Paddy is back in Ireland. Paddy is not quite sure what to make of this.
Many things have happened, Ireland is a lot quieter than it was and certainly a lot quieter than a rural Chinese city full of lunatic drivers. You would miss that and the jet engines. It sounds like a contradiction that a rural city is noiser than a capital city but trust me it is.
I’ve joined the Ireland China Association and been to the opening of Chinese New Year in Dublin. A lot of bluster from the Mayor about Dublin and Beijing being twinned. To be honest I don’t think enough is being done about public safety to be able to put young Chinese in Dublin city centre and be able to sleep at night. The mayor is more concerned with making traffic go at walking speed to preserve pedestrians long enough to get mugged on the footpath. You wouldn’t notice it if you live here but if you go and come back you see it.
In positive developments Tipperary Crystal are on a roll and from what I have seen and heard are going to be an Irish brand that will fly in China. I’m really impressed with what they have done and how they have presented themselves to China.
The only other brands I have ever seen in China have been Guinness, Baileys and Jameson. I did see Kerrygold cheese once in Hangzhou. That’s it. One massive market and in general we aren’t at the races. I’ve been in supermarkets and stores in nine Chinese cities and pretty much nothing is Irish. Plenty of EU dairy products, Austria, France, Canada, Germany well represented but not us. I tweeted about this and got helpful answers like “do it yourself” and “it’s too far”. Lovely.
So I’m doing things for myself. I’ve a big hush hush project in the works that might or might not come off. Theres a lot of work in it and it will involve travelling all over China eventually. Its taken me a few days to get my head around the scale of it too. My bet on China might pay off after all. I wouldn’t have had a hope if I hadn’t gone to China to see on the ground how to do it and I wouldn’t have the knowledge I have now.
I took a Chinese lesson since I got back with beginner students. Its great to see Irish people taking an interest. I also found out how appalling my Chinese is too. I know the tones to some things and can bluster other things but its nowhere near good enough. I do know that you have to say it like you mean it or else nobody will understand you. I also learned that in common with the Irish the Chinese I have been hanging out with have the foulest language imaginable. This includes my students.
I was on TV for the third time which is always funny. In China you learn to expect the unexpected and having a film crew rock up when you are giving exams is up there. Not quite up there with the student that climbed out a second floor window to rescue a paper airplane from a tree but up there.
Here is the video. If you can read Chinese you can tell where I was.
