One of the most-read abroad stories of the month came from Hugo Harvey. He writes about how studying English literature at the University of Oxford as an Irish undergraduate was an education in being an outsider. “I felt alienated from the very start.”
He writes that on his second evening, the college organised a formal dinner for undergraduates to meet the tutors. “Many of my peers were from British private schools, so were already comfortable in this world. One of them even corrected my American professor’s table manners, scoffing at her for not using her cutlery in the right order.”
In the 40th anniversary year of Live Aid, New York-based Bray man Mark O’Toole explains what motivated him to do the Great Ethiopian Run. “The real purpose of my trip lay in witnessing Goal’s fieldwork first hand. As Bono once said, nothing prepares you for the ‘car park of humanity’. The stark reality of refugees and displaced families, forced from their homes by conflict, famine or other crises, was overwhelming.”
Richard Hennessy moved to Singapore in his 50s with his partner in 2018 and found that his experience and the soft skills we learn in Ireland were valued there. “Singapore’s low income tax was a revelation. When I received my first tax bill, I contacted the inland revenue authority, worried they had made a mistake and I would end up owing thousands in back tax. But there was no mistake.”
Northern correspondent Seanín Graham spoke to Joanne Davey, a Carrickfergus-born former PSNI officer who relocated to Adelaide and joined the South Australian Police. She says lower crime levels, beautiful weather and her outdoors life in the family camper van are among the big differences to life in Northern Ireland.
Caroline Ryan from north Cork lives in Copenhagen where she works as a photographer and brand consultant. She immediately fell in love with the city in 2020. “It’s like Disneyland compared to Munich,” she says, “and Danes are like kittens compared to Munich where people will not shy away from telling you what to do.”
John Connolly charted his path to US citizenship almost 25 years after arriving in Boston in March 2000. He worked in the mayor’s office for years before taking a circuitous route to becoming the director of marketing at the Harvard Art Museums. “The people at the museum taught me the power of being both fiercely and fearlessly positive... It was in that environment that I realised that US careers are built upon confidence, and hard work is the bank that confidence draws from.”
Flight attendant Paula Gahan offers her five top tips on how to avoid stress on your next trip from booking early to buying your own liquid bag for airport security.
Fashion designer Molly Walters tells us about life in Lisbon where she is working to “combat fast fashion and unconscious consumerism”. She says: “I find it a youthful city; people want to be out and about all the time and there is always something happening.”
Finally, at the end of last year Megan Nolan wrote about the experience of dating in her 30s and how a conversation with a man in the US made clear the realities of this new era in her life.
Thanks for reading.
