Wisconsinite in Paris suburb

Chicagoan in a Dublin suburb.

I moved to Dublin a little over three years ago.  My husband is from here and wanted to come home to raise our two small boys.  He has no plans of going back.  Not on a permanent basis anyway.  I don't much like it here either.  I love to travel, always have and still do.  Moving to another country is a different undertaking altogether.   

I never thought of myself as particularly patriotic, but now I migrate to anything American: people, food, outings.  Even though this is an english speaking country, the culture of the people is entirely different. As you said, the ease of making friendships is NOT there.  The Irish are very closed and secretive.  I think this comes from the prevelant black market economy that ran rampant up the recent years where you had to hide everything from the govt.  and everyone else, lest they turn you in.  In the US people in general are much more open about themselves and their situations.  It is so much easier to connect with someone when you can have an honestly relevant conversation about "anything".   In my three+ years here my most coveted friendships have been with other Americans.  I do have a few Irish friends, but it's just not the same.

I was recently in Paris for the second time.  I must say I do love it there, but again it is as a vacationer.  The city is so beautiful and interesting. The food is WOW everywhere we go.  Feel free to contact me for a private chat if you would like.

Ciao