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Living abroad, What do you miss the most.

BO-JANGLES · 2012-10-05 18:42:10

Apart from family and friends what do you miss most since living abroad? I missed batch loaf and tayto crisp sambos. And of course a big mug of lyons tea.

05-10-2012 7:42pm

#1

BO-JANGLES

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Apart from family and friends what do you miss most since living abroad?

I missed batch loaf and tayto crisp sambos.

And of course a big mug of lyons tea.

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#2 05-10-2012 7:43pm

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

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Thick chips swimming in vinegar.

Everything I don't like is either woke or fascist - possibly both - pick one.

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#3 05-10-2012 7:44pm

SouperComputer

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Scenic road trips down the country. I can get a lot of the food over here, or sent over and there's even a decent fish n chip place! But I do so miss nice roads for some spirited and scenic driving to the backarse of nowhere.

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#4 07-10-2012 11:32am

silja

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plain tea biscuits
Strong Irish tea, until I found a local place selling Barry's (yay!)
roasted chestnuts

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#5 08-10-2012 7:20am

dejopadu

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i miss random phone calls from friends asking or looking for advice on various & sometimes ridiculous situations

:pac:

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#6 08-10-2012 7:23am

trodsky

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Pints of Guinness

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#7 08-10-2012 7:27am

clappyhappy

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When I lived abroad, 8 yrs in the middle east, what I missed the most was the run up to Christmas. All the mayhem and madness, the anticipation and then sitting down on Christmas eve having a few drinks with friends and family. That was what I missed the most.

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#8 08-10-2012 7:33am

James2nd

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Newspapers

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#9 08-10-2012 7:36am

Jude13

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Exactly the run up to Christmass. I have lived abroad for many years now and I always miss bumping into people in town and having a beer. Each year I have managed to get home for Christmas week but still miss the build-up. This year however will be my first every christmas when I am not home. I am gutted.

There is no fish and chip shop in this country, nghtamre.

Pork pork and pork. Pork is sold here for hugely inflated prices, I am taking about 25 euro for 5 of the worst rashers you ahve ever tasted. Everytime I am home I go to the butchers and get pound sof different types of cooked ham and pig out.

Girls, just around the place, not all covered up.

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#10 08-10-2012 8:47am

brandon_flowers

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Milk, just normal fresh milk. Not this UHT s***. So that means Tea, Corn Flakes, Weetabix etc are all disgusting with this stuff. I have honed myself to drinking Lyons black at the moment. I do get fresh milk every now and then but it's difficult enough because the shops carry about only about 10 litres of stock.

Training in the muck and puddle for a hopeless Junior B team, I don't actually miss the games that much.

Drinking a pint that is pulled correctly and not just slopped out over the counter to you.

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#11 08-10-2012 6:38pm

HellFireClub

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BO-JANGLES wrote: »

Apart from family and friends what do you miss most since living abroad?

I missed batch loaf and tayto crisp sambos.

And of course a big mug of lyons tea.

I'll give you one thing, you move pretty quick...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056774769

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#12 08-10-2012 9:21pm

BO-JANGLES

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HellFireClub wrote: »

I'll give you one thing, you move pretty quick...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056774769

Not really HellFireClub , because I did live abroad when I was in my twenties and considering moving again. Simples:rolleyes:

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#13 09-10-2012 5:17am

joysabroad

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I miss my personal space! There are soooo many people in China. :-)

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#14 10-10-2012 9:06pm

Tablampa

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Barry's Tea! And the gossiping old ladies. Miss that a lot.

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#15 11-10-2012 8:30am

crazy8

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I miss the things I took more for granted living in Ireland.

Too many people bump into you here(Madrid) and don't acknowledge it, sometimes people throw litter about without recognising what they've just done. I found that didn't happen so much in Ireland. The way of speaking too, it's normal to speak at the same time, loudly and interrupt each other.
I guess it's hard to get away from how you are brought up.

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#16 11-10-2012 9:03am

munchkin_utd

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crazy8 wrote: »

I miss the things I took more for granted living in Ireland.

