Catching up...

So it's been a while since I have updated this. In the past couple weeks I have been really busy including travelling to Chicago for the weekend, moving into a new apartment and our soccer league starting.

Due to immigration reasons, it was necessary for me to leave Ireland, set foot on US soil and then re-enter Ireland after my visa because effective. I was suppose to fly out of Dublin Friday Jan 22 at 10:30am but the flight was delayed for 4 hours due to mechanical problems with the airplane. After sorting everything out, we began the 8.5 hour journey to O'hare. The pilot missed the runway on the first approach and then overshot the gate. We spent 30 mins on the plane because they were unable to open the doors and connect to the terminal. The pilot came on the intercom and asked everyone to take their seats again because they had to get a bulldozer to come and lift the front end of the plane up and manuever it into place. Finally disembarked from the plane and arrived at Avis 5 hours late. I then met up with my friend Laura Pabst from college at her house in Arlington Heights until Dani arrived at ORD at 9:00pm. We stayed at the Marriott on Michigan Avenue on the 40th. It was pretty spectacular. Friday night was uneventful after spending 16 hours traveling and my body screaming at me it was 5am by the time we got checked in and up to the room. Saturday we spent walking around Michigan Ave and downtown and then met up with PDPs for sushi. Saturday night we went to the LaSalle Power company which was overly crowded but fun. Sunday we checked out of the hotel and then met up with my dad as arrived from helping Craig move in Spokane. It was good to see familiar faces and it was the first time in my life I ever felt like Chicago wasn't very expensive. High Irish prices and the exchange rate have changed my perspective on things.

Flying out Sunday night and arriving in Dublin at 8am really threw off my internal clock and most of the next week was spent recovering from the time change shock. Work was incredibly busy finalizing all of our goals for the year and getting the proper approval. I did meet my first milestone so this rotation has been a success so far. I also spent a day with Irish Relocation searching for a new apartment now that I had my visa. We saw 16 apartments in one day. It was very busy. Coincidently the best was saved for last. I am very happy with where I moved and am excited to have visitors. My apartment is in the new financial district of Dublin. It is 2 bedroom, 2 bath, on the 6th floor with an incredible balcony. Great location and incredibly furnished. I moved in last weekend.

I was able to move into my apartment 3 days after viewing it. Things move fast when you have Abbott backing you financially. 47 people had looked at the apartment but the landlord chose me so that was pretty sweet. I moved in last weekend. Daliana was in town because her friend Edu from Barcelona was job hunting. I found a micro brewery pub that I liked a lot. They had a good sampler deal so I was able to try a couple different types of beer. Nice to get some variety from Guinness and Smithwicks.

Our office also started a soccer team. We are of varying ages and skill levels. I am by far the youngest player on our team and also one of the most experienced. Games are played outdoors in hockey style rinks with astroturf and small goals. Games are 5 v 5 and have some slightly different rules than a full field. Loving the irish weather of 35 and misting to play our games in. I was able to pick up some turf shoes for 25€ so I don't break my ankles. So far we are 0-2 but showing signs of brilliance each week.

Some other interesting cultural notes:
-I just did my taxes for last year and was talking about it with my co-workers. Appearently the Irish do not have to file taxes unless they know they overpaid or are self employed. The company you work for takes care of paying your taxes for you. The rate the people I was talking with ended up paying last year was ~48% so that didn't sound too bad. Interest rates for car payments is also a lot higher here.

The next couple days should be interesting for me: I have to go to immigration to get my POS (Irish SSN) and register with the police and I have my first Irish Crossfit competition this week. Both should be exciting and physically/mentally draining. (converting kgs to lbs is confusing enough)

I will try and post some more pictures this weekend after I get internet for my new apartment.