In Conlcusion...

I originally picked this topic because I was surprised by the similarities I saw in the way Leprechauns are represented in Ireland and the US.  Through this project I wanted to discover how the image of the leprechaun came up in everyday life in Ireland, mainly Dublin.  I knew that in the States the leprechaun was used as something that could emphasize Ireland, and in the States we see leprechauns as mainly as mascots, marketing tools, and to some extent children entertainment.  I was surprised to discover its role in Ireland was very similar. 

While I did find many similarities, throughout this process I also learned a lot about leprechauns and their significance in Ireland.  I visited the National Leprechaun Museum on two separate occasions.  Not only did I find a lot of my images there, but I also learned a lot, from old folklore legends to when the leprechaun was introduced to America. 

I think if I was to expand this visual ethnography to a larger project of research, I would focus more on the marketing role of leprechauns.  I would be interested in a more comparative approach, including pictures not only from Ireland but America as well.

I had a lot of fun gathering images for this visual ethnography.  At first I was worried about collecting enough photos, but there was always something or someone new to photograph.  Doing this project providing me with a certain lens with which to view the city; I was always on the lookout for anything leprechaun.  It reminded me to do more than just walk through the streets, I was not only aware of my surroundings but also noticing and processing the people, buildings, and things around me. 

More Leprechauns from the Streets of Dublin

Being a (Not So) Grown Up in Ireland

If anything, being in Dublin so far away from my family has prove that I make a terrible adult.  I've been to the grocery store once in my entire stay here.  I practically never have food in the apartment, and am always popping down to centra for a sandwich or the ingredients for the one thing I know how to make: pasta (and when I say "I know how to make" I mean my roommate Claudia, I usually just buy the stuff and "supervise").  Needless to say the variety and nutritional value I've grown accustomed to with my sister's cooking at home and my meal plan at school are pretty much non-existent.  Sometimes I get so excited when I see vegetables I'm surprised I don't eat them right there in the store.

I also realized that I am incapable of caring for myself properly here.  If it wasn't for Claudia, I'm pretty sure I would have laid sick in my bed for a week before realizing I should probably go to the doctor.

Household duties are also not my strongest skills.  Although we do manage do keep the apartment relatively clean, yesterday I wore flip-flops because I ran out of socks.  Every time I think I'm getting better, something else comes up to make me feel like a completely incompetent idiot.  Its embarrassing.

Leprechauns: An interpretation by Clare

Week 9 Question: Pictures That Didn't Make the Cut

These three photos, like a lot of the pictures on this blog, are from the National Leprechaun Museum in Dublin.  The first photo I decided not to use because it didn't actually show any leprechauns.  The second two I liked because they were part of story that was written on the walls of the museum, but I also decided not to use them because I felt they didn't fit with my other photo posts.  I started out looking for representations of leprechauns around Ireland, and these photos don't contribute to that research.

Leinster v. Ulster: A Lesson in Etiquette

Attending a rugby match is something everyone tells you to do in Ireland, and so we went to one.  I'm lucky enough to understand the basic rules of rugby, and I was really looking forward to seeing a match in person.  It was a fun night, not too cold, we had a fun group of people, and for the most part being in the stands with the "real fans" was fun.

Even though it was overall a fun night, we did have a bit of a run in with, for lack of a better word, a true fan.  Since rugby really isn't popular in the US, we weren't well-versed in the rules and expectations of being a member of the Leinster crowd.  Since we're not clueless idiots, we soon caught on that we weren't supposed to talk during kicks from either side; it was cool to hear the entire stadium go quiet.  However, we did engage in some casual conversations during the game, a fact that one fan sitting in front of us apparently found quite offensive.  I've been to quite a few sporting events in my time, and I've never encountered a sport where fans are expected to be silent during an eighty minute game (or match. whatever).  The man sitting in front of us, who ignored his wife and two children the entire game and barely even cheered with his fellow fans, turned to us and told us: "I would never disrespect a sporting event like this in your country", or something along those lines.  He then proceeded to move himself and his family two rows ahead of us and subsequently give us dirty looks for the rest of the game. 

