Category Archives: Modern Life

Patriot Games: Watching the Olympics in a New Country

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Glenn Kaufmann

For the last month or so, watching the Olympics and thinking more and more about life in a new country, I’ve found myself contemplating loyalty to country and differences between patriotism and nationalism. When you grow up in America watching … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Life, Home & A Sense of Place, Irish Life & Society, Modern Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

The First Year

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Glenn Kaufmann

The first year living overseas is both an exciting and a challenging time.  Life is filled with almost daily “aha” and “aw shit” moments. Dealing with these moments is both the best and the worst thing about living in another … Continue reading →

Posted in Friends & Family, Home & A Sense of Place, Immigration & Emigration, International Moving, Modern Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Feeling Other – Racism and Racial Profiling in Ireland and Elsewhere

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Glenn Kaufmann

In Backwards and Forwards, one of my favorite books on writing drama, David Ball says that two connected events create one action.  By this he means one inciting event invites/invokes/encourages a response event that becomes the inciting event for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Life, Home & A Sense of Place, Immigration & Emigration, Irish Life & Society, Modern Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 42 Comments

Now Is the Next Big Thing

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Glenn Kaufmann

After last week’s post, I didn’t want to leave things on a down note for too long, so I decided to put an up spin on something negative that happened recently. Now that I’m living in Dublin, I’ve decided to … Continue reading →

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Who, What, and Where Will Be Next

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Glenn Kaufmann

It strikes me that the reason most people emigrate from the country they’ve always called home is to find a “better life”.  Granted there are as many ways to define better life as there are people emigrating. Often that means … Continue reading →

Posted in Home & A Sense of Place, Immigration & Emigration, Irish History, Irish Life & Society, Modern Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

What Binds Us Together

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Glenn Kaufmann

Even before we moved to Ireland, one of my constant refrains has been that the Irish seem to be universally friendly and welcoming.  I knew there would come a day when that feeling would be tested.  And earlier this week … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Life, Home & A Sense of Place, Immigration & Emigration, Irish History, Irish Life & Society, Modern Life, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Christmas Story

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Glenn Kaufmann

With no trendy shoes left, and supplies of the Xbox 003 running low, Mary wailed, and Joseph, stoned to the gills on frankincense, bludgeoned the Magi with an urn full of Myrrh before storming the doors of the Bethlehem Wal-Mart. … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Life, Friends & Family, Irish Life & Society, Modern Life | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

What We Left Behind – Phantom Pains of Friends and Family Back At Home

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Glenn Kaufmann

Living abroad has been a mixed bag of ups and downs on every front.  But I never realized how much family and friends mean to us, and how “distant” I could feel until disaster struck last week, and close family … Continue reading →

Posted in Before We Go, Friends & Family, Home & A Sense of Place, Immigration & Emigration, Modern Life | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Dublin Cabbies – The Mobile Opinion Poll

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Glenn Kaufmann

When we moved to Dublin we made the conscious decision not to have a car.  Lack of personal transportation coupled with the fact that we’re still learning our way around has meant that we’ve leaned on Dublin’s network of cabs … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Life, Irish Life & Society, Modern Life | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Electing a President – Irish Presidential Politics

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Glenn Kaufmann

Few things make you feel more isolated, non-assimilated, and, at times, deeply amused, than watching a presidential election take place in your new home when you have nearly as much at stake as any other local resident, and absolutely no … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Life, Irish Life & Society, Modern Life, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments