Cheers

I have finally settled down in the Dublin city centre. I made the move out of the hotel Friday after work and have spent the past several days getting acquainted with my new surroundings. This past week has been a bit hazy without really sleeping or eating until Thursday and adjusting to the new culture.

My first weekend (last weekend) was spent sleeping in the hotel and exploring the Wicklow Mountains just south of the city. I did a couple kilometers of hiking around a couple lakes and saw an old church settlement. People here don't do well with the weather. It was 35 and sunny and you would have thought it was well below zero with avalanch warnings the way people were dressed and the warning I received from the park ranger.


Luckily for work I only had about 2 hours of orientation. I actually learned about what MBO does. They basically take all of the drugs ex-US and evaluate opportunities for growth in new markets and expanding our portfolio in markets we are currently in. My regulatory group supports the commercial and supply chain groups by providing the necessary documentation to file with the new markets Regulatory (FDA-complement) Agency. MBO has annual sales of ~$3.9 billion.
Some interesting things I noted about our office:
-The workday doesn't start until 9 am and noone arrives before 8:45
-Ireland has a common 35 hour work week. 9-5 Mon-Fri
-They provide free fruit (apples/pears/kiwis/bannanas/oranges) for employees which is good for me because all food especially fruit is expensive in Ireland.
-Our office has an esspresso make for the employees to use and they give free Kellog cereal bars away
-I asked a girl I sit by if people usually eat at their desks or in the "canteen" and she laughed saying she never sees anyone eat at their desk- also very different than the US
-The canteen only has real coffee cups/plates/silverware. the cups are all various pint glass with the local brewery's on them. Recycling is huge here and our office recycles glass/aluminum/paper. No styrofoam to be found.


I joined Crossfit Ireland. They moved into a new building last week which happens to be a warehouse on the south side of the city. It could not be father away from where I work but Dublin is easy to get around in. The building literally is a warehouse that they are fixing up and doesn't have any heaters or insulation. Therefore the temperature inside tends to be equivalent to the temperature outside which has been hovering around 32F. Makes the bars real cold. www.crossfit.ie

The girl I sit next to at work is an Irish PDP. She has been really nice and invited to me to play on her friend's club basketball team. Due to weather they haven't had a chance to play yet but it should be a good way to meet some kids my age.

The apartment I moved into downtown is right across the street from Christchurch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church_Cathedral,_Dublin It is in a hotel/extended stay apartment. I am a ten minute walk from Guinness and a 10 min walk from Temple Bar. Driving has been an experience. It took until about Thursday before I walked to the correct driver's side of the car. The roundabouts are very abundant. The first time I approached one i wasn't sure if you drove clockwise or anit-clockwise around. It wouldn't have been an issue but there were several cars behind me. Luckily I guessed correctly. It is really nice to move downtown as opposed to being in the hotel 5 miles from dt. Dublin has a bustling city centre and there are always things going on in this area. I was even able to pick up a ready as you go (prepaid) mobile for 9.99 euro. 10 euro got me 100 mins of talk time too. Lots of things are different than the US. The hardest thing I've found so far is understanding people when they talk. It often takes me a few minutes to pick up what they are saying. It reminds me of being in Spain. By the time you understand what's being said the conversation has already moved on. Names are by far the hardest to understand and none are very familiar.