like this and that includes the salads with their shitty lettuce and their crappy dressing.
That's not saying there is no great cheap food in America because there is, usually genuinely ethnic stuff, but the more they try to cater to mainstream tastes the worse they usually get.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

Food is fantastic in NYC.   All budgets, all ethnicities, just great.  Like a tour of the world within an hour of your gaff.

[seafoid]

Problem is tho, that because the food is cheap as chips in America the most of it is pure shite. You can get decent food but its pricey same as Ireland. I like to eat well, not even necessarily "healthy" (as in according to  modern nutritionism) and find the best way to do that is eat at home.

That's not strictly true. It depends on what you eat. If you are stuffing burgers and fries, rich pasta dishes and pizza into your gob 3-4 times a week, you'll find yourself in trouble health and weight wise. I could eat great seafood & chicken dishes and great salads for very reasonable prices.

As I said I wasnt necessarily talking about healthy, mainly that it is processed with artificial flavours and tastes like it. Your typical causal dining place in america is like this and that includes the salads with their shitty lettuce and their crappy dressing.
That's not saying there is no great cheap food in America because there is, usually genuinely ethnic stuff, but the more they try to cater to mainstream tastes the worse they usually get.

that is a problem everywhere imo. Cheap food gets flavor from sugar and salt. Decent food gets flavour from ingredients. Punters often go for the cheap because it is what they are used to.