Fair well Ireland!

This trip has opened up my eyes and allowed me to see the cultural differences between the USA and Ireland. One of the things I do not really understand about this culture is why the roads are so narrow! There is plenty of land to widen the roads. Multiple times throughout this trip our bus has had some kind of tight situation with another bus. One time the bus even scrapped the side of another tour bus! I was pretty scared. Especially since the roads are so whindy and located on a steep cliff. Also a majority of the cars on those roads are huge tour buses so I think it would be both a resourceful and safer way to travel. Next, I realized how big of an impact brand recognition has on our decision making skills. For example, tonight myself and billy went looking for dinner and we saw what we thought was a Quiznos. We recognized their distinctive "open" sign that is red and green and looks like a word bubble. When we walked in, we realized it wasn't Quiznos. It was a Chinese restaurant. We were pretty disappointed because we were really looking forward to Quiznos but that made us realize how much we rely on visual aid to help us choose and make a decision. Lastly, it bothers me how little this culture has to do for themselves. At almost all the restaurants/fast food places I have gone to, the workers cleared our plates and tables for us. Even at a place like McDonald's! When one is finished with their meal, they just leave the trash on the table to be picked up. I felt really bad doing this, like a pig almost. It is becoming such a habit now to leave my left overs on the table to be cleaned up, I have to make sure I don't do it when I'm back home in the states! I am do grateful to have had the opportunity to come visit over here. It has truly opened my eyes to th cultural differnces, many of which I learned about in my multinational marketing course last fall. I will continue to relate back to these differences I have learned and noticed to my future courses at WNE!