Are you new around here?

“Are you new here?” A blond, medium-length-haired man asked her as she was putting away binders on an old solid oak shelf.

“Yes, I am. I just arrived”, she replied to the question.

But we will get to that later.

Our story begins here.

One day, there it is, it happened. Miranda checked her email, which she did every single day, multiple times per day. There was an email from a travel agency stating that she had been accepted to join their working program in Ireland.

Miranda was shocked. She had been looking for jobs in her own country of Canada with little to no success.

She immediately ran downstairs, to her 1890s farmhouse's living room, to share the news with her mother and father, with whom she had always had a great relationship.

“I got accepted to the work abroad program in Ireland,” Miranda said excitedly.

“That is great. Congratulations,” her mother, Patty said.

“What did you say, sweetie? I did not quite hear you,” her father, Sean, asked.

“Geeze, you are deaf. You need hearing aids,” Patty said.

Miranda’s father has some hearing loss from years of working around loud, heavy machinery at an automotive manufacturing plant.

“I got accepted to that work abroad program I applied to about two or three months ago,” Miranda said.

“Good! I’m proud of you. How long did you apply to go for?`` asked Sean.

“Thank you! I applied to go for about two years,” Miranda said.

“Two years, wow! What a great country to spend two years in,” her father said.

“Yes, for sure. I can send you some Irish whiskey,” said Miranda.

“Please do,” said Sean.

“Will do,” said Miranda.

Miranda’s father always loved different types of Irish whiskey and scotch. He also loves craft beer.

“Have you started looking at jobs over there yet?” Her parents asked.

“I have a meeting with the agency on Monday. Monday morning,” Miranda replied.

Monday morning rolled around. Miranda jumped on a Zoom call with the agency. They asked her all the normal questions.

Miranda earned a Master's degree in journalism in April of 2020 from St. Clair College. Miranda also had an interest in history and wrote about it extensively throughout her three years of college.

In 2019, she earned her teaching certificate to teach English as a second or foreign language.

In the summer of 2022, Miranda decided to pursue an art history certificate through the Smithsonian Associates program.

Miranda had been teaching English online since February of 2020, but this job that had been so darn stable and dried up all of sudden and it was hard to even get one booking. She then decided to look for more work.

While she was on her Zoom meeting, the agency informed Miranda that they had found an opening for an archivist at a castle. The castle is located approximately one hour outside of Dublin City.

She said that seems like an ideal job.

The agency said they would let the castle’s staff know and they could set up a job interview with her at any time.

The castle's staff responded nearly immediately and they set up a meeting and job interview for the next day, Tuesday morning.

Miranda could not believe it. Her job search was finally looking up.

The next morning came around like it always does.

Miranda excitedly opened the Zoom application on her computer.

The castle staff happily spoke with Miranda for nearly two hours. They seemed to like her and offered her the job on the spot. She gladly accepted the position.

She was then booked to head to Dublin, Ireland within the month. She would be leaving on the 21st day of March.

March 21st arrived. It was misty and raining. She packed her carry-on-sized backpack and her hard cases carrying her desktop computer, monitor and camera gear into the back of her Fiat crossover and started the four-hour drive to Toronto Pearson International Airport, to catch her flight to Dublin. This was all after she said farewell to her parents, of course.

Miranda arrived at the airport, checked in, went through security and arrived at her gate. Then it hit her, she would not see her home country in person again for two years. She got a tear in her eye. She was suddenly worried about being homesick and missing her parents.

But then she remembered that her parents would want her to go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip like this. She felt a little bit better and remembered that she was not going to be cut off from civilization. She could call, text, email, Instagram direct message or video call them whenever she wanted. Just pay mind, there is a time difference of about five hours.

She boarded the plane to Dublin and it was a peaceful and uneventful flight.

The plane landed in Dublin and the weather was the same as it had been when she left Canada. Rainy, foggy, misty. Despite this, the Emerald Isle was living up to its name. Miranda had never seen anything this green before. The green was a cross between the Wicked Witch of the West, from the Wizard of Oz and mashed peas.

Miranda was picked up from the airport by some people from the agency and taken to a hostel in the center of Dublin. She had never seen so many historical buildings in one block in her life.

She would spend the next four days getting acquainted with her brand-new city.

After four days, Miranda boarded a coach bus and headed to Trim Castle in County Meath.

Miranda arrived at the gray-bricked castle’s gates and was greeted and shown around the grounds. She was greeted by a tall red-haired lady named Heather, who was in charge of guest services.

The castle's interior was in need of some paint. Much of the remaining paint was peeling off the walls.

She was then asked to organize and store some records in the castle’s library.

She thought she was alone in the library until…

“Are you new here?” A blond, medium-length-haired man asked her as she was putting away binders on an old solid oak shelf.

“Yes, I am. I just arrived”, she replied to the question.

“I am Spencer Reid. Nice to meet you,” the man said in a light Irish accent.

All Miranda could think of he looked like and had the same name as a Criminal Minds character. Criminal Minds was one of her all-time favourite television programs.

“Nice to meet you too. I am Miranda, Miranda Monahan. I just arrived here from Canada,” she said.

“Wow, Canada. Welcome. What brings you to Ireland?” He asked.

“Thanks. I am here doing a working holiday,” Miranda replied.

“After work, would you like to maybe grab a coffee?” Spencer asked.

“Sure, why not?” She said.

“Great, I know this great little shop,” he said.

After work, they headed to a coffee shop in the town built up around the castle.

They ordered their drinks. Funnily enough, they both ordered green tea and then sat and talked.

Spencer grew up in Cork, Ireland and attended Cambridge University, in England, and had a Ph.D. in art history, however, resented using the title “doctor” before his name as he did not want people coming up to him and asking him if they could check out moles or something.

They both laughed.

“I did not ask you on a date. I just wanted to welcome you to our country and get to know you,” he said.

“Thank you. I was hoping to potentially make friends in this country. I am not looking for a relationship, like ever as I am bisexual, asexual, aromantic and non-binary. I use they and she as pronouns,” Miranda said.

“I am glad you understand. I am not looking for a relationship either as I am gay, asexual and aromantic. I use he and him as pronouns,” he said. I would be glad to be your friend.”

“Thank you so much and I would be very glad to be your friend as well,” she said.

That day Miranda made her first friend in Ireland. They both lived in the castle’s living quarters and helped out around the small town, near the castle and hung out regularly.

Spencer taught Miranda about all the drinking traditions, as well as the cultural traditions of Ireland.

Miranda remained working at the castle throughout her working holiday in Ireland. She then was often in a full-time archivist position at Trinity College Dublin. She accepted the position. She resides full-time in Ireland but regularly travels around other countries in Europe and the world. In addition, she returns often to her native country.

To this very day, Miranda and Spencer are still good friends and hang out whenever they are not working.