Playing Golf the Irish Way

I've been over in Ireland for over a year now and I finally got out to play a round of golf. Why did it take me so long to get out? Mostly I had too many excuses not to golf (it costs too much, I don't have my clubs with me, I can't get a ride to the golf course, I've got too much work to do, etc.). Last weekend I was back out in Tralee, where our Corporate HQ is located, and I was invited to stick around and play golf on Saturday at the Killarney Golf & Fishing Club, home of the 2010 Irish Open. Unfortunately I didn't get to play the course that the Open was played on as it was already booked.

My foursome was comprised of myself, the company CFO, the Corporate Controller, and the Director of Corporate IT. I've mostly gotten over being awestruck by such people, but it still does put one on edge on the golf course. Add that to the fact that I hadn't played in over a year and the result was an especially awful game of golf. Regardless, I still had fun walking the golf course, hoping the rain would stay away (it did, but we got plenty of wind) and getting to know a couple of C-Level employees.

One interesting thing was the negotiations that went on at the first tee. We negotiated what my handicap was (I have no idea) and they settled on giving me 14 strokes. So it ended up being a pairs match with myself and the IT Director against the Finance guys. Out of 18, I won one hole for my team. We lost the front nine, won the back nine, and lost overall. So I had to pay my fiver to the Corporate Controller. It was all in good fun, but I wish I would have played a little better.

Cooking at the Castle

On a peninsula northeast of Dublin sits a small fishing village called Howth (pronounced hote). It's a beautiful little town that has a lot to do: eat seafood, feed seals, walk along the cliffs, see a ruined abbey, and much much more. Tuesday night we had a team-building activity which involved taking a cooking class at Howth Castle.

It was a wonderful experience. We broke into two teams of eight and began cooking a four course meal under the guidance of a chef. The chef taught us how to cut, mince, stir, reduce and refresh. Our menu consisted of:

Mediterranean Feta Salad with Pomegranate
Parma-wrapped Chicken Breast with Ricotta Stuffing
Mushroom and Truffle Oil Risotto
Chocolate Truffle Torte

When we were done cooking, we sat down at the table and enjoyed the fruits of our labors. In addition to the fine dinner, we were treated to some legends of Howth Castle by it's current resident - a direct descendant of the builders of the original castle in the 12th century. The legends include a story about a female pirate abducting the heir to Lord Howth because she was offended by the gates being closed - a breach of hospitality. The heir was returned on the promise that the gates would never be closed and that the dinner table would always be set with an extra setting for an unexpected guest. The table is still set with the extra setting over 400 years later. Additionally, a new set of gates were built that could never close.

An intriguing and fun event - fun was had by all! The meal seemed all the more delicious because we prepared it.

Treadmills are Boring

There is one sure way to get me to exercise. Organize a game of anything that involves two teams playing against each other. Send out an email asking for participants and I will be there. Soccer, I'm there. Softball, I'm there. Team thumb twiddling, count me in!

I've loved team sports since I was kid. I'm sure that my parents remember all the different sports that I needed to play when I was younger (which they paid for and drove me to). I don't know why, but individual sports never appealed to me as much. I do like golfing, but that's more of a "get out with the guys" activity than a sport for me. I certainly don't like going to the gym and walking/running on a monotonous treadmill or going to a track and running in circles.

As I get older, I am lucky to get out and play one game of football a year (Turkey Bowl!). The muscles ache bad after the day of annual exertion. One aspect of my assignment that I've loved has been playing 5-on-5 soccer on Monday/Tuesday nights. I sucked early on, but my play has gotten much better - specifically in goal. However, I still have two left feet when trying to dribble and pass.

My goal keeper skills have won me the starting position for an 11-on-11 grudge match between my company and the hotel where we're working. Next Tuesday night we'll see if I can translate my skills from a small, artificial pitch to a large, grass pitch. I don't have any cleats with me, so I'm not predicting a particularly good showing. Also, I have to protect a goal that is much, much bigger.

Wish me luck!

Tipping in Ireland

Whenever other Americans come over to the project, there's usually a point where we end up going out to dinner. For me, it's a way to connect with people whose customs are more familiar to me. When I ask them who won The Game, they can tell me that the Bears beat the Packers, not that Man-U got a result against Liverpool. whenever we're out, there's always one question that get's asked, regardless of who's picking up the bill. How much do you tip over here?

For anybody who's curious, here's the answer: 0-10%. Tipping isn't expected over here the same way it is back in the States. That is one reason that it seems more expensive to go out to eat. Their waiters/waitresses get paid a better base wage, which is reflected in the cost of your dinner. However, if you feel you've gotten excellent service, you can give them a 10% tip. I usually won't tip at the bar (when I go up to buy drinks), but will usually tip at a sit-down restaurant. Typically 5-10% depending on the service. Bon Appetit!

Crypts, Stacks, Food & Flicks

I had a day out today that should make my father proud. I've apparently inherited his ability to fill a day of travel with more things to see than are humanly possible - yet still keep the trip under budget.

10:30am - Marsh's Library 2.50 euro
Marsh's library is a library in Dublin that came highly recommended from my Frommer's guide. The library is old (founded 1701), small and you can't take pictures of anything. However, I found the exhibit they had on old medical books quite interesting. Some of the books dated back to the 13th century. It's interesting to see how medicine and surgery have developed over the years. More impressive, though is seeing medical books that have diagrams drawn by Remmbrandt before he was a famous artist.

