It’s September 2017, I haven’t written in God knows how long and everytime I want to write I can’t find anything to inspire me. The initial excitement of moving to Ireland is a distant memory, life has settled into a cycle of work, home, gym, eat, sleep and weekends. In June I celebrated turning 30 and as the hangover subsided I started to reevaluate my life in Ireland. Skyrocketing rents, sub-average wages, a string of unsuccessful dates with Irish douchebags, and the summer that never came had left me wanting to jump ship.
When I was originally planning my great escape from Oz, I had been tossing up between Ireland and Canada, but In the end I choose Ireland. As I lazed around my apartment the day after my birthday nursing my hangover I decided again to look into the Canadian ICE visa. I wasn’t sure what I wanted but according to the Canadian Immigration website it could take several months to be invited to apply and several more after that to be accepted. So I decided why not; I would start the application process and consider my options, if I change my mind in the coming months as I waited to be invited to apply there would be nothing lost. Within days I had been invited to apply, and in less than a month I had received a letter advising my application had been successful.
In the immortal words of Jade S. ‘Fuck me dead,’ that was fast.
In the days after receiving my letter I started to excitedly look at jobs in Canada. In the months since I have excited planned my move.
- How soon can I leave?
- Where do I want to live?
- When can I afford to go?
- Where is there the most sun and warmest weather?
However as the initial excitement of receiving my visa wears off I can’t help but wonder am I just running away from my lull? Have I made a rash decision and am being too stubborn to change my mind? Have I given Ireland a proper go? Is there another option that I should be thinking about that is less dramatic than changing continents? Or am I making the right choice and are these just nerves?
I don’t know.
I don’t have the answers. In the end both going to Canada or staying in Ireland could be the right decision. In the end it’s all about what I make of my decision. Sooner or later I will have to make the final decision to stay or go, but in the meantime it is my responsibility to take control of the lull and restore the excitement to Irish life.
Charmaine Pearce 
There are douchebags everywhere. In America or Australia the same douchebags might bring you to the Everglades or the outback and never return. There different levels of idiot. I lived in Porto for two years, after a while I learned the language, travelled, ate their food, talked politics etc. I lived in Holland I did what they did. Once you give yourself to a place you start to enjoy it. Make a vlog of things you dislike about Ireland. Things you think could be changed. Join a Facebook page and have a moan. We love slagging ourselves off.
No one in a Ireland is happy with how we are living, but like every time this happens, this lull, this period of uncertainty, comes something beautiful. Maybe you’ll be here for a revolution. There are demonstrations marked in for mid October and if you are still here you should go. You might feel you are part of something then. Genealogy is another thing you could trace through newspapers in the National Library. If you have ancestors from here they may have made the newspapers.
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