{"id":195674,"date":"2022-08-11T09:34:41","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T07:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wereldwyd.co.za\/out-and-about-an-email-from-ireland\/"},"modified":"2024-10-28T14:52:21","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T12:52:21","slug":"out-and-about-an-email-from-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wereldwyd.co.za\/en\/out-and-about-an-email-from-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"Out and about: an email from Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Out and about<\/em> is a column where we chat with people who currently live abroad, or who used to live and work there. This week we chat with Kirsten Mocke who currently lives with her husband in Ireland. Kirsten tells us more about their emigration process and their life in Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hello Kirsten, where in South Africa are you from and what made you decide to live in Ireland?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am from Kempton Park, Johannesburg and I moved to Ireland because my then boyfriend who is now my husband (also originally from South Africa) went to Ireland and liked it so much he decided to stay there. I visited Ireland twice before I made the great trek here in December 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cork City<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You emigrated in December 2019, tell us how you experienced the emigration process?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The farewell at OR Tambo Airport was a difficult day full of tears, but we all thought we were going to see each other soon. Nobody could have known that it would be two years before we would be able to see each other again. Covid-19 made everything so much more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first night in Ireland as my new home is one I will never forget. It was December, in the middle of the winter, the house was cold and there was no one who switched on the heating before we arrived. It was dark and the shower\u2019s water was like ice. I just started crying and had a total meltdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my first six months in Ireland I was unemployed and it was an extremely difficult time. There were days that I would have given anything just to pack my suitcase and fly back home. In retrospect I think if it hadn\u2019t been for Covid-19, I probably would have given up hope and returned home, but it wasn\u2019t an option. I just had to stick it out.
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I have now lived in Ireland for almost three years, and although everything is not perfect I feel more at home.<\/p>\n\n\n