There is no place like home.. especially at Christmas!
There is no place like home.. especially at Christmas!
It really is a time for family and friends and after you have spent a Christmas abroad, it becomes apparent just how important spending Christmas at home is.
We asked FRS Recruiters who have previously lived abroad, about their Christmas experience, what traditions they missed the most and what they love about Christmas in Ireland!
Cormac: “I lived in New York a couple of years back and decided that I really wanted to get home for Christmas. I suppose, the big thing would be coming back to my family and friends and my granny was getting on, she was 94 so I wanted to be back around my family for Christmas”
“What I love most about Christmas is the craic! Being home with friends and family, down the pub, lights in the streets, cold weather which makes it feel Christmassy and everyone is having a good time and having a few pints and a few whiskeys”
Jacqueline: “It’s great being back home for Christmas, the things you missed the most about being away is definitely family! Other things I miss is my mother’s Christmas dinner, it’s just not the same, although the idea is lovely having Christmas on the beach, but Turkey in 30 degree heat seems very wrong! We usually always go to Midnight mass on Christmas eve and it’s lovely seeing friends and neighbours that are maybe living away and come home at Christmas. Usually before mass we would go to my brothers house to give my niece and nephew their Christmas present and have either a baileys or a hot whiskey- I think hot whiskeys are the thing I missed the most about Christmas”
Jacqueline will be spending her first Christmas at home since moving back from Australia. Jacqueline attended our Roadshows in Australia last year!
Rita: “Things I missed about Ireland living abroad was the sense of community, the Christmas spirit the buzz about the shopping, the cold weather, the turf fires, the RTE guide, the Christmas songs on the radio, the wren boys! Still a massive tradition in county Clare, they come all dressed up in fancy costumes and sing a daft song looking for money, that’s definitely one of the things I missed when I was living in the middle east for so long!”
Emer: “I spent Christmas in Denver, I lived there when I was a child for 6 years. Winters were cold and it snowed all the time, like minus 16 degrees. What I love about Christmas here, is that I have a lot more family and for me its more about the family aspect of it”
Rachael: “The Christmas music here is much better than the states, I love Christmas crackers its something we don’t have in the states”
“Christmas is longer here, in the states December 26th in a normal day whereas here you get to spend more time with your friends and your family. There is a bit more celebration than there would be in the states, so it’s nice!”
Donal: “I spent 12 months in Australia, I left at the beginning of January and had the opportunity to come back the following January but in December I said no I’m going to come back to Ireland for Christmas, so I came back the day before Christmas eve, I didn’t want to spend Christmas in a hot climate on the beach and I came back to Ireland because it’s the place to be to spend Christmas”
“What I enjoy most about Christmas in Ireland is meeting family, friends and going to the pub for a few pints and maybe a few hot whiskeys and having a good time with people you know”
Leona "Christmas in Oz although sounds like fun…. On the beach, throwing some shrimp on the barbeeeeee, and enjoying the sunshine, although sounds like fun, but in reality… its 40 degrees, you cant show skin as you will fry like your cold turkey dinner that you need to have about 12pm as its too HOOOTTT to eat, the beautiful mosquitos become your Christmas present.. the gift that keeps on giving as they painfully wrap themselves around you in your glowing sweat. You do over time start to embrace the Australian way but there is nothing like the smell on Christmas Eve of the prized ham cooking in the kitchen when you come in from the cold… its what u know and remember and in my eyes what makes an Irish Christmas.
Christmas is about seeing your friends and family smile, laugh, cry and even argue… generally over the last quality street. I found it so hard not being physically there for the unwrapping of silly gadgets, Pennys PJs and most of all the cheeky Irish Coffee for breakfast
This is my second Christmas home and typing this has made me even more excited for the festive season"
To all the new returns, happy holidays
Coming home for Christmas? Why not stay for good! We have hundreds of opportunities across many sectors, click here to begin your job search. We also have a Free Flights Offer for Irish expats, find out more here.