Too many people bump into you here(Madrid) and don't acknowledge it, sometimes people throw litter about without recognising what they've just done. I found that didn't happen so much in Ireland. The way of speaking too, it's normal to speak at the same time, loudly and interrupt each other.
I guess it's hard to get away from how you are brought up.

have to say that actually rings true with me too but obviously with a different country in a different way

I can live without all the physical things as theres equivalents abroad, and the longer youre away the more flexible you are (i.e. orangey jam is grand instead of "proper" Irish Fruitfield marmalade, which is actually now made in England anyhow)

but theres a few things that even when you have the language pretty much nailed you still wish things were more like Ireland:
- At checkouts theres no banter like in Ireland or even England. The foreign staff mightnt have the language but theres still a formaility there with the german staff that must be maintained.
- Will people hold a door open for you if with a child or buggy or large bag, probably not.
- The wife was at a market last Friday with 2 kids hanging off her and some of the vegetables fell on the ground. Would anyone help in this small open air community market? No, they just treat it as a spectacle and stop what they are doing and stare.
- More often than not waiters and whatnot appear to be trying not to get a tip with their gruffness and attitude (thats a specific Bavarian thing though aparantly).

The biggest thing I miss though is big GAA matches. I did well this year with getting an all Ireland quarter, semi and the final but in a normal year I wouldn't see a single match except on TV. When I lived at home I'd have been to all Cavan Championship games, most Cavan league games, most games in Clones regardless of whos playing and any All Ireland semi final involving any Ulster team. And now nothing as I'm abroad!

Thinking about it again though, about the only physical thing that I'd miss is the availability of proper sandwiches at lunchtime! You can get some class of yoke that looks like a sandwich but it normally has a shelf life of a month and the bread and filling are just nasty. Even a ham and cheese sandwich has to have some class of funky continental cocktail sauce lathered onto it.

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#17 12-10-2012 2:53pm

keithclancy

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People, thats about it really.

I've found a substitute for everything else.

Cheddar Cheese - They sell it here.
Tea Bags - We buy a few boxes of Barrys when were back
Telly - Have Irish Sky + VPN for RTE Player etc
Radio - Have Podkicker for Android so it downloads all the shows when I have a WiFi connection
Bread - Its better here tbh
Talking to people - Have justvoip.com, top it up and it gives a rake of free days for unlimited landline calls in Ireland.

Jesus, even the beef you buy here in the supermarket comes from Cahir in County Tipp

It's not really all that different here tbh and its only a 40 euro return flight with Ryanair to Dublin from Eindhoven if we fancy a trip back.

Honestly I see here as home and Ireland as being on Holidays when we visit.

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#18 12-10-2012 2:58pm

jester77

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I think that once you embrace the local culture you will find there are less and less things you will miss. I can't honestly think of anything now that I miss from Ireland. If I was to return back to Ireland there would be a long list of things I would miss from here but over time I would adjust.

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#19 12-10-2012 3:22pm

Jonti

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Scottish morning roll and sliced sausage for breakfast and a hot pie and chips for dinner.

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#20 13-10-2012 4:56pm

Cunning Stunt

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a couple of people have mentioned Barrys tea and I just wanted to say that barrys have an online store now which does international deliveries. They are very fast and great service and we make sure to get regular deliveries here in Denmark. The tea seems to be the same price as in the shops at home, and to get 3 big boxes (160 bags each) delivered it costs us only €10 delivery fee
http://www.barrysteashop.ie/

I miss a lot of things about Ireland - I definitely miss the xmas build up like others here. I have spent the last 2 Christmas's over here, due to circumstances, not exactly choice - but I am definitely getting home this year!! I also miss the pub culture - sure, there are bars and things over here, but they are really ony for the younger crowd and they just dont have the same atmosphere - nothing like your local hole in the wall, with a cosy fire on a winters evening and people that you know.

I miss my ma and da and sisters/brothers the most though -- everytime I am home, I see how much my parents have aged :(If I could only move them all over here with me, things would be rosy...

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#21 14-10-2012 7:44pm

Da Shins Kelly

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I miss sitting down beside the fire in my parents house with a cup of Barry's tea in my favourite mug and a Tayto sandwich or gingernut biscuits.