I was shocked, and a bit insulted.  Is he kidding me? Does he expect 17,000 to be completely silent for eighty minutes? No. Actually, he said nothing to the men sitting directly next to him who, throughout the course of the match, I overheard discussing laundry, doctors appointments, and which pub they would hit up after the game.  This didn't seem to bother Mr. Superfan in the least; I can only conclude that it was our nationality that truly bothered him.  Perhaps he didn't appreciate our lack of knowledge about the sport and the players, or felt our mere presence at the stadium was somehow mocking or belittling his own appreciation for the team.  I really can't say why he was so offended by us in particular.  I also can't really say how the situation would have panned out if the roles were reversed and it had happened in America.  There isn't really a sport where a fan would be so offended by chatter in the stands.

This is one of the first run-ins I've had with xenophobic attitudes.  I really can't wrap my head around how someone could get so upset by a group of people enjoying themselves at a sporting event. 

Leprechaun Merch

Leprechaun Museum and various shops around Dublin

City Florists, Dublin, Ireland

Week 8 Question

The criteria I've been using for collecting my data has been pretty simple.  I try to always have my camera on me, and when I see anything that has to with leprechauns, whether it be pictures, people, or other representations, I take a picture of it.  I've collected a lot of photos over the last few weeks.  I'm excited to go through them and see all the different leprechauns that came out for St Paddy's day.  One of the reasons I picked leprechauns as my topic is because I was surprised at how they were utilized over here.  Its been really fun discovering all the different ways leprechauns are presented around Dublin.

Gifts from Home

I recently received a care package from my family.  In it, among other things, were these items: a t-shirt from my home town, often referred to as "the Irish Riviera", Irish-themed pins from "Paddy Mc'Fannigan's", shamrock earrings and a shamrock scrunchie.  it seems to me that these are the types of things I should be sending home, not vice versa.  But, it made me laugh and I promised to wear them on St. Patrick's Day.

Fifth Photo Post

Trinity College, Dublin

Week 7 Question

My topic is leprechauns.  At home, leprechauns are used as mascots and in advertising usually as comical caricatures.  I've always wondered if the way leprechauns are represented in the US was seen as disrespectful or offensive by the people of Ireland and thus was surprised when I got here and realized leprechauns are treated very similarly in Ireland.  I don't have a TV so I'm not sure if commercials use leprechauns in the same way, but I see them all over Dublin in many forms.  Its been fairly easy finding leprechauns to take observe and document.  Last week, I visited the Leprechaun Museum in Dublin, where I learned a lot about the myth of the leprechaun and what it means to the Irish people.  Morgan-Trimmer compares the process of creating a visual ethnography to exploratory research, and that very well sums up why I chose this topic.  I was surprised at how leprechauns are represented in Ireland, and this project gives me an opportunity to document my observations.

Fourth Photo Post

National Leprechaun Museum, Dublin

Week 6 Question

The reading laid out a very organized and deliberate process for branding a city.  As far as I am aware, Dublin has no such Branding Partnership.  I don't think that Dublin has branded itself as deliberately as the examples from the Placebrands reading have.  However, I do believe that the city as a whole is aware of how it is perceived by a foreign audience and makes an effort to seem desirable.  We've seen that in previous classes with  companies like Google and Intel opening offices here.  Dublin also has its tourism industry to rely on, which is a brand, and we see things every day, like giant leprechauns and pub crawls, that indicate the efforts taken by the city to entice tourists.

Drunk people are the same everywhere

I was originally planning on writing about my experience in Belfast this past weekend, but since that seems somewhat redundant now, I thought I would share a fun little thing that happened to me tonight.

I was walking across Merville around 9 o'clock with a friend when guess what we encountered?  A group of about 6 highly intoxicated young men.  One of them decided that he no longer needed the 2 square inches of sandwich he had in his hand, and so he threw it at me, and he had great aim.

I like to view this rather embarrassing encounter as an example of the similarities between Irish and American college life.  We have been talking a lot in our blogs about the things we found here that are different from home, but really a lot of what happens in my daily life here is pretty similar to what happens at home, and this is one thing that I would most definitely expect out of a similar group of Brandeis students.

One thing that is different about this interaction is what happened after.  As we continued walking a security guard over-heard us calling after them.  Not only did he ask us what had happened, but he also chased after the group.  This is something that Brandeis security guards would never do.  They hardly ever speak to students, and I've seem them completely ignore some really rude behavior.  UCD definitely has more personable and friendly security.

