America: busy streets, dingy clouds of tinted gray exhaust, the shrill beep of horns, and a monotonous, got-to-get-ahead way of life. This characterization of a country I know well vastly differs from the serene, relaxed atmosphere that envelops the emerald slopes of Ireland. Having lived in both, and with the advantage of hindsight, I am able to appreciate the tremendous difference in terms of culture and life in general. America and Ireland are as opposite as night and day, the contrast between them as great as the ocean that serves as a divider. The discrepancy between the two is not so much in tangible qualities, but rather in the natures of the countries themselves: the way of life, the people, and the values held in esteem.


I often get frustrated by the frantic pace at which life seems to fly by. Day upon day passes and I don't know where the time has gone; get up, go to school, go to a meeting, go to practice, maybe go to another meeting, go home, eat supper, have some free time, go to bed, get up? It seems as if I'm always looking forward to that time in the future when life changes, but at each new stage it appears further and further away. I often ask myself why I do so much if I don't enjoy it, but it seems that the answer is clear. I feel as though I have to, that it is expected of me. The activities I partake in now will help me to get into a good college, then get a good job, then have a good future, then provide my good children with a good life of their own. Good, good, good. I find everyone is so focused on success and getting ahead that they often...