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Irish college students flock to San Diego for a damn good time

By Kate Kowsh

June 19, 2006

San Diego--Did you notice a thick, Irish accent on the SeaWorld clerk who sold your kid the stuffed Shamu? How about on the bloke who asked the bartender to switch on the footy match? It may be difficult to resist, but think twice before hitting them with the leprechaun and Lucky Charms jokes…they’ve brought friends.

Thanks to ads posted in universities throughout Ireland, baiting kids to take advantage of their student visas by dangling the American dream of sun, fun and reckless abandon in front of them, pasty Irish travelers are showing up at San Diego’s youth hostels in droves. And they’re all looking to party.

A few lads up for a bit o' crack

Jane Donaghy, a junior at the University of Ulster in Armagh, plans to be here until September. “We just saw posters up, advertising working in the USA for the summer,” she explained. “We thought it’d be grand.”

But is spending the summer in San Diego really worth paying upwards of $140 for a temporary visa, buying a plane ticket, risking homelessness, and working our shit jobs? Catriona Burke, a student from Dublin who plans to spend her holiday squeezed into a three bedroom house with eight of her pals, said, “People were going; I didn’t want to be alone.”

But of all the other U.S. destinations vying for tourism dollars—Vegas, Hawaii, New York—why San Diego? For that, we can thank Mr. Ron Burgundy. “I like the film, Anchorman—whale’s vagina’s the place for me!” Burke proclaimed.

She also mentioned this summer’s concert line-up wasn’t a bad draw either, noting that, come hell or high water, she will make it to this year’s San Diego Street Scene.

But, not everyone knows quite why they came. Padraig Dempsey, a horticulture major from Tipperary, doesn’t have the slightest idea what his plans are for the summer. “I haven’t thought of that….Just stay alive--and the Grand Canyon maybe.”

Mark Molloy said he’s “just up for a laugh and a bit o’ crack.” (Translation: He’s just here for a little good-natured fun.)

One of his cheeky friends added that he was hoping to “get his hole,” which is the Irish slang for getting laid.

While San Diegans may know how to party, the Irish are legendary for riding the party bus until the wheels fall off. That’s why Irish Outreach San Diego, a community organization, makes a point to drop their flyers by local hostels, lending their counsel. They offer free job listings, health and social services and yes, even bail bond referrals. Bill Hegarty, an Outreach volunteer and native of Ireland, said that by volunteering he hopes to school travelers on how to blend in with the laid-back lightweights. “When you come from a place like Ireland to a place like San Diego, you’d think you just arrived in heaven. You get stupid,” he said.

Of course, not everyone in America is as altruistic as Outreach. Aspect, a company that offers visa sponsorship, job placement and travelers’ insurance, charges up to $800 for their services. They boast being able to help travelers find work through connections with well-established businesses like SeaWorld, McDonalds, Disneyland, and Hilton Hotels.

Finding short term housing can also be an obstacle. David, a college kid here on holiday from Dublin, said he plans to live in a three-bedroom house with 12 other people because, so far, they can’t find anything else.

That may have something to do with the reputation last year’s travelers’ left. With that many people in one house, there’s always someone up who wants to party. And party they did. A few unlucky landlords wound up chasing tenants back to Ireland to get their damages.

While crashing on a floor all summer, living out of a suit case and living in a castle of empty beer cans may not sound like a vacation, new recruits are arriving every day. Standing proud in his green and white rugby jersey, David Davis, proclaimed, “That’s the reason we’re here.”

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Kate Kowsh is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Vyuz.com