selena sprout

Moving out from Dublin 8, now I live in a quiet area on the outskirts of Dublin. It means that instead of gallivanting through cobbled and bustling streets in the city centre, now I wander over the nearby green parks every weekend. And, these parks are very quiet but gorgeous, they have some stalls at the weekend, and I love it so much. Walking slowly and letting myself kick back and let loose as I am not a big fan of brisk walking. I will do it tomorrow, so today I will spend my spare time writing something.

I have been musing about writing about relearning but then I do not know how to start. Maybe, I will never relearn everything from scratch at the moment. Yes, it is, everything, pondering the change in my life and contemplating what I am doing and what I want to do. Figuring out how to adapt to a new life (again) is not easy. Not to mention when I see how I cling to ingrained ideas that shaped my characteristics and many decisions in my life.

Relearn English

One of the most time-consuming things I relearn is the English language. Even though I had worked in the tourism and hospitality industry, and in one of the biggest international garment factories in Vietnam before I moved to Ireland; I suddenly experienced an empty status: I don’t know English. This happened last summer upon finishing my second semester at TU Dublin, I can not name it. Luckily, I had a chance to get a scholarship and learn C1 level of English with two Irish teachers, and then I spent last summer relearning English. Many of my friends were quite shocked as they knew what I was doing, they told me I was good enough and needed confidence only. I am not convinced by that, I spent the whole summer doing my thesis and learning English. End of last summer, on the one hand, I loved English more and gained my confidence back when I recalibrated my skills every day. I still have a habit of learning English until now. On the other hand, I realised how universal human language is as I can connect the meanings between Vietnamese and English together. At that time, I felt I truly learned English, not at surface level.

If you are curious about how I learn English, here is what I do. I have one English bank I own and invest every penny here, three branches named (1) grammar (2) vocabulary category (3) “Words I speak wrongly for ages” or words I pronoun wrongly…for ages. Relearning and rebuilding my English foundation, now, I am in a sense of adventure, not apprehension when I use and study English. When I learn something new, I am in the cloud of amusement and happiness. It clicks. Woa! I didn’t know that before. That is absolutely a dopamine expression. I do not think it is a waste of time as we are living in a very hustle world now, more importantly, I learn English mainly through studying something or reading books.

Every day, I still learn English and explore its beauty, but why? I do not know who I am and how I still express myself authentically in the English language. I feel many people can relate to these feelings. This is one of the reasons why I try to learn English better, specifically in my own vocabulary bank. I want my vocabulary to become richer and richer. Vocabulary is an important language resource which helps us to communicate better; connect to our needs, deliver our emotions and share with other people. The NVC (Non-violent – Compassion Communication) lessons now make more sense to me. The beautiful thing about languages or literature is reclaiming and placing the right names of emotions, names of needs and names of desires, etc. Expressing ourselves is not vulnerable, but stronger. When I can name my true needs and emotions, I understand the situation up to 80 percent, and 20 percent of my effort to do what meets my needs. Life is too short, (I don’t know why I type that idiom here), it is too short to live.

Celebrate small things

Sometimes I cook delicious Vietnamese meals, and eating steamed rice fills me with nostalgia. I miss home. I miss my mom, Lyly, my green garden and my warm bedroom. There is a scene in the Little Forest film, where the main character tries to cook what her Mom cooked for her. I replace my missing home feeling with the memory of foods I can cook. However, I also try to celebrate what I learn and have at the moment. I will never learn and truly grow up if I just stay surrounded by my loved friends and my mom. Living far away from home, I realised how my life was filled with love and how lucky I was in Vietnam. The adaptability journey in a new country taught me so many things which I never would have learned if I had stayed in Vietnam.

Recently, I really like the idea of my Health Coach teacher, wearing the lens of “reduce – reuse and recycle” to look at everything in your life. Besides learning more things, I also wear those special glasses. When my friend shared how she feels weaker since moving to Ireland and asked me how I keep myself healthy here. Oh, I am not healthy, I did a check-up last week (everything is normal haiza). Who is healthy on this no-sun island? (A little sunlight in the summer is never enough). I could not reassure her with a quick pep talk, but I told her: do pamper yourself. Letting my tension melt away is not simple, yet pampering myself is a way to make me study and work more efficiently, effectively and smartly, etc. Everything is much better when I take better care of myself.

#1 – I do not get cold this winter in Ireland (yay!). I know how to bundle myself up properly when I go out. I take daily multivitamins and drink herbal supplements, preventing the cold and not waiting until it happens. I can hear myself and name the right need. I maintain my energy better with strong, determined habits. I look at my hands with pink and healthy colours during this winter, I am so grateful for my body. I told myself in the evening, thank you for everything. Thank you because even though I made many mistakes, you are still here, give me a chance. It has many things I can work with my body, but I am so glad to see the improvement progress.

#2 Now, I can cook with joy, not with against attitude. I finished a fair few nutrition books and gained more confidence in cooking. If you are wondering what books I have been reading, you can visit my Goodreads account. I am developing my own cooking plan that aligns with my period stage. It is the power of knowledge, and I am quite excited about that. Every day, I add new recipes on my Meals Plan page on Notion. Not like last year as my first year in Ireland, I am wiser now in my second year in Ireland. Cooking better means my grocery skills are better. I don’t waste my energy and my money by buying foods which do not nurture me. Through the journey, I realised how my body reacts to specific foods, not only lactose tolerance, I also can not digest gluten foods and cool foods. I need to stop myself from saying: “I don’t know how to cook”. This was a milestone as I was usually eating food cooked by somebody else and deny that I can cook. 

#3 When I lived in Hanoi, I used to have a few things, but now, I look at how I live and am surprised as I have so many personal items. The journey to learn how to own the items which are suitable for me takes many many months and ongoing. Even personal items or personal choices are quite vague, but they play a vital role in my life. Choosing items wiser in a new country where you can not buy the things you used to is not easy, it is a hard job. I embrace change and am flexible to explore things that suit me every day.

#4 Accepting myself and my characteristics, spending me time gently and slowly, I remind myself. Stepping backwards allows me to see myself through new lens. Never do I experience these feelings, I want to change some traits in my character, not to adapt in the new life, but I just want more mature. I don’t want to write exactly which traits, but I celebrate it here as well. I just want to make my life easier. Although it is not an immediate change, witnessing how more kindness seeds I sow, I am so happy.

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Plucking up the courage and leaning in the society in a new country, I am so grateful for how brave I am. Even though I just graduated with a Master’s degree, even though I am working in a new country, deep down, I think that the name of this period in my life is reflection. Sometimes I ask myself when I will shine and glow again like I did in Vietnam, when I could find my feet here in a new country where I speak a non-first language. But, I was the same, in the past, when I moved from Central Highland to Northern Vietnam, when I moved from Bac Giang to Hanoi. Changing is never easy for everyone. This time likes every stage passed in my life, and then I will go through it.

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I just found that quote and immediately loved it. Hope that you love it too.

Wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day.

“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.”
― William Arthur Ward

*16/2/2025 – My best Indian friend just inboxed and asked me that if I used any things to support and write this post. I never use any AI writing tools in my blog ^^, everything is my thoughts and my words.