Ireland: Simplicity

(A continuation of my trip to Ireland...please note that this was my personal perception of the 'state of things' and is not fact or applicable to the country as a whole!)

Within a half hour of landing in Shannon, Ireland I realized that the Irish sense of time is somewhat skewed. An airport security guard warned my family and I of a "Irish 5 minutes". In reality their 5 minutes is a half and hour in reality.

Throughout the trip the "Irish 5 minutes" was applicable across the country (from Galway to Glendalough). The Irish seemed to have a much laid back attitude about life in general. My high-strung family, used to rushing around, stressed out about work, school and time was somewhat confused by the degree of relaxation that the Irish generally seemed to incorporate in their everyday life.
My sister attends the National University of Ireland in Galway. She has noted, as a very high-achieving and self-motivated student, that Irish students take school less seriously than students in America... one could definitely say they're more laid back and take time to enjoy themselves even more so than students at certain so-dubbed "party" schools in the US.
It seemed to me that the Irish follow a different lifestyle with different priorities and a different mindset.

I think that America, or at least the Northshore, could take a lesson from the Irish. We should all take a 20 minute break from our day to sit down with a cup of tea, and heck maybe even a scone!

(In major cities there were advertisements for therapy and yoga and such in many places. In fact Ireland has it's own Stress Management Institute... check it out!