some brief thoughts

just wanted to share something that i've been very impressed with so far in europe. for the most part, both the english and the irish people have been extremely kind to us. there have been more than a few occasions where a random stranger has gone out of his or her way, completely unsolicited, in order to help us. for example, a woman in england stopped and offered to take our group picture. or the gentlemen in ireland that got off on our bus stop from the airport and walked us to our hostel because we weren't sure where it was. or the bartender in ireland that showed us where to find some good pints and a cool atmosphere. in general, i perceive that these cultures are much more outgoing, friendly, and kind than ours is. it is much easier to approach people and they are much more forgiving. i wonder why that is.

right now, we're hanging out in our hostel's general meeting area since its pretty nasty outside. a few of us are planning on doing a walking tour later today, then hitting up the hostel bbq, then going to the pubs later tonight. tomorrow, we're most likely going to head out to galway and to some nearby islands for the next two days.

[matt]