Hart aber fair (hard but fair) is my German experience of five years. Most days there will be a conversation about the pronunciation of my name, but I get great satisfaction when the Germans rattle off Niamh like it's a native Gertrud.
It’s the little things that make you feel like you belong, but I’d still be waiting a long time here for someone to ask me for a pint.
Despite the finanzkrise (financial crisis) the Germans appear to have a love affair with die Gruenen Insel (the Emerald Isle). When they're into something, well, they're quite thorough to say the least. I work with some such people. One plays the bodhrán, has been to Ireland on numerous occasions, got a lift from a Irish speaking farmer in Kerry and can abair as Ghaeilge a bit himself.
The other man parades proudly around me every time he wears a green t-shirt, and has an Irish rugby ball sitting on his desk.
I’ve learned how much we are liked as a nation since leaving Ireland, and also to appreciate some things that many people still living there may take for granted, like the sea, walking the Head in Skerries, our fresh food, family and friends, being bid the time of day from someone you don’t know on the street, or making a comment on what’s in the paper and being understood.
But I am also aware that I’m among the lucky group of successful Irish emigrants. There are many Irish abroad who are homeless, lonely, hungry, worried sick, depressed and afraid. Ireland has many faces, but whether at home or abroad it is easier to buy into the quaint idyllic image of Ireland, the land of the saint and the scholar, the Guinness and the whiskey, the traditional music, the rebellions and our friendliness.
So yes, I have become more clichéd Irish, drinking Barry's Tea, and bringing back the rashers and sausages along with the beans, brown bread and Mikados to Germany. We have Ulysses sitting on our shelf in English and German, yet to be read. I've been to a Chris de Burgh concert in Dresden. A guy from the North sat opposite me in work this week and I couldn't get enough of his accent and banter.
So while I try to embrace a new culture and fit in here, Ireland still has a grip on me.
