Homesickness

lufties · 31-08-2013 07:52AM #1

I'm an Irish expat currently living in Hong kong, left for the big bad world around 4 years ago when the recession hit. I love living here but sometimes I get massively homesick and think about moving home, in my line of work i could probably get something in Dublin bit it wouldn't be anywhere near the package I currently get. All my family are living at home so perhaps its that and the nostalgia, thinking of the good old days. Anyway just wondered if others think like this or are happy to be gone from Ireland.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy · 31-08-2013 07:54AM

Serious offer. Pm me your address, I'll post you Lyons or Barrys teabags, tayto and Cadburys.

kneemos · 31-08-2013 07:58AM

Johnny Electricity wrote: »

Serious offer. Pm me your address, I'll post you Lyons or Barrys teabags, tayto and Cadburys.

Karma brother.

RachaelVO · 31-08-2013 08:06AM

Living in The Netherlands (HATE IT), and I'd love to go the feck home. I'm mad homesick at the mo. I was home for the month of July, and it was just a killer coming back here. I just miss everything... SUCKS BEING HERE!

RachaelVO · 31-08-2013 08:07AM

Johnny Electricity wrote: »

Serious offer. Pm me your address, I'll post you Lyons or Barrys teabags, tayto and Cadburys.

You're a good un

lufties · 31-08-2013 08:11AM

RachaelVO wrote: »

Living in The Netherlands (HATE IT), and I'd love to go the feck home. I'm mad homesick at the mo. I was home for the month of July, and it was just a killer coming back here. I just miss everything... SUCKS BEING HERE!

wow, I thought holland would be a great place to be, If its that bad I would suggest moving home of somewhere else at least.

lufties · 31-08-2013 08:14AM

Johnny Electricity wrote: »

Serious offer. Pm me your address, I'll post you Lyons or Barrys teabags, tayto and Cadburys.

thanks for the offer johnny, but i wouldn't eat any of that stuff even when I come back..on the other hand, guinness, spuds, bacon and cabbage(not to be ingested at the same time) and my mam's home cooking, now thats a treat

RachaelVO · 31-08-2013 08:14AM

lufties wrote: »

wow, I thought holland would be a great place to be, If its that bad I would suggest moving home of somewhere else at least.

I know, I would if I could, Dutch hubby, kids, mortgage...

Costs a fecking fortune to live here (health insurance is compulsary and costs a fortune, although good health care system). It's mostly the rudeness and total lack of service that kills me off though.

lufties · 31-08-2013 08:18AM

RachaelVO wrote: »

I know, I would if I could, Dutch hubby, kids, mortgage...

Costs a fecking fortune to live here (health insurance is compulsary and costs a fortune, although good health care system). It's mostly the rudeness and total lack of service that kills me off though.

jeez sorry to hear that, surely you could discuss it with your other half, I spent time in cologne and while it was ok, I still got seriously depressed and had to get out, culturally I reckon us Irish are different and have a more relaxed outlook on life.

RachaelVO · 31-08-2013 08:23AM

lufties wrote: »

jeez sorry to hear that, surely you could discuss it with your other half, I spent time in cologne and while it was ok, I still got seriously depressed and had to get out, culturally I reckon us Irish are different and have a more relaxed outlook on life.

We've discussed it at great length, and I am hoping in the next few years, his difficulty is that he's an only child with elderly parents, so it's a little harder for him.

We are very different, there is a pettiness dealing with services n stuff here. I'm living for the day I lock the door and go straight to the airport. Until then I just have to suck it up. At least I'm not so far away though, it's an hour and 20 mins to get home.

Esoteric_ · 31-08-2013 08:23AM

lufties wrote: »

thanks for the offer johnny, but i wouldn't eat any of that stuff even when I come back..on the other hand, guinness, spuds, bacon and cabbage(not to be ingested at the same time) and my mam's home cooking, now thats a treat

Gimme your address, I'll post your mam over.

anto9 · 31-08-2013 08:27AM

>> It's mostly the rudeness and total lack of service that kills me off though. <<
I lived in Holland for 3 years and found it totally the opposite .Great polite service in shops etc .Mostly friendly people but not all .( like everywhere) .
I now have lived in Thailand for 5 years ,and dont miss Ireland but do like to return about every 2 years for a Holiday .Being older and my parents having passed away means less connection with Ireland .

camel jockey · 31-08-2013 08:39AM

Esoteric_ wrote: »

Gimme your address, I'll post your mam over.

