My name is Linda and I am from the United States, Orange County California to be exact. I live 20 minutes away from Disneyland and the famous Mickey Mouse. At the moment, I live and work in Cork.

George Bernard Shaw once wrote that ‘England and America are two countries separated by a common language." I’d say that sentiment applies to the US and Ireland as well, otherwise my Irish husband and I never would have argued over the existence of a ‘brush’ in our flat for an entire five minutes. I kept suggesting he could borrow my hairbrush; he was looking for something to sweep the floor with. It was only then that I realised how odd the American word ‘broom’ sounded. Indeed, it is amazing how a few small words, their sounds and shapes, can make me feel more foreign than even new surroundings, unfamiliar cities, and the ocean that divides me from my old home.