Third Photo Post

Grafton Street, Dublin

Week 5 Question

According to Sassen, global cities are sites of production for "specialized services needed by complex organizations for running a spatially dispersed network of factories, offices, and service outlets" as well as "financial innovations and the making of markets."  Based on this definition, I would say that Dublin is a global city.  As we've seen in previous classes and readings, Dublin is a very desirable location for "complex organizations" such as Google to set up offices in.  These large corporations choose Dublin because it is the type of production site described by Sassen; Dublin provides favorable tax laws and an educated work force while also allowing American companies specifically to feel more spatially connected to the broader Western economy.

Merville Family Dinners

When I was preparing to study in Ireland, I was really excited about meeting and getting to know Irish students.  Its funny but I never really thought about meeting any International students other than Americans.  Of course I knew there would be other international students, but I only really focused on meeting Irish students.  When I found out I was living with all international students and no Irish students, I was disappointed.

Living with international students has been interesting, to say the least.  After an understandable adjustment period we're much more comfortable with each other and I've realized how nice my living situation is.  My roommates have introduced me to tons of people I wouldn't have met otherwise, in fact I think I've met more German students than Irish ones.  

I've really enjoyed sharing meals with my roommates; they're all much better cooks than I am.  Our roommate from Paris has made us crepes and curry chicken, my German roommate Simon made his own pasta, and my other American roommate and I even  treated the others to grilled cheese and tomato soup.  

Our living situation is nice because we all came from somewhere else, and so even though we're completely different and from very different places, we still have this in common.  

Second Photo Post

Leprechaun Museum, Dublin

Week 4 Question

One aspect of the Rayport and Hayward reading I found especially interesting was the idea of openness and accessibility of cloud computing.  This exists on a global scale.  Collaboration between people living and working in countries all over the globe is easier than its ever been and basically instantaneous: applications and programs are not tied down to one machine, and are accessible from anything that can access the internet.  

While reading I thought back to our discussion last class about how new technology allows for companies to be in constant contact with their employees no matter what time of day.  As I see it, cloud computing can solidify this boundless accessibility.  It seems to me that with every new technological advance, the workplace gets bigger and the lines between one's professional and personal lives become less clear.  People no longer work just 9-5, their expected to be available to their employees and coworkers whenever they have access to the internet, which is basically 24/7.  

Oops, Looks Like You Forgot You're Pants

One major difference I've noticed here from my home university is the way people dress, especially girls.  I barely ever see girls wear jeans to class, and I see even fewer sweatshirts.  This is very strange for me as thats about all I wear ever.  Its funny because a lot of people told me before I came that Ireland was a casual country, especially when people go out at night.  I've found that to be very false.  I've never seen such short skirts in such large quantities.  And rarely do people seem to wear tights, its so cold!!!!  the difference in fashion isn't really that big a deal, although I always feel under-dressed, but I have been thinking about why so many people seem to think that it would be a more casual style over here.  I'm not really sure if there is a reason, but I wonder if it has to do in some small way with the way Ireland is viewed by the outside world.

First Photo Post

Week 3 Question

These types of offices are indicative of the type of employees Google and other web companies hire: original and creative.  by providing their employees with fun and unique work environments, company loyalty is instilled in the benefiting employees.  An unusual and creative workspace encourages creativity and innovation in the employees.  Google understands the type of person they hire, and created work environments in which these people will be happy and effective. 

Weekly Question 1

Although I am not well versed in the specifics of the economic relationship between Ireland and the US, I do not believe the US depends on Ireland the same way Ireland does the US.  However, it seems to me that Ireland does play a significant role in the cultural aspect of America. 
Most US citizens depend on their cultural heritage to define their personal identity.  Growing up in the Boston area, this cultural identity has been inseparably linked to Ireland.  In Boston, there's an Irish pub on nearly every corner, and practically every weekend there's another music festival or craft fair to attend.  For me, my families Irish heritage as been drummed into me since I was a little girl; from my name, to lullabyes.  Its been used as an excuse for a large family and rambunctious parties.  Even the jewelry we where and how we decorate our house echoes our Irish heritage.  As something my siblings and I (and our father and his siblings before us) have grown up hearing about our entire lives, it doesn't suprise me that we can feel such a signifcant connection to Ireland, even though none of us have ever been there(until now).
I know that our family is not unusual in feeling a connection to Ireland, and for that reason I do believe that Ireland plays a significant role in American culture, as something we can look to for a personal history and familial bonds.