Hello! I know it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged, but never fear, I’m back! So I know I haven’t blogged about any of the places myself and Phil visited on route home to Ireland, and I will, but I decided to skip ahead and do a blog about living in Ireland again after nearly 4 years… I’ll cover the good, the bad and the ugly!
Let’s start with the good, because I’ve a feeling that’s a shorter one than the bad 😉 I suppose the first thing
I’ve realised since being back in Ireland is that there is a certain banter and a kind of craic that you really can only find in Ireland. I’ve never really been homesick over the years, and since I moved in May 2010 I only had a short 2 week visit for Christmas last year, so it wasn’t really long enough to realise there were some things about Ireland that I missed. Whereas now I’ve been home for almost 3 months and I have realised that there are some aspects to Irish life that you really don’t get anywhere else in the world. Simple things like the friendly banter between strangers in a pub, I haven’t come across that in any other country and once you come back home, it is great to experience that again! I don’t care what anyone says, Irish people have a sense of humour that is hard to find anywhere else in the world! And it’s nice to come home to that. Then there’s the “hello’s” that pass between strangers,that may sound silly but it is something I’ve noticed. In Ireland everyone says hello to everyone whether they know each other or not. I’ve noticed this when I’m out walking with my ma, people nod, smile and say hello to each other. It’s is a very small and simple thing but you don’t get it in Australia, and definitely not in Korea either and you know what, it’s really nice! Aside from the obvious missing family and friends, people who know me will know that the main thing I’ve missed from home is…CRISPS!! Wow, it’s amazing to be able to get my hands on tayto, monster munch, meanies, hot lips and all those other delicious crisps I have missed so dearly – and not for exorbitant prices either 🙂
Now onto the bad and the ugly side to living in Ireland again. One thing I’ve noticed since coming back is all the
stories of corruption and other horrible things in the news. When I hear these stories, it’s like I never left Ireland because it seems that some things never change and corrupt politicians and officials seem to live true to this. Hearing about the CRC and that whole saga was just disgusting. And the sad thing is it seems this sort of thing is always happening in Ireland. I wonder is there anything actually being done about the corruption within this country. Everyday there seems to be a new story about some form of corruption, the CRC, the rehab lotto etc. After all this country has been though in the past few years and yet there are people literally stealing money from charity!!! Then there was the recent homophobia saga, which is still ongoing, and rte paying out that money so quickly. I didn’t see that episode of the Saturday Night Show, and it’s been hard to locate it online since rte seem to have permanently deleted it, we talk about China and North Korea having crazy censorship laws, but that seems like censorship to me. It seems rte have a bit of explaining to do in regards to paying out that money so quickly, and I’m sure that story will remain in the news for a while to come as they are remaining so tight lipped on this legal advice they received. I’ve been reading about this Mars One Mission to send people on a one way ticket to Mars and I reckon we should be allowed nominate people for the trip. I for one would be sending all those corrupt politicians (including Bertie Ahern), the corrupt bankers and property tycoons, a few rte executives and Joe Duffy (I’ll explain that in a minute!)
Living in Ireland again is a bit of a shock to the system, I’m back living at home which is strange in itself. I haven’t lived in Portlaoise since I went to college in 2005 and it can be pretty boring. Although I must say, me and ma have a nice little routine of going to the gym, going into town and going for frequent coffees or lunch! It is also very weird not living with Phil anymore, he’s now back living at home in Galway so we see each other every week and a half to two weeks. That’s quite difficult after living together for over 2 years, but it’s nice to go to Galway for a change of scenery. I suppose the weather doesn’t help settling back into Ireland either, I mean seriously, it’s
been shit since Christmas!! This weather is really making me miss Australia. I mean you really do take the weather for granted over there. It’s only when you come home and realise how much the weather can affect you and your life that you realise how good we had it in Perth. But I suppose no point in complaining about the Irish weather, it is what it is!
So you’ll remember in my last blog I started a section about things that’s infuriate me, well, the thing that has infuriated me most since I came back is Joe Duffy. I can honestly say I hate that man and I hate his radio show. I don’t actively listen to it but unfortunately sometimes I hear it. One such time being in a taxi in Dublin and I kid you not, this is what Joe and his caller were talking about – the caller, a lady, rang in to complain about the way she was treated after she saw a mother in a shopping centre throw a mars bar belonging to her child in the bin because the child was misbehaving. The woman intervened and told the mother, who she didn’t know by the way, that it was very harsh of her to throw away her son’s bar. Sitting in the taxi listening to that rubbish, I was actually amazed, number one at the fact that Joe Duffy actually thinks such shit is newsworthy and number two that there are enough people in Ireland who continue to listen to his show. The show carried on and other people were actually calling up to give their opinions on that story, most of them supporting the caller who had intervened!!! You would think that even Joe Duffy at some point would draw a line somewhere about what he will discuss on his show. I mean was there nothing more important going on in the world, or in Ireland on that day that they could have spoken about?! That is why if I had my way Joe Duffy would be on that shuttle heading for Mars never to return to Earth, or radio, again! HE IS SOOOOOOOO INFURIATING!!!
Anyway as most of you will know myself and Phil were planning on going back to Australia but the sponsorship has fallen through, so that’s the end of that. Our new plan is to apply for visas for Canada so at the moment we are waiting for the visas to be released. It’s a very secretive process as no one knows when the applications for the visas will open in Ireland, we have to keep checking online for this mysterious announcement that will give 24 hours notice. Rumors have been flying around since last November abut when the visas will be released, and still no sign of them and we’re into March. It’s very frustrating and my life literally revolves around those visas these days, sad, I know! Once the visas are released (if they even exist!) they are given on a first come first serve basis, so you have to be very quick in applying. Fingers crossed we get them, but until they are released it’s just a waiting game! In other news my good friend Mark was home from Dubai for a holiday last month so a few of us met up in Galway that weekend and went out. I promised Mark and Miriam Dennigan (who are both avid readers of my blog!) that I would give them a mention, so here you go guys, you know you’ve made it when you’ve been mentioned in my blog 😉 haha. My sister Rebecca got married nearly 2 weeks ago to Phil no. 1 – very confusing in our family with the two Phil’s! So we all headed up to Dublin on the Wednesday for the big day. The wedding was Thursday, and we didn’t get home until Sunday and I’m only just about recovered! It was a brilliant few days, the wedding was gorgeous and Rebecca looked stunning, but I think I can safely say that both myself and my liver are glad that these family events only come around every once in a while!
Well I think that’s all from me for the moment! Until next time 🙂