Preferably not in pieces.

Caonima · 31-08-2013 08:53AM

lufties wrote: »

I'm an Irish expat currently living in Hong kong, left for the big bad world around 4 years ago when the recession hit. I love living here but sometimes I get massively homesick and think about moving home, in my line of work i could probably get something in Dublin bit it wouldn't be anywhere near the package I currently get. All my family are living at home so perhaps its that and the nostalgia, thinking of the good old days. Anyway just wondered if others think like this or are happy to be gone from Ireland.

OP, can I ask how old you are?

RachaelVO wrote: »

It's mostly the rudeness and total lack of service that kills me off though.

Wow, that's an eye-opener - I always felt from my experience that the Dutch were very warm and outgoing.

Johnny Electricity wrote: »

Serious offer. Pm me your address, I'll post you Lyons or Barrys teabags, tayto and Cadburys.

Dibs on this

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy · 31-08-2013 08:56AM

Caonima wrote: »

Dibs on this

Offers still there.. Only if you're working abroad though

lufties · 31-08-2013 08:59AM

Caonima wrote: »

OP, can I ask how old you are?

Wow, that's an eye-opener - I always felt from my experience that the Dutch were very warm and outgoing.

Dibs on this

I'm 31

Caonima · 31-08-2013 09:04AM

lufties wrote: »

I'm 31

Suppose it's normal for your age; younger people are more prone to it than older people. You're probably at a crossroads - 4 years abroad and you're wondering how much longer you have to stay before you go home. I'm 4 years abroad, not far from you, and I get it from time to time. One of the reasons I joined Boards, I suppose - to stay in touch with people back home (and abroad, natch).

carlmango11 · 31-08-2013 09:04AM

I think a big part of homesickness is forgetting all the bad stuff and glorifying the good.

Even when I look back on certain periods of my life, or even holidays, it's always fondly even though at the time it might not have been so great. If you were to go back home for more than 6 weeks the novelty would wear off and you'd be less reluctant to leave again.

I'm away at the moment and I sometimes get it too. Best thing is to have a long lovely Skype chat with people back home and then hang out with friends.

Maybe you could go home for a month or two?

Also: I find I only get it when I haven't been filling my spare time. When I'm working during the day then hanging out with friends at night home never crosses my mind. It's only since I finished up in my job and my friends left the country that I started thinking of home.

RachaelVO · 31-08-2013 09:09AM

Caonima wrote: »

Wow, that's an eye-opener - I always felt from my experience that the Dutch were very warm and outgoing.

Not a bit of it

Depends on where you are mostly, in A'dam different vibe to rest of the country. I ain't in A'dam.

There is a level of pettiness when you are trying to get information and this sorted out here. No initiative shown in professional services at all.

A lot of expats here think the same (not all TBF).

How long were you here for?

Caonima · 31-08-2013 09:13AM

RachaelVO wrote: »

Not a bit of it

Depends on where you are mostly, in A'dam different vibe to rest of the country. I ain't in A'dam.

There is a level of pettiness when you are trying to get information and this sorted out here. No initiative shown in professional services at all.

A lot of expats here think the same (not all TBF).

How long were you here for?

Only two weeks

In A'dam and The Hague. Still thought that the Dutch were a decent bunch, but I didn't really need to avail of many services there.

The OP is lucky on this front - I also feel that Hong Kong people are pretty decent and down-to-earth. Hong Kong is also pretty user-friendly, for Asia anyway.

WindSock · 31-08-2013 09:47AM

I don't get homesick often, thankfully as it is ****ty feeling, but what makes me really sick are the people who have to emigrate and who want nothing more than to stay in Ireland with their friends and family with the dignity of having a decent enough job. It makes me sad that so many people don't really have the option to return.
Although I do count myself lucky that I have the option to emigrate as I am not bound by family / debt / mortgage / misc.

MonstaMash · 31-08-2013 09:55AM

I lived abroad for many years & never returned home at all.

Curiously enough, I never got homesick...ever, until I returned on a ferry from France & spotted the Irish coast & wept like a child at the thought of returning to my homeland.

bohsboy · 31-08-2013 10:03AM

Dutch are robotic obnoxious bores.

