You just arrived in a brand new country with nothing but whatever could fit in your suitcases. It’s likely you’ve never been the one in charge of feeding yourself, previously dependent on your parents or the DU dining hall. It’s weird, it’s overwhelming, and it’s one of the first big challenges of study abroad. I’m here to help guide you through it.
Here’s a rundown of my usage of the stores I’ve been to the most:
The best place to go on your first shopping expedition is the Tesco Superstore (not the Tesco Express, which only carries food). It’s a one-stop shop for all kinds of things, the perfect place to get what you need and couldn’t bring with you from home (I got towels, soap, a trash can, cleaning supplies, etc from there). Tesco is also the best place for groceries if you prioritize variety (and often quality) over cheap prices.
Lidl is the best place to get lower cost food. I’ve gone there every grocery shopping expedition after the first one. It doesn’t have the variety of Tesco, but it’s decent enough and better for saving money. Just be careful or you’ll end up like me: with armpits stained from the Lidl shopping bag (beware of dye transfer).
Normal is a good place for any personal products. It has a huge variety of soaps, shampoos, shaving equipment, makeup – anything to do with taking care of yourself, and at a pretty good price.
Dealz and and Mr Price are both good for affordable household goods. Mr Price has more food options than Dealz and Dealz has more clothing items than Mr Price.
Centras are everywhere and there will almost definitely be one next to where you’re staying. They’re very good for ready meals and things you need quickly, but they’re overpriced. I use my local Centra when I need to, but I do all of my primary shopping elsewhere.
You will probably be shopping a lot, since you get very little fridge space to store perishable items in the student accommodations. That being said, Cork is super walkable; I can get to basically any of the stores I listed in a 20-30 minute walk, and a very pleasant walk at that (Cork city is awesome for pedestrians).
After having been in classes for half of a semester now, the life that I have built for myself here in Japan is slowly, but surely, establishing itself as normal.
I have a routine now and am able to navigate Kyoto alone as if I had lived here my whole life. I go out with friends, do my homework, and exist as if I was living in Denver again, only this time, across the world.
I never thought I would be able to assimilate into life here so quickly. I still struggle with things, but I am not nearly as hopeless as I thought I would be. I will say, having friends from home here with me has most definitely helped speed up the process. We have all struggled with the same things and helped each other out, which would be a completely different story had I came completely alone. But I think, still, that I have done pretty well so far.
Classes are actually kind of fun! They are difficult, especially the ones I have that are not in English, but I have greatly enjoyed the people I have met and almost mundane normalcy of it all. I even have my study spaces and cafes I frequent near campus (let me know if you want a cafe/sweet treat review post!)
The way classes work here is extremely difficult than how I am used to in Denver. For instance, our classes start at weird times of the hour–such as 2:55 or 12:15–and are only an hour and a half long. In Denver, though, all of my classes started on the hour and always ended at either half past or 10 minutes before the hour, so I had to get used to that adjustment. I still forget when classes end sometimes, especially my evening classes, but I will get it eventually.
I also only have each class once a week, other than my extensive language courses. I’m so used to having each class twice a week back home that it felt like years had passed since my last class when I first started classes here. It is also weird to have a blocked out lunch period where no classes are occurring. I like not having to block out my lunch plans when registering; they are already established in our schedule. I don’t know why America doesn’t do this, but if any politicians are reading this (I doubt anyone is but hey, a girl can dream), bring this up in your next policy meeting. It is so much more convenient, especially if you have a big test or homework coming up and have no room in your schedule to block time out for it.
I have also thoroughly enjoyed the convenience that is public transport in Japan. I can go across Kyoto for under $10 by simply taking the train or bus, which is so much cheaper and different than many places in the United States. My hometown doesn’t even have any kind of public transportation infrastructure, and the one in Denver is, unfortunately, known for being not one of the best, so I never truly understood how beneficial having train infrastructure is.
And not only is the train infrastructure so nice, but I have now been exposed to the wonders of a walkable city. A 30-minute walk would sound miserable to Denver me, but Japan me is saying “that’s nothing!”. One of our first days here, we went out for drinks and karaoke and missed the last bus, causing us to take on a two hour walk back home at 2 am with ease. Needless to say, after that, I can walk any distance back home now.
It’s not all completely normal though. I do miss being in the same time zones as my loved ones; my day starts as theirs ends, one sun rises, causing another sun to set. Having to schedule calls and meetings based on my 15-hour time difference is difficult, and I can’t wait until I am back on the same continent as my friends and family for that reason alone.
I crave food from back in the United States constantly. While Japan has delicious cultural cuisine, sometimes I just miss a good, spicy taco or some cornbread. There are lots of international foods to try, like Indian or Vietnamese food, which are both incredibly delicious, but I can never truly fight off my American mind craving a burger. Japan and America do burgers differently, and they just don’t hit the same. Same with American candy and treats, sometimes I want a bag of hot Cheetos or Nerds and just can’t find them.
Also, sillily enough, I miss the size of paper back in America. Paper here is huge! It’s almost as if two American sized sheets are stuck together in one big sheet. Almost all of my assignments need to be folded to fit into my folder, and I can almost never write on it if it is fully laid out in front of me. I like having small paper, it is so much easier to carry around and write on. I never thought paper would be a culture shock, but alas.
Some things are still the same, such as the way I still go to cafes too often or watch T.V. or YouTube when I study or eat, but overall, my life has been changing in both the best and worst ways.
This could go on for hours if I wrote down every single thing I miss or have adjusted to, so I’ll cut it here, but I have shaped a little life here. While it may not be my permanent home, it is my home for the moment. I might as well make the most of it and do what I can to make my days as normal for myself as I can.
