Wow, I can’t believe a year ago today we stepped off the plane in Dublin, exhausted, bewildered, and overwhelmed. Right from the start everything seemed new and different…even little things like how the electric outlets look, how you take/pay for food in a cafe, how you cross the street (which direction to look for cars) or catch a bus. I suppose what surprised us was just how strange everything seemed — we didn’t expect that. Despite Ireland being an English speaking and western country — and despite having spent time in Europe before — this somehow felt different. Perhaps it was knowing we had just uprooted our whole lives and our children to move to a city and country we had never been to and knew virtually nothing about (kind of crazy in retrospect). Perhaps it was the realization that this was an incredibly exciting adventure and opportunity but one we had no blueprint for and would have to create as we went along. Or perhaps it was realizing that we didn’t know a single soul in this whole city or country, and only had our little family of 4 to rely on.

The first month was largely like an extended vacation (interspersed with some bureaucratic matters to take care of) since Jeff hadn’t started work yet and we were living in our temporary apartment in the city. It definitely felt like an in-limbo time, without our own real place or our shipment of things from the states. Without any defined schedule or routine or places we needed to be, we were free to explore Dublin. Looking back, this was a great gift, as we could really take our time getting to know the city — we walked a ton every day, we tried different restaurants and cafes and parks, and because we didn’t have our phones yet (and thus couldn’t check email or Facebook or even maps as to where we were while we were out), we were less distracted and more engaged with each other and the sites we were seeing. 

Still, there were many moments when we were out and about that I thought to myself “what the *%#\ did I just do?” Packing up your life and moving across the world from your family and friends is not easy. I didn’t think it would be, but I knew that Jeff and I could handle it. My doubts mostly came from whether I’d made the right choice for the boys. Rafi was too young to really realize what was going on, but Isaac, who was more aware and quite sensitive to change in general, definitely had his world turned upside down. I remember while we were staying in the apartment, he would get anxious any time one of us simply walked into the other room and call out “mom, dad, where did you go?!” It’s also hard to explain time and distance to young kids, so understanding for how long we’d be gone and that it was too far away to see our friends and family was a hard concept at first (as was the whole time change thing and why we couldn’t call grandma and grandpa when it was their middle of the night). 

Now, a year later we have all come a long way!! We are settled and happy in our house and have an awesome neighborhood. We understand more how all “the little things” here work in daily life, and we find ourselves peppering conversations with Irish expressions. Things that seemed so strange in the beginning are now quite normal. Jeff has done a spectacular job at work — meeting people and doing awesome work with all his clients (hopefully he doesn’t mind me boasting about him 😊). Rafi, who wasn’t even 1 yet, will be 2 in a few weeks and in the past year has started walking, talking, and continuing to bring us all huge smiles with his incredibly happy spirit. Isaac, who was so anxious when we got here and so hesitant to start preschool here last year, has started his first year of “real school” last week (it’s pretty much the equivalent of Kindergarten but they call it Junior Infants and he is starting a year earlier than he would have at home). He has handled the new transition like a champ! It’s exciting to see how much he’s grown! Turning 5 next month, he’s become a big helper around the house, an amazing big brother (most of the time!), a good friend, and is excited about school. We love how curious he is, and I can definitely see him embracing this experience of living abroad — just yesterday he asked if I could teach him how to say hello and goodbye in as many languages as possible. I truly feel grateful that he’s getting this expat experience — hopefully it will stick with him and help him feel like a citizen of the world. And his school is an international school so we’re excited for him to continue meeting friends from Ireland and many other countries. 

As for myself, I feel so glad to have met some really great friends over the past year! Irish moms, moms from other countries, and American moms — it’s just been really special to find kind and friendly people here when so far from home. There are still obviously challenges being expats, but we feel so much more settled than we did a year ago! Can’t wait to see what the next year will bring on this adventure! 

P.S. Just wanted to send a shout out and thanks to all of you for being such supportive friends/family and Dublingers readers. It’s been really fun to create this blog for our own memories and to share with all of you along the way. 

Here are some “then and now” photos, first from a year ago…

   
 
   
 
…And some from now (including Isaac in his new school uniform):