Tag Archives: family & friends

Thanksgiving in Ireland: The Importance of Sharing Old Traditions and Making New Ones

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Glenn Kaufmann

Each year around Thanksgiving I’m amazed at how many of the Irish I meet are familiar with American Thanksgiving traditions. I know that’s not a typical immigrant experience. Ireland and the U.S. are unnaturally close. But I am heartened to … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Attractions, Dublin Life, Emigrant/Immigrant Life, Expat Living, Home & A Sense of Place, Irish History, Irish Life & Society, Pubs, Things to See in Ireland | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Land Of All Things: For Expats There Is No “Perfect” Place

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Glenn Kaufmann

For those of us who like to travel, and have long wanted to live overseas, we often imagine that there’s some country/place out there, some golden, shining bastion of goodness that will cure everything, and be our “perfect” place. Sadly … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Life, Emigrant/Immigrant Life, Expat Living, Friends & Family | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Playing the Skins: The Expat’s Second Chance At Life

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Glenn Kaufmann

As adults we rarely get the chance for a “do over”. When you move overseas, you are, to a greater or lesser extent, given the chance to change who you are. You can try on different masks, and be someone … Continue reading →

Posted in Emigrant/Immigrant Life, Immigration & Emigration, International Moving, Modern Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Seeing The Sights: Learning To Be a Tourist In Your Own Home

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Glenn Kaufmann

Like many who enjoy traveling to new places, when we moved to Dublin, I deliberately distanced myself, mentally, and often physically, from the millions of tourists who visit Ireland each year.  “I live here now. I’m no tourist.”  I realize … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Attractions, Dublin Life, Home & A Sense of Place, Irish Countryside, Irish History, Irish Life & Society, Things to See in Ireland | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 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

The Flavor Of Home

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Glenn Kaufmann

When you move overseas the “to be taken” list seems endless. But the list of things to be left behind is non-existent. It never gets made. In your frenzy to reduce the cost of shipping you jettison as much as … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Life, Friends & Family, Home & A Sense of Place, Immigration & Emigration, International Moving | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 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

A Look at Dublin Expat Life After Three Months

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Glenn Kaufmann

After living in Dublin for only a month, I had the temerity to post a list of five things I hated about living in Dublin and Ireland.  Two months on, I have three times the perspective I had at that … Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin Life, Friends & Family, Home & A Sense of Place, International Moving, Irish Life & Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

A Better Life

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Glenn Kaufmann

Well, this week’s post was going to be a service piece about organizing an international move.  But after I read a recent blog post by “internationally known author, consultant, and futurist” Ian Morrison, that plan went into the bin.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigration & Emigration, Modern Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments