Name: Trish Wilson Address: Rathmies, Dublin Dwelling: Studio apartment Here since: 2004
I've been in Ireland for two years. I grew up in Victoria in British Columbia, but I've been away from home for seven years. I moved to Scotland first for a few years. All my family is back in Canada. It's not really an issue - sometimes I miss my family, but I'm very independent. My grandparents were from Belfast. We were always brought up to be proud of our Irish heritage, and I have an Irish passport.
At first when I came over it was a bit of a culture shock. In North America when you go to the bank you don't have to answer questions about how your gran is doing, you just get your banking done. It took me a while to get used to the pace of life over here. I moved to west Cork straight from Glasgow, and that was a huge change. I thought everyone was speaking Irish. I didn't understand anything at first.
I couldn't even think about going back to live in north America now. I just enjoy the daily life here a lot more. People here are a lot more sincere, and despite the Celtic Tiger, they're less materialistic, at least the ones that I tend to meet.
I've been in a few different flats in Dublin, all in Rathmines. This one is in Grove Park, which is lovely. My neighbours in the house are all young professionals, rather than students. Everybody respects everybody, but as usual, people keep their distance. When people live on top of each other, they want to keep their distance a bit more, they need their space. In winter, especially, people keep to themselves. But in summer, when people start flocking out to the front steps, that's when impromptu wine gatherings happen.
I used to love the Blackberry Fair across the road. I was so sad when it closed down. I went down to buy a telly, and it was closed down for good, a real pity. But then I was in the pub that afternoon, and a guy gave me a telly - that's Ireland for you.
I miss the beauty of home. I miss the Pacific ocean the most. I grew up on the beach. I would like to see the rest of Ireland, though. I haven't seen enough of it. I find Dublin gets people into a rut. People don't look to get out of the city that much, they don't consider the rest of the country. People I've met who grew up in Dublin don't want to leave for a weekend. They're like, "Oh no, we might miss something." I miss being able to say to people, "Let's go camping for the weekend, let's get out of the city and into the country." Here, you'd have to plan that weekend for a year.