Well, I'm from a village in Kerry where I know pretty much everyone. All of my life since childhood when I've walked down the street, old people, young people, shopkeepers, publicans.. everyone you meet knows you and so you always say hello and sometimes stop to chat.

Because you know everybody and everybody knows you it becomes a tight knit community. If I walked down the road with my head down not looking at anybody then the people I meet would think I was being unfriendly and rude for not saluting them or acknowledging that I saw them.

Because you know everybody, when you see somebody new in the area it becomes a talking point because it's out of the ordinary.

When you go to a nearby town you often meet people you know and so you keep an eye out in case you meet someone you know so you can acknowledge them and say hello.

When you go to the city, it's different because you don't know anybody but you're still in the habit of looking out for people you know so you can salute them or as in your girlfriends case avoid them. You're not going to say hello to everyone you meet in the city obviously but you'll still retain your old habits of looking out for them.

As for the looking out windows, I like looking out windows. Now, I don't always have to be looking out the window but sometimes I like to look out and people watch.

If you're from a rural place there isn't usually much going on outside the window unless its a visitor or whatever so when I first moved away from home every time someone walked past the front door I was on alert that it was a visitor or an intruder. My boyfriend thought I was insane but I've since gotten used to it and don't rush to the door or window every time I hear a noise outside.