11:30am - Christ Church Cathedral 6.00 euro
The Cathedral was built in 1030 AD but has been rebuilt once since then due to a collapse of one whole wall. Though it is now part of the Church of Ireland, it was built before the division of Christianity into its various sects. It is an absolutely beautiful building with wonderful stained glass windows and ornate stone and wood carvings. The crypts are pretty neat, too.

1:00pm - Fish 'n Chips @ Leo Burdocks ~10.00 euro
Leo Burdocks is a famous chip shop in Dublin. There are two locations, one on Liffey St. and the one I went to that is right across from Christ Church Cathedral. The fish was great and the chips were plentiful, but there's nowhere to sit and enjoy your meal. On a sunny day, you can probably set yourself down somewhere on the Christ Church grounds, but it was wet outside. So I found a pub that had a beer garden with an awning. Nobody was outside, so I was able to enjoy my fish and chips in peace, unlike my experience in Monaghan.

1:30pm - Chester Beatty Library FREE!
This library had two large exhibits: Muraqqa' and Sacred Traditions. The artwork in the Muraqqa' exhibit was beautiful (taken from books dating from 17th century India and Iran), however the history was not all that intriguing to me. The Sacred Traditions exposition, however, mesmerized me. It was a wonderful exhibit on three of the major religions of the world: Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. I love getting a more worldly perspective and found a place to do that here in spades. Wonderful exhibits, and it's free! Also there is a wonderful garden outside the library that looks up on Dublin Castle.

3:50pm - The Other Guys ~ 10 euro
After the Library, I got a ticket to see the new Will Farrell/Mark Wahlberg movie. It was freakin' hilarious. I recommend you go see it. It was an interesting perspective seeing the movie with an Irish audience. I found there were a couple of jokes where I was the only one laughing (because the Irish apparently don't know who Ralph Nader is - well at least not this audience).

6:30pm - Fries & a Shake @ Eddie Rocket's ~ 10 euro
Eddie Rockets is what we'd consider a revival 50's diner. You know the type: red vinyl seats, waitresses in pink uniforms, and mini jukeboxes on the table. It's one of my escapes to Americana that I can get while I'm over here. The food was good, but expensive.

8:20pm - Inception ~ 10 euro
This is the movie that's been out for awhile with Leonardo Di Caprio in it. All I can say is that it was a phenomenal movie. I don't go out to the movies to often . . . mostly because I don't like paying 10 euro (that's about $14 US) to see a movie that will cost $4.99 on Comcast in six months. However, this one was worth the price of admission.

It was quite a busy day and I know that my father would approve - with optional criticism that I paid too much for the movies. I did end up cutting one thing from the schedule, but we'll put that one onto the itinerary for another day. So what did I learn today? Chiefly that there are a lot of old books in Dublin and that the Irish don't know who Ralph Nader is.

Feel Free to Continue the Meeting Without Me . . .

Two weeks ago, amid my 24 day work-a-thon, I got fed up with the project. I was so stressed out that I just needed a night off. The opportunity presented itself when our Subject Matter Experts (SME's) from Northern Ireland and Germany were in town for system testing.

Roughly 30 of us went out to the local Asian restaurant (the only decent restaurant outside of the hotel within walking distance). I had a few glasses of wine with dinner and when dinner was done, everybody headed back to the hotel bar. I should have kept walking past the hotel and back to my apartment. Instead, I ended up staying up with the late crowd and finally left the hotel for my apartment at 4am, having had more than my share of alcohol.

I skipped my 8am meeting, arriving to work the next day at 8:30am. My colleagues that didn't stay out so late covered the meeting for me (which I have done for others in the past). I was tired. I was hungover. I had SME's leaving that afternoon who I still needed to meet with from whom I needed some vital information. Unfortunately, the only time that they could meet was at 10:30am.

It's hard to explain our location setup . . . we take up so much space in the conference area of the hotel, we now also have some hotel rooms converted into small meeting rooms as well. One of those meeting rooms was open, so I booked it from 8:30am until noon (when my 10:30 meeting was to end). This was a good room, it had a fainting couch. I got up there, locked the door, turned the alarm on my Blackberry to wake me up at 10am and went to sleep.

The alarm went off as planned and I had time to get setup for the meeting. I wasn't as tired, but suddenly, the coffee I had as breakfast was sitting so well in my stomach. I soldiered on, wetting down my hair so it didn't look like I'd just taken a nap in on a sofa in a meeting room.

My colleagues arrived for the meeting and things went well for the first 15 minutes. The coffee in my stomach started making me nauseous again. I excused myself from the meeting, went to the bathroom, vomitted (in a very professional manner might I add - I didn't get any on me) , rinsed my mouth out, then returned to the meeting, picking up where I left off.

Now I know I wasn't the first one to do something like this, nor will I be the last one to do something like this, but I'm embarrassed just the same. It was the first time it has ever happened to me. Mostly I'm glad that people are a little more relaxed about that kind of thing over here in Ireland. I've seen plenty others come in after hard nights on the town. Now I can sympathize with them. Everybody's human, I'm no exception.