We finished school at the end of January and as I have spent the last two years in China for Spring Festival I took the opportunity to head home to Ireland for two weeks and boy was it worth it!! After the longest journey in the world from Beijing to Moscow to London I eventually walked out of arrivals to be greeted by my father and a pint! Then it was on wards to Belfast were I was greeted by my mother and home! Even though a year is such a long time once you walk through your front door it feels like you have never been away. Home comforts are the best, eating food that you can't get in Beijing, watching TV without having to choose it, being surrounded by English speaking people, having a decent vodka and seeing friends and family. It was great to go out for a sandwich, drive my mother's car, head to the pub and hear different music, go to Topshop, chill out with my gran's and have a second Christmas dinner. I went walking with my mother, gulping huge amounts of fresh Irish sea air, feeling the rain on my face and walking on green, moist grass. Beijing can be harsh on the body, especially in winter and it was wonderful to escape it even for a few weeks. I headed to Liverpool to see my sister, went down to our old house, caught up with great friends, went to London to see the family and ate vasts amount of food. It was a holiday that was badly needed and it gave me the energy to head back to work and back to Beijing. I didn't miss Beijing but when I got back and jumped on the packed subway, with the pushing, shoving and spitting, part of me was like, Oh I'm home!