Back in The land of Guinness

Wow, I’m back a week now and haven’t written anything!

I’ve been getting re-acquainted with some old friend, Guinness being one of the favourites! Been spending time trying to catch up on sleep and also catching up with friends, ex-colleagues and old classmates! It’s been nice. It’s also nice to see the family again. Living at home is strange, but there is always someone to talk to, which is different from my one-person apartment in Dalian!

I was a bit culture-shocked actually, when I came back! Everything is so different! Dublin seemed so small, with its narrow streets! Hearing Irish accents seemed so strange. Ireland seems so green compared to Liaoning province, with its parched, brown countryside. Also, the air here is wonderful compared to China!

Ireland has changed a bit. So many more eastern Europeans here now! Seems every second person is Polish! I think the amount of Chinese people is decreasing, as the eastern Europeans take the jobs that Chinese people used to do. The eastern European don’t need a work visa, whereas Chinese people do, hence employers prefer them.

I am gradually getting acclimatised. The big shock was in Frankfurt airport! Where have all the Chinese people gone? Everyone’s European! It totally freaked me out!

One thing that didn’t take long to get used to was food and drink! Unfortunately, a lot of the nice food isn’t very good for you: Irish breakfasts, curry chips, snack boxes, King crisps (I don't like Taytos crisps),… Well I did have some nice roast dinners and some lovely toast with marmalade, which aren’t too bad for you! On the drinks side: lovely cups of tea with real (i.e. not UHT or sweetened) milk, and of course, the king of drinks: Guinness! I had forgotten how nice Guinness was! The stuff abroad just doesn’t match it!

I haven’t had Chinese food in a week. I am going to have to visit Parnell Street and have some nice Dongbei food! I did have bai-cai (bok choy/Chinese cabbage) in my friend Barry's house last night. Allegedly you can get it in Tesco here! I have been chatting to some Chinese people over here. Don’t want my language level to drop much! Hopefully I can find a language student for language exchange.