How To Date The Irish- An International Guide

For such a small country, we Irish sure do get around!  I have bumped into a whole bunch of Irish people in my brief time in Germany, and its been really fun.  On the one hand, it provides someone to talk in thick slang with ("Ah, good man yerself. And sure, how's yer woman? Deadly. The craic aye, the craic last night was mighty...") but more importantly, someone to compare and contrast experiences with.

Last week, I was out for some drinks with a German boy, a Portuguese boy and an Irish boy.  Mating and dating, allegedly, is something we all like to talk about...and this night proved that right.  The Irish guy shared with us some of his experiences- the difference between chatting up Irish girls and chatting up international girls.

How to Date An Irish Girl (By An Irish Boy)

1.  Take the piss out of her-  a wee bit of aggressive banter is the Irish form of affection.

2.  Don't pay her compliments- Irish girls aren't used to compliments and so won't accept them, or will just be plain embarrassed.

3. Basically pretend you don't like her that much- you'll present yourself as a bit more of a challenge, and what Irish girl wants the guy who is all over her?!

4. Don't do crappy dates at the cinema or anything- Irish girls like to talk and drink, so get this into the mix.

5. A wee friendly thump on the upper shoulder is far better than a delicate caress of her cheek, any day.

6. Laugh, jesus, LAUGH.  If you're not laughing, there's no hope.

Colin Farrell- successful Irish flirt.  Gobby, cheeky, doesn't give a shit. Irresistable?!

Ah jeez.  I do actually totally agree with this!!  The flip side of this was this Irish guy said he found it weird internationally to approach a girl and not be faced with a torrent of abuse and vicious banter.  In many ways, the gobby Irish girl has simply meant he is prepared for any woman in the world.

A few days later I was hanging out with an Irish girl, strolling through some snowy Turkish markets.  As we ran our hands over the millions of bits of materials and smelt all the hundreds of foods, we started talking boys.  This Irish girl was telling me how she has attracted lots of Italians in Germany.  Italians- who do everything SO differently from the Irish lads, that she didn't stand a chance.  Whispered Italian in her ear?  She was a goner!

One great part about this story was the moment she said she tried to engage in some banter and the Italian just did not get it.  He kept offering her food, "Ahh, but I can make you some pasta at my house, no?", to which she replied, "Nah mate, I don't do pasta on a first date."  GREAT LINE!!!  I laughed my head off when she said this, especially when she told me the Italian merely flustered before offering to change the menu to pizza.  Ooops.