Week five - frustration sets in

So, I know I am spoiled by the efficiency of the US systems but does it really need to take a month to open a bank account? I filled out paperwork for a bank account during the first week of October, gave them a copy of my ID from Trinity and they told me I would have an account within 7-8 business days. A week and a half later, they texted me to ask for a copy of my passport. So I go to the bank and find out that they want a lot more documentation. By the time I left, they had a copy of my passport, a copy of my acceptance letter to Trinity, an original form from Trinity stating my address and another copy of my Trinity ID. Five days later, after me showing up in the bank every day to ask about the account information they promised me, they finally call me with my account number - great! I am finally able to give them a check with all my money from my scholarship which they tell me is going to take 5-7 business days to be available in my account. This is a check in euros from another Dublin bank - why does this take so long?! Whatever, I have some cash to tide me over so all I really, really need is a statement from them that says I have money in the account so I finally can go to the immigration office to get the ID I need that allows me to stay in Ireland more than 30 days. I finally get the statement from the bank through the mail on Wednesday - except they have spelled my name and my address wrong! The immigration office will not accept this. Now, I am being told that it will take another 5 business days to get this fixed and a new statement sent to me - at which point, I will have overstayed the date stamped in my passport. They also needed another copy of my Trinity ID (seriously, don't they keep any records?). Don't get me started on the fact that I still do not have a debit card so I cannot access my money yet and I am running out of cash. If I have to, I will use my US debit card to pull money from my account in the US which means I will lose money transferring dollars to euros.
This is just one example of little frustrations I have been dealing with that, this week, I am losing patience with. I have not had internet access at my house for a week and a half so I have been using Trinity's computers. This means I cannot post pictures I have taken, I cannot download Skype or another tool like that to call any of you to catch up and I am trying to keep up with emails in between classes and reading assignments. But I am sure this is not what you want to be reading in this blog, which is one of the reasons I did not write earlier in the week. The other reason is I am just tired. I had forgotten how much energy it takes to get settled in a new place - to find the grocery stores, the good but inexpensive restaurants, the post office, bank, bus routes, etc. - and the energy it takes to make a new group of friends. (Green Cheerio Gang and others, I really miss you!)
In better news, I found a great Asian grocery store today in what will be my neighborhood in 3 weeks. Let me clarify: currently, I am living in a house in Ballinteer, south Dublin, which is a 30 minute bus ride to Trinity. Even though I like the area, the buses are not reliable so I waste a lot of time waiting at bus stops. As you can probably imagine, this is not a great situation. So, I found a great apartment on the north side of the Liffey River through a friend of a friend of a former colleague. (Thanks Gail!) This place is a 30 minute walk west of Trinity and will be available November 15th. I am not looking forward to changing locations again but I am definitely looking forward to a better commute and really nice place to myself. I also really like the north side - it is grittier, culturally more diverse and has a personality to it that I feel more at home in.
This weekend, I am heading out of town with a couple people. Hopefully, I will be in a better frame of mind after getting out of the city for a couple days. I keep trying to tell myself that, a month from now, all of these frustrations will be sorted out. Sometimes that even helps. : )
Hope you have a great weekend!