Their idea of a night out is one glass of beer. A dreary place with no one venturing out after 6pm and everything, absolutely everything shut down on a Sunday.

Homesickness is awful but rest assured it comes in waves, you won't feel like that forever. I know it means nothing but you really are missing out on nothing here, the old social scene is gone, pubs are only half full on a Saturday night at best and no one has any money to do anything.

lufties · 31-08-2013 10:14AM

bohsboy wrote: »

Dutch are robotic obnoxious bores.

Their idea of a night out is one glass of beer. A dreary place with no one venturing out after 6pm and everything, absolutely everything shut down on a Sunday.

Homesickness is awful but rest assured it comes in waves, you won't feel like that forever. I know it means nothing but you really are missing out on nothing here, the old social scene is gone, pubs are only half full on a Saturday night at best and no one has any money to do anything.

I know, prertty much any friends I had are emigrated but i still have a few in Ireland. I'm back next week for 2 weeks so will be looking forward to it.

RachaelVO · 31-08-2013 10:19AM

MonstaMash wrote: »

I lived abroad for many years & never returned home at all.

Curiously enough, I never got homesick...ever, until I returned on a ferry from France & spotted the Irish coast & wept like a child at the thought of returning to my homeland.

Really were you never home even for a long weekend?

The longest I went without going home was 14 months... thought I'd never get home to see everyone. Worst thing about homesickness is that after you get home, you miss the place more for the first week or two of being back (in my experience anyway.

MonstaMash · 31-08-2013 10:26AM

RachaelVO wrote: »

Really were you never home even for a long weekend?

7 years & not even a long weekend & basically only a phone call on significant dates like birthdays, anniversaries etc. :eek:

Home is where you lay down at night, never really got attached to the whole country, home, house thing.

My grandmother always said I had gypsy blood in me because I was always on the move & could never settle...until now & I'm just tipping 50

Caonima · 31-08-2013 10:46AM

It's kinda difficult being so far away, as your friends from back home are less inclined to visit you, not to mention the cost of flights etc.

RachaelVO · 31-08-2013 10:48AM

MonstaMash wrote: »

7 years & not even a long weekend & basically only a phone call on significant dates like birthdays, anniversaries etc. :eek:

Home is where you lay down at night, never really got attached to the whole country, home, house thing.

My grandmother always said I had gypsy blood in me because I was always on the move & could never settle...until now & I'm just tipping 50

I could never go that long... I have to get home to sorta 'top up' my Irishness, and get teabags, crisps, chocolate and butter (HAVE to get kerrygod, butter here is like lard)

Home to me is where my Dad and sisters/brother are (Mam passed away a few years ago when I was here)

anto9 · 31-08-2013 11:00AM

bohsboy wrote: »

Dutch are robotic obnoxious bores.

Their idea of a night out is one glass of beer. A dreary place with no one venturing out after 6pm and everything, absolutely everything shut down on a Sunday.

Homesickness is awful but rest assured it comes in waves, you won't feel like that forever. I know it means nothing but you really are missing out on nothing here, the old social scene is gone, pubs are only half full on a Saturday night at best and no one has any money to do anything.

I must have been to a different Holland than the rest on here .Where i was ( mostly Amsterdam and near by ) they drank like fish ,though mostly just at weekends .Everything being shut on Sunday is the same in Germany and a good thing in my book .To really fit in there you need to know the language ,and that was where i failed .( though i have reasonable German )

lufties · 31-08-2013 11:08AM

anto9 wrote: »

I must have been to a different Holland than the rest on here .Where i was ( mostly Amsterdam and near by ) they drank like fish ,though mostly just at weekends .Everything being shut on Sunday is the same in Germany and a good thing in my book .To really fit in there you need to know the language ,and that was where i failed .( though i have reasonable German )

I thought the dutch generally peak english very well?

Couldn't believe how bad people's english is germany.

weisses · 31-08-2013 11:26AM

bohsboy wrote: »

Dutch are robotic obnoxious bores.

Their idea of a night out is one glass of beer. A dreary place with no one venturing out after 6pm and everything, absolutely everything shut down on a Sunday.

Where did you go/stay ??? (bible belt) perhaps ?

Homesickness

Comments