As was said above, I do miss the Irish pub culture. I love going out to a pub in Ireland where there's live music or something, and just hanging out and having a bit of banter with friends. The part of Spain I'm in is pretty club-y, which is fine for the first couple of weeks, but it gets very samey very quickly.

People walk really slowly around here for some reason. So you're in a rush to get somewhere, and there's a group of people in front of you, taking up the entire sidewalk and walking at a snail's pace. They often just suddenly stop dead in the middle of street too, and don't even think to move to the side to let people pass. As someone said already too, people often just bump into you and don't even acknowledge that they did anything.

I miss the organisation of my college at home. The college I'm at here is dire in terms of actually notifying students about days off or strikes or anything of that nature. More than once, I've gone into college only to discover that classes are not on that day. The staff in the college are pretty unhelpful too, compared to at home where they tend to do pretty much everything they can to help you out.

Most of all I do miss my friends and family. I have friends here, but it's just not quite the same. I've missed a lot of birthdays at home, which makes me feel homesick. Facebook is terrible for this! Going on Facebook and seeing pictures of people's birthdays makes me wish I was at home. I can't wait to see my parents at Christmas too. Going home on the 19th of December! Yay!

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#22 18-10-2012 5:05pm

Grandeeod

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The only thing I yearn for is batch loaf.

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#23 19-10-2012 7:30pm

Darren1o1

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Grandeeod wrote: »

The only thing I yearn for is batch loaf.

Where you based?

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#24 21-10-2012 2:33pm

MrKingsley

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I knew opening up this thread would be a bad idea. What i would do for a crisp sambo and cup of cha right now.

For me I miss being able to pun and use sarcasm. Just doesnt work for the frenchies. End up sounding like a tool rather a lot

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#25 22-10-2012 10:48am

IvyTheTerrible

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MrKingsley wrote: »

I knew opening up this thread would be a bad idea. What i would do for a crisp sambo and cup of cha right now.

For me I miss being able to pun and use sarcasm. Just doesnt work for the frenchies. End up sounding like a tool rather a lot

True about the sarcasm but the French love word plays. It takes a while to get used to though, I'm only just getting the level of French needed to really find them funny and to make them myself!

I just miss people and scenery. All the other stuff (food etc) I can get sent over, or it's better here.

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#26 22-10-2012 11:07am

[Deleted User]
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I miss the Taytos too, brought back 2 multi packs when i was home last year in September, they didn't last very long. Also a nice fry up, the sausages in Ireland are so much nicer, black and white pudding, my barrys tea collection is nearly out so will be topping up at xmas. Even a nice cold pint bottle of Bulmers with ice, can't beat it. Will be home on the 8th December and i am looking forward to a nice pint of Guinness, Guinness where i am is just muck.
Also on the family side, missed a lot of birthdays, Weddings of friends, you do miss a lot of things.

Things i dont miss is people moaning how crap the country is, Ireland is one of better countries to live in, trust me on that.

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#27 22-10-2012 1:17pm

Da Shins Kelly

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Deleted User wrote: »

Things i dont miss is people moaning how crap the country is, Ireland is one of better countries to live in, trust me on that.

True that.

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#28 23-10-2012 7:38pm

mazi

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Lyons Tea, Tayto, cheap crisps (monster munch, meanies), rashers,superquinn sausages, soda bread ( I make it when I can be arsed).....omg where does it all end...there's more but my mouth is drooling over the keyboard so I better stop!:D

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#29 24-10-2012 2:30pm

Grandeeod

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Darren1o1 wrote: »

Where you based?

Canary Islands.

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#30 24-10-2012 2:31pm

Darren1o1

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Grandeeod wrote: »

Canary Islands.

Ah, if you were stateside I could mention a few places to get batch...

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#31 24-10-2012 2:35pm

Grandeeod

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Darren1o1 wrote: »

Ah, if you were stateside I could mention a few places to get batch...

We have Irish butter, cheese, bacon and sausages out here, but the bread lets it all down! I even have Spanish/English people asking me to bring some back when I visit Ireland.

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